shazafram

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great day today, regardless of whether or not you are celebrating Thanksgiving.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I've went back and re-edited Suitors a bit. Only a few minor changes, like Conrad to Conrart, correcting a few grammatical errors, and removing a subplot that was going nowhere and contradicted later chapters that's coming.

And, just so this post won't be a total waste, let's discuss food and allergies!

1) I finally mastered the art of fried chicken. This has been eluding me for quite some time, and I often gave up in frustration or simply dealt with frying chicken that was good, but not that tasty greatness that a lot of my relatives can do. The key (at least for me), was to season the flour (Lowery's seasoning salt + fresh ground pepper + McCormick's Garlic and Herb seasoning FTW) and not the chicken, put the flour in a bag, and coat the chicken that way, then remove the coated chicken and set it on a plate to let the flour "stick" to the chicken a bit. Plus, heating up the oil slowly on a medium heat helped in not having chicken that browned too quickly (as was one of my errors). I had golden brown, crispy fried deliciousness. I guess good food really does take time to master!

Also, I ended up turning some of what I fried into some yummy hot wings by quickly tossing (by quickly, I mean putting the fried chicken in a bowl, pouring a cup of sauce on them, and stirring just until they were coated) with a boiled homemade unsalted butter-hotsauce-hot chili oil concoction (this can be done with any wing sauce, however), arranging on one layer in a shallow baking pan, then putting in a 400 degree oven for ten-fifteen minutes. They came out crispy instead of soggy (like they were just fried - plus the crispy skin absorbed the sauce), and were excellent.

2) I have finally gotten over my aversion to fresh ginger! It used to be that even the smell of it was enough to make me retch (and eating it tasted like smelling Pine Sol), but I'm finally able to eat it without gagging. Unfortunately, I still cannot stand the smell or taste of cilantro. I walked past a bulk of it at a local mart, and almost vomited right there. DNW.

3) Somehow, I've become allergic to oranges again. I had been allergic to various citrus when I was a kid, but outgrew it. However, a whole host of food allergies popped up in my adulthood (various melons, banana, pineapple, mango, several nuts, etc.), right around the time after I gave birth (my pumpkin will be 8 later this month! ♥). A few days ago, I poured me a glass of orange juice, took one sip, and my tongue started swelling and my throat closed up. That means I'm down to apples as the only fruit that doesn't give me a reaction, and I'm not very fond of those. I still eat pineapple even though it makes my tongue swell a bit. The others have gotten so severe within the past year that I won't even chance them that much. :(

Well, I'm finished with this week's NaNo. Total week count from Sunday to Saturday is:

17,979

Current count (this updates when I update, I think?):


I surprised myself!

My daily goals have been 1) hit the daily goal for NaNo (1667.7777777whatdafuckever) and 2) finish a chapter a day (my chapters are short).

( Breakdown on words a day, and discoveries about myself )

All in all, it's been a fun week so far. I haven't pushed myself too much, and I have set limits. For example, instead of playing Tropico like I want to (the old one - I still love that game so very much. One of these days I'm going to get a new computer that's able to run the new one. One of these days...) I wrote chapter 7.

I'll post an update next week! ♥

Kanye West is a douchebag.

That is all.

It's over for me.

Goodbye.



Another one is here.

Please go here and show your support for the same-sex couples who's marriages are in danger. A lot of times people say that Internet petitions/ e-mails are useless, but I was once a part of one that helped to overturn a restrictive (and racist) dress code that penalized black workers for wearing African-based hairstyles (including simply wearing the natural, non-chemically processed hair we were born with). I know that they can work sometimes, and all it takes is a quick visit and a few minutes of your time.

Thanks.

Alright everyone, I've managed to take up knitting! Actually, I taught myself months ago when I made my daughter a scarf, but I'm doing it seriously now. For real. (Any bets on how long I'll last doing so?). I blame Gwendal for this (and yes, my first project looked quite Gwendal-ish).

Also, I'd appreciate if any of you fellow KKM fans would point me to where I can understand this whole new thing about Murata's lifetimes. I wanted to start posting my fic, but if it contradicts this new explanation he has I need to rework a LOT of it -- unfortunately. I'm going to put the first chapter up soon because there's no reworking necessary in the first couple of chapters.

Also, I'm revamping the next in my DC fic -- I have to do a lot of research so that I can get the next few chapter right.