I’ll be at a wedding later today, so here’s a picture of Meowiarty being adorable.
Monthly Archives: October 2014
Kitty Cat Distractions
Watching Hannibal while getting a couple articles written or rewritten. Marceline decided the TV needed more cats.
An oddly responsible day off
My days off of work are pretty sacred to me, in that I generally try to relax at least a little bit. Today wasn’t an exception to that rule of sorts.
Marceline the Adventure Bean, our third cat, had a vet appointment for her final vaccinations, and I had a very pressing need to find out why the Hell the Maintenance Required light was on in my car (spoilers: it wasn’t because it missed my bright, beautiful smile). I also had come to the realization that there’s not a whole lot by way of food in the new place, which was something I decided needed correcting. I wanted to get a haircut, but that didn’t quite manage to happen. We’ll get back to that.
My errands followed one another quite neatly, with the vet appointment going smoothly, the cleaning out of my car going well, and then the oil change & battery check-up for my car going poorly. Womp womp. Turns out the issues I’d noticed lately were because my poor ol’ Toyota’s battery needed replacing, but the folks at the Plank Road Jiffy Lube are the absolute best. Problem solved nice and quickly. Thanks to stopping there, I saw a recipe on TV for two ingredient chicken (skin-on chicken breasts; add garlic and herb brie or Borsin, then bake…For those interested, Google two ingredient chicken), and so dinner plans were set.
If this post sounds oddly responsible, that’s because it is. I wanted to get some writing done today, but that didn’t quite happen (it will be happening tomorrow instead, as I have self-imposed deadlines to meet). There’s a problem there, however, because I had plenty of creative thoughts rattling around that were left to wait. They seem to have conspired with my love of cooking. Something made me think of scotch bonnets, which are a type of very hot pepper similar to habaneros. They’re commonly, or so Google says, used for Caribbean jerk recipes and have a sweeter taste than their similarly-spicy pepper cousins. I suddenly found myself, a couple hours ago, wanting to use them to make something. I couldn’t figure out what.
My current idea? I happened upon a recipe for caramel sauce with cayenne pepper in it, and decided trying it with scotch bonnets could be plausible. I’ll have to post the results once this food experimentation invariably happens.
How do you other creative types seem to handle the untapped creative ideas in situations like this?
I’d say more, but I work very early tomorrow. Pretty sure this hundred days is almost up, but I need to verify that to be sure.
Seasonally-appropriate boozy hijinks
I’ve seen a million billion people (clearly in no way an exaggeration) talking, at some point or another, about Pumpking and Warlock. As someone who likes trying new things, a person who isn’t entirely against the occasional beer, and a Warlock fanatic on WoW…Well, I had to eventually give these a chance. I’ve not yet tried the Warlock.
Pumpking has a pleasant taste, with perhaps a touch of bitterness at the end. The bright orange coloration makes it a fun drink, and it smells like a freshly-baked pumpkin pie. I can see why this receives such rave reviews.
However, I now also feel compelled to think up spooky drinks involving stronger manners of spirits. Suggestions?
The post that could have been
In the words of David Tennant’s incarnation of the Doctor, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry”. There’s a post-shaped hole in the place where today’s post, but it wasn’t stolen or forgotten. Those would be very simple explanations. The truth, as it turns out, is also pretty simple.
And it’s also good news. Terrific news, in fact.
While I won’t actually reveal details about the post, as it still exists in a very different form, I’ll admit to why there’s so much secrecy involved. Tonight’s mystery post will evolve into a more involved, better thought-out version of itself on Onezumi’s blog. Oni opened up a chance for people to send in guest posts. Needless to say, I leapt at such a chance. It’ll be written by the end of the week, and I’ll certainly share it here once it’s posted.
For now, however, it’s a post that will be. It could have been tonight’s post, but it will have to wait now.
Monday, pleasant Monday
Today turned out to be one of the more pleasant Mondays in recent memory, and I think it may be because I found out I have thirty-two unused hours of vacation time. I’m ignoring how such knowledge would have been valuable around the time of my move as I don’t want to defile such a good thing.
Perhaps the wonderful nap I took earlier (I know, I know, I said I needed to stop doing that, but sleep is just so nice after being so busy with something like moving while still working a forty-hour-a-week job). Or the dinner Brianne made.
Beginning to play catch-up on NBC’s Hannibal isn’t hurting, although I will admit that it’s not the best dinner accompaniment in terms of TV shows. I’m only about seven episodes into it, give or take a few (I actually can’t remember at the moment as a lot of things are just sort of blending together lately). I’m trying to remember why I stopped watching it for as long as I did, especially since I have such easy access to season one on DVD.
Admittedly, Monday and I don’t always get along and so having such a laid-back, relaxing start to the week is almost unsettling. I realize there’s something genuinely ridiculous in saying Monday is an inherently bad thing, especially given the number of people who no longer find their work-weeks confined to the Monday-through-Friday nine-to-five. This isn’t a post about “Well, it’s all a matter of how you look at something” or blah blah blah positivity. Nope. Just enjoying a particularly pleasant Monday just a little more before I head off to bed and prepare myself for…well, another day at work.
How did everyone else find this Monday? Hopefully it wasn’t too unpleasant.
“Feast or Famine” title of choice goes here
I drafted two posts for Screen Robot tonight, if perhaps to make up for feeling god-awful and accomplishing nothing last night.
However, now is the time for sleep, I fear. Only eight days left of my hundred days of blogging…followed by a good few more.
Tomorrow? Back to better, longer blog posts, hopefully. Unless I’m still a zombie.
Best intentions meeting the worst outcome
Tonight’s post is a somewhat grumpy one, as it’s fueled by the frustration brought on by not meeting goals I set for myself.
Tomorrow needs to include two Screen Robot drafts. Tonight, however, will continue involving a cruel and brain-rattling headache, among other things.
On the plus side: I chose to treat myself to the new Smash Bros game. After the madness this past week blessed me with, I figured I may as well. Horrible reasoning, I’m sure.
Managers and Bosses and Leaders (Oh My)
It’s Day Ninety, I think. Or probably close enough. I need to not do this again any time soon, as it has been a soul-devouring experience.
Today’s post was one I should have made last week around this time, but I shuffled my feet a bit. I’m glad I did, as I received more relevant news that only made me want to wait until I knew I could do this topic justice. Hopefully I can manage that much tonight, despite being quite tired and behind on other responsibilities (I’m looking at you, Family Guy/Simpsons crossover article I need to write for Screen Robot). Moving, to state something rather obvious, is brutal. Moving along.
I don’t talk about my day job on here in much detail, and it’s largely because I know the pitfalls and dangers of doing such things. I can, however, say that it is a company that stresses leadership over management. I’m not a store manager, but a store leader. I’m not a boss, but someone who leads by example. I hope I’ve accomplished this so far, at least, and I constantly strive towards making that happen.
In the past week or so I lost two of my District Leaders, both of whom I hold in very high regard. Dan hired me (and, on more than one occasion, was so kind as to call me one of his best hiring decisions), and Bill chose me for my promotion to store leadership. They were mentors to me, and genuinely good people. They were, above all else, leaders. When they were in the trenches, so to speak, they would perform tasks at the store they would expect other employees to do so as to lead by example. They showed genuine interest in the people who worked for them. At no point did it feel like there was some great, looming power in the store when they would visit.
They weren’t bosses. They weren’t managers. They were leaders. I feel like my life has been enriched by knowing them, and I’m hoping I can take the lessons they’ve taught me and improve myself both in and outside of my job.
I doubt very much Dan or Bill will ever find this (I’m hoping not, at least, because it’s a lot more sentimental to me than it may necessarily appear). They were why I was, and am, so enthusiastic and passionate about my day job. Innovation and all that good stuff. Needless to say, this post is in honor of my two District Leaders who did me a world of good. I strive to make every week a great week, and “do more with less; God bless”.
Over-thinking villains: the LOTR edition
By my entirely official, possibly inaccurate count (which just happened moments ago, shortly after my Surface 2 had to restart half a dozen times for updates it’s been denied for too long), this is the 89th post in my Hundred Days of Blogging. Probably. It’s been more of an ordeal than I could have anticipated, but it’s pushed me to keep posting. Even on nights when all I want to do is sleep forever. Nights like these past couple nights, especially after experiencing the human equivalent of the world’s shittiest rental property. Ahem. It’s been a while since I’ve used my Surface 2 for any extended bits of writing (opting instead to use my laptop or desktop, both of which are out of commission presently while I’m still unpacking), so this is proving to be its own magical misadventure. More so as I try to log in to my Screen Robot account with no recollection of my password. I know, I know; for shame, forgetful writer. For shame.
Some exciting news, first, before we continue into tonight’s post. I had a short story accepted for publication in The Literary Hatchet, a publication created by PearTree Press. I’m quite excited, as it’s a story I really enjoyed writing. More on that as I can post it, of course. Joshua Harkin and the Wicked Nightmare King is a little bit closer to being a real thing that exists in book form. I’ve worked with the terrific folks at Cary Press on tweaking the cover here and there, and I’m very happy with how it looks. A couple more weeks and I should be hearing more from them, which is very exciting as well.
This is a post I had the idea for about a week or two ago, but it never saw the light of day (nor the dark of night, I suppose) because I was in the middle of moving. Here are a few disclaimery bits: I am not, by any means, an authority on Lord of the Rings. I enjoyed the books and the movies, but some details have escaped me over the years (or never really made their way to my grasp). A lot of this is just silly speculation that rattled around in my brain the right ways to end up becoming a post.
Phil's Misadventures In Fiction 