New Music - Johnny Vincent

So last Saturday I was out running errands and went grocery shopping where I met a young man and his mother in the checkout line.  The young man in question goes by the stage name of Johnny Vincent.

Still taken from Johnny Vincent's Catch An Angel video

His mother was bursting with pride and shared the fact that he had recorded his first song and it was now up on YouTube.  We chatted for a few minutes, and I found him to be a very pleasant, soft-spoken guy that really loves music.  I had him write down the info about the

Homophobia screws with my day (and I screw with it back!)

So the weather was nice yesterday and I decided to take my boxer Peanut over to the quarry to walk and exercise and play with other dogs.  It's a beautiful place to take your dogs to here in Bristol.  It's an old quarry that's no longer used and the vegetation has been allowed to come back.  It's rocky but relatively flat which is awesome for those of us that hate hills.  Here's a pic I snapped back in the spring of 2009 - this shows maybe a 1/4 of the overall quarry:

I really like going there because dogs are allowed to be off leash and it's good for Peanut to be able to interact with and play with other dogs.

So back to yesterday.  Peanut and I were on our second big loop of the quarry when we met up with two twenty-something guys and their year old chow-mix pup named Bart (lol appropriately named after Bart the Bear).  As is typical at this park, we exchanged dog names but not people names.  Funny how that is- but it works for all of us.  Anywho, it turns out that they had just adopted Bart from the the pound, he was their housewarming

Cooking: Glopinapot Version 1.0 (Vegetarian)

Glopinapot Version 1.0 (Vegetarian)

I have a tendency to simply dump a bunch of whatever I have on hand into a pot and hope for the best- aka glop in a pot.  Sometimes the results are a little scary and a little inedible, but then sometimes the results are just awesome.  This concoction falls into that latter category.

Ingredients:  Olive oil, onion, minced garlic, green pepper, summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, rehydrated TVP, and either a combo of drained salt-free petite diced tomatoes and salt-free tomato sauce or simply use salt-free crushed tomatoes.  Seasonings:  thyme, basil, rosemary, finely crushed black pepper.

I'll include the amounts I used in parens.

Start by rehydrating the TVP (1/2 cup dry) - you don't have to get technical with TVP if you've never used it before.  I use 1 part TVP to 1 part boiling water in a small covered

Product Review: Maybelline Waterproof Stiletto Mascara

Maybelline Stiletto Mascara (Waterproof)
(product page on Maybelline's site)

Here's the deal- I've been wearing makeup since I was twelve years old.  Some things I have never changed as they work beautifully for me and if it ain't broke why try and fix it?  Mascara however has been the bane of my cosmetic wearing life.

I have tried extremely cheap mascaras and run the gamut all the way up to the absolutely ridiculously expensive.  I have just never been happy with any of them.

I have long, reasonably thick eyelashes.  All I have ever wanted in a mascara was something that added some color and defined them a little without being clumpy and that didn't turn into raccoon eyes on me an hour after applying it.  Twenty-six years I've searched for the perfect mascara and I've finally found it.

Maybelline's Stiletto Mascara has a wonderful straight brush (I can't begin to tell you how much I despise curved mascara brushes) with bristles that are at several lengths, it catches each individual lash perfectly.  The mascara itself isn't thick or clumpy yet applies to

Doggies...

Today is going to be uneventful (lol or at least that's the plan).  I'm running both boxers (in separate trips) over to the vaccination clinic at the pet store.  It's a boatload less expensive than a vet's office visit.  Vaccine markups irritate me.  I get all the same catalogs as most of the vets use so I know how outrageous it truly is. 

Myra, aka "the Old One", is about 9 3/4 yrs old.  We got her as a rescue when she was two.  She loves people and absolutely adores children (she is the perfect nanny dog).  Unfortunately she hates other animals.  We were able to get Peanut as a puppy and she

I'm walking for the ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Hartford

Sunday, October 17th, 2010

Bushnell Park, Hartford

My brother Ed, and his wife Sara,  and their friends started an ACS Relay for Life team last year that I helped out with and I've got to say that I sincerely enjoyed the energy and friendly nature of everyone that participated overall.  It was a great, great weekend.

Sara has actually been asked to step up and be a part of the local ACS chapter's Relay for Life committee and I'm going to be stepping up to helping out with the Relay team even more.  It'll be nice to use some of my past experience to help out and to maybe mentor a little like I was mentored.  It should be fun, I love planning fundraising events (probably should have made a career out of this somehow) and this team is a bunch of serious worker bees- they just get stuff done!  It's awesome!

Anywho- Sara invited me to participate in this year's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk up in Hartford.  So I'm all signed up to walk.  I'm not setting a high personal donation

Post concert ramblings and more ramblings

So I spent last night up at the Webster Theater in Hartford at the 30 Seconds to Mars concert.  I've never been to the Webster before so this was a new adventure.  Not to mention that it's been over a decade since my last official rock concert - Pearl Jam I believe that one was, not one of my favorites but my brother's girlfriend at the time's mother wouldn't let her go without "adult" supervision- lol.  So I went and it was a wild show.

But back to last night.  I was very excited about the show, but at the same time my own insecurities came out in force.  I was insecure because a) I was going alone, bringing to the forefront my lack of the simple social skill of having friends; b)  I'm 38 (almost 39) years old and attending a concert by a band whose primary fan demographic are people that I am old enough to be their mother; and c) I'm really not a cool person, I've never been one of the "cool" people, and I'm petrified of making a fool of myself.

A year ago those insecurities would have kept me home last night.  But I've been working on forcing myself out of my hermit comfort zone and back into the land of the living.  It's not easy.  I've been trying to remember being a outgoing and friendly person, someone that used to love to go out on a Friday night and dance and drink and have a great time.  I used to be a fun person and it makes me sad that I'm not anymore.

Anywho... the concert itself was awesome, and intense, and the next 30STM show I go to, I'm so wearing my Chucks and leaving my purse at home and joining in with the crazy people on the floor in front jumping and stomping.  I figure five vodka tonics will be

Prince Poppycock on America's Got Talent

I have absolutely, positively, adored Prince Poppycock on America's Got Talent from day one.  He is a complete original and an amazing artist and entertainer.  He's been my hands down favorite to win this season and I really hope he does.  Regardless, looking at the overwhelming amount of positive responses I've seen to any posting about him, I think he has firmly established himself to wide spectrum of fans and will hopefully be singing and

A little wired today...

I'm a little high-energy today as the post title implies.  I started some much needed household reorganizing earlier, things just feel very very convoluted and lacking rhyme or reason.  So the junk drawers have been cleaned and bunches of stuff tossed.  I'm also working on rearranging the storage cupboards, I've got three sets of good china mish-mashed in with my plastic storage containers and I can no longer find a frakkin' thing when I want it.  So reorganizing it is.

One of the wonderful things about mundane household tasks is that I can play out my plot lines in my head while I'm working.  I've hashed out a couple of intense scenes from my VeryCreepyStory and I actually worked out how to fix a couple of stumbling blocks in my big script.  So later tonight, after Warehouse 13, I'll see about getting them all down on paper.

My tattoo looks great today!  There's only one small spot that is sore, and that's the spot that hurt the most when he was doing it.  I really can't wait for the redness to go away so the henna color can be seen, I think it's going to be awesome.

Had a conservative Republican group knock on the door earlier wanting to talk about what

New Story, 30 Seconds To Mars, New Music, and My New Tatttoo

It was a quiet, boring holiday weekend around here.  I really need to get out and find people that enjoy some of the same activies that I do- but that's a story for another post.

I started sketching out a new story last night, angel/demon/good/evil theme, that I managed to totally creep myself out with.  That doesn't happen too often, I'm a huge fan of the genre and I really like writing in it, but for some reason this particular storyline feels like it's pushing a lot of buttons.  Which makes it interesting to write!  I described this new story on Facebook as being somewhere between 9 1/2 weeks, the Seventh Seal, and Constantine - none of which I have watched recently so don't ask me where this came from.

So into Xmind I've been delving to get it hammered out (I use Xmind to organize all my writing, both novels and scripts).  I'm trying to decide what format would be best for this particular project- script or novel.  I'm also sort of intrigued by maybe it being perfect for a graphic novel.  The only hangup there is that I am no graphic artist and I don't know anyone that is, but I think the idea is worth pursuing so we'll see.

I'm going to see 30 Seconds To Mars on Thursday up at the Webster in Hartford.

Cooking: Vegetarian New England Boiled Dinner

Vegetarian New England Boiled Dinner

Every once and a while I get a craving for some beef-related dish that I grew up eating.  My father makes, hands down, the best New England Boiled Dinner I've ever tasted.  He's able to take the cheapest, toughest cuts of beef and somehow make them so tender they fall apart.  I've watched him make this since I was a kid and try as I might I never quite got it right.  I think it's because he has the patience to actually let that beef sit in the pot and just simmer all day.  I've never been that patient.

So the magical mystical ingredients in one of my favorite comfort foods are relatively simple:  beef, onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, and cabbage.  And salt and pepper.  That's it.

I've been having a hankering for my dad's boiled dinner- but

Cooking: Broiled portobella w/ curried pilaf

Broiled Portobella with Curried Pilaf and Baked Garnet Sweet Potato

I started out by cleaning a large portobella mushroom then rubbing it with a light, extra virgin olive oil.  I put that in a pie pan with about a 1/4 inch of water in the bottom.  I put this under a low broiler, midway in the oven.  I turned the mushroom every few minutes to cook it evenly and keep it from drying out.

While the mushroom was cooking, I mixed 1/2 cup dry Kashi Pilaf with 1 cup of water and cooked on medium heat in a covered pan.  When all the water was absorbed, I removed it from the burner and added about a teaspoon of olive oil and several shakes of red curry powder and after stirring, I recovered the pan and allowed it to sit back on the warm burner.  Note:  the amount of curry to use depends on the person eating it.  I have days were I use a lot, some days only a little.  Just a preference- but as with all spices remember that

Product Review: Kashi Pilaf

Kashi Pilaf    
(nutritional information)

I found this quite by accident, in the cold cereal aisle at my local grocery store, and gave it a shot.

I really like the fact that there are three individual packets in the box.  I only make a serving or so at a time and like that I don't have to have the whole big box open to the ambient moisture.  I empty a packet into one of my many recycled peanut-butter jars and drop in a recycled plastic drink-mix scoop.  I like storing it in the jar because I can give it a little shake before I use it, mixing up all the grains that tend to settle.

The Kashi Pilaf cooks perfectly with a two parts water to one part pilaf ratio.  For me, the scoop I use is about 1/4 cup (so I add 1/2 cup water) and is a perfect meal serving.  It cooks relatively quickly (about 15 minutes for me).  The product itself is unflavored and unseasoned, and blends well into just about any recipe.

This has become a staple for me in my quest to eat better.  It adds fiber and healthy carbohydrates and has no sodium.

I find it to be very filling and keeps me from being hungry.  It's definitely a product I would recommend to others and something that I keep stocked in my own pantry.

  

30STM canceled shows

Ouch - looks like 30 Seconds to Mars canceled a couple weeks worth of shows.  I lucked out as I'm going to the September 9th show at the Webster in Hartford which wasn't canceled.

Some of the responses to the news are very angry, and I can understand why.  In this day and age of buying non-refundable airline tickets and hotel rooms online there are folks that got royally screwed by the shows being canceled.

Anti-bullying laws pushing gay agenda? Debate on Anderson Cooper

Focus on the Family (FotF) is not my favorite organization out there, I will be clear about that up front.  I want their religions beliefs kept out of my government and laws.

I am very strong supporter of religious freedom and will argue passionately that people should have the right to whatever belief system they so choose, no matter how much I might personally disagree with those beliefs.  However, I want religion kept out of politics and government.  And for the record I am an atheist.   

Getting back to the video that prompted this post (below), I knew it was going to be one that raised my blood pressure, and sure enough I really started cringing right around Candi Cushman's first "in God's image".  Religion has no place in this conversation in my opinion, it just doesn't come into play in the least. 

FotF doesn't want specific bullying behaviors named.  Of course FotF doesn't want the individual behaviors named because when a child displays a particular behavior, especially a bigoted one, it's a refection on the child's parents or home environment. Children aren't born bigoted or racist- it's a learned behavior.

I agree with the idea that all children need to be protected and I also agree that the bullies themselves need to be counseled.  That being said, the laws and guidelines surrounding this issue need to be very clear and inclusive. 

Without a clear set of standards - who exactly would determine that a child is being victimized?  If we eliminate all the specifics the consequences could be catastrophic.  For example, could racist teachers (who have the right to their own personal beliefs) allow minority children to be bullied in front of them?  Clear, plainly worded laws are necessary to ensure that all children are protected.
 
Eliza Byard was very cool and collected in this piece and I really like that she stuck to the data and informative talking points and didn't get sucked into FotF's baiting.


Here is the vid - hope this works, I'm new to the embedding thing.

Film Review - "Make the Yuletide Gay" (2009)

Title:  Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)
Watched: May 2010

Own DVD?:  No, but it's on the "to buy" list
My Rating:  9/10 stars

Review:  This falls right into line with every cheesy, over the top, Christmas romance I have ever seen- and I loved it.

Film Review - "Ciao" (2008)

Title:  Ciao (2008)
Watched:  June 2010
Own DVD?:  No
My Rating:  9/10 stars

Review:  Ciao is definitely not for everyone, both in its content and in its art house style.  But I I found this to be a heartwrenchingly beautiful and subtle film.

And done!

Okay, perfectionist me has been futzing entirely too long today with the colors/layout of this here blog.  At this point I think I like it.  We'll see.  I'm hoping it doesn't make people want to dig their eyes out with a dull spork.  I really really need to learn CSS.  It would make my life so much easier.

I'm off to rotate the laundry and try and get my head back in my script.  Funny how doing something mundane like laundry gives your mind time to wander and create.  I'm hoping mine will wander into a way to build a plausible month-long romantic relationship in a relatively short amount of script.  Hmmmm...

Look at all the SHINY!

So I'd been debating about starting a formal blog.  I mean really, I'm a hermit with no friends- who's gonna care what I have to say?  But then I realized that maybe this isn't necessarily about other people, it's about me and I'm just as important as the next person.  So here I am with this shiny new blog.  Not a clue where it's going to go or where it's going to take me.  But we'll see!

~Cyn

Oh, and kids?  Play nice in my sandbox.  Peace and love and tolerance are my rules.  There's nothing wrong with disagreeing and having opposing viewpoints but be respectful.  There are real people on the other end of those seemingly random screennames, granted some of them may not exactly pass the Turning test, but still, I insist that everyone be treated with respect here.