This week....

And it's only Wednesday!

So far this week has been a trial in patience, and if you don't know, I don't possess a whole lot of patience.  I mean, I guess I do, because I worked with small children for years, but when it comes to certain things, I am not very good at it really.  So this week has tested me in every way possible, and it's only midweek!

The start of the testing has been migraines.  Since I started a new medication last week for unrelated issues, I have been down 4 days with migraines so bad I just want to scream.  My Partner keeps threatening to take me to the hospital, but he never follows through.  I have decent migraine meds, but they don't seem to be touching these migraines.  If this continues tonight it will probably end with me at the hospital.  I have an irrational fear of blood clots, despite having very few reasons to even think about clots, I just like to be cautious.

This week has also brought a bit of bad news in things I don't really talk about.  We are trying to start a family, have been for years now, and it appears this week is not the week we wanted.  Instead, here we are, waiting till Monday to figure out more options.  By the way, we are quickly running out of options.

The Partner has also been a bit off this week.  I know he is stressed.  That is really the issue.  His work causes him to be so stressed at times that he has no room for other things.  It just doesn't make for happy home life.

I also haven't been able to clean pretty much anything this week.  So our house is looking more like a bomb went off in it than just two people living here.  That causes me stress, which makes my head worse, which leads to more intense migraines, which leads to me not being very happy.

I am hoping that the rest of this week will go by calmly, but I doubt it.  At some point I have to drive a city over in hopes of getting college squared away for the August semester.  I really just don't want to make that drive.  I guess at some point I have to stop bitching about it and just do it, but really, if someone else wants to do that for me, it would be greatly appreciated!  lol.


Until next time.


photo credit: Sam, the Revolutionary Photographer via photopin cc

One of them there controversial posts

So I'm warning you now, just like I did a few days ago, that this post may ruffle your feathers.  Please remember that if you want to engage in honest debate you are free to comment.  If you want to name call and attack then I will delete your comment as if nothing happened.

So I was perusing facebook the other day and came across a graphic that made me want to scream.  Actually, I am pretty sure I screamed in frustration and honestly, anger, over what I saw. 

That.  That right there made my head spin and my gut boil with anger.  Are you kidding me?  This is your idea of a statement worth putting out there and AGREEING with?  So I think I am going to take this one a part piece by piece.  And I will preface it with this general warning:

I may use terms that make everyone seem the same, but I understand that each person is different.  In this post, when I say "Christians" I mean SOME Christians.  No all Christians are backward assholes who want to play the martyr card.  I do not mean to paint all the religious with the same brush, so please understand that I know there are great people in this world of all types and there are assholes in this world of all types.  If this does not apply to you, then please understand that I'm not talking about you.  I am talking about the types of people who would post this meme and think they are justified in doing so.


Since when do "Bible-believing Christians" even have to come OUT of the closet?  In America, it is pretty much assumed that you are a Christian unless otherwise noted.  It is pretty much assumed that you take the Bible as the literal word of God and nothing less, and that every Sunday (or at least the big Sundays like Easter) you are in church enjoying the singing and preaching.  Our pledge had "under God" added and our money now reads "In God We Trust", neither of which our founding fathers felt the need to put in the public like that.

I ask this honestly, but when has a "Bible-believing Christian" ever been beaten, in America, for their beliefs?  What have their parents, in America, kicked them out and disowned them?  When, in American, have they ever feared walking down the wrong road at night?  When, in America, have they felt the only recourse for themselves is to commit suicide?

See therein lies the problem, this type of thought process for "Bible-believing Christians" doesn't exist.  Cause no matter where they live, they can find a church, find people like them, find a group of people to hang out with.  Christians in America don't seem to want to admit how good they have it, really.  Being the default is not difficult.  They may still have their daily struggles, but you will not find one leaving a note for their mom explaining that while they tried to change, they couldn't, so the only thing left was to take away the pain.  By putting a bullet through their head.

Until next time.

Where we eat

Life is hard sometimes.  I know, such a bullshit statement, but this has a point, I promise.  So we have been finding ourselves eating out an ungodly amount in the last few weeks.  Part of it is we really are busy right now and part of it is I'm being lazy.  I do the cooking around here and I need to step it up!

So this week we spent quite a bit of time walking around the farmer's market looking at the yummies and came to a conclusion on our menu. We bought what we needed, supplemented at the grocery store, and away we go on the wonderful world of eating every meal at home.  We like to take baby steps and appropriately this week is week one of "how many weeks can we go without eating out".  I'm afraid we won't make it out of week one, but my partner has more faith in me than that! 

Our menu this week is really boring but that is okay, it's simple and that is what matters.  The goal is to get 7 simple meals under my belt and then remember why I love the kitchen and love making time for the kitchen in hopes that I will start cooking more elaborate meals again.  I have missed the kitchen a lot, but like anything else, I just haven't been able to make myself get in there. 

So here is to getting back to basics and hopefully enjoying myself again! 

Until next time.

Writing to the Picture

 Sometimes, while messing around on the internet, I find a photo that makes me want to write about what I see and how I feel.  This is one such photo.  One photo that makes me feel all sorts of things, and from that I can create a scene.  And that is what this blog post is.  This is a fictional story that comes from my imagination and this photo.  I hope you enjoy.



Photo: Old house in snow; Search word: snow

::Start short::

 I could feel the cold biting in to my hands.  I couldn't believe I was still alive, but I was.  I could see my goal, the house.  It was more of a barn really, but it would be warm, and out of the elements.  But the landscape was tricking me, for every step I moved forward, the house moved backwards.  Seeing my breath begin to lessen with every step I took, I knew I needed to keep going.  But if only I could rest for just a short while.  A small rest wouldn't hurt anything, and then I could be prepared to move forward, reaching out to the house with each step.

Pushing the thought of rest out of my mind, I continued to walk.  I had to walk, there were no other options.  I knew if I stopped, I woudl die.  An easy death, no doubt, as freezing has a way of sending your body in to a type of warmth as the last breath leaves you.  I couldn't let that happen, so I continued to move, continued to press forward.  If I could just make it to the house, I would be okay.

The snow seemed to get deeper with each step, and I knew frostbite had set in on my toes.  I began to dream of the warmth of my home.  my home, which I would see again some day, I knew it. 

::End Short::
Words: 236

So I got slammed with a migraine where this ends.  It was awful and while I thought about coming back to tie up loose ends I realized the point of this exercise is not to be perfect in my writing, but to just write when I find a pretty picture.  So while it's kinda abrupt at the end and it's not perfect, it is what it is and that's fine.  So there we have it.

Until next time.


photo credit: Meriol Lehmann via photopin cc

My spare time

So we all have spare time, right?  I don't have as much as I wish I did, but what little I do have is spent perusing local digs and cooking.  I am a cooking purist, yet I love so much spending time in the kitchen making things.  I figured on this Saturday I would spend a little time showing you some of my latest beauty.

I have never been a great making of custards and custard like goodies.  It's just impossible for me to get the set right cause I'm so afraid of undercooking eggs and making everyone sick.  Yeah, yeah, our eggs come from a local farm, and probably don't have any yukkies in them, but woah.

So the other day I have a few things in my fridge that were getting ready to go bad.  I hate wasting food (just ask my waist line!) and so I started thinking of all the things I could make with: about 10 button mushrooms, a head of broccoli, some cheddar cheese, 3 eggs, half a cup of cream, and one onion.  A very random assortment indeed, but that was everything in my fridge that looked a little floopy.

Doesn't that look yummy?

Well what can you make?  A quiche!  So that is what I made.  And let me tell you, it was more delicious than anyone could have imagined!  Honestly it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, which surprised me!  I had plans to spend quite a bit of the day in the kitchen, making sure I took the time to make it perfect.  It wasn't nearly as long a process as I thought either.  I basically softened onions in oil, then threw in the mushrooms to sweat down, then threw in some small broccoli florets that I cut even smaller just long enough for them to brighten up.  I mixed the cream, eggs, and about a cup of milk all together for the custard part.  I did cheat a little, I used a prefab crust because I suck at crust making, like really really suck.

I blind baked the crust with some beans on parchment paper holding it down.  Then layered some cheese on the bottom, poured in the onion and mushroom mixture, then some more cheese, then filled it up with the custard.  Baked it for about 40 min at 350F, and it was amazing.  Ah-May-Zing!  I think I need to take more pictures of my process from now on, giving you some good food porn, but for now you'll just have to deal with my non recipe recipe!

Pair that with a tall glass of local chocolate milk and BAM a nutritious and delicious supper on the table!  I'll leave you with one more picture of the yumminess!  Trust me, worth every minute of time it took to make.

Look at those yummy layers.  So good!

Until next time!

(all pictures are my own and copyright to me!)

The best decision I ever made...

So I know already wrote a post today, but dang-it I found a blog hop that doesn't seem require you be female, have children, be a stay at home mom, or be able to sacrifice 16 virgins in a pot of dragon blood!  So I'm joining it!  My first blog hop!  Woohoo!

So here we go! The sentence this week is "The Best Decision I ever Made" so here we go!

The best decision I ever made was to agree to move to my current city and be "roommates" with the partner.  He asked me, in his words, solely so we'd be closer.  But we would totally be roommates.  I'm pretty sure that he had no intentions of actually just being roommates when he just seemed to not care to let me get my room set up. I'm pretty sure moving is what made our relationship stronger and made us a better couple.

Until next time!

That little voice

This is the voice in my head.  Isn't it pretty?

This post is brought to you by that little voice inside my head that says "WRITE" very loudly.  This post is also guarded by that little gremlin in my head that says "you ain't got nuttin to write about".  See my dilemma on writing today? 

But see, that's where this blog comes in!  I can write here without worry if it sounds okay, if it's worthy of being written, or if it fits with my storyline!  I can come here and just pour out what's in my head and then maybe, just maybe, I can go back to the story and have it make some sense.  I won't be doing much writing today, which is why this little bit I am writing I want it to be worthy of coming out.  And I hate that about writing.

I always have wondered if other writers have that little voice.  Sometimes I'll say something, such as "My character spoke to me last night, he was not happy", and other writers look at me like I'm insane.  I swear I'm not!  My characters are typically just very very vocal about what they like and don't like!  Aren't everyones?

Anyway, I don't have much more to say about this that what I've said.  I need to go write and get on with my plans for the day!  I hope you all take the moment to pick up your pencils or open your laptops and write something.  The world needs more writers!

Until next time.


photo credit: Flickmor via photopin cc

Making it work.

Since starting the blog I have tried to make sure to have new content every day.  Make sure that everything is thought provoking and makes people want to read here.  Well today I couldn't make that work!  So today I leave you with a Brian Williams rapping video.  It's worth it!

Certain topics

Shouldn't be discussed or whatever.

Have you heard that?  "You can't talk about certain things if you want to keep friends."  This statement is a big one I hear often.  People constantly tell me "Oh, don't talk about that!  It's rude!"  And I just sit there and wonder if people really think that talking about uncomfortable subjects is really all that rude, or is it just you don't agree with my side and thus declare talking about it rude.  So, I guess this is my coming out as rude.  Why?  because there are very few topics I won't discuss and there aren't many situations where I won't discuss those topics.

I was searching for something completely different... but this works.

I am a passionate person.  I find myself being passionate about things now that I didn't even know existed when I was younger.  I am passionate and make no apologies for this.  That doesn't mean I am "not tolerant" of other people's opinions.  It just means that if I disagree with your opinion I will challenge you.  If you choose to not commit to the challenge, that is fine, and we both move on.  If you choose to commit, then I hope you are as passionate about the topic as I am, because conversing with another passionate person is awesome.


I also find myself a bit controversial in that way.  I make no apologies for my opinions and my positions on certain things.  This apparently makes me controversial in some people's view.  That is okay.  I can live with that.

I guess I look at this post as your warning that not everything here will be PC or non controversial.  And that is okay.  I want to hear your opinions, I want to hear your counter arguments, I want to hear from you on anything.  I don't do name calling, I do passionate discussion.  If you disagree with something I say, please point it out.  You only grow as a person when you are challenged on your beliefs.

Until next time.



photo credit: Dunechaser via photopin cc

5 Ways to procrastinate on writing

Today I sat down and realized that I didn't want to write.  Well, I take that back, I did want to write, I just wasn't ready for the tedium of the scene I was working on.  See, I had to create a new world and explain it in such a way that you wouldn't know I was explaining a new world.  Sounds fun, right?  I've put off these scene for days, weeks even, and alas it was the day I had said I would make myself write it, every last detail.  So I got up, got showered, and decided I needed to clean my bathroom.  Then of course I had to vacuum and mop the floors, cause otherwise it's not a clean bathroom.  From there it just spiraled out of control, and in the end here I am, writing 5 ways to procrastinate.  Shall we begin?

1. Clean your house.

photo credit: MikaelWiman via photopin cc

Everyone loves a cleaned house.  Seriously, who doesn't love it when the floors are shiney, the dusting has been done, and even the bathtub sparkles as you walk by?  I love it, and when I need to procrastinate, my house looks amazing.  This week my house has been awesome.  Hell, every time I try to write scenery, my house loves me (and so does my partner, lol).

photo credit: photosteve101 via photopin cc

2. Read other people's work.

What better way to learn to write something than to read it in other books?  There is nothing like losing yourself in a story written by someone else so you don't have to work on your own story!  This is also a good way to procrastinate because you always tell people "Oh, I'm just doing a bit of research." and everyone will believe you!

photo credit: rightsandwrongs via photopin cc

3. Take the dogs for a walk.

Walking is good for everyone.  It helps clear the mind, move out the cobwebs, gets the dogs and you a little exercise.  It helps you see the scenery in front of you and take it all in.  You can write what you see out there, if the new world would have any of those things.  This is a win win because you can procrastinate while also being able to say you are doing research.





4. Take a nap.

photo credit: nick@ via photopin cc

Nothing like knocking out the cobwebs like taking a quick cat nap.  Sleeping always helps you wake up invigorated and ready to face the day!  No one has to know that by "cat nap" you mean sleeping all day like every cat known to man.  When they call and ask if you just woke up, let them know you just took a cat nap and are now ready to face that world.



5. Write a blog post.

photo credit: Giovanni 'jjjohn' Orlando via photopin cc

See, I had you going didn't I?  Thinking I was no longer procrastinating since I was writing about all those ways you could be procrastinating.  In reality, I find blogging to be a little time sink that I absolute have come to love!  But, it is procrastinating in the worst way.  See, with blogging, you can justify that you ARE writing, just not the scene you are avoiding.  You are writing though, and all writing strengthens you in the end.  Now to go actually work on the scenery and new planet-ness of the scene I should be writing.

Until next time.

Perfect syndrome

Oh how I wish this was my bedroom room...

I read a lot of blogs.  I mean, a lot of blogs.  And one thing I have noticed over the years is everyone likes to put their best picture forward.  Even blogs that talk about "keeping it real" probably scrub down their houses before showing you a picture. I find no fault with them, heavens know that I wouldn't show you my house 90% of the time.

But I find the parallels between people showing you their best with how I write and who reads what to be eerily scary.  I realized this the a while ago when my Partner asked me to read what I've written so far on the novel.  I gave him that look and went "you want to WHAT?" in a pitch that was probably way too high.  He gave up relatively quickly, realizing that he had hit a nerve.

Why did I react that way?  that question has haunted me since it happened (and I could breathe again!).  He just wanted to read a novel that he has been very helpful to me with.   So I sat down and tried to come up with a reason.  Which of course lead me to go blog surfing, because who wants to deal with WHY they do something?

Then it hit me: I don't want to show people my dirty room.  I need to scrub every imperfection away before I can show anyone.  How in the hell can I justify putting out something less than my best and want anyone to read it?  I mean, I read other people's first drafts and second drafts and don't think twice about it, but no one wants to read my first or second drafts.  I promise, they are awful.

From that thought process came the idea to make sure I don't obsess over the finished product while blogging.  This blog is a bit of a relaxed atmosphere for me, as I don't worry about changing each post 100 times before I post it.  And you know what?  It's made me feel 100 times better.  And so, this whole post to tell you that you may read things here sometimes and go "why that's not polished at all!".  It's okay, I know!  I'm sharing my not so polished room with you.  It's okay neat, kinda lived in, but it's mine and mine alone.



photo credit: marcp_dmoz via photopin cc

Tweaking it

Just a heads up, there is going to be some changes in the template and such.  I am trying to make this blog fun, creative, and professional looking.  Please feel free to leave feedback on how you feel about it.  This isn't a democracy, but I do take suggestion okay.  :)

Writing to the picture

 Sometimes, while messing around on the internet, I find a photo that makes me want to write about what I see and how I feel.  This is one such photo.  One photo that makes me feel all sorts of things, and from that I can create a scene.  And that is what this blog post is.  This is a fictional story that comes from my imagination and this photo.  I hope you enjoy.

Picture: old dock, Search word: hate
----Start short story:-----

Taylor looked at the old dock.  He hated that dock.  He hated everything about that dock.  Yet, he felt drawn here after his father's funeral.  He didn't really understand why, he just knew he had to go.  And here he stood, staring at this place where he spent so much of his younger years with his dad.  His dad, oh, his dad.

The man was an enigma, or at least Taylor felt his was.  His father was diagnosed with cancer when Taylor was just a newborn, and yet this man went on to have 5 more kids and live 12 more years.  Who lives 12 years with "terminal" cancer?  But that is just the type of man his father is, or was.

Was, a word loaded with so much meaning.  Was, not is.  Was, the past.  Was, his father.  Taylor had known his whole life that his father was dying.  He knew his father wouldn't be at his wedding, wouldn't walk his little sister down the aisle, wouldn't be there to watch him pitch the opening game for the Atlanta Braves.  But even though he knew, it was still abstract.  And now, now it isn't.  Now his father is a was, not longer an is.

As Taylor stood at the old dock that he hated, he knew he would be back.  Something drew him there, something made him feel more there than he had in the last week since his father died.  Something told him that he would be back.  Taylor turned to go back to the house, taking in the old dock he hated he smiled.  Yes he hated that dock.

----End short story-----
Word count: 272

Well that was a little more depressing than I meant it to be, and it was really short, but hopefully you enjoyed the impromptu story.

Until next time!


photo credit: 'Ajnagraphy' via photopin cc

Humans and animals

Look at that little face!  Melts your heart!

 Have you ever noticed we as humans have a huge spot in our hearts for animals of every kind?  I know we do in this household.  The boys have been here pretty much as long as we've owned our house.  It's astonishing to me that we moved in and of all the things we could have gone out to gotten, we adopted two shelter dogs!

I find the connection between humans and animals to be so interesting.  I find myself spending so much time sitting outside with the stinky dogs.  Making sure they are well fed, well taken care of, gotten all the loves they can handle, and I wouldn't have it any other way!  These are my boys.

It's not just me, though.  I know quite a few animal owners.  They are just like me, making sure their pets are so well rounded that they have no clue they own their human.  I absolutely love hearing their animals stories.  It makes me feel a little more normal to know that they snuggle their pets and stop what they are doing to play with them as well. 

The thing I find the most challenging about owning dogs?  Keeping their minds from getting bored.  Why?  Because when they get bored, we get destroyed things.  Our fox hound mix once put 3 holes in the wall, simply because we had a person renting a room from us moving out and not paying him any attention!  Three holes we had to spend quite a bit of time patching and painting and painting and painting.  Our corgi mix is smarter than most humans I know, so he is also a great challenge.  Those challenge toys you can buy in the store?  Yeah, they mean nothing to him.  He figures them out the minute we bring them home, eats his treats, than goes to find trouble.  He's figured out how to open the gates, turn locks when you don't have them latched, how to open his kennel latches, and how to thwart the rabbit fence we put around the garden.  If you leave him too long, I'm sure he'll figure out how to open doors and cook himself some chicken.

The corgi mix is also the leader of the pack.  He is merely 5 weeks older than the fox hound mix, but he is the boss dammit.  His order of pack leaders is also amusing, to me anyway.  See the house hierarchy according to the corgi is the fox hound mix at the bottom, then the corgi, then my partner, then me.  I get to be the leader of the pack.  It gives my partner quite a complex cause the dogs should put the partner at the top of the list, but alas that honor is mine!  I enjoy it immensely.

It's always amazing to me the lengths people will go for their pets.  I wouldn't have it any other way in my household. 



photo credit: evocateur via photopin cc

Writing

When you look over there, what do you see?  I see beauty in black and white.  Isn't that amazing? Oh what I wouldn't give to have one of those old fashioned type writers.  Then I remember they don't have spell check., and I hug my laptop a little closer.

My whole life I have been a story teller.  I enjoy just letting it all hang out and telling you what I feel.  Yet at the same time, I feel very conflicted, because talking about myself is ridiculously hard. I typically change any conversation away from me and on to everyone else in the room.  I am very good at that too.

I am a writer.  I am not an author, yet.  No one has bought a book of mine.  No one has bought anything I've written.  And I'm okay with that, for now.  My grad scheme in life is to write a novel that everyone reads.  Isn't that the goal of most writers?  

So this blog is taking on a new thing for me.  I will tell you my stories, but so much more.  I will tell you all the stories I know.  An of course sometimes things will be changed, to protect the innocent and all, and sometimes they will be made up stories (of which I will let you know it's fiction).  I just hope you take to my stories as well as I take to telling them.  And I will remember the golden rule of blogging, pictures are awesome.

Thank you all for reading.  :)




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Patience is a virtue...

And other asinine things your parents say when they want you to wait.

See that kid in the middle?  That's me.

I was never a very patient person.  My mother tried, oh how she tried.  She used to tell me I had the disease that inflicted my father's side of the family.  She called it, lovingly I'm sure, the Go-Go disease.  Never sit still, never stay home, just GO GO GO!

This played out remarkably around the holiday season.  I remember being a young kid around Christmas time.  I used to pester her and pester her "When is Santa coming?"  I'd ask over and over and over again.  I typically started asking right after we put up the tree, which was the Friday after Thanksgiving.  She always calmly explained that Santa would be there in however many days.  That was never good enough for me however, as my questions never got any less.  So one year, my mother got smart.  She bought an Advent calendar.  You know, those little calendars that have chocolates or some other candy in the windows, and every day you open one window and ate the candy.  This way there was a visual to how many days before Santa came.  She was so proud of herself.

How did this Advent story end?  Was I more patient having a visual reminder?  Oh God no.  See, she explained to me how this worked "Now Hawk, you can see how many more days we have till Christmas.  Each day will be one less, and we'll eat a piece of candy!"  I hated to shit on her parade, but I was like 6, so I did.  One night, when she kept referring to that damn calendar, I had had enough.  So while everyone was sleeping, I crept down to the living room.  I would show her and her stupid calendar how many more days till Christmas.  I reached the coveted calendar and ate the damn chocolate in the windows.  All of the windows, but one.  I made sure, however, to close each window up so she wouldn't know immediately.

The next morning, we were going about our usual daily stuffs when I asked the inevitable question, "Mom, how many more days till Santa comes?"  She smugly walked over to the Advent calendar and pulled it down.  She asked me to open day 5, so I did.  "There's no chocolate," oh I had innocence down pat.  She looked in the calendar and got quite a quizzical look to her face.  She proceeded to open each day until the 25th.  That one still had chocolate.  As I claimed my prize, I triumphantly screamed "IT'S SANTA DAY!!!!!" and ran around the house. 

I'll never forget the moment my mother realized I had defeated her.  Sure, I had a belly ache from all the candy, but dammit, I won.  We never had a stupid Advent calendar after that.  She would just constantly answer my questions.

Now as an adult, I'd like to say I'm more patient.  In reality, however, I am still that young child affected with the Go-Go disease.  Just ask anyone who knows me, sitting still is not my strongest skill. I try, I really do.  All grown ups are patient... everyone keeps telling me this.  I suppose this is part of my Peter Pan affliction... I will never grow up!


photo credit: Abdulmajeed Al.mutawee || twitter.com/almutawee via photopin cc

Obligatory first post

So with every blog comes this first post.  I have stalled writing this post because who wants to do this?  Not me.  I hate talking about myself, but I feel if you are going to read my blog you must know at least a little about me.

My name is Hawk.  Obviously that is not my real first name, but it is my pen name.  A pen name I have used for as long as I can remember.  I am a happy person who loves to write, which is why I'm starting a blog.  I am a writer and I enjoy every minute of it, even when I can't seem to get words to behave.  Inside my head is a big swirl of words and thoughts and this blog is where I am hoping to be able to put them.

This blog will probably not have much of a single direction/topic.  I am rather random and find that my writing takes on my personality more often than not.  I need a place to write, and this is as good as any resource to put it all down.

I have successfully avoided talking about myself too much, but I will leave you with a few random tidbits about me that you probably won't be interesting in.  :)

-- I am a dog owner.  I have two dogs who I call my boys and they are awesome.  Probably more awesome than any other dog I know.

-- I am in a relationship with an awesome person.  That's all you need to know about that.

-- My one ultimate goal in life is to get a book published.  I have a really good novel in my writer right now and I am hoping this is the one that is going to take me from amateur writer to AUTHOR. 

-- I love to cook, and recipes may become a thing, or they may not.  I cook from scratch, local, in season, and all that jazz.  I enjoy perusing my city's farmer's market on Saturday morning, talking to the local growers, making jokes with the local butcher, and generally enjoying being connected to my surroundings.  I hate this city at times, but man do I love the agriculture and local feel.

-- I am very personal with my personal life, and very open with my public life.  I use a pen name because it is easier.  If I talk about something on here in detail, it's because I am very okay with that.  If I don't talk about something, chances are I never will.

I think this about covers that dreaded first post.  Until next time.