NanoWriMo!

Another late post. Two years and migraines are not the best companions together. Other than that yesterday I wanted to talk to you about National Novel Writing Month. It's almost that time of year again!

Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, this challenge is put out there by authors for authors to get them up and moving, to stomp writer's block out for once and for all. It's a month of daily writing, with no apologies and no backspaces.

The goal is to have a first draft of a novel by the end of the month. And even if you don't make it that far it is an amazing learning experience. Just remember to forgive yourself on days you don't make your quota and take days off to renew yourself.

If anyone in the Los Angeles area is interested in doing a writer's meet up during November I want to put that out there so we can begin planning.

I am also telling you over a month in advance so you can get your brain churning for your idea.
Here's the link to the website to get you started. NaNoWriMo

Late Monday- Or Is it?

It's still Monday in some parts of the world, right? Well, poo, maybe I just time traveled and am actually blogging from Monday.

McKayla is definitely not impressed with my late post.

Your recipe for the week is from another blog with my added twists. Cosita Bella has a really great super quick healthy recipe that includes lots of fresh veggies and kicking flavors. Tomato, Zucchini, Feta & Dill Chicken
My own twists on the recipe included adding yellow bell peppers, portobella mushrooms, using poultry seasoning on the veggies before cooking and a splash of seasoned rice vinegar.
I cooked the mushrooms with the chicken, then added the splash of vinegar, then the rest of the veggies for about 5 minutes.
Since we are on a veggie heavy diet as a side we put a delicious red cabbage salad. (So easy to make.)
Red Cabbage Salad: 1 head shredded red cabbage, 1/2 c apple cider vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, 1 teaspoon Braggs amino acids, 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic and granulated onion all put in a zliploc bag and left in the fridge for a couple days. (The longer the better!) I eat this as a snack. It's ridiculous.


Stay tuned for your Tuesday post.

Hide and Go Beer

Hide and Go Beer is a game a bunch of us made up in college, but is still fun to this day. I was explaining it to my friend this evening and thought it would be a great thing thing to share with you all.
All you need to play is friends, a large room or house and a six pack of different beer for each friend, (Preferably ones you think they have tasted before, or else the game is much harder,) and a blindfold.

Gameplay
Each round is played the same until you get bored, run out of beer, or someone is declared the winner.
One person is taken out of the game room and blindfolded. The other players each hide 1 of each different kind of beer in the game somewhere in the room. (Be creative! In a plant! Next to a pet! In someone’s crotch!) This depends on how well you know and trust your friends.
The person who has been blindfolded is led back into the room. Their job is to now search for a beer. It is up to the other players to declare whether the seeker is ‘hot’ or ‘cold’. When a beer is found by the seeker someone opens the beer for them. They take a sip of the beer and try to guess which beer it was.
If the seeker guesses right then they keep the cap. The cap symbolizes a point for them. Each player then does the same until all plays have had a turn. This is round 1. Round 2 is the exact same.
If you want to tell the players to bring 2 (6) packs each, the winner can earn 2/3 of the booty left and the runner up the last 1/3 of the prizes.
It’s my favorite kind of game. Everyone wins, (you would be drinking together anyway, admit it) and everyone has fun.
Let me know if you try it this weekend and if you come up with any twists or have another similar game to share with me

Hunger? Where?

I am not the biggest fan of Gary Ross's version of the Hunger Games. There are some great moments, but he fails to capture the essence of the story. It ringa hollow. So I am way more excited for Catching Fire.

I love Francis Lawrence's adaptation of 'Water for Elephants' even though I didn't think the actors had much chemistry. We already know that the entire cast of Hunger Games has great chemistry. Combine that with someone like Lawrence's understanding of how to adapt a story to satisfy the audience will make Catching Fire so much better than The Hunger Games.

With the rise in youtube and fan trailers and videos we can see what other people are thinking when they picture the story. giant Robot had a really interesting cut together fan trailer from Kevin Tancharoen, made of many of our favorite sci fi movies. You can catch it here Kevin's Hunger Games Pitch

I like Kevin's darker and more twisted take on the story. It's not necessarily what I pictured with the first movie, but it feels much more like the scenes at the end of Mockingjay, and I think he would do a good job exploring Katniss's twisted headspace in that book.

Some other fan videos are actual scenes filmed by people who love the books. My two favorites follow.

This first one is a fan's version of Haymitch in the second Quarter Quell from Catching Fire.

The second one I offer you is an extremely well acted (and 10 times better than the movie) version of the cave scene from Hunger Games. You'll want these two to star in the movie instead.
That's your geek rambling for the day. Feel free to comment. I want to hear your opinions! Did you like the movies? Did you hope for something different? What kind of fan trailer would you make?

Yoda?

So I am a rogue knitter and crocheter. I find patterns and then attempt to nerdify them. To mixed results. (My Star Trek Red Shirt sweater for an elephant. Oof...) So when I saw facebook promoting Bernat's Baby Kitty Hat I instantly saw Yoda in it.
Baby Kitty Hat
Who wouldn't right? So I grabbed some Vanna White Baby Yarn in Sweet Pea. (t looked like a similar yarn to what was in the pattern. And I figured I would use the hat portion and just embellish the ears.
Vanna White's baby yarn is a lot thicker and my crocheting is 10 years of practice behind my knitting.
Here's the result.

So I ended up with an adult sized hat. Be forewarned! Check your gauges. (Luckily my best friend Teri will be taking the hat. A picture of her modeling it will soon be up when I use some wire to make the ears still out.

To modify the pattern to get Yoda shaped ears after about the 5th row of 12 stitches I added a second sc in the first stitch. I did it again on the 7th row. After about the 9th row I began a decrease on the same side, decreasing a stitch every odd row until I bound off the last 3. I made 4 of those, sewing 2 together for each side (The inner and outer ears.)
Then I just sewed them on. Was hoping the double sided ear would make it stiff enough on it's own. Sadly, no.
My consolation is the purple basil at the farmer's market this week. I was late making you a post because I will busy falling in love with the following recipe. Farm Girl's Purple Basil Pesto You understand right?
Goodnight!

Late Tuesday Night

Got distracted playing the Game of Thones Card Game. I am a geek girl and these things happen. So your post is a little late and short but I promise much better tomorrow!
Anyway you know what I am reading for books, but I can't overlook the comics! After all I am co-owner of Versus Comics & Games, a soon to be retail store here in CA.
If you read one comic book this year (or if you are sick of Marvel and DC superheroes) check out Joe Hill's Locke and Key series. Epic mythology and luscious artwork by Gabriel Rodriguez. I love his art in the 'The Great and secret Show' an adaptation of Clive Barker's great and wonderfully weird book.
So go out and get lost in it. Become a kid again!

Labor Day Laziness

Okay, I admit it. I am feeling lazy today because I get a day off. (I hardly ever do.) So I am not giving you an original recipe. I am sharing a recipe from a fabulous site that I like that has been helping inspire me for recipes for weight loss. You won't miss the carbs in this one, I promise!!! Poor Girl Eat's Well's Caribbean Jerk Chicken Mango Stuffed Avocados
My own special twist on the recipe is one that will save you time. Instead of getting all those individual spices I used cajun + chinese 5 spice. Voila! You cover all your bases!
This is another great one to use avocados while they are still in season!