Orange juice, mango, garden-fresh raspberries, frozen strawberries and blueberries.
Mountain of blueberry buttermilk pancakes, sausages.
Try to guess which was mine.
I’ve been busting ass all weekend so today was going to be my lazy day. Except I’ve suddenly gone mad about my hedge in the backyard with the berry vines growing in it. I’ve got jeans and long sleeves on and I’m going to get the hedge hog and go crazy on it before it gets too hot.
Happy 4th of July!
Words written: 5450 (goal 3000)
Stories submitted: 1 (goal 1 during the write-a-thon)
Yeah, I still look like an over-achiever. Believe me I have had some pitiful weeks of writing this year. I made-up for my poor showing at the beginning of June so I could hit that goal. And I’m going to submit at least one more story during the write-a-thon, maybe two if I get crazy.
Actually, I working like a maniac now because after this weekend the rest of the month is insanely busy so I’m trying to get the work done while I can.
It’s not too late to make a donation. Even $5 would be hugely appreciated. I’ve got some donations but I still don’t even have my first $100 to match.
Here are all the instructions for donating or you can go directly to my donation page.
Thanks everyone who made a contribution.
Jeld-Wen Field. I mistype that as Jelf-Wen every time. I’m just going to start calling it that.
Tonight is the first of six home games this month. SIX! Half of those are exhibition games and to be honest, I don’t understand the point of so many exhibition games in the middle of MLS season. But I’m going to show up and eat my pizza and drink my beer and not complain.
I did not plan to make a pie this weekend. In fact, I was planning to make lemon buttermilk ice cream and exploit the giant bag of lemons we were gifted with this week.
However I saw this 10 minute lime cracker pie. I still had limes and heavy cream leftover from previous pie making adventures. I didn’t have crackers but one of the comments mentioned graham cracker crust and I still have graham crackers from an earlier pie. Let me tell you, this thing is so sweet it will put hair on your chest. I think the graham cracker crust is too much. I think it would work better with the crackers. And I might just try it when we visit the family next month.
That’s it for now. I need to weed and bathe and nap and get ready for my game tonight. Timbers!
I ran out of See’s candy and I don’t want to drive all the way to the mall for just that one thing. I found this at the grocery store and it is terrific. I let Bob try it but then I had to hide it from him.
I ended up writing my face off today and I need to go to bed so my Write-a-thon Week #1 (which ended yesterday) results will be brief.
Words written: 6249 (goal 3000/wk)
New Stories Submitted: 0 (goal 1 during the write-a-thon)
I know it looks like I’m being an overachiever here. I make monthly goals, too, and I’ve been behind on my June goal so I had to make it up. Plus I have two stories that are this close to going out the door and I was really pouring it on to try to get those finished.
If you’d like to contribute the info is here: Clarion West Write-A-Thon 2011 and here’s the direct link to sponsor me.
Peas
All the time I’m thinking of ideas to write better posts here. But it always seems like something I’ll have more time for next week.
Here’s another phone-er-in-er.
Apples
Way back in March I bought a couple of pairs of summery slacks and blouses for the office. Anticipating the warmer weather. Ha ha.
Last week was the first time I wore the blouses. One of them is cute but the other one is a mystery.
Maybe someone punk’d me and hid it in my closet. I couldn’t possibly have bought it on purpose.
It’s a medium-ugly pattern but the cut is ridiculous. The bottom part poofs out so that it looks like I spent the last three weeks training for a cheeseburger eating contest. And the sleeves are cut funny so that it looks like I have Pillsbury Doughboy arms.
I don’t have very many tops so I’ll probably wear it again, but it’s definitely getting burned at the end of the summer.
Raspberries
Have you ever watched rugby? I mean, if you’re not a rugby fan.
They’re really burly guys in tight shorts, I bet I could get into it if I had time for more sports.
I don’t but I’ve been seeing bits of pieces of games. It’s a crazy sport.
They throw the ball back and forth and run around and then do a tackle and make a giant dogpile. Why do you need that many guys all piled up? A few of the other guys stand around and finally the ball pops out of the dogpile and the rest of the guys start running and tossing it back and forth. Then someone kicks it.
I have no idea what’s happening but it looks really fun.
Tomorrow I will have a write-a-thon update.
Aside: I have got to either fix this blog layout or change the way I crop my photos. My head looks even pointier than usual.
I wasn’t overwhelmed with the last two pies I tried so I was on the lookout for something good and the NYT delivered last week with this recipe for Gingered Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.
Big giant hit.
I screwed up and forgot to buy fresh ginger for the crust so I skipped that part. To be honest, I didn’t read the recipe that carefully in advance and didn’t notice it until I started baking and it was too late to drop everything and run to the store. I also didn’t use the egg for glazing the rim. That’s the sort of step I consider fussy.
Rhubarb is funny because when you’re buying those big giant stalks it looks like a ton and when you start chopping it up and measuring it, it goes quick. I had a scant 4 cups. I threw in a few extra strawberries and didn’t have any shortage of filling.
The recipe calls for zest of an entire orange and I’m not a huge citrus person and especially not orange but I went ahead and put it all in and it was brilliant. It added just the right tang with the strawberries and rhubarb.
I was also concerned about the streusel topping because I thought it would be too sweet. Nope. It balances perfectly with the filling. And I ended up not having as much candied ginger in my stash as I thought so my topping was skimpy on the ginger. Next I make it I’m going to make sure I have tons of candied ginger.
One hundred gold stars for this pie.
I don’t think I ever posted the URL for Forevertron. The photoset is here.
Sticker on a light-pole near Jeld-Wen Field.
You know what never gets old? People asking you for money.
Just kidding!
Of course it gets old. Every day when I’m downtown I’m chugged and spanged until I think cruel things about the unfortunate. [Note: those links not necessarily suitable for all ages].
People are always telling you it’s for “a good cause” and “think of the children!”
But think about this.
What would the world be like if there were no stories about vampires, wizards, spaceships or dragons? No stories about magic monkeys, alien sex, [Warning: that story is not for folks of a delicate nature] sentient computer disks, eternally trapped spirits, magical cards or Indians with time machines.?
Getting a little funny feeling in your stomach?
I thought so.
Here’s your big chance to help speculative fiction nerds go to summer camp and write great stories.
Once again, I’m raising money for the Clarion West Writers Workshop. You might remember me doing this in 2009 and 2010.
Here are my posts from when I attended the workshop in 2008:
[NOTE: Actually the links don’t work because turdpress so royally screwed up my archives when I had to migrate from blogger. I’ll come back and fix later.] [FIXED!]
Overview, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 part 1, Week 4 part 2, Week 5 and Week 6.
I can’t possibly convey what an amazing experience it was for me. I still think about it every day.
How can you help? Sponsor me or someone with some of your hard earned cash. Any donation from $1 to $1 million will be happily accepted. Even more than $1 million would be fine. You know that little jar you have in your laundry room where you put the change that falls out of everyone’s pockets? Just empty out that and send it. That would be great. And if you have no money your kind thoughts will do.
In return I am pledging to write at least 3000 words a week and I will revise and submit one story.
Here’s all the info you need to contribute: Clarion West Write-A-Thon 2011 and here’s the direct link to sponsor me.
I’ll post an update every week to let you know how I’m doing. I’ll also send out some annoying spamela emails with additional begging so be on the look out for that!
Also, I’m matching the first $100 so if you donate now, it’s like, doubled.
Thanks for supporting nerd writers!
I keep calling these pea sprouts but they are cucumber sprouts. I planted them on Saturday.
This is what they looked like on Tuesday morning.
This is what they looked like on Tuesday evening.
This is what they look like this morning.
* * *
Yesterday after work I was waiting for the bus. A woman I know from the bus arrived at the bus stop and came up to me and asked if the bus had come yet.
I didn’t even know what to say.
“Yes, but I decided to wait here so I could tell you that it had already come by.”
There are two buses that go to the park-n-ride. One takes a different, slightly longer route. I usually take the first bus that arrives.
The longer route bus arrived first and this same lady asked the driver about the other bus. “Is it coming? In a few minutes? Did you see it?”
Lady, he’s driving a farking bus, how does he know where the other bus is?
But the funny thing is, he answered all her questions very confidently: yes.
Sophie is 19 today. This photo was when she visited my apartment in Lake Oswego shortly after I moved to Oregon.
Today she’s all grown up and traveling somewhere like Hungary or Turkey or Thailand and won’t even see this. Love you, Soph!
They hurt Kenny Cooper! (Update: I just saw the highlights show and I guess it was our own guy that bashed Kenny in the head. But I bet the other team wanted to bash him in the head.)
It seems like the seats behind ours are assigned to a new pair of people each home game. One person is familiar with the game and the team, the other person is a newbie. Thus, every week we spend the entire game listening to someone explain Timbers 101. I guess if we’re fans of the Free Beer Movement (and we are) we shouldn’t complain about this. But sometimes people could learn by watching.
Yesterday we went downtown early and went to the bar and watched the US Mens National Team lose their first game (in group play) ever in the Gold Cup. They lost to Panama with the help of bum officiating.
From there we went to the stadium and had just enough time to buy a beer and get to our seats. I missed getting 200 photos of my Timbers doing their warm-ups.
See that guy in the yellow? He ruined my day. Yesterday and today.
I booed at him so hard my eyeballs almost popped out of my face. My eye sockets still hurt today from the pressure.
That’s FUTTY! who’s down on the field. (Sadly, I didn’t not get a good shot of the sign that said: Hold me closer Futty Danso.) He had to go out on a stretcher.
And here the ref is probably trying to figure out how to call some more random fouls on our team.
Here’s our coach before he got ejected from the game. Right as we went into stoppage time.
I guess he might have said something not very nice about the officiating. Two seconds later, the other team scored the only goal of the game.
I’m going to break my rule about embedding youtube clips so you can see this Alaska Airlines commercial featuring Coach Spencer. It was the only thing that cheered me up today.
I’m going to need to give up for a better camera if I want to get decent shots.
The guys wore their Rose City kits in honor of Rose Festival.
We’re going to bounce back in the next game. Next weekend. It’s going to be awesome. RCTID.
