Food and Football and Updates Galore

Personal Update

Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes and gentle inquiries about my health. I'm doing very well coming out of round three of chemo. This round was actually fun as I had the company of dear friend and writing comrade, Marie Lecrivain was along to keep me company. She even brought along snacks (I always approve of snacks). It was great to not only catch up with her but to laugh during chemo was a surprise and delight. I have been relatively side effect free. There is some pain now and then, and the fatigue can be astonishing in how quickly it can take a body down. Overall, though, I've been doing well. I'm keeping up with my walking and I'm still cooking. More on that later. I'm very excited about the upcoming week. It's the first one since coming home from my last surgery in April that I have absolutely no medical appointments. None!!! In recent weeks, I've had so many appointments that I toyed with getting a hotel room across from the hospital to save time on the commute. But not this week. My week is my own to do what deviltry I may. I am now laughing manically.

A quick note to my peeps out there. Feel free to call or set up a visit. Since healing from the surgery, I motor about really easily. Thus, most days when I don't have an appointment, I'm almost bored out of my mind. I welcome most interruptions. And don't worry, if I'm too tired, I'll let you know. So, give me a try. I'd really appreciate it. New peeps can e-mail me for further contact info.

Yes, I'm Ready

It's time for football. Today, I will figure out if a) I can watch the Eagles without half a vat of wine in my gullet, b) if that trade of Donovan McNabb to the Redskins was a really stupid idea and c) if chemo will make my language during games better or worse. Still, I am very pleased and excited to have football back. I tried the international version during the World Cup. I still don't get it. Currently, I'm watching a delightfully exciting series of plays that involved a mid-air enzone interception. I hate the team involved, but I have to admit that it was an awesome play. You just don't see that in soccer. Sorry, my international peeps. So, I'm looking forward to a season where the Eagles won't have me gnashing my teeth and rending my clothing while cursing my mindless loyalty. GO EAGLES!!!!

Dough is Me

As I mentioned in a blog a few weeks ago, I've decided to try some complex dough recipes. I'd love to dive right into puff pastry or croissants, but I am going to begin with the crepe. This is a deceptively simple dough that takes a bit of practice to get right. There is a demand for attention to detail and timing with making a proper crepe that will serve me well in taking on doughs with more steps. Now, this doesn't mean that every time I need puff pastry that I will just whip it up. After all, I still buy pre-made pie crusts (though not very often). Who knows, I may end up liking mine better than the pre-made stuff. I just know that I've reached a point in my cooking that I want to know who to make these doughs myself. I will be documenting the trauma, I mean, fun! Meanwhile, I'm trying some new veggie dishes with eggplant or aubergines, something I've hardly ever eaten let alone cooked (one of my parents didn't like the veg, so it wasn't a staple in our house). I've seen some very tasty recipes with it recently, so I'm going to have a go at it. A am finally going to start using my camcorder to capture some of these experiments. The films are mainly for my family to see that I am doing as well as I claim, but I'll put links up to them on this blog. I love sharing my cooking adventures and even my misadventures, but watching those competition shows like The Next Food Network Star have convinced me that I don't want to go for a cooking show. I think that kind of pressure would take away the fun of cooking for me. I will happily remain an amateur

Web Series Updates

My freedom from appointments gives me the opportunity to get the paperwork for the various projects processed by the various Guilds. Actually, I plan to email the forms today and deal with the fallout tomorrow. There is always something left unclear that has to be straightened out immediately under pain of never getting the signatory status. Though I'm not shooting all of the projects at once, we need to cast early for FX and other development issues. Smaller budgeted productions have to take longer time developing to have acceptable quality. The adage is time, money quality – pick two. If we can't have a lot of money, we'd rather take more time and get things done the way we'd like. Thus, we're filing for our signatories and casting long before we plan on shooting. The cool thing is that there will be a lot of behind the scenes stuff because of that early development. The first shoot planned exclusively for DraggonTV.com is the second episode of 15% in October. Our fist shoot date for Demon on the Run, the current title for the Demon Under Glass web Series (that may change) on November 12, 2010 (that may change as well). New shoots for Blood Oath and the long anticipated The Privateers will be in December and January respectively. Those are the plans right now.

Stay tuned!