Miscellaneous Miscellany

There's many things a-brewing in the wonderful world.  Morning Bell, release me, release me....

1.  There's an official release date for GRRM's long awaited, highly anticipated, vastly overdo A Dance With Dragons, the fifth volume of the magnificent Song of Ice and Fire series.  According to all the reputable bloggers that I follow (Wert, Pat, Graeme, Aidan, and John), as well as GRRM himself, the hard publication date is July 12.  The book's not quite finished, but close enough that GRRM and the publisher have confidence that it will be completed in time for printing this summer.  If it does come out (and I really hope it does), then 2011 is shaping up to be the Year for Fantasy.

2.  I think I may go watch The Adjustment Bureau tomorrow.  I love me some Matt Damon.

3.  Little babies' eyes eyes eyes........

4.  I crafted a feast fit for a medieval lord and his lady last night, following closely this recipe, but changing up a few things.  'Twas a most delicious meal, even if the serfs scratched at my legs and begged for spare crumbs.  A flagon of ale or a goblet of wine would have been pleasant, but as my lady is with child we chose water instead.

 

5.  When I am king you will be first against the wall...

6.  Let us take a moment to look at the trends of my utility bills and usage.

 

Fascinating, I daresay.  One may notice the spike of water consumption for this current 'fiscal' year, and that was after I had my yard re-seeded and had to water like a madman.  Living next to a river, I don't feel bad about this at all.  I did feel bad about the bill, though...

7.  How do we really know what we know?  What proof do we have that the green that I see is the same green that you see?  Is it?  Who's to say that there aren't subtle differences in people's eyes that have minute changes to things?  Or does cinnamon taste the same to me as someone else?  Why does one man like its flavor and another find it repulsive?  Is it mere preference?  If it's true for the sense of taste, surely this must be true for the other senses, too?  Does a pinch not hurt some more than others?  Or a slap in the face?  Or the smell of fresh hyacinths may cause one to break out into hives while the other enjoys a moment of ecstasy.  And surely the differences in music and tone are evident between people.  So again, how do we really know what we know?  Isn't what we know only relative to the individual and we make vast assumptions for the rest of the world?  Seems rather selfish to me...

7b.  Did you think twice about the last sentence above in light to its previous sentence?

7c.  Is my being clever pretentious or in good humor?

8.  Wakey wakey rise and shine it's on again off again on again...

9.   This week's memory verse is from John 1:12,13.  

"But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

    That's some good stuff there.  Makes me think about the ones that don't receive Him...

10.  Do not cry out or hit the alarm, you know we're friends til we die...

11.  I never tire of listening to Radiohead.  "Climbing up the Walls" may possibly be one of the best songs of all time.  It's beautiful, yet somehow sinister, and the explosion at the end leaves your heart pumping.  If you've not listened to it in a while (or never heard it), check it.  It sounds like a madman finally losing it.  (In fact, I think it's about a mental hospital or insanity or something.)

12.  We had some beautiful weather this past week here in Kentucky.  I spent it outside barefoot working on some chairs that needed stripping and sanding.  I also spent it picking up dog crap out of the back yard and weeding dead hostas from around the mailbox and absorbing sun into my heavily freckled arms.

13.  Only fifty pages or so into Wise Man's Fear, but this weekend will proffer me much desired free time.

14.  If you feel like listening to a sermon that could possibly rock your world a little, then check this out.  It deals with really loving people and overcoming pride.  I don't really consider my self proud, but wow, after this I've been thinking about how much I really love people and what I do for them.  Francis Chan is an amazing preacher of the Word, and I recommend everyone give this a listen if you've got an hour or so. 

15.  Enjoy the weekend.  Don't lick the grapes.

More Food, or Why Dove Chocolate is Better than Me, You, and your friend Lucian

Say one thing for logankstewart, say he loves his Dove chocolate.  The smooth, succulent complexities of dark cacao and tantalizing peanut butter.  The wonderful explosion of delight from a simple, yet refined, bit of milk chocolate.  Each bite gives clarity to the addled senses, putting life’s impossible problems into the realm of not only possibility, but simplicity, for no problem is as great when Dove chocolate is available.  Moreover, unwrapping the delectable little treats gives insight to the soul.  Beneath the foil a promise waits, hand-crafted and unique, predestined for the unwrapper alone.  With the confidence of the uplifting and poignant Promise, and the sense of purpose from the tickled taste buds, nothing will ever stand in the way…

Wanna guess what I had for breakfast this morning?  It wasn’t oatmeal.  It wasn’t a sandwich either.  No, it wasn’t that!  Well, I’m not going to spell it out for you, but suffice it to say that it started with a D, did a backflip into an O, transmogrified into a V and split itself apart to reveal an E.  Mmmmmmm.

As a boy, I did not like Sloppy Joes.  As a young man, I did not like Sloppy Joes.  As a teenager, I did not like Sloppy Joes.  I eat my food nice and neat, clean and simple, plain and basic.  Then I started dating Keisha and her mom cooked Sloppy Joes for supper one night.  In an effort to be kind and respectful, I tried them.  Guhgh.  Not the best thing by any means, but as time wore on, I gradually grew to liking them.  Always, though, I had them made from a can.

Last night I decided to cook some Sloppy Joes, but doing it without the can of Manwich and making it from scratch.  I used this recipe (super, super easy), substituting 1/4 c. of BBQ sauce for 1/4 c. of ketchup, using ground turkey instead of ground beef, and I also added a little Worcestershire sauce.  The end result was exceptional.  Sure, it took a little more time and effort than opening up a can of premade Sloppy Mix, but the minimal amount of work required was well worth it.  It’s like Manwich is a taste of what a Sloppy Joe is supposed to taste like, but falls short of the goal.  This recipe, “Sloppy Joes II,” as it’s called, was the real deal, the thing Manwich strives for.  Plus, it doesn’t depend on a can full of preservatives and sodium and other stuff that’s not good for you.  Actually, it transcends the generic, strange, mysteriously neon-red Sloppy Joe and becomes the scrumptious, correctly colored Sloppy Joe II, an albeit comparable taste, but different, too.

My tastes have definitely changed over the years.  I remember refusing to eat things with onions, peppers, beans, tomatoes, spinach, and a slew of other things.  Heck, I didn’t eat ketchup until I started dating Keisha.  Now, I’m still picky on a few things (things with odd textures, like bananas or potato salad or something), but for the most part, I’ll eat what I can get.

Random Bits & Pieces

• Writing Wednesdays is tomorrow.  A subplot is revealed, which you can read and mostly understand without having read any of the previous cantos.
• If you’ve not donated to fellow blogger Mattson Tomlin’s kickstarter project, you still can.  He’s pretty close to reaching his goal.  He’s also got a Hollywood producer supporting him now.  And, if that’s not enough, or if you’re just interested and have no idea what I’m talking about, you can read an interview with him about his work by following this link.
• I’m so excited for Lost tonight!
• I need me another piece of chocolate. 
• Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

A Little Bit of Everything

Egads, man!  It’s not like I’m trying to go all random on you, but it just happens, y’know?  Like rain.  It just happens.  Just every once in a while my brain kicks in all random-like and stuff.  But what do you expect?  My blog’s not called Rememorandom for nothing.  First off, there’s an artist who’s captured my heart.  Ever wondered what STAR WARS would look like in a steampunk setting?  Yeah, me neither, but this guy did, and it’s awesome.

If you click on that picture or the link above you can find out more about the designer, and other works he’s done.  For those nerds out there, you’ll enjoy, as the man did some DC and Marvel characters, too.  I really like the Obi-Wan, the Stormtrooper, and Grand Moff Tarkin.  All are awesome, though.
Ever just have one of those days when a song plays over and over and over and over in your head, always the same line.  No?  Ok.  Never mind then.

Me and Alex have been working on making our own music, writing our own songs and stuff.  We’ve got one demo out right now, based on Isaiah 57:14-21.  Maybe we’ll get a finished product over the next week or two and I’ll post it up here.  I find it easier to write poetry as opposed to songs, usually, but I’m trying.
Speaking of poetry, how about I post up “isabella’s secret pt.1”?  Y’know, so you won’t think I’m all bent on dark stuff.  Cause “see the man” was dark, dude.  Dark as the outer darkness of space.  This one has a different tone.

"jetson mancer" or "isabella's secret pt. 1"

jetson mancer
was a dancer
that's how he spent his nights.
making money
with his honey
isabella poorsight.

he was comely
she was homely
but soon the two were wed.
'ere long he'd cheat
and oft repeat
with women in his bed.

isabella
had one fella
that was jetson mancer
she could not see
the treachery
and sadly got the cancer

If you’re interested, between those two poems you should be able to piece together what’s coming in Part 2.
You guys and gals wanna see the homemade muffins I made?  And by homemade I mean homemade.  From scratch.  No boxes and such rubbish.  I found the recipe from a new blogger’s site here, thought it looked good, and decided to make ‘em.  The recipe was pretty simple and it made one dozen like it was supposed to, but I lost two due to crumbling.  I guess I didn’t let them sit long enough in the trusty Pampered Chef stoneware muffin tin.  Anyway, this is how they turned out.  Rather tasty and fancy, if you ask me.  Check out the blog and the recipe if’n you’re hankering for something delicious.










The cold spell’s sitting strong here in Kentucky.  Heck, in most of the US it’s cold.  I guess that’s why it’s called winter?  It snowed somewhere between two to four inches last night, but thankfully most of the roads were navigable.

I got an email from the library letting me know that the complete series of Firefly is now available to me.  As a Buffy and Dr. Horrible fan, I just had to get it and watch it, especially since it’s got a huge following.
Another new blog I’ve started following is The Sound and the Fury of Kristopher A. Denby.  Mr. Denby shares his thoughts and ideas on various things one typically shares their thoughts and ideas on, like music, books, movies, politics, etc., but I really like his opinions.  Plus, he must have some Celtic heritage or something, and that’s a doubleplus in my book.  That, and he loved The Name of the Wind, so that sealed the deal.  (There’s a review on that book from 12/20/2009.)

There’s not much left to add.  Brandon Sanderson is doing a Q&A over at Goodreads on the Fantasy Book Club about Warbreaker.  I’m currently using 443 MB (5%) of my 7409 MB Gmail space.  Reading about the atomic bomb’s effects on Japan are heartbreaking.  I didn’t even think The Blind Side looked good, but I guess since it’s a “true” story and stuff it must be?  Why’s it making so much money?  I’m so excited for Lost’s final season to start up in February.

Yeah.  That’s about it.  Maybe something else tomorrow?  Maybe, possibly, even some musing.  People say she’s crazy she got diamonds on the soles of her shoes…

Getting Over the Quasi-Flu

My beloved, Keisha, has been sick for a few days now. We went to the doctor last week and he said that if she had a few more symptoms then she'd have the flu. The following day, she got more symptoms. However, since it wasn't diagnosed by a doctor, I call it the quasi-flu, as it is most likely the flu but we're not 100% sure. She's really been in a weak state, exhibiting signs such as headaches, fatigue, hot/cold switches, soreness.

Being a good husband, I went to Wal*Mart and bought some Minute Maid orange juice and some Theraflu. Minute Maid cause OJ is the way to go when you're sick; Theraflu cause Keisha didn't like Nyquil. I also made some homemade chicken noodle soup, using my own recipe and making do with what I had available.

12 cups water
1 bag egg noodles
2 thawed, boneless chicken breasts
2-3 sliced carrots stalks
2-3 sliced celery sticks
10 chicken bullion cubes
2-4 tsp parsley
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp basil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp rosemary
<1tsp ground sage
salt, pepper, garlic pepper, chopped onion to taste

I realize this looks like a lot of bullion cubes, but I didn't have any chicken broth. Furthermore, I found a recipe that said to make chicken broth, equate 1 cup water to 1 bullion cube. Anyway, mix all ingredients but noodles, bring to a boil, let boil for about 15-20 minutes, stirring, then add noodles and drop heat to low-med and stir occasionally for about 15 more minutes. Serve and eat and enjoy.

Now, a few days later, she's feeling better, and her throat still sounds hoarse/weak, but over all she's much better. In fact, she's going to go to her Girls Bible Study here pretty soon, braving the crowds.

I just wanted to document this. I don't like it when she's sick, but unfortunately it's something we have little control o'er. You can pray that her blood pressure will go down, as it was 139/108 the other day, which is pretty high.

Don't let the world move on without ya, may it do ya fine.