cake

I’m surviving this short summer with chocolate and flowers, how ‘bout you?

Hilariously, I remembered to do the thing where I shut the door to write and what I wrote was a list of times to write, a list of things to enjoy, a list of shoulds, then have-tos. I don’t think one thing has altered since the last time I remembered to sit in front of a blank page for more than a minute. I probably have work sheets with boxes to check as I completed each daily task that I could copy. Planning a slow slog is reassuring and intimidating, and if it worked…I know, I know, except it does. Sort of. For a little while. Words are magic and from experience I know that if I write it down, I do Pilates and if it isn’t on the list, it doesn’t happen.

What did happen was this gentle rose. It only bloomed once this year with three buds, but it is so pretty and delicate right here.

And out of nowhere – BOOM – Literary Namjooning nominated my story from Issue One for Best of The Net. Thank you Lakshmi, Melissa, and Hema! From the bottom of my heart, Namaste.

Another thing was that I listened to a segment about baking a few weeks ago. I froze a chocolate box cake after I cooked it to the lower end of the cooking time. The cakes cooled, I wrapped them in clingfilm, put them on a plate in the freezer overnight. After they defrosted, I whipped the store bought frosting which did help with coverage, but I wish I’d beaten it longer and a friend suggested adding a liquid. I don’t think that it was heavy cream, but supposedly a half cup of heavy cream poured over the Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls before baking (and waiting for them to cool a little before putting on this icing) makes them taste like Cinnabons. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a Cinnabon, and I haven’t tried this recipe, but it’s stuck in my memory and what I mean to say is that freezing the cake really did make a difference to the taste and mouth feel, so I recommend it. Adding a teaspoon of vanilla to Rice Krispie Treats is good. Mixing and melting a cup of chocolate chips and a tablespoon of shortening or butter together in the microwave and after it’s cooled a bit, spread it over the top of the treats is also good.

What makes me ecstatic is that I got to spend another year with this guy and bake him a cake.

What’s less appealing is bringing in wood and preparing to build a fire. It’s August, but already we’re rearranging the furniture. I’m setting up computers in the library for writing in winter. A few plants have wandered in and the Christmas cactus that has been pawed over thrice. Today in the upper greenhouse, the shelf for the plants was put up higher than usual. The chairs slide under. If I were brave enough to face the creek and write, I could do it there.

Working in a room of many windows has drawbacks though. I can see the hummingbird feeder from there, and turkeys wandering on the patio. Chipmunks. Squirrels. Bugs so in love with each other they form a sexheart for hours. Life literally getting in the way.

 In the way of what? Indeed. Great question. I’m off to find an answer.

Just kidding. After this, there is the making of the dinner and maybe rewatching The Terminator. I’ve been sketching or reading while I eat dinner. I’ve plotted out a picture book about recycling and death. I haven’t gotten serious about the illustrations, but it’s fun and makes more sense than the musical that keeps happening lyric by riff in my head, because seriously, I’m not remotely a musical theater person or a real artist, but my drawings will never hurt anyone’s ears unless they are rolled up and inserted.

Lovely image, I know. Guess I’ll be stopping here. Have a great month.

Thank you for stopping by and reading. Thank you also for being you and not a piece of wood.

Sometimes life is so crazy it looks like a dog with a cigar

I thought March was spectacular and then April came around. Sure, I had another birthday, which is fine, I guess, but eh the “aging” bit could go. I did receive amazing gifts of love through words, deeds, FB posts, flowers, and even presents. Thank you all and here is the picture of the cake I honestly would have shared with you had you dropped in at the time:

The 5th had me in Buffalo for a workshop where I had the opportunity to reconnect with members of my old writing group that met in Hamburg at the Comfort Zone and pitched the novel I’m rewriting to an agent. She gave me her card and told me to query her when it was done, so in the parlance of that structure, it was a victory. I’d no more than spun around and it was time for the solar eclipse. We did it up in style.

Friends from Chicago arrived and we had dinner with them and the amazing Tuttle clan. Friday, the 12th, thankyouthankyou Kim Chinquee hosted the Elm Leaves Eclipse Launch where not only was I listed as special guest and ELJ Contributor on the posters, I read with her talented students, but also with Rachel L. Johnson and Justin Karcher. Seriously, if you know anything about the Buffalo Lit scene, you know reading with Justin is a Buffalo bucket list must do and I did it. Thank you to everyone who was a part of the launch! AND my niece Ashley showed up  – as well as the couple from Chicago as a surprise, which it truly was, Thank you Robert and Theresa. Because of Kim, there are pictures of this incredible event. Thank you!

Thank you Kim also for another wondrous Drop Hammer. This month, it was Nancy McCabe. I’ve got her, “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” on my to be read pile. After she read from new work, there was discussion and food. Carol – and I’m sorry I don’t recall her last name – led us to a gallery in the AKG open to the public. Before and After Again, the current exhibit of artwork, prose, and poetry by the Buffalo-based Julia Bottoms, Tiffany Gaines, and Jillian Hanesworth is incredible. The depth of the portraits and the food images, as well as the prose and hope in the seeds – a truly moving tribute to those lost, but also to those who still live in the area of the Tops shooting and the tentacles of how food deserts compound misery.

I don’t know if any of that is right, art is subjective after all, and I really liked this lamp made by Henry.

That was another experience I was graced to experience. I’d gotten an acceptance at Litmora, which led to my trying to work that in at the launch, and there was an invitation by the editor to attend the Fredonia Literary Festival, and so I did. Completely interesting and fun, plus it turned out that both Henry and Tabi are from Springville. How cool is that? It’s even cooler because Tabi (moderator in the first pic) also has ties to the town where my grandmother lived.

I’m grateful to be here. Western NY is such a lovely spot filled with great souls and flash writers like Rina Fosati. When I went to visit her, I came across a free lawnmower that Husband is falling in love with more with each pull of the cord. I am blessed beyond measure and if you’re reading this, you are the part of the wonder in this universe. Thank you for being that.

Thank you for stopping by and for the read ❤ Enjoy your May!

August Abundant

Earlier today, I was complaining in my head about having to write this post. It’s not something to complain about, though. Only I keep up this monthly look at myself, my life, my career…recent pictures. I could quit at any time.

I don’t know if I could quit writing forever. Well yes, I could quit writing. Making up stories in my head? Probably not. Sometimes it’s like watching a movie of vague shapes and names. Inserting new relationships among characters. How do they all go together before writing a word. I was doing a bit of that today – seeing if any recent characters have meat.

I’ve hit upon the premise of a longer story – or book. Luckily, I’ve had ideas before and now know to kick them around before beginning on a premise alone and while I do, I’m looking at these new characters who’ve popped up in recent flash.

Contests spurred the output. I wonder if it’s a hold out from younger years. When summer is waning, get in as much fun stuff as you can, and dazzle on the first paper due when you go back to school – a combination of the two.

So, in August, this creature has taken up time:

Which made this one jealous:

And this one sad because there was NOT enough petting going on with two animals in this house so adding a third is – in his opinion – a bad move. He is waiting for us to rue.

Husband had a proper cake for his annual aging celebration – from the store – but look at the candle placement! I did that part! (There would be a picture of him, but they blurred and cropped in weird ways.)

There is a “change one thing – let’s do it all over” list of projects going on in this one picture. Oi!

Well, as always, there is editing to do, things to clean, flowers to smell, so I’m off to do all that.

Thank you for stopping by and for the read. Yes, I probably thought of you. Cheers!