So I'm declaring a short holiday: Daily Pie will be daily again starting next Monday, October 4.
Hope you all have an error-message-free weekend!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Impromptu Holiday
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Om.
I recently set several fitness / wellness goals for the next year. Among them:
- run 4 times / week
- practice yoga 3 times / week
- swim 1-2 times / week
- begin practicing meditation
I was on track with everything but the meditation, so yesterday I looked around iTunes for related podcasts. I found...many. I'm a beginner, so I want guided sessions. So far, I've checked out...
Meditation Oasis
Episode: Mini Break for Work or Study (9:07)
Good for physical relaxation, though if I were pulling an all-nighter, it might put me to sleep.
Meditation Station
Episode: Evening Inventory (11:45)
Asks you to review your day for instances when you felt or exhibited resentment, fear, dishonesty, or selfishness. Although I can appreciate this exercise, I'm looking for a sequence to help me empty my thoughts, not create more thoughts. I might do this one once a week.
After writing today, I'll try this one:
Learn to Meditate
Episode: Class 1 - Meditation for Beginners (18:56)
Do you meditate? Do you use a guide or go it alone? Where do you practice? What sorts of benefits do you notice from your practice?
Friday, September 24, 2010
Looking for a Good Bread Starter
I know from working in a bakery that used starter (kept in a big bin and refreshed by the other baker's assistant -- the one with longer arms and less hair) that the mixture develops in complexity as it matures. It went into all of the French and Italian loaves we made, and with patient proofing and baking, the result was delicious. The loaves also had chewy crumb and gorgeous, crispy crust.
I'm looking to make the same sorts of loaves at home. We'll be getting a large pizza stone or brick insert soon. In the meantime, I need to start the starter. Which means I need to find one that works well in our climate (and in our house, which is rarely cooled or heated).
To help, I'm using Peter Reinhart's CRUST AND CRUMB and Daniel Wing's THE BREAD BUILDERS. I'm looking for a starter that will produce old-world, bubbly-crusted loaves. So, not the ubiquitous American friendship bread starter. It's too sweet for what I want, and tends to produce pasty-white bread. I've read that I can start a mixture by scraping the dusty coating from grape skins, so I'll probably try that, among other formulas.I hope to have some great loaves to share with you, if only in words and photos.
What about you? Bake your own bread? Do you prefer yeast or quick breads? What's your favorite?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
National Tour Begins Today
So Dave and Magik have collaborated again for a national theatre tour. This year, they offer two shows in the same truck: Pocahontas: A New American Musical (book and lyrics by Dave, music by Jaime Ramirez) and Alice & Wonderland: A Rock Opera (lyrics by Richard Rosen, music by Wink Kelso).
Here's a shot of the Alice set in preview. Each of the giant cards is a big A-frame with a ladder on the back, so the actors can climb it:
And a few shots from the Pocahontas opening in Houston this morning...
Load-in and warmup:
The show from the booth:
And curtain call:
My morning excitement was a trip to get an actress some cough syrup.
On the back of the Tech Director's Harley.
Without a helmet.
Don't do as I do, kids. :)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
3 Great Uses for Audiobooks
One obvious, two not as much so...
To Pass Time on Long Drives / Shifts
The obvious one, and how I suspect most people use audiobooks. After college, I moved to Colorado. I still drove home at Thanksgiving and Christmas, in one glorious 22-hour shot each time. In my arsenal of things to keep me awake and alert were audiobooks, which at that time meant cassettes borrowed from the library or bought at truck stops. Stephen King's short story collections have a whole new effect at 3 a.m. on I-70. Later, when I had a graveyard-shift solo baking job, I listened to audiobooks to lessen the monotony of making 300+ loaves of bread every night. Listened to Barbara Tuchman's A DISTANT MIRROR then.
To Lure You to Exercise
Doing this one now. The temps here are dropping, so walking part of my commute is non-horrible again. To keep myself from being lazy and just scooting the whole way in, I bought ENDER'S GAME to listen as I walk. It's the only time I let myself listen, so if I want to know what happens next, I have to walk to work. This one's pulling double duty, too, since ENDER'S GAME is part of my Jack of All Genres reading challenge. I bought a paper copy to give to the library, as promised, but Dave's cousin Lois recommended the audiobook, so I'm using it to experience the story. It's really well done.
To Let Someone Else Do the Heavy Lifting
Let's face it: sometimes a book is daunting. It has a huge cast of characters. Or unusual place names. Or gigantic, unbroken paragraphs. Or takes its sweet time on the pacing. But you've heard it's amazing, and you don't want to be the only clod you know who hasn't read it. LIFE OF PI wasn't daunting to me when I bought the audiobook. But I think it would have been if I'd tried the paper or E version first. I mean, that awesome cover with a boy and a tiger in a boat? It takes...a while...for the story to get there. I don't know if I'd have stuck it out without a great voice actor to lead me there.
How about you? Do you use audiobooks? If so, why do you like them? If not, why don't they appeal?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Flash Fiction: Runner
I attended our SCBWI chapter's Editor Day on Saturday, where author and poet Carmen Tafolla gave a writing workshop. After leading us, our eyes closed, down a long road to a lone house, she told us to open our eyes and start writing in a child's voice, without judgement. We had five or ten minutes, after which she led us through a few revision steps.* Finished product:
The grass is high.
It waves above me and tickles my cheeks as I walk through it. I call for my dog because he's running ahead of me toward the house, the one I'm not supposed to go to, with Runner or without him. A woman lives there, and a man too, but we only ever hear him shouting from a room upstairs. When he does that, which is every time, the woman stops asking about Mama and hands me the money. Pats my head as she pushes me out the door. Sometimes, as we walk away, or I walk and Runner runs, we hear her yell back at the man.
I don't know what she does with the seeds I bring, but she always has more coins for me a week later, when I sneak away with Runner and walk through the tall grass again.
* I cut one sentence and named the dog.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Blog Chain: Your Legacy
Hey, I get to begin the chain this round.
Power! POWER!!!
Imagine this: when you're gone, readers will remember your writing most for just one of these things: your characters, your plots, your settings, or your style. Which one (only one!) would you prefer over the rest? Why?
Me? Settings.
I remember my favorite books not because I identified with a character, or thought the story was original, or reveled in the language (though some offered those things, too). I remember them because I got lost in them. Could smell the smoke or taste the bread. Hear the cartwheels or feel the moss underfoot. See the massive wall of ice keeping the monsters at bay.
That's what I want to give my readers. If I manage the other things too, cool, but I want my readers to fall into worlds that engage every sense. And I want those readers to have a little trouble finding their way back.
In fact, I kinda want them to throw away the map.
Be sure to visit Kate tomorrow to find out what her preferred legacy would be.
Friday, September 17, 2010
New Cooking Goals
This week I began working on goals for the coming months and next year. More on how I'm doing that in a future post. But one area I chose to focus on is cooking. So far, I have three goals:
- have fun creating menus
- eat at home more often
- host friends for meals
The way I see it, my taking on a greater cooking role in the house has several benefits:
- Dave gets a break
- we save money on meals out
- I gain useful skills
- I use skills I already have (hello, baking!)
- I have another creative outlet
- I can nurture my friends with food
I started by cleaning out our kitchen cabinets. I have to enjoy a kitchen space to spend time in it, so I pulled everything out, scrubbed the shelves, got rid of a bunch of pans, etc, we don't use, and put the rest back. I don't have Before pics to share, so After pics are useless to you. But this pic is part of the next step:
Our cookbook shelves. Now that the kitchen's in shape, I can get down to choosing what I want to make. I'll cover some of these books in future posts, but they include a big collection of Hermes House books themed by cuisine or ingredient, three Fine Cooking annuals, a few professional books, and a lot of baking books (the top shelf).
Also at my disposal: a pile of magazines, including Cuisine at Home, this year's Fine Cooking issues, and Bon Appétit:
My first efforts will come from Fine Cooking Annual #1: sautéed tilapia over Swiss chard with tarragon butter, and brown rice salad with basil and pistachios.
Once the weather cools down, I want to have friends over on a regular basis for soup and fresh bread -- a meal I love and one that's easy to share (and add to, if they want to bring their own dishes).
Do you cook? Because you want to? What techniques or cuisines would you want to learn how to cook? Do you already specialize in something?
Thursday, September 16, 2010
6 Years Ago Today: New Zealand
We woke up at a DoC campground at Matai Bay.
We packed our van, and headed south to Matauri Bay and the nearby memorial for the Rainbow Warrior.
Ate fish and chips at local favorite Highway 10 Seafood in Kerikeri.
Saw this awesome public toilet in Kawakawa.
A full day. Funny to look back on it.
How often do you look back at your travel pics? What jumps out?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Back in the Swim
In early 2007, I started teaching myself how to swim. Ah, memories.
In April 2008, everything finally gelled.
Then we quit our gym.
But I missed swimming. Last week, I decided to check out our Parks and Rec department's natatorium. It had just what I wanted: a dedicated lap pool with adult-only lap-swim hours. Bonuses included the clean locker room, warm showers, and friendly receptionist who gave me an extra day on my multipass.
So far I've been twice, trying to figure out when the lanes are least crowded (today I shared one with a nice older fella named Raul). My aerobic capacity's way down, but improving already (300m on Friday before total coordination fail; 1000m today).
Why now? Two reasons: (1) I don't want to lose the skills I worked so hard to gain, and (2) it's a great zero-gravity workout between running days. Again, there are bonuses: stronger arms, additional aerobic work, and a convenient location.
Do you swim? Do you do it for fitness, training, relaxation, or all of those? Is your swimming seasonal? What's your favorite stroke? Your favorite drill?
Some inspiration for you: Dara Torres (source):
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Poll: Your Most Anticipated Book, Q4 2010
For many of us, MOCKINGJAY was our most anticipated book of the year.
But now that it's out, and most of us who were dying for it have read it, I'm wondering:
What book's release do you most look forward to between now and the end of 2010? Why does it look/sound amazing? Is it yours? Share in the comments!
(For me, it's Brenna Yovanoff's THE REPLACEMENT. Cool concept, fantastic cover.)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Blog Chain: Genre Spazz
How did you come to write your YA genre? If you weren't writing that, what genre would you be interested in exploring?
The novel I signed my agent for is an old-school, fairy tale-influenced, middle-grade fantasy. I didn't have a long, broad history of reading fantasy. But fantasy is what this particular story required, so I dove in. The learning curve has been more of a sine wave, what with getting a grip on world-building, but I think it's making me a better writer and preparing me for...
...the many and several other genres I want to write. As a reader, I'm partial to historicals and horror, so both of those are on my list. But so are science fiction and western. Projects in various phases of their life cycles include several historical YAs (1780s, 1890s, 1930s) and a more contemporary YA horror. I'd like to cross genres, too -- do a historical sci fi or a western horror. I'm peering at some MG ideas to see if they look viable: maybe a series set sometime in (or spanning) the period from 400 to 1500 CE, probably in Eurasia. I'd like to play with media, too, and try my hand at a graphic novel (just the story -- I'm no visual artist).
Be sure to check out Cole's answer from yesterday, then visit Kate tomorrow for her post.
In the meantime, I'm curious: do the genres you write tend to coincide with those you read?
Central Market's Hatch Chile Recipe Contest
So I baked my chile-chocolate-cherry bread (as bread and muffins) Saturday morning, put them on a platter, and headed to Central Market.
Hey, cool name card! (Which I forgot to snag afterward, doh.)
Here was our panel of judges, who represented print media, TV media, Central Market's food departments, and maybe some restaurateurs thrown in. They're like, "Bring it on!"
Our dishes were served Iron Chef-style, with each of us giving backstory and recipe info as the judges were served. Thankfully, they didn't berate us publicly for our choices, à la Iron Chef. Instead, they silently scored each dish using several criteria, including flavor, aroma, use of Hatch chiles, and presentation.
Why-oh-why didn't I ask about the criteria when Central Market called? I fell short on presentation. But it's okay because we were "all winners." Heh-heh. First, the presenter handed out 5 honorable mentions. Right before number 5, she said, "This was really close," and several judges nodded. Then she called my name. Central Market gift card - WOOT! (We totally need milk, and I had a shiny $20 card to get it, but forgot to before leaving the store. Sharp as a tack, am I.)
Next was 3rd Place, which was for Bacon-Lettuce-Hatch Toasted Sandwiches and Creamy Hatch-Tomato Bisque (bisque below)...
2nd Place (short of 1st by one-tenth of a point!) were these pretty Hatch Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream (the reason I served only my bread to the judges, not my poor, nekkid muffins!)...
And 1st went to this elegant Hatch Avocado Ice Cream (love the martini-glass presentation and lime zest garnish)...
And here's Adele, the mastermind of the awesome ice cream, in her winner's chef hat (complete with chiles)...
Congrats, Adele!
Fun. I'd totally do it again. What am I saying? I'm gonna do it again to see if I can crack the top 3. :) Gotta come up with something yummy that has great presentation potential. Putting on my thinking goggles...
Thursday, September 9, 2010
East to West on a Thursday
Two places I traveled to today, virtually...
Did you travel anywhere today, physically or virtually?
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Happy 1st Birthday, Tonka Truck!
I know. You can walk, and you can (sort of) talk, and you're funny and a total flirt.
Yet they still won't share their chips and queso.
It gets better, little dude. (Hint: sprout some more teeth.) xoxo
10-Week Training Plan: Pounced On
And Runner's World is totally enabling my efforts. I'm using the 10-week training plan published with this article in the August 2010 issue.
Yesterday was the first running day on the plan. The same day Hurricane Hermine hit Texas and became tropical storm Hermine. Record rainfall in San Antonio, closing roads and filling the Olmos Basin. Gusts of wind upward of 60 mph. Trees down. Livestock swept away.
Did I let these things stop me? Or the bit of soreness in my right foot? Or the possible bladder infection* that drove me to the bathroom every 15 minutes? WHATEVER! I had a training plan to start and girly Garmin bling to test. So I waited for a break in the deluge, chugged more cranberry juice, shoed up, and took off.
And it was pretty good. I haven't run in about 6 weeks, so I was slower than the plan suggested (I maintained pace for 2 miles, then slacked a bit for the remainder). I got several side stitches, a minor foot cramp, and some tightness around one knee, but nothing debilitating so I powered through for 3.75 miles, then let myself walk to cool down. I have a bit of thigh and hip flexor soreness today from lack of use. The plantar fasciitis seems fine (did the run help?). Hamstrings are crazy tight, but that's left over from weeding on Monday (o, the laments of the elderly).
So...success, so far. Also awesome so far: the Garmin. I uploaded my run to GarminConnect and, dude. One word: GRAPHS. Pretty, pretty graphs. I swear I'm gonna keep running just to make more graphs.
Next run: tomorrow, a 5-mile tempo run with 3 miles at 8:54.
How are you guys doing with your fitness goals?
*Powered through this, too. And it only took 4 quarts of cranberry juice, 2 quarts of Gatorade, and about 45 pee breaks. BAM.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
2010 in Books, So Far
I've been tearing through books lately (quickly for me, anyway), so I checked my GoodReads to see how they've broken down this year. By the numbers...
F / NF
18 = fiction
4 = nonfiction
Market
12 = adult
8 = young adult
2 = middle grade
Platform
11 = digital
10 = paper
1 = audio
Author Sex
14 = male
8 = female
Genre / Subject
9 = fantasy
3 = memoir (all graphic novels)
3 = crime thriller (guess the trilogy?)
2 = literary
2 = romance
1 = contemporary
1 = cooking
1 = western
Biggest shocker: no straight-up historicals. Weird for me. I crave them.
I'll do a more extensive breakdown after year's end.
Do you ever get statistical on your read list? Do your stats surprise you?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Cut the Fat, Add Some Back
That's how I've approached my current revision. Based on editorial feedback, I shaved it down to its essential elements. Several characters and their story lines went into the dog's food dish. Any function those scrap elements did serve (and they were alarmingly few) became the responsibility of other characters or objects. These transitions were so easy and obvious, I was embarrassed not to have seen them before -- I had an unnecessarily fatty fish. Or, rather, the fat was good for my story's development (for my understanding of it and its characters), but not for the reader's consumption.
Once I had a clean filet, I began to add a few things back. Not many -- just enough to give the reader a sense of umami without bloat. Complexity without complication.
The story I have now feels good: lean and effective, with full realization and forward drive. Like that pretty plate of salmon up there. Will it feel that way to people other than me? We'll see.
When you revise, do you mostly cut fat or add it?
[image source]
Friday, September 3, 2010
Good Stuff This Week
Went to see STEP UP 3D yesterday with a group of friends. (Not a movie to see alone -- to much bad dialogue not to share with others.) Anyhoo, got an urge to buy a hot dog during the movie. But Dave set a great example ("I can wait."), and I avoided eating something that would've made me feel gross. Especially while watching Super-Fit People do Crazy Dance Moves.
Last night at dinner, with those Super-Fit People still on my brain, I avoided over-ordering. Got a chopped salad, a naked sweet potato, and grilled mushrooms to top it. And a Shiner. Between the blue cheese, the fiber, and the beer (which I didn't even finish), it was plenty. Plus: LOADS of vitamin A.
How about you guys? Any food victories this week? Bring 'em!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Always Eat Your Oatmeal
Especially today, for this:
The crap we put up with getting on and off an airplane.
Love this one, since I live with a Colonic Avenger.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Let's Rock the Third Third
I say we rock the crap out of it.
I have 3 main fitness/wellness goals for the rest of the year:
Practice yoga postures at least 3 times / week
This just takes discipline. It's a lot easier to lie in bed on non-run mornings than get up to yogify my sleepy muscles. As it gets colder, our toasty duvet is much awesomer at 6 a.m. than a 1/4-inch yoga mat. Except it isn't, so I'll resist its sirenish ways.
Get back down to 135 lbs
That's about a 10-lb loss. Once upon a time, I lost weight in the summer because it felt too hot to eat. Now I gain because it feels too hot to exercise. Lesson: my need for physical activity is becoming more important to maintaining weight than food intake. *squints* Hello, slower metabolism. You won't get me.
Run a half-marathon in under 2 hours
I have a grip on this one already. Runner's World (Aug 2010) has a 10-wk training plan for a sub-2 half-marathon. I begin next Tuesday. Got my rested feet, a shiny new Garmin, and lots of blind, stubborn will power. All set.
What are YOU going to do to rock the third third of 2010?
[image source]
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