| she has fancy clothes and diamond rings |
[28 Nov 2009|08:04pm] |
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music |
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baby, if you wanna be wild, you got a lot to learn |
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The uploading continues apace. I am almost ready to stop for the evening and maybe try to write. Or something. I miss writing. It's been days since I did any. Sigh.
I was uploading a lot of the codas I wrote in season 2, when I was still in the first flush of fandom love, and wow, season 2 was good for codas. I think I wrote at least one (sometimes more than one) for almost every episode. I miss that, too.
*
Tonight for dinner I made a roast loin of pork. It was very tasty. I combined garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and basil in about a tablespoon of olive oil (for easy spreading), along with a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar and a large splash of vanilla (for years, I wouldn't tell my mother about the brown sugar and vanilla, and she couldn't replicate the taste. Heh.). Rub that on, top with a few pats of butter, and then cook until the internal temperature is 160°F. It was very tasty and juicy and good.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100853.html.  people have commented there.
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| Don't eat while reading this. Eeesh. |
[28 Nov 2009|12:52pm] |
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mood |
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music |
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Treasure Planet DVD |
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By the way, hearkening back to my earlier post--this doesn't spoil anything, since you can see on the Yuletide list of requested fandoms that no one asked for it--I did not get assigned to write for Richard Adams's The Plague Dogs. I decided, when I accidentally included it in the list, that rather than redo my list I'd just go read the book once and for all, even before the assignments came out, so I got it from the library.
I got through Ulysses easier than this. This is...guys, I have written some interesting metaphors myself in my time, some of them admittedly more purple than should be seen outside of crackfic, but this takes them all:
...Rowf's rump slid suddenly forward as smoothly as a turd from a healthy anus...
I can't even facepalm. It's too squicky.
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| backpage news down in the neighborhood |
[27 Nov 2009|11:40pm] |
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mood |
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music |
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Boom Boom Boom - the Iguanas |
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I don't really care about so much about the plots on White Collar. They just keep giving me tasty OT3 stuff and I'm content.
I've spent most of the day uploading stuff to the AO3. It allows me to feel productive when I can't write. I have too many goddamn stories, though. ![[info - personal]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) angelgazing pointed out that I will never be done uploading because I write faster than I upload. Though possibly this is no longer the case. I don't know. I have been having my usual late autumn/early winter problems getting motivated. Since the archive takes so long to upload, I am also rereading some favorite stories (I don't have to pay as close attention to rereads - I can skim and skip and be interrupted without losing anything, 'cause I've already read them before). I keep getting errors, unfortunately, which is slowing things down even more.
Technology is not my friend.
I know lots of people are excited by tagging their stories in all sorts of ways, but I am doing what I find useful and that's it. As long as I get the characters/pairing on there, and maybe if it's a casefile or an episode tag, that's about the extent of my interest. Maybe if I upload my HP stuff, I'll split the Remus/Sirius out by era, like I have it in my tags on LJ, but mostly I don't care about the tags. *hides*
Also, I wish there were a place in the profile to link to a warnings policy, and that that link could just automatically be included on every story. Because I am just using the "No Primary Warnings Apply" which isn't the same as "no warnings needed" but 99% of my stuff is "no warnings needed" and I'd like to be able to say that somewhere, since it isn't a choice on the warnings field. I guess I could make it a tag, but I never think of it. I wish it were automatic.
Hmm...
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100505.html.  people have commented there.
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| PSA |
[27 Nov 2009|10:11am] |
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Lee, Keith, and Lewis - Maria, Maria |
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... yeah, for those who, like me, have been squinting suspiciously at the Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody and delaying playing it until it trips them up?
Watch it. It sure brightens things up!
Also, TGIFF.
<3
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| Ficlet: "The Needs of the Revolted" (Sarek/OFC, NC17) |
[26 Nov 2009|10:56pm] |
Title: The Needs of the Revolted
Pairing: Sarek/OFC
Rating: NC17
Words: ~800
Warning: dubious consent
Summary: The kink meme prompt was for Sarek to get tired of his people talking smack about Amanda and Vulcanishly telling them to stick it. However, as it was on the kink meme, there is sex.
A/N: I have fooled with this a bit more (largely for clarity) since posting it over there last night while I was taking a break from the more substantial fic that is currently taunting me.
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| he's done it with just one hand most of the time |
[26 Nov 2009|10:24pm] |
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Giants v. Broncos on tv |
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Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating! Happy Thursday to those who are not. I hope everyone had a lovely day, regardless.
My day began with BACON and PIE and ended with FOOTBALL and PIE, and in between there was stuffing and homemade cheese macaroni and turkey that was actually moist and tasty (!!), and more family shenanigans than you could shake a stick at. My brother was in rare form tonight, and basically had the whole table in stitches for most of the meal. Mostly at my expense, but eh, that's not new. and unfortunately, the Giants are capping off the day by sucking like unto a hoover, but I am too full and sleepy to care too much.
I am thankful for my family, my friends - including you guys - my health, and my job. Man, a year ago at this time, I was a week away from being laid off. I'm still a little freaked out by how that went, still anxious and lacking in confidence sometimes, but I'm so glad I found a new job quickly, and one that I mostly like, for people and an organization that I like. (I'm also grateful that I have tomorrow off and I don't have to use a day - it's one of our holidays. Mmm...sleeping in...) I'm grateful I have health insurance and can pay my rent and that I have an apartment I love.
I'm thankful for fandom, not just because of all the great stories to read and the feeling of having people who get my excitement about various shows and characters, but because of all the great people I've met and become friends with, who've made my life richer and better and more fun all around.
*hugs*
And also, I am thankful for PIE, and I would share some with you all if I could.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100175.html.  people have commented there.
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| Dear My Fingers: |
[26 Nov 2009|07:10pm] |
I appreciate your industrious hacking away at the (somewhat-past-)due fic, but some of these errors of logic and departures from expectation as you go along are a bit ridiculous.
For instance, "building" and "bukkake" (of which there is none expected in this fic) are really quite not at all the same thing, and are not interchangeable.
Pls to type what (and only what) the brain says now.
Thx,
Me.
I originally posted this at http://florahart.dreamwidth.org/1005362.html. Comments may be left here or there; you can comment there with OpenID even if you don't have an account.
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| Also, being by myself, I got to watch anything I wanted on tv, not football. Anime yaoi, ho! |
[26 Nov 2009|10:07pm] |
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hikaru no go, ep 70 |
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I had to work part of the holiday, so I just counted the time I did have off as a good thing, and took it easy rather than make plans with others. I did make time to make a yummy dinner for myself from scratch:
Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes in dijon-riesling-cream sauce
Sesame noodles
Spicy peanut butter soup
Tart green salad with proscuitto and asiago and warm balsamic dressing
Warm butterscotch-maple pudding
I love mixing cuisines.
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[26 Nov 2009|05:06pm] |
New season of QI starts tonight! Stephen Fry's looking fit, isn't he? Well done him.
I didn't make pie today, the turkey kind of wore me down, but I was a CLEVER LAD and bought a pint of ice cream when I last bought groceries, then HID IT behind something in the freezer. And just rediscovered it, so. QUITE INTERESTING AND ICE CREAM.
And then I will sleep forever.
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[26 Nov 2009|02:30pm] |
THAT
WAS AMAZING.
OH YES IT WAS.
You can see a couple of things -- one, NOTHING ON THE PLATE IS TOUCHING. Mock me not, I was a picky child.
Two, the herb rub is a little visible on the done turkey and definitely visible on the plated turkey. It's delicious -- like a light relish. It does make the skin more moist, though, so you don't get that lovely crackly skin.
Three, the fried stuffing was awesome -- I definitely recommend adding walnuts -- but I need a fryer basket, as one of those is visibly mangled. Still ate well.
Thee A, well, there's no sauce for the turkey. I didn't think to make gravy and if it had come out dry I would have just put a bit of bbq sauce on it, but it was so moist it totally didn't need any. It just about fell apart in my fingers, very much like properly smoked turkey will. I didn't even bother with cutlery. Because FOOD GOOD.
On the other hand, I cooked an eight pound bird and now have seven and a half pounds remaining. I've stripped off what I could -- I'm waiting for it to cool before stripping the rest -- but seriously I'm going to be eating turkey for the rest of my life.
Or until R gets back on Sunday.
I DECLARE MYSELF KING OF THANKSGIVING.
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[26 Nov 2009|12:14pm] |
The turkey is in the oven!
I have thoroughly violated it. I washed it in cold water, rubbed herb paste under its skin, shoved apples and onions up its arse, laid it out on a rack, and oiled it all over before pushing a probe thermometer into its breast.
This is either going to be awesome or totally inedible. If the latter, well, it was art while it lasted, and I have the delivery number of an open-on-Thanksgiving sushi place.
( Aromatics and Herb Rub )
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[26 Nov 2009|10:51am] |
I had potato oyaki for breakfast! Which...I did not photograph, first my hands were starchy and then I was too busy eating them. It's a bit like eating a hand-held shepherd's pie.
I got the original recipe here, but I rewrote it slightly as I do most of my recipes and I want it archived here anyway.
( Potato Oyaki )
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[26 Nov 2009|08:54am] |
On this day, citizens of the United States gather to give thanks for turkey, for the Blues, for the sanity to stay home on Black Friday, and for our foreign neighbours, who peer curiously and a little indulgently at us from across the borders. Today I'm making Tarte aux pommes et beurre de cacahuète à la Chicago, though I'm only calling it that to tease ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) la_rainette, who objected strongly to French and Peanut Butter ever mixing. :D
I am still thankful, but I am also thankful for a job I like, a boss I like who likes me, my beloved Bigger On The Inside flat, a gas cooking range, an electric blanket that works, public transit, my family, my family being several states away, and this FIVE DAY WEEKEND OH YEAH.
In the way of attempting to cause a Thanksgiving Miracle: violetisblue contacted me yesterday (sorry this post is late, Violet!) about adopting an ITTY BITTY TORTIE KITTY. I'm not financially in the position to adopt a cat right now, plus R's allergic, so I thought I'd put out a call on the cafe.
Is there anyone in the Chicago or Northern Indiana area who is looking for a cat? She's two years old, spayed, feline leukemia negative, all her shots, no behavioural problems. Her foster mum says the shelters in their area are full and she can't keep her because her own cat has problems; she's willing to deliver her to someone who's reasonably local to the area. If you're interested, get in touch with her at violetaugustine at gmail.com. Suggestions for no-kill shelters that will take cats from across county lines are also appreciated.
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
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| Hah. |
[26 Nov 2009|02:35pm] |
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Frank Sinatra - It Had To Be You |
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For a bit o' crack: here.
Also, ugh, so tired. I can't really cook up the will to want things.
This, too, shall pass.
Also, happy Thanksgiving day to alllll my friends over there. Have a good family/turkey/what-have-you day. And, yes, I'm very, very thankful for my friends. Always.
Also, totally did not need loud muses moving in right now. Not that I'm not enjoying them, but damn, I have work enough to do. Still, I'm almost at 45K with NaNo, and will likely break 50K tomorrow night at some point. Pretty much on time. Will probably take 3-4K more to finish the outline, and I will, too, because I really really want to write those last two chapters/pieces.
/random
<3
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[25 Nov 2009|09:48pm] |
It's remarkably hard to mash potatoes without a potato masher. I keep flashing back to the Potato Ricer scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "How can you not have a potato ricer? What IS a potato ricer?" "We will just use a fork, like the pilgrims did."
Anyway, the turkey is brining (the brine is very green. I worry this is going to be a repeat of the curry-marinated Neon Chicken incident) and the stuffing is chilling in balls, waiting to be fried on the morrow. The oyaki dough is cooling in a tupperware on the counter. R is safely off to play Blues all night and then drive home for Thanksgiving at 3 in the morning. I have Hot Fuzz and To Catch A Thief and The Thomas Crown Affair (the original AND the remake) on DVD.
LET THE GIVING OF THANKS AND VIEWING OF COPS AND ROBBERS FLICKS BE FORETOLD.
As florahart reminded me, of the many things I am thankful for this year, health insurance is very near the top of the list. If I could, I would put you all on my plan.
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| mama, put my guns in the ground |
[25 Nov 2009|10:41pm] |
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mood |
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lethargic |
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music |
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Knockin' On Heaven's Door - G'n'R |
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Criminal Minds
( spoilers )
***
Maybe I will try to write. I would like to post one more story this month, if possible, before I buckle down on yuletide and broken toys.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100016.html.  people have commented there.
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[25 Nov 2009|08:46pm] |
R came over tonight. It was a very literary night!
R: So, I'm doing gigs with [That girl who once bought us hamburgers] in Boys Town like, last week and two weeks in December.
Sam: Are you becoming a star?
R: Yesterday I was walking down Belmont and two guys stopped me and said they loved seeing me play.
Sam: You're the toast of the gayborhood.
R: You know who loves me? Gay guys and bluesmen.
Sam: Catchy title for a book.
[one pizza later]
R: If I had five hundred dollars I would throw a HUGE party. We'd have a DJ. And gumbo. I'd get a soupiere to come in.
Sam: A soupiere?
R: Like a soup chef.
Sam: Seriously?
R: It's gumbo, man. I have to take it seriously.
Sam: With soupieres.
R: Yeah. For bisques and such. Hey, that's a catchy title. You gotta write a book called Bisques And Such.
So apparently I'm writing a book called Bisques And Such.
I suspect lobstermen will be involved.
I'm pretty sure soupiere is not a word for a soup chef. But only pretty sure.
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[25 Nov 2009|01:17pm] |
It might look like a bowl of pond algae to you...
...but to me it's a delicious brine for tomorrow's turkey!
For an 8-pound bird (multiply as appropriate, but my bird's 8 pounds):
8 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
3/4 teaspoons allspice berries
3/4 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
(For those last two, I substituted a little powdered ginger and a few cloves)
8 cups heavily iced water
Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
To brine the bird, combine the cooled brine and ice water and place the thawed bird in the brine. Soak overnight o for at least 6 hours in a cool place. Rinse, pat dry, and rub with oil before roasting.
(I am also putting an herb rub on the turkey, under the skin, the recipe for which I will post when I make it :D).
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| some days, there's nothing left to learn |
[25 Nov 2009|11:55am] |
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i saved the world today - eurythmics |
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So I have this thing where I reverse numbers all the time, e.g., I usually have to redial new to me phone numbers two or three times because I switch the order of the numbers, etc.
NOTE TO SELF: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DYSLEXIC WITH ROMAN NUMERALS!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/99809.html.  people have commented there.
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[25 Nov 2009|09:22am] |
The starting pistol for the COOKING MARATHON has been fired. First out of the gate is: HOT CHOCOLATE ON A STICK.
Original recipe here, but it's very talky, so I condensed it:
Hot Chocolate On A Stick
8 oz. chocolate, preferably high cocoa-fat, like 70%. I didn't have that, so I tempered chocolate chips with a lot of butter.
1/4 cup cocoa (not hot cocoa mix, but baking cocoa, the powdered kind)
1/2 cup confectioner’s/powdered/icing sugar
pinch of salt
Melt chocolate over a double boiler (tempering if necessary). I never bother using a double boiler, I just melt the butter in the pan, turn off the heat, stir in the chocolate, and if necessary use low heat to get it fully melted.
Add cocoa, sugar, and salt and continue to stir until combined. It should be the texture of frosting. Pour chocolate into a ziplock bag and clip off the corner. Pipe the chocolate into your chocolate mold. In my case, it's an AWESOME IKEA ICE TRAY. Add a stir stick, which should stay upright with no trouble (I did some of mine tilty just for laughs). Place in fridge to firm up.
To use, heat milk or cream in a saucepan, pour into cups, and place one stir-stick in each cup. Stir until melted. OM NOM.
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