If you can't say it at Christmas, then when can you, eh?

 There's always that one person who hasn't seen something considered iconic, infamous, a part of pop culture, or what have you.

Perhaps you know a person whose claim to fame is that they've never seen-

- The Godfather

- Titanic

- Star Wars

- Frozen 

I jest but you get the point.  As generations move along it's easier to find that list shifting with there being more people knowing/having seen 'Frozen' than those whose seen 'The Godfather'.  

As a lover of movies and the magic that a good one can provide, I had never seen 'Love Actually'.  Heard of it.  Thought I'd seen some of it, perhaps caught bits of it in passing at one time or another, but never the whole thing.

'Love Actually', in this case, falls in the realm of pop culture Christmas movies such as 'It's a Wonderful Life', ' A Christmas Story', 'Home Alone', the controversial 'Die Hard', and so on.  

I'd noticed 'Love Actually' was on Netflix and decided this would the year.  I was finally going to watch it.  And y'all, there'd been part of me, a very small part, that was argumentative- "But I think I saw this already..."  and I've seen movies like it with their various converging story arcs come to a head but no.  I'd never watched 'Love Actually' because the moments where my mouth dropped were a definite indication.

In watching LA over the course of three days I had not, in fact, seen this before.  

It was unexpected.  As a first timer, watching it, I feel it's aged well and holds it enchantment, it's charm.  

Happy 20th Anniversary ^_^

That Moment When...

Day 2 of Nano... slow going

I decided to read one of my stories I started awhile ago and never finished.  And of course the thing happened.  You know the thing when without realizing it you've gotten sucked into your story.  Forgotten things about it and that voice is whispering to you, warning you what's about to happen.

Then it does.

The story stops.

You're curious to what happens next and you're yelling at the author asking why they didn't finish.  In turn yelling at yourself really and wondering why 'past you' stopped.

I am here.  I am her.

Aye, well, time to get ready. 

It's Nano Eve... Do You Know Where Your Fic Is?

 It was the night before Nano and not a plot bunny was stirring, not even a dust mote.

All around the world were writers stressing and fretting, anxious and frightened, gleeful and hopped on all the candy they'd hidden...

I am not among them.  

Oye, about 30 minutes away from the official start of Nano 2024 and I'm working on the other side of my hair.  

At any rate, while supposedly doing some of it yesterday I watched "Joy Ride"... twas hilarious.  I laughed.  Laughed so more.  Cried.  And yeah, it was a good time.  If you're looking for something funny...

And as it's Halloween I noticed Hulu had a "Haunting in Venice" so I watched it.  And I realized tonight as I was watching it, just like with "Death on the Nile" I figured out the killer(s) early on but it's the secondary set or the other set of pseudo crims (before the big reveal) that I don't.  I have an inkling about them especially given their role/closeness to the detective but motives aren't usually what I get.  

That said, I guessed the killer for entirely different reasons based on the actual one.  

I'se Be... FINALLY UPDATED THAT FIC

This past weekend:

- I finally updated ACOFAR over the weekend.

💙😱🎆

- The furnace went on strike

- I updated mWC

This is the update.

That is all.  

Shoutout to the Kindness of Strangers... and... that... f i c...

 

I was at the store this morning.  And I had a very set budget, meaning I had cash that I intended to stay within, I wanted to get a few more things off my grocery list that I hadn't gotten.  With fasting this week, I wanted to ensure I had stuffz for the rest of the household.

Well at some point during my mental math, counting as I put stuff in the cart and factoring tax, I was like "mmm, this might take me a bit over" but then I remembered I had a little bit left on a card.  Yay, wriggle room.  

I got to the checkout, counted out my cash and intended to do the rest on my card.  I saw the total and opted to put something back just to be sure I was covered.  Total came down and in my head, I thought 'okay cool, no whammies, no whammies' as I swiped.  But another part of my head was also signaling something wasn't right, but I was a bit slow to the draw to put it together and realized it as the transaction was posting.  Curious to see if it'd process.

It declined.

::insert internal laughter::

As I was fumbling around with my walled the customer next up, who had already opted to pay for the item I took off my order (and had included with her order}, had now covered the difference left on mine.

Kindness folks.  

I thanked her, wished her and the cashier a blessed day and walked out of the store, thinking.

::insert potential emotional breakdown and mentally telling myself -'keeping it together until you get to the car::

Get to the trunk and I'm stilling thinking/noodling, when notice her come out.  At this point I'm thinking 'well maybe I can get her number, pay her back... something'.  She gets closer to me and I thank her again, throw my want to pay her back out there, she declines, ask her for her name so I can include her in my gratitude journal.  This she provides ^_^

Then I immediately burst into tears in the car once I got everything loaded.  Tearing up a bit now just thinking about it...

How Far Can a Gallon of Gas Get Ya... With this Fic? Also, First Day of October/Inktober/Preptoper/All the -ober events

 

Apparently to work roundtrip before the fuel light pops back on asking that infamous question of "Chick, when you gon stop playin' with my 'motions?"

I purchased a new sketchbook for #inktober2023 as I finished out my last sketchbook with last year's event.  

I've not done anything for the prompt yet.  It's been a busy weekend.  Volunteered at the Holistic Fair, attended a Celebration of Life, work, laundry, Netflix, napping, tech stuff... etc

Twas nice to be able to get a few things at the grocery store like flour, eggs, milk, etc.  Creative cooking with what you got has its challenges (and opportunities) with testing your culinary prowess but it's good to have the staples too.  

Anywho, made some chicken alfredo tonight and intending to sample a bit of it before starting this fast.  

Sooo, What's the Deal on the Fic?

Chopped Home Edition

Brought to you by "This Canned Chicken Life"

Monday night, we find our chef sifting through the freezer.  Once upon a time she would need to move things around to see what might be on the shelf.

This is not a problem for her now.  

While not completely bare, she is able to quickly ascertain that the contents of the freezer have reached the level of seeing everything upon opening.  A blessing?  A curse?  Who knows!

Fried cauliflower for dinner perhaps?  Pakora?  Or chicken salad on toast?  Yes, that sounds good.  Easy, simple after a day's work.  But she knows she can do better.  She can up the ante and then she thinks 'what about homemade chicken nuggets... and using the last potates to make fries...'

And so she does.  

Using the pancake, waffle, biscuit mix + corn starch, paprika, onion powder, garlic salt, garlic powder and maybe a couple others, she seasons her batter mix.  Adds a bit of soda and vinegar to it.  

Forks her way through the drained can of chicken, she considers blending the meat to break it down further but who wants the added things to clean.  Fork it is.  Then seasoning and some other magic in between...  A dinner is produced.  

My rating

Chicken nuggets - 6 out of 10 

    THOUGH they taste better the next day with being reheated in the oven.. 7.5 out of 10 

Fries - 8.8 out of 10

Getting creative with what I had on deck - 7 out of 10

Overall Chopped Difficulty - 3.5 out of 10 

 

Really... Where's the Fic Update?

 

Chopped... Home Edition is brought to you by Pancake, Waffle, and Biscuit Mix... When You're Out of Flour, Your Next Best Bet

Last week I made a pumpkin pie using the forgotten can of pumpkin and a can of sweetened condensed milk (I think I might have still been out of sugar BUT had brown sugar).

Out of flour BUT had the pancake, waffle, and biscuit mix so I used that to make my crust.

As far as ingenuity with using what I had on hand to make this it wasn't entirely difficult.  

My ratings:

Pie - 7 out of 10

Getting creative with what I had on deck - 7 out of 10

Overall Chopped Difficulty - 2 out of 10 

It's Wednesday... Do You Know Where Your Fic Is?

 Still waiting to be revised and posted.  

I'm going to work on it after this post...

And I didn't.  LOL I wrote that line, got a phone call and abandoned it all!

In other news, service this past week was great and involving Amy Carnie, the healing harpist.  I recommend checking out some of her stuff once you get ahold of something.  And once you have...  Get in a nice spot, maybe your bedroom, closing your eyes and just listening.   

Going to head to bed.  There's about 10 days of September left.  

I SHALL FINISH A PROJECT!

^_^

Focus on the things I did today

 I woke up.  I showered. Attended zoom meeting...  Went to work...

Currently watching UB and the VMA's.  Watching the VMA's sort of happened on accident when I caught some of Lil Wayne's performance.  

At any rate, got feedback on my assignment from yesterday and hadn't thought about the fact that there is just about an app for everything and could've utilized one for my audio editing.  Like I knew how to do some things in this realm on ProTools and was stuck on using it.  

Part of finishing my edit and posting the latest ch. of ACOFAR I intend to look at different tools.  

Not getting to today's assignment.  

Feeling a bit eh at the moment.  

The Writer Barbie Assignment

 Today...

I attended the first day of workshop for the Aliti group.

Now I've created video's before and audio stuff.  Though with the audio, ProTools is nice or I'm at least a bit familiar with being able to produce some better sound quality.  

That said I like what I came up with for the assignment.  And grateful that I was able to find a tool to create the video as well as informed about pixaby and pexels.

I've sent in the assignment and posting it here too-

Oye, let me work on ACOFAR.  I plan to release the latest chapter on Wednesday.

Weekend Update ... The Nun II ... Chicken Noodle Soup

 If I were to make that title into a sentence:

"The Chicken Noodle Soup Weekend Update with The Nun II" 

OR

"The Nun II Chicken Noodle Soup Weekend Update"

Weekend Update:

1.  Complete edit of latest chapter of ACOFAR

- Still editing

2. Complete Grant Report

- Went to the movies BUT did clean up and pulling down the report I need to populate; also cleaned up a bit today to help with gathering things I need.  I stuck some receipts with my travel to TN last year in my sketch book

3. Price mannequin bust

- So, I inquired about a couple mannequins yesterday but also kept thinking that I might not be searching for the right thing and after a bit of googling came across the word(s) I needed.  

FYI - 10 Types Of Mannequins/ Dummy For Clothes You Can Use For Your Store (fashinza.com)

On ebay, dress forms (plus shipping) is $100 plus.  I did find a thrift story about an hour away that has one, it might be 'the one'.  

Oye, I made some chicken noodle soup this weekend.  Made my own base broth (started with ginger, one white onion, and 2 carrots plus a chicken breast).  I didn't have celery initially so I cooked it as is but after I got off work yesterday I stopped and got some celery.  So today I cooked it with some celery.  Broth taste good ^_^  I scooped out the veggies (thinking I might blend them or just eat 'em myself) and put a couple handfuls of the homestyle egg noodles into the broth and shredded the chicken.  

I like having broth or the soup on hand.  I'll make more stock later this week.  

Also, there's something going around.

Lastly, in being in the moment and in ze now, we went to go see 'The Nun II'.  Though, if there wasn't part of you already thinking 'it's time to do a binge of the movies in the Conjuring universe', that bit of a snipped after the credits roll might have you considering it.  

I think there might be another Nun movie.  That said, I don't think I saw the first one.  

I got in some really good notes for TGM last night.  

Also, todays' service was filled with some synchronistic insight and great reminders.  For me, some time ago, I gave thought to the various times I'd broken my own heart.  Thus, the recent slowing down to write some things out (like creating custom clothing for fun).  

Makin' it happen.  Off to read, study, then watch some tv.

The Subtle Nudges

 

My hair has certifiably gone into locke mode. /random

Oye, so I got a kudos for ACOFAR today.  A couple weeks ago there was a very nice lenghthy comment about it.  And considered I haven't updated the fic in almost a year these feel like those little nudges of 'hey... I'm here.  Update me.'

I didn't get to adding to ACOFAR today.  Tomorrow I shall.  I am going to make myself some cushion.  So I will work on it and do a bit world-building for TGM.  Woo woo.

As far as progress for the weekend items:

- I'm still working on the ACOFAR ch. edit

- I blocked time tomorrow for the grant report

- I looked around CL for mannequins and did a very light google check for local clothing store closures.  Also think I'll call a few department stores just to see

Okay, going to make some notes for TGM and then eat while watching some UB on Netflix.  

ze boo boo is still a'healing.  

Worked All 3 Jobs Today

 And now it is time to blog, edit, then Betty.  

::blogging commencing::

In looking up something for a friend the other day I was reading someone else's blog and got a reminder about the importance of trying new things, writing down synchronicities, and just finding those small things in the course of a day.  

Today felt good in that I leaned into several things and also paid attention.  I mean, it really felt good.

At any rate, once again, probably makes no sense but mai pen rai.  

I wrote pants today 0_0 

The boo boo was not irritated with fabric touching it.  Yay for healing ^_^

As this is the weekend I've got a few things I'd like to target:

1.  Complete edit of latest chapter of ACOFAR

2. Complete Grant Report

3. Price mannequin bust

I also need to workout a few other things that I'll write down.  Speaking of workout ... tennis.. mmmm, hitting the court and playing the wall sounds good.  

24 Auction Listings... This Go

Of the 24 auctions, so far, 5 have bids on them.

I didn't get around to posting ACOFAR today.  What'll end up happening is me working on it tomorrow, doing a read-thru and editing then working on the next chapter.  

Last night I wrote down things I have interest in with some actions and dates attached to them.  Going to look into a plus size bust mannequin among those things.  

This weekend... grant... final report.  It's happening.  Was due in August and yeah, I just need to make time to find stuff.

At any rate going to make this a short entry for the night.  

Dangled the Wrong Carrot

I just spent a good part of my evening posting books and manga on ebay for sale.  It's getting down to the last bits.

I once had over 400 manga / graphic novels.  And I've gotten down to the really precious series that I hold dear.  Granted, some of the ones that I put up were dear to me as well.  Shout to Kare First Love, Marmalade Boy, Land of the Blindfolded, Tenshi Ja Nai!!, and Crossroad.

Immortal Rain was another one too that I'd been hold on to.  And put up a couple of Yuu Watasa series that I have (but still got another 3 or 4 of hers).  Fushi Yugi Genbu Kaiden and Imadoki may ye go to good homes.  

But I think I still have about 10 or so series left (less than 20 for sure).  

::deep sigh::

Now that I've done with that, I can eat dinner and read a bit of ACOFAR, or rather edit it so I can post the next chapter to ze fanfic.  

I just realized I use 'ze' often and I think most interpret its intention as an article and neutral pronoun.  Tis correct.

And that dang carrot.  I tell ya what... I decided to just laugh about it.  I'll probably come to this entry years down the road and not have any idea what I'm talking about.  And that's cool.  

Picture of the boo boo incoming... maybe ^_^

Booboo Update, The Meg 2: The Trench, & Other Random Things

 

Things that happened today:

Wake up, go back and forth on properly getting dressed, stay in pj's, wash face, contemplate morning walk, drop off, sit in driveway & listen to radio, take out yard waste, do yard maintenance, go back to sleep, wake up, nap a bit more, shower, dress, errand, work, work, work, work, work, work, home, dishes, trash, movies, write... and sleep at some point.

I did take a pic of ze boo boo.  And someday... maybe I'll... ... ...

Oye so a few things:

- In telling someone the story of my weekend incident (THE FALL!!!) it came to my attention that it has that romantic comedy trope and thus the fingals are tingling

- reminded of the 'find a job you love and you'll never work another day in your life" ... that wasn't the original second thing but still a great reminder

- tend to ze list (start ch edit of ACOFAR, prompt, hsd, blog)

Random thought:  Men who are really good readers.  

Not book worms but that has it's place but no, the type that can read the room.  That can read an interaction and even if the rules of engagement are entirely determined there is an effort in trying to understand.  Trying to learn.

Heroine that needs, yearn, to be seen can appreciate said guy.

I've noticed some guys, if given the chance, can and will get caught up in talking about them.  This is nothing new, it's been well captured as a punch line in rom coms and whatnot.  But what is interesting is the male that believe they are checking the boxes when it comes to things and yet when there is an opportunity to learn more, they don't always take the chance.  May not even recognize it.  

... at any rate...

I enjoyed The Meg 2: The Trench, still love the first one.  Second one was cool  

Assembling Your Tearm, Finding Your Tribe, etc... Yo People

 Dropping in, once again with the intention of being a regular conversationalist with me blog.

Today's topic: Me, You, People, People, You, I

To say, this isn't about writing.  But it is about writing.  

Last year I was writing at Panera when I was told I need a team.  During the Indic Romance Convention, I attended last year, several of the writers spoke about their street teams.

No man is an island as the one quote goes.

And yet, we are.  Can be.  

I'm of the mindset that most situations are 'both'.  Whereas a writer, part of your process might involve being an island onto yourself while at a different interval of the process there is value in something more. 

I remember one of the things someone said as an Indie writer that you're either paying someone to do something or spending your time doing it.  The latter provides the opportunity to learn, try things out at your own expense.  As an Indie author there are the multiple hats that can be involved if you're taking it on such as: writer, editor, manager, marketing, accounting, coordinator, assistant, etc... And some of the roles can bleed over or be rolled into something else.  Coordinator could be event planner for the book events at libraries or bookstores.  

Regardless, there are hats, there are roles and there is the opportunity to do it all.  Or find your team.

All this is to say, or rather get at stories.  I find I enjoy stories where someone finds their tribe.  The people that bring them closer to who they are.  And I've been thinking about stories like it on and off for some time now, but that I am also working on TGM and it's a story of that nature.

Anywho, I suppose it is time to get down to some writing on this Labor Day ^_^

Oye, I fell yesterday and skinned my knee and elbow a bit.  Felt like a kid.  Might post that tomorrow ::planning ahead::