Busy Editor, Grumpy Cat

Trish is very busy editing and composing edit-y letters and stuff.

Please, enjoy this picture of a disgruntled kitty in lieu of a blog post.

Happy Friday!

Christmas Week!

I baked nearly all my cookies last week… but I didn't finish or frost the ones that need to be frosted.

I still need to finish up my year end reviews for tutoring, too…

Oh, and I need to get back to the Spencer Hill Press Slush pile…

Needless to say, I'm behind on my plans from this post.  le sigh.

Also, outside of the Blizzard Hallowe'en, we haven't had any snow.  Not that I'm complaining (Dear Mother Earth, I am TOTALLY COOL with no snow!), but that means no cute winter snow pix of Calico.  I may be able to get a Santa hat picture of her tomorrow, but we'll see how behind I'm running to my lesson and how much light I've got.

So, you have some cute pix if the indoor animals. 

Now, I have to get back to that whole catch-up on work.

Happy… erm… Day After Halloween/Samhain!

I have the power!  And teh interwebz!

'Cos our Hallowe'en party was SNOWED OUT! by a freak Nor'easter that came in and knocked over a whole bunch more trees (because Irene and the May tornadoes didn't knock over enough).  We were about 36 hours without power… fortunately, AFTER the last of our brave guests left… after we moved the first few trees so poor, brave guests could leave.

So, um… Happy Hallowe'en from me and Scott! 

Zombie Tourist and Fairy Goth-Momma

Oh, and Nylis and I feel about the same about this stupid snow on Hallowe'en.  You can see some of the tree damage out the window behind her.

Not like we generally get trick-or-treaters down our dark, dead-end street… even if most suburban parents haven't been not taking kids out for actual neighborhood trick-or-treating for some years now… but really, with the ice, snow, and slush… we didn't even bother putting our light on. 

You couldn't see it through the snow-covered leaves anyway.

I'll stop bitching now.  Scott is threatening to eat my brains.  He did the gash, I did the make-up; further proof that we make a pretty damned good team.

It's NOVEMBER!  Which means NaNoWriMo!

Why am I writing a blog when my trickster novel could be getting written?

'Cos I love you.

Anyway: work update:

Despite no power or webz for an extended period of time, I still managed to shoot out four submissions for the Broad Universe Mailing Party.  Fingers crossed for acceptances!!

Now… onto novel writing madness.

Happy Hallowe'en, Samhain, All Souls, and All Saints Day!

Look! It's More Bits and Ends

Because, really, my life continues to only give me time in small increments to get stuff accomplished.

News & Writing stuff from Chez Wooldridge:

I'm proofing the galleys from UnCONventional, and they are awesome!  :)  Pre-Order now!    Trust me.

xx

We're gutting and remodeling the downstairs bathrooms.  No, I don't have pictures.  Why?  Because the H-of-A is grumpy and questioned the need for pictures, which was his subtle way of pointing out he didn't want pictures taken.  We've had three generous blood sacrifices during this event, which we hope will appease the gods and faeries and saints of contracting and remodeling… and perhaps even the matrons and patrons of pipe-freezing-prevention for this winter.

This, my friends, is why, while we do not have children, we have well-stocked first-aid cabinet shelves.  (Kits are too small and not comprehensive enough for our creative injuries.)

Anyway, will post pictures when it's done.

Of the bathroom, not the injuries.

In the meantime, today's picture is Nylis hiding from the chaos in the upstairs linen closet.

xx

Got to hang out with more friends that I haven't seen enough of today.  They brought their little girl (and themselves) for some Calico riding and loving.  Good times!

Also, fixed the horsey-withdrawal I was suffering for nearly two weeks being cooped up in the house waiting for people to fix my ability to earn friggen money!

xx

Speaking of horses, a fabulous Broad colleague, Sue Bolich, has started blogging on properly using equines in writing, too.  Check out her two posts here and here.  Very good reading!

xx

I had an extra special fun time covering this year's Rock & Shock in Worcester, so look for the article in Worcester Magazine this week! 

Also, stop by the New England Horror Writers table while you're at the convention! :)

I got to interview the director & producer & one of the actors of Inkubus, which is having a red-carpet premiere at the convention.  Wheee!!

xx

Now I have to go make 1600 words of avocado article sound fabulous.  :) Movie premieres, gutted bathrooms, horses, fiction galleys, and avocados.  Yup--that about sums up my life right now.

Interesting times!

Feeling Overwhelmed, Fur-Filled Friday

Guess what?  I'm still working on deadlines!

Please enjoy a cute tired kitty picture in lieu of a blog.

Thanks!

From Love, with Sushi

About 6 or 7 years ago, Scott and I made reservations at a fancy-schmancy restaurant in Milford (near where we were living at the time), and were sorely disappointed.  "We can do better than this!" we thought.

So we did.

We started making our own specialty dishes for Valentine's Day.  We'd do surf and turf, Chicken Cacciatore (the first meal Scott ever cooked for me in college), rack of lamb, and all sorts of cool stuff - none of which was disappointing because we researched and cooked each dish with care.

Some years ago, Food Network did a bunch of specials on how to make one's own sushi!  We were especially enamored with Alton Brown's lessons - all of which were downloadable to watch and re-watch.  Scott got even more instructional DVDs for us, and I got him an expensive sushi knife for the prior Christmas.

Sushi requires a lot of care and precision balanced with creativity and love of all aspects of food: the appearance, taste, smell, texture, and even sound. 

It was the perfect way to celebrate our own love.  :)

Since then, it's been our Valentine's Day tradition to spend hours making sushi together.  We make our own sticky rice (occasionally with mixed results, but still sushi-useable), we select a few sashimi*-grade cuts a few days before, a bunch of vegetables, and make sure we have enough nori (the black wrapper part that's really algae, not "seaweed" like most people say), and enough Asian condiments (usually not a problem in our house). 

This year we got tuna (ok, we always get tuna because it's Scott's favorite, and I love it - and he makes a DAMNED good spicy tuna mix!) and salmon, which I recently discovered to be one of my favorite sashimi fish.

The rice takes 45 minutes in the rice cooker, which is when we prepare the fish and vegetables.  Scott removed all of the uneven ends of the tuna and salmon so we had perfect rectangles to cut from.

Then he chopped both and made a spicy tuna mix (YUM!!) and a sesame-teriyaki salmon mix (YUM!!). 

Then he mandolined or sliced the vegetables as appropriate.

 

(I take sous chef position on sushi-making because he's rather protective of his sushi knife… and me when it comes to the mandolin.  I stirred, retrieved stuff, and moved stuff to plates.  I also made tea and miso soup.)

 After that, the rice needs to be cooled and mixed with vinegar, mirin, and other stuff to make it extra sticky.  (I'm not going into a lot of detail on this because we really just play around - and there are now plenty of other great resources on how to properly make sushi on the Internet.)

Once everything is ready to go, we start putting stuff together.  Since I wanted pictures for the blog, Scott put together some step by step photos of making nigiri - the simplest kind of sushi: a cut of fish on a "finger" of sticky rice with some wasabi between.

 

The other kinds of sushi we make are maki, which is the roll-up inside the nori.  We also do hand-rolls, where you make a cone of sushi.  And, once we are too tired and too full to make more, we do "scattered" sushi, which is "wipe out your miso soup bowls, throw in the rest of the rice, veggies, and chopped up fish; eat with chopsticks while watching television (Castle and Supernatural this year) and drinking wine.  (Normally sake, but dry Prosecco is also a good match for sushi, and we had leftover from breakfast's bellinis.) 

And, of course, any sushi day would be incomplete without cute pix of Nylis begging for fish.

Even with - nay, because of - all the steps, sushi-making is a great date.  You work together and share each other's creations… with a lot of laughter.  Do a little research and try a sushi date, yourself!  Maybe you'll find a new Valentine's Day tradition you both can enjoy.

* For non-foodie readers, "sashimi" is Japanese for the raw fish that can be eaten by itself or as part of sushi.  Sushi is the item of food mixing raw (and occasionally cooked) fish with raw (and occasionally steamed) vegetables and sticky rice. 

Pretty Snow Pictures

… because I'm still getting my sh*t together after Arisia.

Which, I have to say, was a fabulous convention - as I've always found it.  I was on an excellent choice of panels with brilliant panelists; the Broad Universe party was hopping; and I had some really fun roommates to pass the precious down time with!

And then I came home to 200+ new emails in my inbox, a text from my editor who did not receive the review I sent on Thursday, a sink of dishes (because I was running late in food prep the day we left) and five loads of laundry (because that's normal after a convention.)

Oh.  And a snowstorm.

So, here's adorable pictures of Calico and Nylis from the LAST blizzard that hit just before we left for Arisia.

We'll return to our regularly scheduled blog on Friday!

Dis here snow? It sux and gotta go.  Nao. kthxbai!

Can you stop taking pictures, Kim, and DO SOMETHING about this?

The Husband-of-Awesome wants to share the snowday fun with Nylis! Let's see what happens.

Face scratching must be attended to, no matter how deep the snow.

I hate you! I hate snow! I will destroy you all!

Knee deep in snow, I am STILL beautiful!

PS - Thank you Kim at Hillview Farm & Stables for the pictures of Calico!

Pets in Santa Hats!!

Much merriment to you - no matter what you celebrate!

Funny Furry Friday: Wild Kingdom Chateau Wooldridge

Welcome to this special edition of Wild Kingdom, where we'll explore wild animal habitats… a little closer to home.

This episode brings us to -- ------ Road in Auburn, Massachusetts.  A two-story colonial separated from surrounding suburbia by woods on four sides, cliffs on two.  As the human habitants, the Wooldridges, explain, the environment is a gathering place for many species.  A red-tail hawk regularly nests here.  A herd of deer frequently migrate through.  Turkeys, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Turkey Vultures, Barred Owls, Screech Owls all have been sighted. 

What makes this area so strange is the tameness of these wild creatures.  Most come within 10 or 20 feet of humans, unafraid.

Today, we'll look at one particular habitat and the curious behavior of the animals involved.

For the past 25 or more years, there has been an untouched pile of a hundred or so cinder blocks beneath sheets of plywood, sheetrock, and a truck cap.  The story about how it came to exist isn't important right now, because it's all about to be turned upside down.

Some history you do have to know is that the Wooldridge family added a companion predator to their pack approximately 4 years ago. 

It's a highly domesticated predator who, on record, has only managed to kill three field mice and a chipmunk - and although no autopsy was done, it's suspect that the animals were likely rather domestic and out of shape themselves.

Early (according to Mrs. Wooldridge who claims 11AM is early), visitors came to the Wooldridge residence to obtain cinder blocks for the construction of a stall for another companion, a horse, who lives off site.

Unbeknownst to the residents of the cinder block pile, their lives were about to change forever.

In a couple of hours of hefting and loading, the truck cap was moved, much of the wood taken, and then the cinder blocks started to disappear, too!

As the humans were moving these building materials, they uncovered several different members of the insect kingdom, and continued to find more and more evidence of field mouse nests and scat.  Upon reaching the cinder blocks, every third one had at least one hole full of mouse nest.  Every so often, the advancing humans would catch site of brown and grey bodies scurrying… and even staring right at them!

In all, a minimum of two or more dozen individuals were estimated as living in this maze of cinder block holes.  All demonstrated only minor fear of the creatures decimating their homes.  Most letting the humans come within inches, some even letting the humans "pet" them with gloved hands.  Unfortunately, we have no camera footage of these strange interactions, but here is a view of how much of their homeland was taken from them.

Close to 80% of the field mice's habitat was trucked away this day, leaving the remaining mice to make do with the few blocks left.

Or not.

The companion predator, known as Nylis, was introduced to what was left of the field mouse habitat to promote balance in a now over-populated area.  The humans did not want the mice to migrate into their domicile and wreak their own brand of havoc on the materials, food storage, and other things.

"Since she's not all that much of a hunter, I wasn't sure what she was going to do when she spotted the mice," says Mrs. Wooldridge.  "But once I put her on top of the pile of cinder blocks, she was all business… sort of."

"Sort of" is a good way to put it.  What happened next is an example of the strange, quite anti-Darwininan, behavior this environment promotes.

Within a matter of seconds, Nylis captured her the first field mouse of this population and, haphazardly carrying it in her mouth, brought it to the grass to inspect.  It died within moments.  The feline appeared confused, poking and sniffing the now still mouse.

Without a reaction from her prey, the feline returned to the blocks and within seconds had another mouse in her mouth.  This time, however, she was carrying it like a kitten, and she gently placed it on the grass.  From there, we watched quite the game of cat-and-mouse… only, with the cat letting the mouse escape into the woods every time. 

Even during the play, Nylis kept her claws withdrawn and no longer used her mouth.  Her bats were much more gentle than the strength demonstrated when she played with her humans - as if she now realized these creatures were delicate.

(Apologies again, for lack of photo proof.  All parties were laughing too hard to properly operate their electronic equipment.)

One might think that the mice would now know to run or flee, but the cat was still able to catch a mouse within seconds of returning to the cinder blocks - each one quite gently and like a kitten and none harmed again.

The humans watched this dance take place with three mice and then retired to the house to conduct business, letting the cat stay with the mouse population.  Something she appeared pleased to do.

Upon completion of the business, approximately half an hour later, the humans returned to the scene of destruction.  No more rodent cadavers were found, nor a hint of blood, but there were also no more mice scurrying around the blocks.

Well, almost no more mice.

It was agreed that this one looked so sad and pitiful that the humans moved the blocks so Nylis would not find him, but he could still go out.

With the rodents evicted in a direction away from the human domicile, all retreated to the two-story colonial and Nylis was given a bowl full of snacks in hopes she might have a positive affirmation that she continue to evict field mice from the human territory.

While such a behavioral show might seem anti-Darwinian, recall that these mice have had that relatively safe habitat - hard to get to by the mostly avian predators of the area - for what could be close to a hundred generations of mice.  And in such close quarters, inbreeding is sure to occur.  Although the local predator only killed one, these animals will now fend for themselves among the other habitants of the human neighborhood - such as other cats, dogs, and now the avian predators.  The cat, being domestic and sharing a domicile with a prey animal - a 10-year-old rabbit - has learned that actual hurting of prey animals normally results in punishment, so her adaptability to the environment also shows. 

(That, and she has been altered so she cannot reproduce, anyway.)

We hope you've enjoyed this close-to-home safari into a Not-So-Wild Kingdom.  Remember, you can find life or death drama and appreciate the world around you… just by paying attention in your own back yard.

Thank you for joining us!

Working for yourself…

Dear Hooman, WTF?!

… is that constant, "I gotta get this done" mixed with the entire purpose of wanting to work from home or work for yourself: Freedom!

I don't wanna be chained to the desk or a schedule. 

I like that fact that I can shoot out to go visit a friend who, well, likely needs a friend.  Or I can escape to a wonderful artist studio to get some writing done.  Or I can write while eating a delicious lunch.  Or that I can make my schedule around playing with my horse.

But… I still have work to do.

When I'm sick, I can - in theory - take some time off.

But… no one else will do the work.

It's a constant mental struggle sometimes.  I have a strong work ethic.  (Thanks, Mom! :) )  I also know the value of being true to one's physical, mental, and spiritual needs.

Like not signing on right away on a Sunday after playing with friends and your horse because the kitty just looks so cute in this nifty bow that came from a gift basket you won at the latest horse rescue fundraiser…

I iz soooo impressd wit these ribbons and pumpkin. Can't U tell?

… besides that, as I think I've mentioned, I've been going straight for the past few weeks.  Saturday I finally got my "crash and burn" day and slept in until about 3PM before shambling downstairs for H-of-A's pumpkin waffles and then going out to dinner (ok, that "counts" as work as it was a review) and then seeing a movie (back to my Day of Rest).

I totally needed it.  I was getting cranky as well as sick.

Can't U C I'z trying to sleep?  GTFO of mai face with dat camera!

In any case, this week is….. HALLOWEEN! 

Samhain for many of my friends. 

Also coolness for this week:

A'ight. Wuz kyoot 4 u.  Food nao!!

Voltaire!!  Who I actually wrote a blog about a while ago because he's a great inspiration to me as an artist/writer/make-$-by-doing-what-I-love kinda person. He'll be HERE in Worcester!!  I'm so psyched!

And THEN, also coolness, I will be on the RADIO!  :)  Dr.Chris, who I met at Rock and Shock the last weekend ago, invited me, my H-of-A, and other cool horror-y writers and other folk to be on his radio show on Halloween!  So, if you are local, it's WCUW or hop online at www.wcuw.org and stream us from 8PM until midnight (Eastern Time) on Halloween!

Now, as for that whole freedom thing?  Yeah, announcements made:  I'm going to bed!

Happy Halloween & Blessed Samhain!

Writing Today

It's 4AM - about 24 hours after I'd've normally posted.

I had most of a blog post done.  Didn't finish it.

Aimee had a blog post similar to my sentiments here.

This is how I feel about writing a blog post right now.

And this.

And if I had a picture of Calico rolling in the mud and not wanting to do anything, I'd post that to.

Enjoy the cute fuzzies in lieu of coherent writing.

The Writer's Furry Muse

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 When we did the Great Broad Blog Out back in April, Jaleta Clegg moved that "all writers of science fiction/fantasy have cats." (Or something to that effect.) In any case, while there are exceptions - like Tracy and her adorable pups - I am among those writers with cats.

And my darling kitty derailed my intended "Importance of Thank You" blog post.

So, I hope to distract you with appropriately adorable kitty pictures.

You see, she's sick. :(

She's got a urinary tract infection, and tomorrow I get to gather the urine in her litter box and take it for tests to make sure there's no crystallization.

I'm really hoping there's not, because the doctor wanted me to start her on a whole new diet today.

While she loved the taste of the new food, it didn't like her, so I* spent a good part of my evening cleaning kitty puke.

I* also spent another good part attempting to give her antibiotics.

Which she puked up.

So, I* attempted to find a harmony in her "Nobody loves me/Leave me the F@$k Alone" sulk… with little success.

In any case, as most writers know, our beloved animals are our muses - but they can also tear us away from our work, leaving us stressed and hardly able to string words together.

So, please send good wishes to Nylis.

And Loki… who, while not immediately sick, is old and says he still needs love and good wishes.

And Jonah - my good friend TokyoWriter's pup - who just passed away today.

Thank you!

*should read "I and Husband-of-Awesome"