rose_griffes

I'm writing that Fusco fic. IT'S TAKING SO LONG. Ugh. Granted, forward progress of any kind is better than, well, the last three years of not working on it at all. So there's that.

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That T. Kingfisher novel Paladin's Grace is indeed just what I said before: a romance/adventure novel in a fantasy setting. It's an interesting hybrid. Very enjoyable, if a bit like eating one of those unusual fusion cuisine dishes that blend flavors that you wouldn't expect to work together. Definitely interested in reading more by the author.

Lila Bowen's Wake of Vultures was also a wild ride, although with fewer genres in the mix. Think alternate history western with monsters, featuring a biracial lead who goes on a (literal) journey of discovery. I'll probably read more in this series, although I'm not in a rush.

Renee Ahdieh's The Beautiful does something that has to be executed EXTREMELY well for me to enjoy it: it has sections written from the point of view of the ~evil killer~. It wasn't working for me, but more importantly, the narrative from the main character's point of view was also not working for me. I did like the world-building--up to the point where I stopped reading. Maybe something else by Ahdieh will click better, although maybe-murderous bad boys seem to feature in her other books? Hm.

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I had grilled pork chops for dinner that I grilled myself. So proud! And currently I'm munching on cinnamon-sugar buttered popcorn, which is tasty.

Merry Christmas, y'all! I think I'll do a few recipe links for what we're eating today...
( food! )
I got presents! A few lovely things that are currently in the guest bedroom at my parents', and also an online gift:

Title: The Woman from U.N.C.L.E.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gaby Teller & Alexander Waverly, Illya Kuryakin & Napoleon Solo & Gaby Teller, Illya Kuryakin/Gaby Teller, heavily implied - Relationship
Characters: Gaby Teller, Napoleon Solo, Illya Kuryakin, Alexander Waverly
Summary: A fic about Alexander Waverly and his favorite agent, Gaby Teller.

So yes, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic exchange is live. :) Currently works are posted anonymously; reveals in a week. Guess correctly which one I wrote, and win a ficlet. It feels like my fingerprints are ALL OVER the fic I wrote, but we’ll see.

(My free time for reading will be... variable, but I’m hoping to make some guesses as well, before the reveals are made.)

I need to get off this couch and go make a dessert for tomorrow. (Co-worker's birthday.) But I don't waaaaaaaaaaannnnnna get up. Also, Buckeye Brownie cookies or chocolate chip cheesecake? Huh, looking at the second recipe, it calls for two 3-oz. packages of cream cheese. I don't think I've ever seen cream cheese sold in packages that tiny. The package in my fridge right now is eight ounces.

The school year continues apace. That is a really weird word, now that I think about it. Apace. And I'm pretty sure I've only seen it used with the verb continue. You could say he worked apace, but no one does, right? Or She ate apace. We danced apace. Etc.

Okay, rather than write about the other stuff I was going to mention the next time I posted, I'm going to get up and make dessert. Cheesecake wins, simply because I have an inherent distrust of recipes that call for boxes of cake/brownie/cookie mix. (Or rather, that don't make a list of what supplies you could use if you don't happen to have the required box mix on hand.)

Really, cheesecake wins because CHEESECAKE.

It's Thanksgiving here in the US, and I'm grateful for:

• my sister-in-law's sweet potato soufflé, quite possibly the most wondrous Thanksgiving dessert ever created


• my adorable youngest niece with her head of curly hair


• a quiet bedroom where I can retreat if the cute nieces and nephews are too much


• feeling like a normal human being now that I'm over the horrible stomach virus


• having only the epilogue left to write for popcorn fic (ALMOST DONE!!!)


• lovely people like you to interact with


• a job that I enjoy


• and many more things...

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I just got rid of the last of the peppermint fudge.

By eating all of it.

My stomach is NOT very happy with me right now.

Finished reading Brisingr last night. ( non-spoilery thoughts back here ) Bring on book four of the Inheritance Cycle! Except that it hasn't been published yet and there's no planned publishing date. *sigh*

Time to go find The Thief next? Possibly so.

I baked tonight. I baked yummy, yummy things: a green chili casserole (with sour cream!) and banana-apple bread. SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOD!

I'll just say it right now: I can be picky about food. Not in a taste sense (well, that too sometimes), but about the ingredients. I don't buy only organic, but I do pay a certain amount of attention to how many unpronouceable things are on any product list.

Flavored yogurt is often one of the worst offenders, so I buy plain yogurt and mix in a bit of sweetener (usually a spoonful of maple syrup) and jam. Since I also try to avoid dairy products that have been made with herds fed growth hormones (to stimulate more milk production), I've ended up paying a lot more for yogurt than I used to--not just in the actual price, but by going out of my way to the specialty grocery store to find the yogurt I like best.

So I decided to make my own. I've done so before, but it's been several years. Last weekend I tried it and forgot one of the cardinal rules in yogurt-making. This weekend I succeeded again, yay!

( supply list )

( the steps )

Anyone got any good fudge recipes? Links or actual recipes would definitely be appreciated.

Went to the Big City last night to see a play--it was a very interactive (cheer, boo and hiss, throw popcorn) silly pop-culture parody. Lots of fun! I gave a ride to a friend of a friend and I think I scared her (and maybe even scarred her, heh) with my driving. I think I'm a great driver, but apparently this is the minority opinion. (Hey, I've only been pulled over for speeding twice, in many, many years of driving.) Anyway... oh, and I bought a comic book at a store near the theater. Asterix, which is always fun but makes me wish I knew more Latin. I guess I can google the phrases that seem important.

Work last week was annoying, but Friday went surprisingly well after the earlier madness. I was surprised.

The weather here has been gorgeous lately--blue skies, perfect temperatures, light winds. (I'll qualify the 'light winds' with 'for here,' which means if you're not used to perpetually windy days, you'd think it was blowing a gale.) I may go out and take some wildflower photos in a bit, depending on how sunny it is after my grocery story run. Oh, and I didn't lose power earlier this week when we had storms pass through, so yay! (One Two of my friends at work did, twice, but only for a few seconds, just enough to require resetting all alarm clocks, etc.)

To-do list for today:
- go buy groceries (just finished the list, am double-checking ingredients after I post this)
- iron some clothes (because I'm tired of wearing the same no-iron-needed shirts, MUST HAVE CUTE CLOTHES!)
- vacuum, do load of laundry
- watch BSG (duh. Oh, it finished downloading now, yay!)
- exercise
- figure out what fics to rec for the remainder of the month for crack_van
- call my sister, who called me last night when I was out

I think I can officially count this as a post NOT about TV shows! Heh.

eta: You can totally tell in this post that my natural writing tendencies include rampant abuse of parentheses. Heh. Do I need a beta-reader for my everyday posts?!