His last name is Papermaster, and the only thing registering in my brain is now that he doesn’t work for Apple, I wonder if he will go work with Yomiko Readman, who is my favorite anime character of all time.

And yes, she is a paper master. She has the super power of being able to make paper do whatever she wants.

This is the crazy stuff that runs through my brain at 4am when I can’t sleep.

I think I may have figured it out.  Dan and I were talking earlier, and I was saying how I felt like I was invisible, and that I don’t have anything outside of work and taking care of the household.  And on my way home from seeing a movie with two girlfriends, I realized what it was – I need to find the fun, because it’s been missing.

I used to write fiction.  I wrote about six novels then self-published them on line.  When asked why I didn’t get them ready for a publisher, it was because the writing had been fun for me, and publishing them would have been work.  It was the same with knitting – after I was done with writing, I picked up knitting, taught myself, and had a lot of fun doing it.  It was a lot of work, as was the writing, but it was fun.  And that was why I never took any knitting commissions – because then it would have been work.  I took up podcasting, and that was fun, and stopped when it was more like a job.  The same with blogging.  I think part of the reason I haven’t been posting more here, is because it wasn’t fun anymore – it was too much like work.

And now I’m not doing anything.  Okay – I’m working two jobs.  The first is the full-time career thing – that has been particularly unrewarding and soul sucking, but pays the bills.  And then there is taking care of the boys, managing the household, keeping things clean and organized, feeding the troops, managing the finances, supporting the boys in what they do, and running the errands. Included in that is my weight loss journey and going to the gym (yes, I joined one), because I have to take care of myself so I can be there for the boys. And this job is ultimately more rewarding than the first job, but it is a job.  What I don’t have is that fun something – the thing that challenges me and is defines me as more than the wife or the mom.  I’m really starting to hate being called those titles, not because I don’t like being a wife and a mom, but that it seems to define me as only that – and I’m not.

And games aren’t enough.  I thought I could fill that gap with Farmville, or WoW, or one of the many video games we have at home.  They were good fillers I thought, because it left me to be available when needed, whether it was for a meal, or whatever, and I could stop what I was doing so that if someone needed a meal, or something else, I’d be available.

So I need to find the fun.  And I know it has to be something social, whether online or in real life.  I’ve felt way to isolated, to the point where large parties are rather…upsetting to me, that I feel like I don’t know how to behave properly, so I just fade into the background.  So, I need to find something social, something with a bit of a challenge, even something I would need to learn, but ultimately, something that is fun.  Maybe a gaming group, though I don’t know of anyone that would want me for that.  I know that I don’t need to be famous, or well-known, I just need to interact with more people more often.

Because we all need more fun.  And I need it really bad.  Because I need to cure this malaise, and start feeling better about myself soon, or I might just fade away.

I started this blog after reading the book Julie and Julia, and seeing the movie.  That had inspired me to get back to blogging, and to start a project of my own.  After discovering what the subject of Julie Powell’s new book was, that really turned me off – from her, and from the ideas that she had perpetuated in her first book.  Then the Alton Brown Project was a disaster, much too time consuming and expensive to be practical for someone trying to manage a household and a full-time job.  Then I went to a con that killed my urge to podcast, and I wondered what I was even doing here.

But – I went to a lot of trouble to set up this blog the way I want it, and while I sometimes find it hard to find topics to discuss, I still want to keep doing it.  So I am, in text form.  So, I’m going to post about my journey into weight loss and healthy eating, the never ending attempt to keep my house clean, and my love of media and entertainment.

So, an update.  Since my last public post, I’ve attended two cons, had two house guests, and made whole grain pancakes.  Oh there was more, but at the time I’m writing this that’s what stands out.  Such is my silly little life sometimes.  Which means we won’t be talking about my job, though it has been particularly soul-sucking lately.

The two cons were Balticon and Wizard World Philadelphia, now named Philly Comicon.  Both were disapointing in different ways.  Balticon was held north of Baltimore over Memorial Day weekend, and usually is the highlight of my year.  But this year, combined with a change in focus that seemed to shut my interests out, staying at an off-site hotel, and a panel schedule, it came to my realization that this is no longer my con, which broke my heart.  But, it was good to see my friends and spend some time with  couple of them.  WWP, which was great fun last year, was taken over by ComicCon, and as a result had lines worthy of Dragon*Con,  and guests that were sort of surly.  But I got to hang with some people I had met at Balticon, so I had a lot of fun.  I was also able to acquire some art, which always makes me happy.

As for the guests, last Thursday I walked in my house to find my friend known as Vivid Muse sitting on my couch, talking to my son.  Turns up she had conspired with Dan to surprise me, and that she did!   She stayed the night and drove back to her home in Virginia the next day, but it was so good to see her and spend some quality time with her.  Her leaving was kept from being too sad because I then had Kim the Comic Book Goddess come and stay she could attend WWP with me.  Kim is a wonderful houseguest, not asking much of me (neither did Viv – she insisted she NOT be a burden) and made the weekend so much more pleasant.

While Kim was here, I made pancakes.  Now as part of my new eating plan, I’m trying to eat more whole grains.  Now the last time I stayed at Viv’s house, she made pancakes made from whole wheat pastry flour, and you could hardly tell they were whole wheat.  I made some yesterday, and boy, these weren’t like Viv’s.  i think it had to do with the flour, which was much coarser than I would expect pastry flour to be, so I think it may have been mislabeled.  Kim liked the pancakes, which was good, for I didn’t have the courage to try them.

One thing that made them so much easier was the usage of my new electric griddle, which made making pancakes, and the grilled cheese I made later so easy.  I see myself pulling that out a lot – especially this summer, since that keeps the kitchen cooler than my oven/stovetop does.

So that’s my update, I ‘m going to try posting more often now, as I find the time to.

Cheers,
MA

It’s Nathan Lowell.  His series Golden Age of the Solar Clipper is some of the best podcast novels you will ever listen to.  Recently, the first one was published in trade paperback.  I couldn’t be happier for him.  I purchased a copy for signature AND a copy for my Kindle.  This is one author who is doing it right.  How?  Here are some of the things that make him MY favorite author right now.  Other than the fact when I got his book on my Kindle, I tore through it, even though it was the third time I was ‘reading’ it.

1.  He doesn’t over market.  Nate quietly came on the scene with Quarter Share, which is a tale of an everyman who finds a life for himself after the death of his mother.  And it’s on a spaceship.   It’s a different brand of sci-fi.  And it’s incredibly well-written.  And then he released several other books.  Very quietly, and without much fanfare.  It was only after I met him at Balticon two years ago that I actually found out about his work.  And then I listened to everything he had out – and it kept me sane while I was planning my wedding.

2.  He keeps writing.  And writing.  He’s legendary for completing NANOWRiMO in 15 days.  But he keeps putting out content.  I can’t wait for his next books.  But I think he spends the time writing that others spend on talking about their projects.  And it shows.

3.  He quietly announced when his book was being published, and it wasn’t done like it was a commercial to buy the book.  It was more – hey guys, something awesome happened to me, and I want to tell my friends about it.  And I was so happy for him, it got a bit dusty in front of my computer.

4.  The Kindle version of his book – was priced right in my sweet spot, so much so that I ordered it on the spot.  I usually dither over Kindle purchases, but this one was instantaneous.  I don’t know if he had anything to do with it, but whoever it did, did it right.  Lately I thought some offerings from people in this space were not worth what they were charging for it.  When in doubt – and if you have a choice – lower the price.

5.  He reads his books in his audio productions, and he reads them straight.  And they don’t need any embellishment at all.  The writing speaks for itself.  In this day where it seems more the norm than the exception to have a full-cast audio – I find Nate’s stuff refreshing, uncomplicated, and the straight reading still lets the story shine through.  Because it’s that good.  And can I tell you how nice it is not to be told how I should feel about how an episode ended?   There was actually one podcast novel that I stopped listening to because the author pissed me off with the after=episode commentary.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Nathan Lowell is so good, that others want to evangelize for him.   And he spends his time writing more, which in my opinion, makes him the better writer.   And everyone is the luckier for it.  I wish more podcast novelists would follow his example.  Now not everyone can be Nathan Lowell, but it’s something everyone should strive for.

Note:  I’ve tried to make this post as positive as I can be, because there has been so much in the social media space that has been annoying the crap out of me as of late, and I do my best to stay as positive as I can, because I don’t want to hurt feelings, or project what might be a symptom of my life woes onto something that someone put a whole hell of a lot of work into.  Because I respect the work that was done, but at this point, I feel seriously over-marketed to, and in some cases in very insincere ways.  Make sense?  I hope so.

And go to Amazon, search for Nate’s stuff, and buy it.  Because his work deserves your book buying dollar.

First – he’s gone from having to wear khakis and polo shirts to wearing dress pants and shirts.  Which means two things:  We had to get him basically a whole new work wardrobe, and two – get to see him dressed like this all the time, which makes me very happy.  But with this wardrobe comes the fact that we will need to get his clothes dry cleaned.   I’m concerned, because the weekly bill for dry cleaning could quickly eat up the other financial benefits gained by this job.  I’ve been looking for one of those Dryel kits, because I thought they would work for at least the pants.  The shirts, I can’t understand wanting those dry cleaned and pressed.  Does anyone have any suggestions – home made solutions for the dry cleaning?  My other question is – how many pairs of pants and how many shirts should I have on hand for him?  Those of you that are required to wear this sort of clothing, or the wife of someone who does – how many shirts, etc do you have on hand? Right now, we have enough to get him through the week, but I’m stressed that I’ll forget to pick up stuff at the dry cleaner, and leave him with nothing to wear.

The second is a bit silly.  For 15 years, I’ve been planning my budget on a biweekly schedule.  When Dan came along, he was on the same schedule I was on.   But now, with this new job – he will be getting paid every week.  So, with one of us on a biweekly schedule, and the other on a weekly, I want to make sure that we allocate the money properly.  It seems silly to me, but I guess I just can’t see how it will work yet.  So if anyone has any tips for managing money with a weekly paycheck, I’d appreciate it.

And speaking of Changes – the book of the same name by Jim Butcher is well worth the read – if you have read the other Dresden novels.  Listened to it last week as I was riding back and forth to western Pennsylvania, and there were several places where it got very very dusty in the car.  Butcher does know how to slay me, with just a few words.

I’ve been playing for a week, and I’m obsessed.  Okay, not really obsessed, I only check my farm whenever I check Facebook.  Which is a lot.  Of course, I can only check it when I have a computer near, since I cannot do anything with Farmville on the iPhone.  Which is probably a good thing.  For the iPhone, I have Zombie Farm, which works sort of the same way as Farmville, without the gifts from friends, and instead of animals, you grow zombies, and when you have a certain amount – you invade other farms and have the zombies eat farm hands.  It’s all great fun.

While these cute little time-wasters are fun – one aspect of them that I haven’t bought into are the micro-transactions – little purchases of farm cash, or objects within the game to make it a bit easier.  I don’t know if I will cave or not.  For example – I can’t grow the blue tiny zombie without the blue headstone, and that’s a $.99 micro-transaction.  For the moment, I’m going to try and get by without resorting to purchasing anything, but I guess I will see.

So – who are playing these games, and why do you think they are so popular?  As a time suck – really, if I weren’t constantly checking facebook, it would probably be about 10 minutes per day for Farmville, and Zombie Farm varies, since it goes with me every where.

And now, I saw step away from the laptop to make a feeble attempt at domesticity.  I’ll get it back…at some point.

Now, he’s been very generous in giving me time with it. I was interested in the e-reader function of the device. I have a Kindle and love it very much, but it really only does one thing. So, a bit of this will touch on what I thought of the e-reader capabilities.

First off – on first handling the device, it’s heavy, but in a way that makes it feel solid.  I’m not sure I could hold it one handed during a meal, but the case that Dan got with it – seems to provide the ability for it to stand up, so that I can use the touch screen in that capacity.  But it feels like s solidly build device.  The case has an interesting feel to it – but I wish it was a bit more solid – it may prevent scratching on the screen, but it doesn’t feel like it offers much else in the way of protection.

Things I liked:

1.  The speed – after having a first generation iPhone for two years that takes a while to chug though loading apps – this was really revolutionary.  Everything opened quickly, loaded quickly, and looked beautiful.  I didn’t try going to pages that didn’t have HTML 5 coded in them, but the stuff I did visit looked fantastic.  Steve Jobs was right – it does just work – if the apps are coded properly.  The thing works only as well as the app you are using.

2.  Netflix streaming, and really any other free streaming video app – To have the whole of Netflix’s whole streaming catalog in a device that sits right in my hands was incredible, and this was the best streaming experience I’ve had to date.  We also streamed something with ABC player, and it was simple and easy as well.  You Tube has never looked so great, and during my time with the iPad in my hands, this is what I spent my time with.

3.  The existing iPhone apps don’t look perfect, but look ok enough that I don’t think one should have to purchase the HD models of somethings that were already purchased.  Doom looked fine, as did Street Fighter 5.  And Plants vs. Zombies.

4. The free newspapers are amazing.  I read USA Today, and the New York Times, and it was awesome.  The IMDB  and NPR apps are great too.

4.  The e-readers on it are impressive.  I love the Kindle App, and the switch to purchase books is so smooth and seamless.  And I like that the books I purchased for my Kindle are available there.  One particular feature I liked of iBooks – the pages seem to match more closely with the pages of a real book, so the idea of how long a novel is is right there for me to grasp.  The pages changed quickly – more quickly if you didn’t use the page turning animation, but the animation is slick – on both the iBooks and the Kindle app.  And the ability to change fonts on the fly – is really awesome.

5.  Finally there is a device to read comics on.  The Kindle really sucks at that, and the iPhone wasn’t much better.  Netbooks are okay, but scrolling could be clumsy.  This device – this is the way I want to read my comics and manga digitally.  Big beautiful pictures, text that is easily able to be read, scrolling if you want it, of not if you don’t.  I’ve never been much of a comic reader, but the iPad could change that.

Things that could be improved:

1.  Mulitple accounts – this is not realy a device one can share.  Now, because I’m the one with the Kindle and Netflix account, they are what we are using to access those services there – but it would be nice if they could build multiple profiles so that I could see what my e-mail would look like on there, or my Google reader feeds, etc.  The device costs so much, that I doubt we will get a second any time soon, and really – only if my Kindle kicks the bucket.

2. The price of apps – I think really at this point that the apps are all priced to see what the market will pay for – the early adopters tax.  But really – other than pages, I really couldn’t see an app that was worth paying $10 for.  Plants Vs. Zombies for one thing.  The iPhone version is $3.   The HD version is $10.  i could see paying $5 for it, but not $10.  Almost every app is either free or $10.  I think this will change as the market shakes out, but for now – I wouldn’t really purchase anything.

3.  The subscription prices are too high for periodicals.  Looking at the prices for some of the magazines coming out – really I feel like they are too high.  Maybe if they put an issue or two out to whet our appetites, and show us we can’t live without this great content – but other than that – no.  Why they can’t find advertising, I don’t know.  I don’t mind the ads that Hulu has, and I get free traffic on my GPS in exchange for a couple of small ads that show up every once in a while.  They just need to find a good balance of subscription and ads.

4.  While the ereader is pretty and all – my poor eyes that have been over-strained by reading tiny little text on the iPhone, find that the Kindle is easier to read over a long period of time.  I spent about 30 minutes reading each device on Saturday – and the Kindle’s e-ink wins the day.  Now I did find that turning down the brightness on iBooks helped, and nothing will beat a back light in low light or at night, but my eyes get less tired reading on the Kindle.

5.  The keyboard is surprisingly easy to use, but for touch typers like me – it might be best to get a blue tooth keyboard to go with it, if you are going to be doing some serious writing on there.  For tweeting and other smaller things – it is quite pleasant to use.  But why was there the little horizontal bar on the F and J keys that is usually raised for touch typists?  That made NO sense to me at all.  So maybe this isn’t something that needs improved, but for people planning to write on the thing – it needs to be noted.  I’m also not sure the device is that great for blogging – yet.  Someone just needs to come up with a killer app, then maybe I’ll be sold.

So that’s it in a nutshell.  I like the device, and if my Kindle dies, this may be my replacement, simply for all the other things it does, especially the video streaming.  But there is still a little way to go before it would be my go to mobile device.  Would I give up my Macbook for it – oh HELL no – this is not a laptop replacement.  But something that holds my music, my videos, my books, streams TV and plays games, all with a nice big screen.

And it being closed?  Phooey on that.  They said the iPod was closed, and I was able to get my own digital music on there, after doing some converting.  Then when video came along – the same thing happened.  And when e-books came to the for front – I was able to get my books on my iPhone and my Kindle.  The same holds true with the iPad.  So phooey on all those people – you just have to learn to work the device that way, and use what you need to get them in the proper format for the device.  And if someone doesn’t bother to – that’s not Apple’s fault.  Or Amazon’s fault.  It’s the fault of the user for not learning how to use their device to the fullest.  But of course, I’m not someone who wants to get at the root of the device.  I just want to use it for it’s intended purpose – with content that I already own.  And I want it to work, and work well.  Which the iPod, the iPhone, the Kindle, and now the iPad do really well.  So I wouldn’t call them closed – just well-managed.

Tonight when I loaded up Steam, I was browsing through the store, and found a game from Pop Cap I hadn’t seen before. It was a variation on one of my all time favorite games – Bejewelled.

To explain to you how much I adore this game, I’ve bought it for every mobile device I’ve had with the exception of my classic ipod. It’s probably going on about 5 times I’ve purchased the same game.

This version is Bejewelled Twist and literally, it’s a twist on the old favorite. The player still needs to match three or more gems, but instead of swapping two gems, instead the player selects a square of four, and twists the group of four clockwise till the gems line up. The concept is simple, but the strategy is completely different, especially when it comes to making lines of four or more gems. I found it completely engaging, and I went through the fifteen beginning levels of the zen mode, which is sort an endless game.

There are new challenges with this game, and I look forward to checking them out when I purchase the full version, next time I’m willing to spend some cash on new games.

My next question is – when does this version come out for the iPhone? I’ve bought every game Pop Cap has come out with for my favorite portable device, and I find that I play the classics like Bejewelled, Bookworm, and Chuzzle, on almost a daily basis.

So, if you are a Bejewelled fan, go over to Pop Cap Games and check it out. And if you have a PC (and in a couple months – a Mac) – go check out Steam. Both programs are worth the time, and money.

And I can’t finish without mentioning – Dan had to make the crack that I go and get a high end laptop, to end up playing Bejewelled on it. But of course – I like puzzle games! A review of the laptop is coming, I just want to make sure I really put it through it’s paces first.

What I’m going to to is type of the original recipe, then list the minor tweaks I gave it to get my shortbread.  Though – most of it is by instinct – and oven temp and different pans can give different results, so the recipe is not guaranteed.  Full recipe after the break

Sonic Boom Shortbread

makes approximately 4 dozen 1.5 inch cookies

1 cup margarine or butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp shortening

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla in mixer.  Slowly mix in flour in small batches.  If the dough is really crumbly, add 1 to 2 tsp more butter.

Roll out dough 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured surface.  Cut into 1×2 inch strips.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets 1/2 inch apart.  Poke with holes.

Bake 14-16 minutes or until set and bottoms are light golden brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.  Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in small microwaveable bowl.  Microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until melted, stir until smooth.  Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate and place on wax paper until set.

*******

So, that’s the original recipe that I start from.  What makes mine different are that I only ever use butter, and take it out of the fridge several hours in advance until it’s room temperature and very soft.  From what I can tell, it’s the room temperature aspect that makes the dough easiest to handle.  The next difference is that I roll the cookies out to 3/8ths of an inch, because that’s what my measuring bands go up to.  I use  a marble rolling pin, and this seems to keep the dough from getting too warm and loose.  To cut the cookies, I use a pastry sheet, then use a pizza cutter and ruler to get them all approximately the same size.  Which almost never happens.

When I bake them, I use Air Bake sheets, with parchment paper.  This does make a difference.  When I used aluminum cookies sheets with parchment paper, the cookies didn’t come out to the same consistency.  I also reduce the baking time to 12 minutes, which for my particular oven, is perfect.  The cookies come out a little paler than the recipe indicates, but then I let them set on the cookie sheet for a minute to finish baking just a bit.

Really, any chocolate can be used, but when using chips, I microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each step.  It’s really easy to nuke them too long.  For the auction cookies, I used a double-boiler and some dark chocolate bars from Asher’s Candies.  My favorite is milk chocolate, and I usually use Nestle’s milk chocolate chips for that.

Though as I said earlier, it really is instinct.  I start checking the baking cookies two minutes before they are supposed to be done, in case my oven decides to be wonky.  And sometimes the batter just doesn’t come together right.  For the auction cookies, I had to make three batches of dough.  The first batch of dough came out too sticky, and when I tried to harden it up in the kitchen, I couldn’t ever get it to roll out properly.  The second batch of dough came out perfectly, and rolled out nicely, but got overdone in the oven, and were actually golden brown on the bottom, and the cookies ended up the wrong consistency.  The third batch was the charm, and I’m not sure what was different that this one worked when the others didn’t.  But it had to be the best for the winner of the auction.

Hope everyone is able to get great results.

And yes – for now – the Project is dead. I had a bad week of it – and I really felt like I was spending way more on groceries – just for ingredients for the Project – which was killing my budget – and at this point, I can’t justify the expense in making a whole lot of dishes that don’t lend themselve to left overs, and that didn’t go over very well. It was also affecting my weight loss. So – the Project is dead for now. Though it may come back for special occasions.

I need to get back on track with my weight loss – which means I need to stop the emotional eating. And baking stuff for people that is high in carbs and not good for me at all. So, hopefully I’ll be able to do that.

I do have some reviews coming – I just need to find pictures and put them in the post.

Welcome spring, even if it’s still a bit chilly – you are very much welcome and needed.