Apparently I have to be poly somehow ...

Dear NCAA Football,

 

We've had a lot of good times together in the past when you were the only sport I was seeing.  And I hope we continue to have those good times - I don't want to stop seeing you anymore.  But - that fight we had last year over the Big Ten Network? That was a pretty big fight, and I think I'm still a little hurt by that.  We don't see enough of each other as it is, and then you had to go and say you couldn't find a way to get to me for half the season.  But it's okay, that's all fixed now, right?  I mean, you might be making me buy a new TV, but I'll do that for you.

 

It's just that when we don't see each other from January to August, I get a little lonely.  Sure, that party we throw in January is a lot of fun, and the Draft is a nice little surprise visit, but that's hardly a fulfilling relationship for eight months, is it?  Now, I'm not going to start hooking up with your friend, NFL or anything, even if he is way more popular than you are.  But, well, I flirted a little with MLS the other night, and it was kind of fun.  Not the same sort of passion you and I share, of course, but it was a fun night.

 

The thing is ... I've started seeing WNBA recently, and I think ... I think we really have something.  She's nothing like you, of course, but she's got passion, and the excitement and fast-paced action that you and I share.  And, I'm sorry NCAAF, but she's prettier than you are.  I know people have always accused me of staying with you for your, ahem, players, but you know that's not true.  And I don't think that's true with WNBA, but she is kinda nice to look at, I admit.  Apparently, I like girls too...

 

I want us to stay together, NCAAF, and I'm really excited about you visiting me next month.  But I think I want to see other people while you're gone.  You're okay with that, right?  We'll always have the winter.  (NHL is still courting me, but I'm resisting so far.  I might like to see him once in awhile, though, when you're not at the same party at the same time. You know how it is.)

 

Love,

SilverRose

Is This Good

So I have this thing about spoiled food.  I have a very low threshold.  Milk smell a little funny? Gone.  Leftovers spent a week and a half in the fridge?  Throw them out - I don't even need to smell them.  This isn't something I have in common with my housemates - particularly StemmedRose.  And when I am being totally sane about it, I can admit that I go overboard a bit.

We had a little crisis at home over the weekend - the large basement freezer broke.  All the food was, well, cold, but certainly not frozen.  So between Shoryl, StemmedRose and I, we cooked an estimated 17 pounds of meat in one night - precook it to make sure it doesn't go bad, then stuff it back in the freezer for later use.  Some food that was securely packaged just got put into a working freezer.  I admit to being a little squidgy about this - how do we know it's good?

It may have something to do with working in a restaurant for many, many years.  There's only just so long you can hold food - and at certain temperatures, in certain containters, etc - before you can't serve them anymore.  Salad mix, for instance, is only good for about a day - maybe a day and a half.  Soup can only be on the burners for about 4 hours before it starts to smell a little burt.  And food can only be in the window for two minutes, max, before you can tell.

There's a lot of waste in the restaurant business.  you've got to get the freshest possible food to the table (especially if your income depends on it).  The funny thing is that restaurant leftovers don't last as long as leftovers from meals cooked at home - and I have no idea why that is.

So I'm trying to put this particular concern away for the time being.  I'm trusting that it will be good enough, at least, for consumption.  No one's gotten sick yet, and none of the meat was discolored or smelled anything other than like raw meat when we started cooking.  But for the first time, I think I understand those people that are sure there are germs everywhere, and they're just sure to catch them...

(As a side note, one of the absurdities of life, free from me to you:  "Eww! This smells awful! Here, you smell it...")

What I've done with my summer, pt 3

CONvergence

There's just ... too much. I can't even remotely blog about it all, and I don't even know where to start. Here's a small slice of atmosphere, thanks to my camera. Believe me when I say - you had to be there.

What I've done with my summer, pt 2

Pride

Much more fun this year. It rained Saturday, which was just fine with us, because it kept the crowds down. Sunday, we had Grandstand tickets, which made the whole parade a whole lot more fun. (Seats and shade and mimosas, oh my.) They retired the leather pride flag and commissioned a new one. My camera died halfway through the pre-parade show, sadly.

What I've done with my summer, pt 1

(overview and cruise)

The short form?

• True Colors Tour
  
• Pride Boat Cruise
  
• Pride Festival 2008
  
• Star Wars at the Science Museum
  
• Mini-golf at The Mall
  
• Convergence 2008

The long form?
Look, I keep thinking I'm going to get better at this blog thing. There are so many things I want to remember: Larry Dixon's aides, working Art Show, finding my limits, 2AM insomnia ... but I don't even remember half of it any more. My camera is going to tell you what it remembers instead.

And next time ... hell, I'll probably do this again. But I renew my pledge to at least try to blog right after the event. We'll see. Until then - look, pretty pictures!

Pride Boat Cruise
An amazingly beautiful day, mostly clear with clouds straight from pastoral paintings. Cool on the water, warm on land. Gorgeous all around.

Does this mean I'm a real writer now?

The book that I thought I was writing (Wanton Destiny) that I was, in fact, done with all the prewriting for, has just decided there's too much in it, and it's now two books long.  (Henceforth: Destiny 1 and Destiny 2, until I get better titles.)  And that's from the original Wanton Destiny, which had already been split into two books ... and is now three.  Which means that my little nanonovel of 50,000 words will be contributing material directly to 270,000 words worth of material.  (At least I'm following in notable footsteps: George Martin and Robert Jordan for instance.)

 

I think I need a little lie down.

 

I've got a progress meter that I'll be putting on the blog when next I update from home, because everyone's a voyeur at heart.  And it'll stay at 0 words for a bit ... because now I have to plot the first book all over again.

 

Oh, and my vacation?  Yeah,  I'll blog that when I get the time and inclination.  Not able to post pictures at work, and all that.  At least, that's the procrastination excuse I'm giving myself right now.