Reactionary

Because every human on this Earth someday comes to the conclusion that they should take care of themselves.

Thanks to a local business and some string pulling, I was able to get myself a great birthday gift. I used it today to write a lengthy scene. I was envious at the girl at the next table because she had a MacBook Air (a thing of beauty) but I had the IT thing of the spring. The iPad 2… in white. It weighs next to nothing and sits well my fashionable, moderately-sized purses. And that’s what I wanted, right? What I need for it is a word processor app I can use without being online. Even TextEdit is far more sophisticated a word processor than most apps since they’re good at handling chunks of data in useful ways but not so much at writing scenes of fiction. The keyboard is completely useable, though. Maybe not for marathon sessions of 10,000 words + but certainly enough for lengthy scenes and blog posts. The only thing that’s hard is the absence of the tab key and the extra work required to write dialouge. Dialouge is hard enough on a normal keyboard at my iMac, with its many syntax needs. On the iPad, where you have to switch out between so many instances of the keyboard to get to all the keys you need, it can be infuriating. But I bought it because everyone wants it, its perfectly capable for notes, it looks awesome, the apps are great, and its my birthday and I wanted it. So there.

GoodReader and Evernote are standing in for my writing needs right now but I can’t wishing with all my might Google (or someone) would write an app that mirrors (and syncs) with the fabulous Google Docs. Evernote is close but it doesn’t have the same tools to handle large text files, great for notes but not hardcore text. Google Docs is the answer, but I’d like to use it without being online, some kind of a standalone version of it that would sync with the server as soon as a connection to the web was made. I can only dream on. Better food apps are needed, too, like a cheese compedium. Come on, Max McCalman, you can do it (or a techie paid to ghostwrite it for you)!

March 19th, 2011 | Life, Tech |  Print |  Send it | Say something

It’s mild outside, just a jacket necessary. The rain falls eagerly sometimes and then it stops as if to take a breath. The clouds hang low but there’s nothing bleak about them, just a weary silence that invokes novels and cheese plates and baking and bowls of ice cream. The rain is washing the city clean. It brings out the old architecture in high relief, it makes the colors bright. It’s washing the winter away.

March 6th, 2011 | Life, Shutterbug |  Print |  Send it | Say something

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Honey Panna Cotta with Raspberry Jam

For some reason that’s unfathomable to me, somehow I’ve never had panna cotta. Ever. I know what it is and I frequent all kinds of trendy restaurants where this dish makes a frequent appearance on the dessert menu, usually next to the creme brulee.

So it was killing two birds with one stone for this month. I read the recipe and came across the 3 cups of heavy cream requirement. After I finally managed to shut my mouth, I reasoned I could just cut the recipe. The smallest container I could find easily was 250ml. So I got to subdividing the rest of the ingredients. I made it one Sunday afternoon, just as the ribollita was boiling on the stove and a tray of scones was in the oven.

I generally avoid working with gelatin. I’ve never been able to get it all to melt in without leaving odd, tough particles at the edges of whatever I’m making. I thought I gave it enough time to soften. I thought it heated long enough over the medium heat. I whisked and whisked and whisked, even after taking it off the heat. I thought I had made it as smooth as I possibly could. I took out some little plain glasses I use for gin and tonics in the summer and got two of them filled to nearly the top. I let them set. The next day, Valentine’s Day, I softened some raspberry jam over the stovetop and poured it over the panna cotta to create some contrast. I topped the whole thing with a split almond.

Well, the gelatin did the stupid gelatin thing again. The top was smooth, the middle nearly runny, and the bottom was tough and grainy. What the hell? It tasted good but I usually don’t eat so much cream. I guess it’s not much different from ice cream and ice cream has a lot of sugar in it which this did not.

If I make it again, I may try the other method which is to heat the cream and sugar first and them pour it over the water with gelatin and whisk until smooth. Maybe I didn’t wait long enough to soften it. Maybe I should just do what Nigella Lawson says and get leaf gelatin instead of the grainy stuff. Who knows. Either way, I like creme caramel better.

I didn’t make the cookies. I had buttermilk to get rid of and I made two batches of whole wheat scones for people at work instead. Oats and Nestle don’t seem to go well with panna cotta so I didn’t think I was missing anything. I’m glad I finally made this storied dessert, though.

February 27th, 2011 | Food |  Print |  Send it | Comments (1)

No, no. Thank YOU. I had been listening to them again for the first time in probably years after a long Killers kick. And now, here they are. Thank YOU. I hope it’s not too weird.

February 14th, 2011 | Tunes |  Print |  Send it | Say something

It’s been cold and wet and despairing around here. So, lately I’ve been a shut-in because I don’t feel like putting on 3 lbs. of clothes that will subsequently get wet and gross. One of the things I’ve been doing with my time indoors other than wasting it is making playlists in iTunes. It’s a noble endeavor. In the sorting through GB of files, I’ve come to the conclusion that really great start to finish albums are rare and becoming more and more rare. Of m collection, there are only a few I can listen to from start to finish and back and not get even a bit impatient during it at all, given my brain-on-iPod state of being. These are those albums:

1. Achtung Baby– U2
2. Hot Fuss– The Killers
3. Free All Angels– Ash
4. A Rush of Blood To The Head– Coldplay
5. The Bends– Radiohead
6. OK Computer– Radiohead (…uh, yeah, I hardly listen to them because they’re depressing but these guys are that good)

I pick and choose with the rest depending on my mood, need, the state of the world, etc. But skipping through a track on one of these is like drowning a baby.

February 6th, 2011 | Tunes |  Print |  Send it | Comments (2)

The summer gets its Dog Days when the tops of buildings are invisible in the layer of humidity, the roaches are loose on the sidewalks like toy poodles, and the air has lost all its lift. Then, there’s the harshness of the winter when even the orange of a sunset has lost all its warmth to the gusts of bone-chilling blasts that tear past the skyscrapers like bank robbers on the run. We’re in the darkest of the winter now, the Three Dog Nights of winter.

January 9th, 2011 | Shutterbug |  Print |  Send it | Say something

I’m not sentimental and years are cyclical anyway so it’s weird waxing poetic about the end of one arbitrary orbit around the sun.

But let me say, just because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want, Happy New Year. 2010 saw me get a minor job promotion, finish two novels, and I finally got to see the world’s best Greek ruins. Hopefully, 2011 will bring Greece itself.

Rock on.

January 2nd, 2011 | Life |  Print |  Send it | Say something

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book………and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

Dear Frickin’ God, I’m exhausted. And I just ruined my blog (I wrote this on 13 December in case things have gone back to normal in the next ten days… not likely). So, I’ll keep this short because I just can’t take it anymore. I wish I was one of those people who can write haikus because then I’d do that instead, but I’m not.

I made the German cake. The recipe made two huge ones. I should have rolled out the marzipan into a sheet and rolled the bread. But it tasted okay…. but nothing to write home about. I took one to the work Christmas luncheon and the other is in my freezer. It was too much work for very little payback.

The End.

December 27th, 2010 | Food |  Print |  Send it | Say something

The year’s ending and everyone who’s anyone in media and otherwise is coming up with Top Ten Lists from what’s been most reported to the Top Ten Tweets. I kid not. I saw the Top Ten Numbers on CNN this morning and laughed when the income of the most happiness was revealed. Is that number weighed for region? $75,000 in New York City is a lot different than $75,00 in Kansas City.

While the top ten lists verge on annoying, I always read them since it reminds me of what happened this year rather than all the others and pulls out incidents in the avalanche of time that helps postmark life. I came home and made quince jam, otherwise known as membrillo. Why? Well, I felt bad because I let one of my other quinces go bad and because Spain won the World Cup and four years of bragging started in July. That’s why.

Heard from my fratellino today. I’m planning a Scandinavian foray. I’m proofreading my novel. Life goes on.

December 18th, 2010 | Life |  Print |  Send it | Say something

Hey, I thought I was doing something great and ended up screwing up my theme by updating it. It looks like I lost all the customizations I had made in it. I have reverted to an old theme of mine in the meantime. I suck.

This will take a very long time to fix. If ever.

December 13th, 2010 | General |  Print |  Send it | Say something

Draft one is finally done.

This was a much different experience than the last. For one, it’s shorter, brisker and there’s less explanation. Not everything gets explained. I don’t know yet if it helps or hurts. I didn’t finish it for days, knowing what I had to write. I didn’t want it to end but unlike the last time, there were no mysteries left. I knew how it would end as if it were written already.

I’m not as heartbroken, either. I don’t know why yet. They were fun to be around but I may need a new tack next time. A new crowd. I don’t know. As usual, everyone has their own agenda and that’s what makes the best parts. An unlikely character actually turns out to be a better one than I thought, providing the best humor and half the banter. I had no idea she had it in her. The villain is probably fairly obvious but I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing.

It’s a less complicated story because there is no framing story, it’s more like a real-time chase scene. Motivations are murky but the actual how-to was almost too clear and that’s why I thought it sucked when I was writing it. It’s less horrid than I thought but there are some beats missing that I thought I had. Scenes I loved since before the whole thing was written will have to be changed to fit the frame. That’s why you should never pre-write anything. It won’t fit later.

I don’t know how I feel about it exactly, except that it’s 30% shorter and I have no idea if that’s good or bad or WHAT.

December 13th, 2010 | Scrivener |  Print |  Send it | Say something