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 |  My scattered scribblings |
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What have you come across? My pen and keyboard are usually busy with stories and books. Anything that makes it into this journal is something powerful or important enough to have me write it down. If you like any of the following, we can be friends: blue police boxes, world dominating rings, epic journeys with vertically challenged people, dark lords with respirator problems, billionaire superheroes with toys, monster hunting brothers, pointy-eared science officers, FBI agents who investigate supernatural incidences with a crazy scientist, high functioning sociopaths, magic-wielding British adolescents, fairytale amalgamations, 'Thu'ums' +5 points to anyone who can name what all of these are. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **
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Today's News ... If we can call it that  What order would you put these in (according to either relevance, entertainment, or news-worthy-ness)? You can either read my personal rants first OR just read the articles OR just read the headlines, then put them into order. Example: Entertainment -- 2,7,4... OR Relevance -- 5,4,2... Etc. ps. excuse the errors. I have another cold and can't be bothered to polish right now LOL. 1. Jon Stewart breaks down laughing  I don't really watch the Daily Show - although I do appreciate his humor and the fact a political comedy show is more accurate and educational than anything else out there. I just never got into it because I don't follow anything in politics, so most of the jokes I wouldn't get. My husband is pretty good about pointing out the ones I would enjoy. This is a cute little clip. 2. Mark Hamill gives best Star Wars Autographs This one is awesome! Aside from being a Star Wars fan, and really wanting to get one of those cards now. It's nice to see a celebrity have fun with autographs and take the extra second to make it personal. 3. Husband sues wife after seeing her with no makeup for the first time Are you serious?! This made it onto Yahoo news?! Some asshole is being an asshole ... and? I just want to tear my hair out. News reports used to be something substantial. Okay, so this person finds it offensive (as much as me), but then only proceeds to write a two paragraph "article" which is just a droning verion of the headline. What happened to getting interviews, calling to get quotes, fact checking, and writing something beyond "I heard this juicy gossip. Pay me for writing about it." National Enquirer has exploded across the internet. 4. American Customs that are rude in other countries I'm going to yell "inaccuracies!". Chinese people do not have issues with personal space as much as the article implies (I should know. I've lived here 10 years). Should you hug or do the "European kiss" on each cheek when you first meet someone in a casual setting? Probably not, but you can gauge pretty quickly how open that specific person is open to that kind of contact - which is something you would do for anyone from any culture. The "gift" thing, however, is often true. I usually want to slap someone with their present when they go through the "must refuse three or more times" process. Okay, refusing once for modesty ... fine, I get that. But five times just makes everything tiring and ridiculous. I know you really want this gift ... so just fucking take it. 5. Girl with an IQ higher than Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein I'm on the fence about this article. Okay, she's really smart, and this is great because she wants to do something great to help humanity (high-fives to her! {e:heart), but I'm not sure this is really "news worthy". Getting accepted to Mensa's prestigious 2% is pretty awesome, but I see no other articles about other such members and what they are going. It just feels like a headline grab. 6. 13 year old girl body shamed This is why I wrote a story about killing Trolls. I'm all for freedom, but shit like body shaming, general trolling - hell, let's just encompass the whole things as "I disagree with it, so I'm going to utterly tear it apart" or "I'm a sociopath with a keyboard" people - makes me want everyone who enters a chat room to have their IP and GPS monitored - bet you a million bucks if they knew people could find out where they lived, they wouldn't talk shit. 7. Ben Affleck's "Nanny-gate" Who the f@&k cares?! I was so far PAST caring about this the moment I first saw the first "news article". I'm sorry I just don't get how following the pain and drama of another person's divorce or misery is in any way entertaining. One could argue "They should of thought about that before they became famous." Well, I also call bullshit on that one too. No one expects to be that famous and when the privacy violation starts, I know no one would be happy about it - and would find the previous statement highly offensive. But, mostly, I just don't give a shit about it. Not in a bad or good way - I'm just tired of gossip rags being labeled as "news" 8. Jared Leto's Joker Everyone started coming down on this movie even before it's come out! I'm going to reserve judgment until I see the movie for myself. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Chinese Cooking Class Had a cooking class at my house today. No money exchanged hands, but we all taught each other two dishes. Today, I learned how to make some amazing, authentic Chinese food. I thought I would jot down the notes and share it with anyone else who is adventurous in cooking. You'll also notice there aren't many specific measurements, because most Chinese families don't use cookbooks or recipes. They make it according to how their parents or grandparents made it etc. I've learned to be less anal about my measurements, so it wasn't a shock when I had to try it, but if you're used to following iron-clad instructions, you might have a bit of a melt down with these dishes. Just use common sense with the amounts, and you'll be fine. There's nothing added in strange amounts. Chicken and Broccoli  Marinate chicken - salt, soy sauce, black pepper, and a little oil Pour boiling water over broccoli and let sit for a few minutes (don't let it get soft, essentially blanching). Add oil, garlic, and baijiu (shaojiu, sometimes called Chinese rice wine, or Chinese white wine), add chicken and cook well. Add drained broccoli Eat in one sitting.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baijiu http://chinesefood.about.com/od/cookingfaqs/qt/rice_wine_sub.htm Steamed Ginger Fish I wasn't a "fish" person until I tried some Chinese dishes. I FINALLY learned how to cook it today. Most of the ginger and onion doesn't actually make it into your mouth, but it's still VERY important to add flavor to the dish. I also learned that the choosing a male/female fish is important for certain dishes. Cause the male fish is more "active" ... heehee. Get a fish (preferably salt water, or one that doesn't taste too "fishy", but it's not a deal breaker. Getting a fresh one is also important.) Clean well then season the outside and inside with salt = give the fishy a salt massage Cut up some ginger into small stripes and layer it on the outside, as well as stuffing some of it in the inside and around the gills (maybe about 1.5-2 inch section chopped up, or a "large thumb's" worth). Cut up a little more ginger and put it on the plate = you don't want the fish touching the plate. The light bed of ginger acts as a layer to allow heat to flow through, as well a flavor the other side of the fish. Steam fish on a plate for 3-5 minutes (depending on size of fish), then one more minute cooking with the lid OFF. Cut up around a cup of shallots (green onions, the strong ones) and sprinkle them over the fishy (yes it will be a lot of onion) Add about 3 tablespoons (or more if you want) of soy sauce over the fish. Heat about 3 table spoons of oil in a pan. Pour over fish and watch it sizzle. Eat fish. The next two dishes were made in unison with the same pork starter - about 2 cups worth of ground pork (preferably with a little more fat - yes, this is for yummyness, not a trim waistline - and YES the fat is important for flavor). The pork must be prepared ahead of time and put in the fridge to firm up. Add salt (1/2 to 1 teaspoon), Brown sugar (1/4-1/2 tsp), 1 tsp of baijiu, 1 heaping tablespoon of corn starch, 1 tsp soy sauce. Stir in ONE direction and gently. Apparently this is important because, otherwise, it won't stick to the vegetables as well. Hey, they've been cooking this stuff for generations. I'm not going to argue. We have weird-ass instructions in our food too.Stuffed Bitter Melon Bitter melon is certainly an acquired taste, but I've grown to love it. Choosing the right gourd is important if you want to have less bitterness. The darker and longer ones, with thicker veins, aren't as strong. Guangdong/Cantonese love their shrimp additive. There are these TINY dried shrimp they use in a lot of their cooking. If you don't like the taste (which is pretty strong) or want to try a different flavor, I think you can omit the shrimpies. Take little, dry shrimp and add about a tablespoon of oil (do this ahead of time so they get soft and moist) Cut bitter melon into 1 inch circles, and take out the fibrous insides. Put in salted water and boil for about 3 minutes then drain. Add cold water to stop the cooking process. Chop small shrimp into smaller pieces then add a little oil to a frying pan (1 tsp), heat shrimp for about 10-15 seconds to bring out smell and flavor. Chop 2 large or 3-4 small shiitake mushrooms into very small pieces (nearly mince them). Sorry no substitutes for the mushrooms. Cook mushrooms with a little brown sugar (1/4 tsp, 1/4 tsp salt, and oyster sauce (about a tbsp) Add mushrooms and shrimp to half the pork mixture. Stir in one direction. Rub bitter melon ring insides with salt then corn starch (this will help the meat paste stick to the vegetable) Stuff inside ring with pork mixture. Set on plate or metal tray/plate (metal is better) - steam for about 5 minutes or until cooked (not too long or the rings will get mushy and the dish ruined. You want a bit of firmness left) Transfer to plate Make a sauce with 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1tsp soysauce, 1/4-1/2 tsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp water, corn starch. Heat into a sauce and pour over melon rings.Stuffed Spicy Peppers This one uses the rest of the pork mix. Korean (aka Hybrid Long Green) peppers are the best. They're about 5 inches long, smooth, and firm ... I'll let you take whatever you want from that. Don't you dare you green peppers or anything like that. Aside from NOT working with the dish, they're just for pussies. Korean peppers aren't even that hot. Take the other half of the pork mix. Add 2, finely chopped shallots (green onions) Cut peppers in half, lengthwise Rub the inside of the peppers with corn starch (but not too much) Fill the "pepper boat" with pork mix. Heat frying pan. Put peppers pork-side down. Cook until very golden brown. Turn over and cook the other side (but not too long, just enough to make it a little soft, otherwise the "boat" will fall apart). Some people don't cook the other side, but I find it easier to eat when it's cooked on both sides. Set on plate. Make a sauce of a little bit of brown sugar and baijiu. Pour over peppers. Eat all of it, cause it's great! |
Reoccuring Elevator Dreams Ever had a reoccurring dream? How about a scary one? I remember keeping a dream journal in college as part of our mini psychology unit. Apparently they thought including a class like that in a digital animation course was relevant ... something about understanding creativity. Although I didn't take much out of the class that I could apply to my passions, I did find the journal very very interesting. After about a month's worth of entries, I re-read the thing and found out every dream contained some element of water - whether winding riving I had to traverse in a barrel, a glass of water I could never bring myself to drink, or broken, spewing pipes in an unending bathroom labyrinth with the grim reaper chasing me. The last one happened several times, and it was creepy as hell. But the one I had last night, I realized, was another re-occurring theme. I'm in an elevator. I press a button. It goes up ... and doesn't stop. Most of the time I break through the roof and am helpless in the small compartment as it hovers in the air for just a moment. Then comes the free fall. I hate that feeling ... falling in dreams. You can actually feel your stomach rise into your throat. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Ch-ch-ch-CHANGES! If you've spotted my newsfeeds, you might have noticed I'm trying to alter my eating habits. I would consider myself a fairly healthy eater to begin with, but I really wanted to A. cut out as much sugar and unnatural products as possible B. Cook at home as much as possible C. Streamline the process to make it as convenient as possible (such as cutting and freezing fruits that are on sale, prepping as much as I can, or choosing meals with low prep time) What have I learned from WEEK ONE? I remember losing a fair bit of weight last year, without an ounce of exercise. We had a cook at the time (please wipe the dollar signs out of your eyes and pick your jaw back up off the floor - cooks and cleaners, or "Aunties" as they are called, in China are very affordable.) She cooked three plates with a combination of meats and vegetables. The filler was rice. I dropped 20 pounds in 5 months. I want to recreate the same thing. WEEK ONE was experimentation, and I'm pretty sure I gained a little weight. But that's okay! I now know I have to cut back portion sizes a little and cut out the snacks. My sugar/caffeine withdraw didn't last as long as the other times I tried to cut it out before. I guess that's a good thing. I can't shop based on a recipe in this country/city - some of the foods are just too hard to find.I need to make more use of my local market. My herbal balsamic vinaigrette is amazing! I still miss black tea with milk and sugar, but I'm coping. I know eating healthy is all about balance, and that it's okay to eat/drink something "bad" once in a while, but I really do love it so much that I will end up drinking it everyday - then three times a day. The local Starbucks must be beside themselves with worry. "Where did Robyn go?!" I have to pee earlier in the morning from all the damn water I'm drinking. HA! I've also found my frame of mind is totally different the minute I step into the supermarket. Have you watched the documentary Food Inc? Yeah it will completely change how you view each aisle. I skip most of the supermarket now, since most of the products are processed and chuck full of poisons. The biggest thing I've learned, that many people in my office envy my meals and eating habits, but very few are willing or even interested in making any changes to their own food lifestyles. It boggles my mind because it's very possible (except maybe if you're on an incredibly tight budget). Adjustments for Week Two  Cutting back on snacks and removing them from the schedule. Instead, I will have various snack available and eat them only when I feel the need to have one: fruit, veggie pack, cheese and crackers, energy bites, etc. Portion sizes will be reduced to cut back on calories. Meals/Recipes have been slightly changed to use foods from the local market, instead of the "foreign/western" markets. The only thing I have to go out of my way for is yoghurt with no sugar and kale/chard. The curry chicken meal has been taken out and exchanged for a roasted pork and green vegetables dinner. Meals changed around to not have chicken too many days in a row. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Procrastination Don't leave that chair or go anywhere. The setting's not done. There's no time for fun. There's grammar to mend and plots to defend. Your character's weak. Word choice you must tweak. So stay there and write. Yes, all through the night. And despite my pile of work, and lingering cold, I somehow still procrastinated and wrote this reprimanding poem. Sigh. Ok, Robyn, back to work. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Challenges on the Web I have been challenged! Thanks to Elle - on hiatus  , I am honor bound to add a blog post or I must dump a bucket of digital, cold water over my head then pay gift points to a fundraiser. Although there are some fabulous groups they are raising fundraisers for, I am never one to back down from a challenge. The digital gauntlet has been thrown!This has inspired me to write about a weird-ass phenomenons I've seen on the web. Now, keep in mind I'm currently living in a country that bans YouTube, and I'm usually late to the party on these things, but I can't get over the sheer number of idiotic stunts that are popping up everywhere. Let's look at two: Cinnamon Challenge - eat a tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Please don't do this. Mr.Darwin will facepalm. Come on! What kid gets bored on a Sunday night then goes to Mum's pantry and says "What's the most disgusting thing I can try to eat here then make my friends do it too." The Salt and Ice Challenge - put salt on your arm then an ice-cube. Please don't do this! Mr.Darwin will cry. Three words - Second Degree Burns. Don't believe me? Believe science.  Salt + Ice = lower freezing temperatures & causes an endothermic reaction. Cold = numbing of the skin = participant is unaware they are damaging nerves + suffering from frostbite-like symptoms + possible second or third degree burns.Someone replies with, "But it's cool!" I say, "You know, you're right! And I have an even better challenge for you. See that highway over there? Go run into oncoming traffic. The winner who gets hit by the most cars is the winner!" The Darwin Awards are going to be busy this year. Th problem with the internet (although I do love it) is it's teeming with information masked as truth or good advice. Because it's presented in a well laid out web-page, many think the information within is as reliable as the pages of a well researched book you would buy at Chapter or Barnes and Noble. Also, since it spreads so quickly, there's no time to educate. I remember one woman's comment to her daughter - "Would you do the same thing (try it just because) if someone offered you heroin?" I could go on about this forever . . . forever! But I think in the end, the only safeguard are parents. Teachers already have too much on their plate. As for the "Ice bucket challenge"? This is not idiotic. I repeat, NOT. I wholly support anything that gets people off their lethargic butts and raises awareness for any good cause. But a bucket of ice water . . . I have to assume we are going for the funny images of presidents and pop stars getting doused - that has to be the reason for the sensation. Because, I'm from Canada - the country of the Polar Bear Dip. I guarantee anyone from my country is watching these videos and saying "...AND? I get blasted with cold water every morning in winter when the water doesn't warm up fast enough." But I will still give high fives and thumbs up for this phenomenon. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Learning You know what's a monumental waste of my time? 'Trainings' that the company loves to dole out to 'improve the quality of their teachers'. It's a shame that the corporate structure expects everyone to learn within a structured corporate 60-minute lesson on "how to manage angry students". These trainings might have been useful many moons ago when I was fresh to the field, but I've just gone past them. So who do I learn from? My co-workers and my students. I observe others problems solving and other's learning processes. My epic lesson on Perfect Tenses might as well sell tickets and popcorn with it, it's that fun and entertaining. But it's a compilation of years and so many different teachers approaches. Using the family unit to teach modal verbs leaves a classroom of wide eyed students gaping and asking, "it's that easy!?" But that emerged from a lesson with one student who just couldn't grasp grammar but wouldn't shut up about her family. So what did I learn recently? I was discussing the Myers-Briggs personality chart with a colleague and the topic of introverted and extroverted came up. Her interpretation was simple but impressive. "It's all about energy. Introverts can be party animals. They can be dynamic public speakers. But,they lose energy when they do it. They give away their energy. They can only recharge in the opposite environment. Quite and calm brings them back to a balance. The same goes for Extroverts - the receive energy in a social environment and lose it in a still one." I like this. It doesn't negatively stereotype either group. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Customer Service High school was nothing but this kind of job. For some reason I was adamantly against going into any food service job, so I was stuck in department store and clothing retail etc. Later I would appreciate the high pay and low stress silver lining of a factory job, but that's another story for another time. So, what brings on this upcoming rant? I had to teach a Harvard Mentor Management course today, and as I was lising the ways to gain and maintain customers, I was thrown into secret, silent reminiscence. Then the slide about "How to deal with problem customers" came up. Oh how I inwardly cringed. Now, I'm not oblivious to the need for good customer service, and if we flip the middle finger at anyone that rubs us the wrong way, there would quickly be no money and we would be out of a job. BUT There are THOSE customers. The ones that have had a horrible day and just want to take it out on someone else. I've seen it and experienced it - verbal assault behind the impenetrable shield of 'the customer is always right'. I've remember being at the receiving end of a yelling rant how it was somehow my fault the online prices were cheaper than the in store prices. These customers make us think, "The paycheck is so not worth this." If they want to rant, they can go to a psychologist or pay me the appropriate rate. Some people need to learn how to be good customers. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Giving Up or Getting Better There are a million sites and articles telling people how to give or take feedback, and I'm not going to add another. What I will do is point out one part of the process that is probably the hardest for some. It's easy to brush off comments and feedback that clearly don't apply to the story, Example: the reader has missed something key, or the debated line is a stylistic choice. But what do we do when we realize something in our work was truly bad, and there is no way to hide behind 'it's just my writing style' ? I had this happen to me a few months ago. My beta reader on another writing site pointed out the embarrassingly large amount of comma mistakes in my story. I thought, It can't be. It must be one of those 'flexible' rules that the writer can choose what they prefer. I looked up the rules online. Nope. Oh I was so in the wrong. The worst part was knowing I had already sent the book out to a dozen agents already, and they would see the less than polished manuscript I had advertized. So what now? A non-writer would say 'So what? Move on'. But any writer would take it as a shocking stab to the heart. We pride ourselves on being better masters of the language than most people, and realizing we're not is a blow to our already fragile ego. What did I do next? I remembered there are these magical button on the computer - backspace, delete, comma. I went through my story (and several other stories) and started fixing all of the mistakes. Instead of despairing that I wasn't everything I thought I was, I engrained the new grammar rules into my head and came out with a infinitely better manuscript in the end. Writing is hard. Writing quality is even harder, but every new thing we learn can only makes things better. We can either give up or get better. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Time There are not enough hours in the day! Process that through whatever mathematical equation you want and it equals 'not enough time in my life to do all the things I want to.' I'm sure others on this site will agree, but is it amplified because we are writers? Our craft takes time. Brainstorming, rough copies, editing, editing, reediting, searching for agents, waiting, writing, getting ideas... The worst part - having a new idea enticing me to write, an old story begging me to finish it, and a current project demanding my attention. Today was particularly frustrating. I had a dozen odd-ball short stories blubbing in my brain and finally had an epiphany on how to put them into a single book. And what do I have to do next? Go to work. Sigh. My choices are the following: 1. Quit my job and all other obligations so I can write full time - and live in a cardboard box when I'm evicted (a box with wifi) 2. Find a sub/slave to cook, clean, and pay my rent so I can write full time. 3. Sell what's left of my soul for a publishing deal and the ability to write full time - I already sold 3/4 of my soul for a Klondike bar. 4. Beg on the streets - with my laptop hidden under my hobo coat. Any suggestions? ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
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I dunno. I get all wound up in defining the terms of the discussion, and then forget what I'm supposed to be doin'. 
As for newsi have my other half filter what I want to hear as he knows what I want to here. for instance:3. Husband sues wife after seeing her with no makeup for the first time. It tickled me. I purposely walked about with no makeup and my old slacks and top yesterday I also left my hair untouched. Then asked him would he divorce me if he saw me every day like that. His answer was: You were my queen the day I met you and you will be my queen till the day I divorse you. (We both had a good laugh)
