Happy Hours, Bites of Life and Updates

It's been almost a year since I desperately needed a break from the four walls of my apartment and sought out the Culver City Farmers Market. It was a spur of the moment decision that has had enormous impact on our lives. I can say that most of our produce is not purchased at that farmers market or another. I've been serving a lot more fresh fruit and cooking a lot more veggies. I am certain that those changes are why I had dropped a nice bit of weight before my last visit to the oncologist. The weight loss was a delightful surprise, because I did not practice moderation of any sort during the holidays. Oh my, no. I was eating everything in sight that was bad. But the good food and the walking staved off a weight gain and helped me lose some. I've really enjoyed just getting out around people and watching the children at the market. The outings got even better when Marie began joining me. I had been missing my friends during my very long recovery. While I am very grateful to have networks like Facebook to keep in some contact with civilization, there is nothing like a face to face conversation. I'm certain that aside from strengthening a great friendship, the Farmers Market outings helped jump start Sybaritic Press. The martinis may have had a small role in that as well. We each have stressful lives. It is lovely to get together and shop and let our wonderful bartender and the staff at the Culver Hotel pamper us for a couple of hours. I really miss the uber cute porter who used to kneel to serve us, but what can you do. He may be on his way to being a movie star. Yes, he was that uber cute.

Life in a Bite – Part One

I was very excited to see two of my favorite food related celebs, Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson, were in a new show together. The Taste  is a competition show in which the contestants must make the perfect single bite of a dish. I'd seen similar challenges in other competition shows like Chopped or the Next Iron Chef where it is asked that the chef demonstrate their cooking philosophy in a single bite of food. I will say right now that I am not interested in a food competition of any kind. I am wide eyed and hopeful or arrogant enough to believe that I can get to cook for those chefs I admire without the trauma and potential humiliation of a competition. Still, I became obsessed with my cooking philosophy (do I have one) and whether it could be expressed in a single bite. Jon had an eating philosophy of a bit of croissant with butter and honey on a spoon. I thought of something that would have a bit of complexity. It would be a recipe that I had mutated and fused with other cooking cultures I've explored. It should be something that means a lot to me personally.

I had an idea that would work reasonably well, but it seemed to be too simple. And then, I saw Bourdain on an episode of his newer travel show, The Layover. And there I found the missing elements. I figured out an original recipe that was very much from my roots while reflecting all of the methods of cooking I'd learned from other cultures. I even involved my father in its creation. He's been very much pro-cultural fusion in cooking since I gave him beef short ribs Boeuf Bourguignon style. And he helped me with that final element that really shows some creativity. I am mid-way through executing the recipe for the first time, so I can't reveal much more. I hate to be a tease, but I want to pull this off before I really start crowing about how clever I may be. What I wanted to talk about today is how absolutely giddy I felt figuring out an original recipe. There are many recipes that I've put a spin on, but this one is made of groupings of ingredients and procedures that are my own. It is writing of a sort. Chefs have said over an over that cooking can be storytelling. One element of this epic bite of food is collard greens. Each time I make them, I think about my grand uncle KC and how he taught me how to cut the leaves. Of course, thinking about him involves tomes of some highly entertaining Warner family history. Or I think about how my version of collards was a direct result of my Mother's stroke at age 46. In the aftermath, I took my immediate family through a tectonic shift in how the traditional foods were prepared. I started using olive oil, garlic and smoked turkey to flavor veg like collards or black eyed peas. This dish is definitely the story of a world traveler who has wandered mostly through foods of different places and peoples. This excitement is the same as that of writing a story when it's going very well. I wanted to share. The next blog will have full documentation of how I made the dish and how it turned out. There may even be a video. It's my plan to make sure that the chefs I kibitz with on Facebook and twitter have a read.

Updates

Jon and I begin our marathon journey this weekend. Remember, we take any donation. It's for the entire walk as a unit – not per mile. Donations go directly to the organization. https://www.justgiving.com/Deborah-Warner . I should have the interview with Sean Hepburn Ferrer done by next weekend. I'll also have a couple of cooking videos aside from the one bite up next weekend. And I am really, really hoping for the safety of everyone near me that I can find the time to write some fiction.

Stay tuned.

Humidity, Day Tripping and Updates

Sybpress in the Park

It's Wednesday, and I'm already exhausted. I had lengthy errands on Monday and Tuesday that kept me out in the heat and rare humidity for much of both days. Okay, Los Angeles, we had a deal when I moved out here. You can be hot enough to melt pennies, but you are NOT supposed to be humid! On Monday, I had sweat through my clothes enough that I had to shower and change when I cam home. That just doesn't happen here. Despite the all clear from my Docs, I am still tethered to General Hospital for prescriptions that must be issued monthly and the B-12 shots. Yesterdays sojourn involved getting the prescription filled – I had no energy to wait for it Monday. Then, I had to make my way all the way to West Hollywood  to pick up promo materials for the Bookfair. From there, I had to go to Culver City for the Farmers Market and to meet Marie to discuss the Bookfair. There was also the possibility of martinis and snacks during our meeting. Speaking of the fair, be sure to visit our new web page: Sybpress in the Park.

Both days involved extensive commutes. I'm used to that and well prepared for them. I've taken to traveling with a collapsible cart rather than a tote bag. I carry a parasol, a hat, a sweater, a liter or more of water, a snack, a book and whatever I'm picking up along the way. A Tote bag would be too heavy before I leave the house. This cart is stylish, and it holds up to 110 pounds. I can also fit it in a single bus seat with me and not be in the way of other commuters. I gave such advice in a recent advice blog I wrote for the upcoming Yaoi-con. It was a funny blog that people have found helpful. You can read it HERE. Incidentally, the paperback version of Altered Lanes: An Anthology of Travel Using Alternate Transportation in the City of Angels is now available! Click the title to purchase from Amazon.com..

Normal Bric a Brac

I don't mind the commutes. For the most part, I'm traveling between rush hours, so the buses and trains aren't mobbed. I'm always happy to visit West Hollywood. It's a beautiful neighborhood of tree lined streets and tony shops frequented by even tonier people. I believe it has more gyms per capital than any other part of the city, so most of the men are delightful to look at. There were some jogging about in tiny shorts that made me long for my net gun. Jon really needs to invent a net gun that can take down a young man! Is that really so unreasonable?! Where was I? Oh, right. I expect shops with fancy bric a brac that most people would find eccentric. However, I was not expecting to see huge stone giant robots guarding the parking lot of a really expensive clothing store. These statues are an incredible depiction of some high level geekiness. Jon tells me that these are not one specific robot, but an amalgam of at least three different robots. I must confess that I couldn't follow the elaborate details and histories behind each character that made up the robots. Jon was talking kind of fast at that point and I was full of martinis and some apple and cinnamon elixir that the Culver Hotel bartender was experimenting with. It was a cross between an apple pie and a whole lot of liquor! Jon plans to further investigate the statues when we are at the Bookfair. I plan to let him.

I enjoyed getting out with people and seeing some different scenery than my living room, but I still need to find a balance between activity and rest. As it is, I go through a flurry of activity and then can't do much of anything for a couple of days. Finding that balance is a matter of trail and error. I am learning what my limitations are albeit slowly. A few months ago, I would have either tried to wait at Costco for my meds despite the exhaustion, or I would have tried to do some shopping at Costco yesterday even if that meant dragging those purchases to West Hollywood and Culver City. I do need to do some shopping at Costco, but it can wait until later this week. See, I am learning. So, no nagging!

Fear and Loathing and Food Both Fast and Slow

One of the upsides of commuting is the time it gives for reading. Over the last couple of days, I devoured The American Way of Eating by Tracie McMillan. The book is an exploration of the produce food chain from farm to table. Ms. McMillan gathered her information by working as a field hand picking grapes, sorting peaches and cutting garlic on vast farms in central California; working as a produce stock clerk at two Walmart Super centers near Detroit, Michigan; and working as an expediter at an Applebees in Brooklyn. Each job had its challenges and satisfaction. She met fascinating people in each location and learned a great deal about how people at different strata survive on the wages they make. I was shocked to find dubious payment and employment practices reported at the Walmart and the Applebees. The book was as engrossing as it was educational. I think the best thing I got out of McMillan's book was a reprieve from the guilt I'd been shouldering for not having done a lot more healthy cooking before now. I have no excuse for not shopping and cooking healthy right now. I have a lot more time to plan, shop and cook. I have more knowledge about cooking than I ever have before. And I have an insane number of options for healthy produce and fresh baked goods. But when we were both working – especially when we were working odd hours – it wasn't so easy. McMillan's own struggles made me understand that even when you know what to do about a healthy diet and have some where with all to do it, time to plan and properly shop can be a huge issue. And neither she nor I have children. I have an even deeper admiration for my mother and her efforts that kept our family from the drive through except on very rare occasions. Aside from easing my guilt, the book also answered a growing question I've had about some restaurants I've visited in recent years. When I thought that I could do better making the same dishes at home, it seems that I was right. Applebees, it was reported, mostly microwaves pre-portioned side dishes and the sauces were mixed from powders. The cooks there said that they didn't cook so much as they assembled. I don't think I've made a powered sauce of any type since I was 19 and living on my own for the first time. McMillan's book was extraordinary in it's scope. It didn't lay out any easy answers, but I think it will make those involved in this quandary look at the questions differently. Aside from localizing the food supply, many consumers need to be given strategies to plan meals so that they can shop and prep effectively enough to follow through. We're a land of plenty with two food networks. This is something we should be able to figure out.

Updates

The in box remains stubbornly full of things to edit and promo materials to create and other things to write and production things to cross off.

Craig, Strange Visions and Scary In Boxes

These tomatoes are astonishingly good!

The photos have nothing to do with the text of the blog. Readers have expressed an interest in our Tuesday afternoon outings. 

 

Craig called on the Sunday after the shoot. Jon and I were making like vegetables in front of the TV. There were piles of equipment and costumes and props shoved into corners. It would take me a week to deal with those. His tone was that mix of amusement and excitement that often gives me a reason to worry. He wanted to know if Jon or I had been past Ballona Creek on Saturday. For the disaster film buffs among you, Bollona Creek is the handy conduit used to channel molten lava from Beverly Hills to the Pacific ocean in Volcano. We actually live near the creek and occasionally walked the bike path. However, we didn't typically cross the creek as we did when we lived in Playa del Rey. I knew better, but I asked why anyway.

The view of the bar from our favorite spot.

“I saw a 300 pound hairy, naked man frolicking in the creek,” he said. I could tell that he shuddered. “He was really hairy. If I'd been up north, I'd thought he was a bear. But he was happy.” Craig was most perplexed about why no one in the apartment buildings surrounding that part of the creek called the cops. He was even more perplexed when a library patron rushed into the building to have him call the cops on the hairy naked man who had traveled a mile since Craig last saw him. I was happy to report that neither Jon nor I had scene that vision. I was particularly relieved after having seen some really bad nakedness the week before at the Culver City Farmers Market. Let's just saw it involved a leathery bag lady, a loosely fitting sundress and a sudden, strong breeze. I guess she liked that free feeling in the summer time.

This is our spot in the hotel lobby bar.

It was good to hear from Craig, disturbing images notwithstanding. He's been a bit scarce this summer doing his Oliver Wendell Douglas thing growing corn and 'maters and peppers and such when he isn't being a librarian. I miss him, of course, but I am a bit vexed at him. I think he put something strange in my library file. Or maybe he just said he would and let my imagination take over. I swear the librarians at my branch have been looking at me strangely. Hmmm. I think he's being my nemesis again.

Inbox of the Damned

A view of our favorite libations.

I can't really complain about all that has been heaped upon my to do list. I volunteered for 80% or more of the pile. And I can't really say that the extra work has kept me from finishing my latest titles. I was having much more trouble with them last year when I was doing relatively little. I am making progress, but not as quickly as I would have liked. Meanwhile, the work I've been doing has a lot of benefits aside from monetary ones. I'm building a reputation as well as my brand with the manga and short stories. That will have a big impact on the books sometime next year, if all goes well. And the books are on track and fun again. I'm just a bit slower than I was a few years back. There is a work around to all that won't be ready for the West Hollywood Bookfair. I just have to slog my way though it before Monday. There will be no volunteering for something new until everything is uploaded or put to bed. I must be strict about this! I'll try not to be grumpy though.

Next week, look for a new page on Sybpress.com for the Hollywood Bookfair. There will be some great links to the authors of our titles, some info on our new titles, and lots of links to all sorts of indie fiction, poetry readings, etc. It will change frequently in the run up to the Bookfair, so check often!

Stay tuned!

Careful Cuts, Timely Advice and Munchkins

It's always good for a couple to share interests and experiences. Now, I understand why there was so much swearing while Jon edited films. I also remembered why I did not choose to go into the filmmaking track when I was an undergrad. Though part of my problem stemmed from the crude technology of the time. Back in the olden days, editors actually cut film into pieces then taped it together. Even with a short film, there could be hundreds of tiny pieces to put back together before sound could be addressed. I hated that, and I hated directing then. While it's far easier to deal with hundreds of bits of digital film, I still find film editing daunting. This time, I'm manually syncing the dialog (oh, the swearing – from me this time). Jon is mostly helpful. I mean, he has a lot of knowledge to share, but it usually comes out after I've been wrestling with some issue for hours. I'll hear 'why didn't you try such and such?' And I'd answer, 'why didn't you tell me about this twelve hours ago' with a sweet voice and a frozen smile that I think frightened him. Oh, he's fine. And the editing is almost done. I still have to do color correction. The photo above is a still from the video that has not been color corrected. Everything takes a long time, because of having to reboot. It seems that the editing eats up a lot of RAM. After a couple of hours, the program starts to freeze. 'If you're not hogging RAM, you're doing something wrong,' Jon says. It means progress is in fits and starts. Yep, I really understand all that swearing. On the other hand, I can't do more than two hours straight either. Maybe my brain's RAM gets clogged and needs to be re-booting. All I know is that it's been good to have other things to switch off to. I've been doing a lot of multi-tasking. I am learning a great deal about how to edit and how to shoot better. At my current pace, the video should go live this Tuesday. Or Wednesday.

Still Finding Footing

This was an odd and sometimes difficult week. On the one hand, the Month of fun began early. I'll cover that later. I'm a member of a Facebook Appendix Cancer support group. I found them when I started doing research for the documentary. They are an amazing group of people who are living life with as much zeal as their battered bodies will allow. When I am thinking crazy things about my current state of normal, this group sets me straight and keeps me sane. It wasn't a good week for the group. An important member succumbed to the disease. And then, one of the founding members announced that the recurrence of the cancer meant she had to have another surgery. The risks of that surgery are very high in the best case scenario. I will not detail them here. And for this woman whose body has been ravaged internally from previous treatments, the risks are dire. Yet she bravely chose to have another go and is carrying on with fund raising for research and living life with her usual aplomb. I found myself shaken by all of this. Since I'd been declared cancer free, I've been trying to make up for the time I was sick and make the most of my time. Making the most of time meant not just accomplishing as many goals as possible but also not dwelling on things that are not important. In many ways, I am doing these things. But I am a flaky artist at times. I worry about not worrying, or I worry about wasting time or living up to the gift I've been given in getting a second chance on life. Or I worry about pushing too hard. On the day our group founder announced that she would have the surgery, I had been up and online editing the video and the manga and writing a script since very early in the morning. Then, I got an instant message from a longtime caregiver of a PMP patient. All it said was 'it's lunch time, take a break.' I was startled to realize that I was very hungry and very tired. I think I was also sad for my friend and angry that nothing else could be done. It was a well timed bit of advice. I needed a bean burrito, a good cry and a nap. The thing I'd forgotten in recent weeks is I'm supposed to be enjoying each day along with all of those other lofty plans. Things went a lot more smoothly after that.

Martinis in Munchkin Land

I love it when I go out with a totally wholesome activity in mind and end up in the middle of something decadent and potentially naughty. I set off to the Culver Farmer'sMarket with my usual list of items and my lists of items to browse for future purchase. This time, I had long-time bud, Marie Lecrivain with me. Marie is co-editrix of Sybaritic Press with me. She is also the founder and editor of Poetic Diversity, a notable and long running litzine. Marie is a sybarite, like myself. Thus I was not surprised that she managed to find some delightful treats I had overlooked during my many other visits. I knew there was a groovy mushroom booth called LA Funghi. They have truffle oil! And they had something really exotic called truffle salt. I'm waiting for information on what that's like to cook with. Many wholesome things were purchased. Okay, the rum infused, mini bundt cakes weren't exactly wholesome, but they were really yummy! From there, we went to the Culver Hotel  for a beverage. This is a historic hotel that once housed the actors who played the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz and was once owned by John Wayne. Thee were a half dozen pairs of ladies having tea from pretty ceramic pots and lovely treats on tiered trays. I was thinking of having something like that when our server announced that it was nearly happy hour. That meant that the Dirty Harry Martini I'd been eyeing on the menu would be half off. Decision made! We had a long, lovely chat while enjoying impeccable drinks and some delicious treats. The Month of Fun has begun! And I was very tickled that it began with Marie.

Updates

I will have a bunch next week!

Stay tuned!