So, the summer before eighth grade, I babysat two kids during the work-week. I didn't love it, but it was work. It was my second summer of babysitting. I saved up all my money and at the end of it, I bought myself a Smith-Corona electric typewriter. I wasn't a great typist. It would be a few more years before I took any touch-typing classes, and even now, I touch type reasonably well, and with decent accuracy - I'm just not super-fast.
I started by typing sentences. Long, weird, character infused sentences. I would write about people's butlers who were slowly poisoning their masters, and, honestly - they were kind of like the captions of Far Side cartoons without the drawings. They weren't especially interesting to anyone but me. I think it might be a decent exercise to replicate, because it made me imagine hundreds of scenarios, then concisely describe them.
I actually do something similar today. I buy a calendar at the beginning of each year - something in the $2 bin at WalMart. Kittens, Puppies, this year, it's beaches. And each month, I write a caption for the picture and affix it.
Like so:
They are always a little irreverent, but I try and keep it clever. I'll go back to animals next year, because naming the kittens is pretty much half the fun of the game. Although, clearly - you know Wade and Dawna. We all know Wade and Dawna.
The other thing I do at the office on a monthly basis is I change out the bulletin board. This month is devoted to Infused Water Recipes. I couldn't think of a better plan, and two people have mentioned they enjoy it, so I'm rolling with it.
So, tomorrow is July 4th - we'll be celebrating with some friends who will set off their own small pyrotechnic display. I'm going to take corn, in some form - probably salad.
In this month's Southern Living, there was a whole article about fruit based desserts. Crumbles and cobblers. Crisps and Buckles. Slumps and Fools. And I thought to myself, "Sure, but what about a pandowdy?" And I flipped to the next page, and there the pandowdy recipe was.
They are all versions of fruit + dough/batter - I like them all. I prefer a sweeter crust rather than something more biscuit-like - but I enjoy them all. And I love the names. Doesn't a blueberry fool sound wonderful? A strawberry buckle?
It's weird that I even know all of these. I also know way too much about croquembouche. I impressed the hell out of a professional baker once by correctly naming it in a picture. In high school, I knew the answer in French class to a trivia question about apple brandy - It's Calvados. My teacher was either stunned or impressed. My classmates probably thought I was a geek. They weren't wrong. What seventeen year old knows about Calvados? The one whose father gave her a sugar cube dipped in it to taste - and it was marvelous.
Anyway - I have some blackberries in the freezer, and I am itching to slump/buckle/fool them and serve with vanilla ice cream. Because that is how I roll. We'll see.
I think the theme here is that I like to build and make and create. I like to write. I enjoy the creative process. I even enjoy the tight constraints of a well worded Facebook post.
So maybe I'll take time tomorrow to create. To pursue happiness (along with my life and liberty).
Maybe I'll sleep in.
Maybe I'll do both.
ae
I started by typing sentences. Long, weird, character infused sentences. I would write about people's butlers who were slowly poisoning their masters, and, honestly - they were kind of like the captions of Far Side cartoons without the drawings. They weren't especially interesting to anyone but me. I think it might be a decent exercise to replicate, because it made me imagine hundreds of scenarios, then concisely describe them.
I actually do something similar today. I buy a calendar at the beginning of each year - something in the $2 bin at WalMart. Kittens, Puppies, this year, it's beaches. And each month, I write a caption for the picture and affix it.
Like so:
They are always a little irreverent, but I try and keep it clever. I'll go back to animals next year, because naming the kittens is pretty much half the fun of the game. Although, clearly - you know Wade and Dawna. We all know Wade and Dawna.
The other thing I do at the office on a monthly basis is I change out the bulletin board. This month is devoted to Infused Water Recipes. I couldn't think of a better plan, and two people have mentioned they enjoy it, so I'm rolling with it.
So, tomorrow is July 4th - we'll be celebrating with some friends who will set off their own small pyrotechnic display. I'm going to take corn, in some form - probably salad.
In this month's Southern Living, there was a whole article about fruit based desserts. Crumbles and cobblers. Crisps and Buckles. Slumps and Fools. And I thought to myself, "Sure, but what about a pandowdy?" And I flipped to the next page, and there the pandowdy recipe was.
They are all versions of fruit + dough/batter - I like them all. I prefer a sweeter crust rather than something more biscuit-like - but I enjoy them all. And I love the names. Doesn't a blueberry fool sound wonderful? A strawberry buckle?
It's weird that I even know all of these. I also know way too much about croquembouche. I impressed the hell out of a professional baker once by correctly naming it in a picture. In high school, I knew the answer in French class to a trivia question about apple brandy - It's Calvados. My teacher was either stunned or impressed. My classmates probably thought I was a geek. They weren't wrong. What seventeen year old knows about Calvados? The one whose father gave her a sugar cube dipped in it to taste - and it was marvelous.
Anyway - I have some blackberries in the freezer, and I am itching to slump/buckle/fool them and serve with vanilla ice cream. Because that is how I roll. We'll see.
I think the theme here is that I like to build and make and create. I like to write. I enjoy the creative process. I even enjoy the tight constraints of a well worded Facebook post.
So maybe I'll take time tomorrow to create. To pursue happiness (along with my life and liberty).
Maybe I'll sleep in.
Maybe I'll do both.
ae
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