Beautiful Friday

I went out with Patrick after work yesterday and picked up my pill refill plus some nail polish. I got two shades, gold and a dark grey. They are called Nefertiti and Stormy Weather, both by Deborah Lippmann if anyone is interested. I love them! I painted my nails last night while Patrick played through some pieces on his trombone. Stormy Weather went on my toes, and Nefertiti currently graces my hands.

I tried taking a picture of my toes with the polish on them, but it is very difficult to get a flattering photograph of your own feet. I gave up. Just pretend you can see the dark grey polish on them. It's quite lovely.

An awful lot of next week is going to be dedicated to various types of therapy. Massage, physical, doctor visits, etc. I hope all this helps. I had a killer headache last night, but it finally went away. Probably stress and muscle tension. Glad that's gone.

In other news, I've discovered 750 Words, which is basically a site dedicated to getting you to write more. What about? Anything! It's free, and it's sort of fascinating. After you've written stuff, you can look at the various statistics it compiles about your writing (subject, focus, mood, etc). Some of the algorithm's conclusions are ridiculous, but that kind of adds to the fun. For example, yesterday I wrote my first three pages (that is approximately what 750 words works out to), and it informed me that I was a negative introvert who was upset about death. It exaggerated a little bit... I AM NOT UPSET ABOUT DEATH, DAMN IT! Ahem. Anyway, it gave me a chuckle. Your writings are completely private unless you choose to share them. It's an interesting idea if you're looking for something to motivate you to write more often.

Without further ado, this week's beautiful picks (click on each to be taken to its larger version):

Source: furkl.com viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

Source: annejulie-art.com viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

Source: pinterest.com viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

Source: magickalgraphics.com viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

Source: whattopin.us viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

Source: browse.deviantart.com viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

Source: hayloft-plants.co.uk viaAdrasteia on Pinterest

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Holding pattern

Just waiting for my cello to be ready.... We're also looking into teachers. Hopefully I will have one lined up soon. I think I've exhausted my creativity for a few days, so I'm going to lay off the art and let the ideas begin recharging in my mind. In the meantime, Patrick has graciously indulged me by playing F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) for me, which is a fairly old first person shooter but still has great AI and a wonderful atmosphere. I love those kind of games, but I can't play them. I can't separate reality from game, and my hands end up getting so cold from blood loss that I can't feel my fingers and they move stiffly.

I have weird problems.

So instead I watch him play them! I've seen a bit of this game before, but I am enjoying it very much nonetheless. All of us (myself and kitties) pile onto the bed and watch Patrick play the game. He sits in my old computer chair and uses the bed for his mouse. We're running it through the television because when he tried to play it on his laptop it made us both incredibly motion-sick. Something about the refresh rate or the camera. Not sure exactly, but we do not have that problem with the TV, thankfully!

Come on, cello...

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Flash Fiction Friday Instructions

Hello Everyone!!

As we try to get FFF (Flash Fiction Friday) back up and running again, I've been getting questions about how it works, so here is my shot at doing just that.....

These instructions are also posted permanently HERE!

1. Each week, usually on Sunday, but sometimes as late as Wednesday, I will post the prompt that sets the tone for coming Friday's post.  The post will be titled something like FFF- Prompt - Date.  
   
2. The prompt post consists of a picture, a keyword or phrase, a word limit, and sometimes "extra credit" that really is just for fun.  (The whole thing is just for fun, remember that.)
   
3. You come to my page and see the prompt.  The easiest way to get it is to follow me in Blogger, add me to your blog roll so you see it when it posts.  Here is an example.  Here is another
   
4. Go to your own blog and create a new post, usually with "FFF" or "Flash Fiction" in the title along with a date and some hint to what the piece is about. 
   
5. To get the picture, right-click on the picture in my post and select Copy Link Location.
   
6. Go to your post and click on the icon to add a picture, select "From a URL", paste in the URL, and the picture should appear in your post.
   
7. Most people then type in the keyword/phrase, word limit, and "extra credit"so their readers know what is going on.  For great examples, follow the links at the bottom here
   
8. Then, write what ever comes to you.  Most entries will be a little sexy, some very sexy, some sad, dark, happy, goofy, silly, dangerous, lonely, sensual, it goes all over the map.
   
9. The idea for FFF is that we all start with common elements (Picture, Keyword, word limit) but come out with drastically different stories.  That is why it is so much fun.
   
10. Schedule your post to publish on Friday.  Most people schedule it for the morning to maximize readership.
    
11. My post goes up at 12:01 AM Friday morning, California Time.  I know that for many people, this is inconvenient since their Friday has started hours before (Sorry Europe).
    
12. After my post goes up, come back to my post (at a time convenient for you, don't wake up at 3:00 AM or anything), and add your link to the "link collector".
    
13. 
    
14.  Click on the "Add Your Link" button.
    
15. Enter the link to your post:
    For example:  http://advizortoall.blogspot.com/2013/01/fff-jan-25.html
    
16. Enter your name as you want it to appear
    
17. Add your e-mail (required, but not displayed)
    
18. Click "Submit Link" and you are done.
    
19. You name (as you entered it) will appear on the list, others will click on it, read it, give you praise and love, and then you will tweet about it to all of your Twitterverse friends. (or not).
     
20. THEN!!!  Go and read the other entries, leave pithy and thoughtful comments, be supportive, give praise, and, above all else, be nice.  You will enjoy them all.
     
21. And then go tell your friends about it.

 As always, if these instructions don't make sense, or if you have another question, PLEASE write me an e-mail if you have any questions at advizor54@gmail.com

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FFF Prompt for Feb 1 - hazy

It's that time again my over-stimulate friends.  Let's sharpen our pencils and put on our thinking caps and get to work.  Well, not work, but let's start to play!!!

Here is the challenge for this week's Flash Fiction Friday post.

Word Limit = 300 words
Key Phrase = hazy
Extra Credit = Figure out who's taking the picture, or, tell us where the husband is.

As always, my post will go up at 12:01 AM Friday morning California time.

Last week we had 8 wonderful writers (and me) participate so I'd love to see that number grow.  A few of our regulars have missed the past couple of weeks so come on back now!  You've missed us and we've missed you.

We had some 1st timer's last week (Rachel XX, Ms B and Kat) and they did an amazing job.  Get out there, read their posts, give them some love, and see if we can get them to do us again.

And for my other readers who haven't joined in, isn't this a good place to start?

If you've never joined in, it's easy:

1. Get the prompt and pic from my site (right-click on the picture to get the link)
2. Write a story/vignette/limerick/whatever 
3. Post it to YOUR site and schedule it for Friday morning
   (hence the name Flash Fiction FRIDAY)
   Come back to post on Friday morning, read my hilarious and always exquisite attempt
4. Add a link to the "link collector" at the bottom of the post (like on this one) so all the participants know who else is writing that day.
5. Then you tweet about it so we all get lots of hits and our egos are satisfied for another day.

As always write me an e-mail if you have any questions at advizor54@gmail.com

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Depressed and pissed today, but I bought new makeup yesterday.

Green, sort of a teal, and black

Remember that tree I drew a while back? I had the idea of trying to do the same sort of thing on my skin with eyeliner. We shall see if that actually works or I wind up looking like a drunk who somehow got hold of a Sharpie. The green is a pretty thick pencil, like the blue that I used for the previous dots, and the shimmery teal is a thin pencil. I got a sharpener that fits both fat and thin pencils, so no more dulled tips for me!

If this doesn't look retarded, I'll show you a picture. Probably not tonight though, I'm not feeling my best. Emotionally unsettled. I'll be fine. But I don't really feel like creating.

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FFF Prompt - Jan 4 - Invitation

As we start out the new year of Flash Fiction Friday, we want everyone to join in, spread the word, and grow our list of authors.  I'm constantly inspired by the creativity you all bring to the effort.

So here are the details:

Required Phrase:  Invitation
Word Limit:  300 words
Extra Credit:  Send me cash.  LOL  :-)

My post will go up on Friday morning, January 4, 2013 @ 12:01 PM CA time.  I know this makes it tough on our East Coast writers (and for those further east) but if I move it earlier it becomes Flash Fiction Late Thursday Night and you can always schedule your posts to go at midnight local time and add the link to the "main" post as soon as you wake up the next day. 

There's no perfect time to post, so please be patient and get you link attached ASAP!

Have a wonderful week and we'll see you all on Friday!

And SPREAD THE WORD!!!

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Taco Inventors Extraordinaire

The past couple of evenings I've been reading through my Mexican cookbook (pictured above) and marking down recipes that I want us to try. I love this book. It doesn't have very many pictures, but it does have a really nice, conversational tone with stories from the author's time in Mexico and lots of good advice. One of these helpful observations is that once you've got the hang of making tacos, you can make them out of almost anything you have lying around the house.

Given that, Patrick and I decided to collaborate and try to create something tasty with what we had in the house. This turned out to be the following:

Corn tortillas
Sour cream
Milk
Chipotle chiles in adobo
Frozen corn
Garlic
Butter
Dried onion flakes

Our tortillas were a bit stale, so when we dropped by Plaza Latina to get coconut we also picked up some more of those, along with cotija cheese and dried epazote (Mexican herb). I'd originally envisioned us getting some mushrooms to put in the tacos as well, but that didn't end up happening.

Patrick created a delicious (although very hot) sauce with the chiles, milk and cream in the blender, and added it to the corn he'd been cooking with garlic and onion in a bit of butter. It needed a little salt, so we added that with the epazote, and then he put in a couple drops of liquid smoke to increase the smokiness of the mixture. I incompetently grated cheese (and managed to get it all over the floor; I'm a terrible cheese grater) until he took over to save me from myself, and cut up galia melon for later. I was going to cut up our papaya too, but it wasn't ripe yet.

We heated up the corn tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds and then used them to make tacos with a bit of corn filling and then a few pinches of cheese on top. Very tasty! I think we might try and use the rest of the sauce in some other dishes this week, maybe camarones enchipotlados if I get ambitious. It'll have to be mostly me making this, as Patrick has rehearsals all this week, but you never know. We already have the sauce, so all I'd really have to do is make soupy black beans, rice, and add some shrimp. That'd be pretty easy. We shall see.

In other news, our crane count is at 910. I intend on making more tonight, and we'll see how far I get. The last two will be love letters written on heart-covered origami paper and then read before being folded up. I can't remember if I already mentioned that or not, but now you know. Hard to believe I started this little project back in April, whew! Monkey will be so sad when it's all done...

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