Announcements

2018 Resolutions

After New Years: best time to make resolutions, right?!

In recent years I’ve backed away from even speaking aloud resolutions in fear that mere utterance is enough to break them. Not this year! No, this year I’ve got it figured out: delayed resolutions! Two weeks into the new year and people are already undoubtably breaking their New Years resolutions, so here I go just sliding in with my 2018 Blog Resolutions! Good plan? We’ll see. Here are some resolutions and trends that I want to make publicly and review every quarter to see how I’m doing. Sound good? Let’s do this:

  • Achieve low-hanging Bucket List fruit — I didn’t specifically create my Bucket List with low-hanging fruit, but populating it with things I want to accomplish would reasonably include things that aren’t necessarily difficult but that I just haven’t gotten around to doing. Things like “17. Own a pair of black cowboy boots again”, “26. Experience a solo backpacking trip”, “28. Shoot a round at Golden Gate Park archery range”, “42. Properly sharpen knives”, “58. Learn to juggle” — you get the idea. Low/no cost, close to home, achievable. I grabbed those four with a quick glance, so let’s up the ante: Cross off five bucket list items this year.
  • Selfie Posts! I’m not kidding — you have been forewarned. Seriously, though, I’m naturally predisposed to self-doubt and self-consciousness, so committing to posting selfies once a week is a huge step. Heck, I may even have to get myself a selfie stick! And if I see a photo booth I’m required to stop and use it (check out this wonderful (though occasionally racy) podcast on photo booth obsession from Love and Radio). Here’s the brass tacks: One Selfie Post a week. Speaking of posting resolutions…
  • Stick to a posting schedule. I’m still working on the particulars, but here’s what I can commit to: Selfie post on Mondays, a story a week on Wednesdays, and What I’m reading/watching/listening to on Fridays. Three posts a week. It’s about consistency. Speaking of which…
  • 10,000 step days. More abstract than “lose weight” or “get in shape,” and so I think it’s reasonable. I’ll start small and build: At least 1 10K day a week in Q1, 2 10K days a week in Q2… I think you can see where this is going…
  • Shut up and make things! Reviewing my 2017, I noticed I built a number of things early in the year — my sewing table and the cabinet for my motorcycle gear storage — but then not a lot else. That needs to change. The whole point of building the sewing table was to facilitate the creation of things, to give myself a big, flat, tall table to do projects on — sewing, sure, but also a place to work on my guitars and other electronics projects. There’s plenty of areas inside the house that need better storage solutions. I can build these, I just need to get out of my own way. I’ll commit to something small and attainable: One completed project a month. 

A Thanksgiving Pedestrian Goes To Work

Let me explain a few things first. For almost my entire life I have been what I’ll term a “Thanksgiving Pedestrian”. What I mean is I’ve rarely had to make anything for Thanksgiving. Even when I was married because we didn’t have kids we were the transient couple going to wherever Thanksgiving was being held and – more importantly – prepared. Sure, we’d bring pies, but my ex worked as a pastry chef for a time, so like I was going to be contributing to that?

One year in grad school we hosted a few friends for a Thanksgiving of roasted chicken, Stove Top, carrots, and (of course) pies. Oh, and one of the other grad student’s truly terrible homemade mead *shudder*.

On my own, I’ve been invited to Thanksgivings with my family, and with my friends, but I haven’t had an opportunity to prepare more than a sourdough-bowl spinach dip (though I make a mean spinach dip, let me tell you!).

This year, however, Fern and I are making Thanksgiving with her mom and aunt, and it’s on like Turkey Kong (tis the season, after all…). Fern’s mom was more than happy to divvy up the cooking responsibilities, and this year I’m more than happy to take on some projects.

This, dear reader, is what I’m bringing:

  • (Mostly) Nana’s Green Bean Casserole
  • Vampire-Unfriendly Mashed Potatoes
  • My First™ Thanksgiving Macaroni and Cheese
  • Turkey! Turkey! Turkey!
  • The Greatest Pumpkin Pie Ever

You’d better bet there will be full blog posts and recipes for all these, but I’ll give you a quick rundown ahead of time.

(Mostly) Nana’s Green Bean Casserole: I know this can be polarizing, but for me and my family it’s tradition. I’m hopping it up a little, but not straying far from the French’s fried onion-topped classic.

Vampire-Unfriendly Mashed Potatoes: Keeping this one simple with Yukon golds and garlic. Simple. And they’ll undoubtedly be delicious. Oh! And I celebrated festivities by getting myself a new potato masher! Hey, this is a big deal!

My First™ Thanksgiving Macaroni and Cheese: I’ve never had Macaroni and Cheese at Thanksgiving, but Fern and her family have always had it in the same way my family has always had Nana’s Green Bean Casserole. So, is it wise to give a traditional family holiday staple to the New Guy? We’ll see. The recipe I’ve put together looks like a winner (full disclosure: I haven’t tested it yet! Eek!), so here we go – sink or swim… in amazing macaroni and cheese!

Turkey! Turkey! Turkey! While we’re going to cook the bird at Fern’s, I’m responsible for the prep, and for that I’m counting on my brother Jay’s tried-and-true maple bourbon brine to do the heavy lifting and a traditional homemade spice rub to take it the rest of the way. The rub, I’ll admit, is untested, but I’ll give a preview of the spices used: equal parts Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Dallas Cowboys football, and tryptophan-induced naps (stay tuned for the real thing).

Finally, The Greatest Pumpkin Pie Ever: Okay, I’m going to level with you on this one: I have no idea whether this is the greatest pumpkin pie ever, but Fern insists that sweet potato pie (which she is making) is superior to pumpkin pie, and that kind of thing just can’t stand. So, I’ve put together what on paper sure looks to be a winner – a generously-spiced filling with a gingersnap crust and a dollop of homemade bourbon whipped cream. Again, greatest ever? We’ll see. But I’m confident it’ll take down even the finest sweet potato pie. Let’s get ready to rumble! *ding ding*

Like I said, stay tuned – posts, pictures, and recipes to follow. And I wish all of you a safe and fantastic Thanksgiving!

Announcing: 31 Ghosts!

I did it! There are 31 Ghosts! Scroll down for the collected links

https://pixabay.com/en/users/Fotomek-1339977/

I love October for many reasons, the largest of which are a) my birthday, and b) Halloween. Do you really need other reasons? You might, and I’ll make some of my other October loves clearer as we go on, but here’s the deal. October has, obviously, 31 days. For each day in October I will provide a story — mostly fiction, but there’s bound to be non-fiction in there, as well. They may not all include ghosts, contrary to the name of the project. But they’ll all be Halloween-y and I promise a little bit of creepiness or other-worldliness in each and every one. They’re not going to be long because, well, I just came up with this idea a few days ago and I haven’t had time to write anything in advance. But this is a good thing in our overly-scheduled world; I’m not asking you to devote an hour to read a story, but instead just a few minutes.

Also, there’s now a way to sign up on the sight for email notifications of updates!

The inspiration for “31 Ghosts” comes from two sources. The first is the apocryphal anacdote of Ernest Hemingway betting a group of drinking buddies he could write a novel in six words. He then writes, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” on a napkin and accepts his winnings. The other comes from a book that I absolutely loved as a child. First, let me say this: I was a weird child. Okay, the book is from Time Life Books series, “The Enchanted World” (remember those commercials in the 80’s? OMG, I forgot about this one with Vincent Price!). The first book was “Ghosts” and in a sidebar described a short tale of a haunted room simply, “He woke up frightened and reached for a match, and a match was put into his hand.”

Did I mention I love October? Sign up for updates and I’ll see you soon… if you dare! [cue Vincent Price laughing from “Thriller”]

EDIT:

It’s long past October 2017, and, Spoiler Alert: here are your 31 Ghosts: