Ripping Yarns! - 08 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 698

Micah 6:8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah+6%3A8&version=ESV

Yes, your life matters. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+30:19&version=ESV

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today marks what would have been, had he lived, Jules Verne's 194th birthday. I have a "Complete Works of Jules Verne" on my Kindle, and have been working my way through his stories and novels for quite some time now. Frankly, I'm more impressed than I expected to be when I started. I knew 20,000 Leagues and Around the World in 80 Days and a few others, but the breadth of his output is quite remarkable. Nor is is all some sort of proto-science fiction - he wrote political stories as well as straight adventure novels.
I'm quite happy to be in the process, and wondering what I'll read next when I finish the last 20% of the volume.
Why not celebrate by reading one of his stories? They're fun!

Speaking of writing, today's freewrite prompt word is Pitch

It's quite amazing to realize that there were no standard time zones until way at the end of the 19th century. Everyone simply set their clocks by the local noon indicated by the sun. Then, on 08 February 1879, Sandford Fleming pitched the use of time zones. The later introduction of Universal Standard Time, which is based on time zones, revolutionized time keeping. Imagine how difficult it must have been to figure out the time when traveling across this continent by rail when the conductors had their watches set to whatever time they started with. Pretty bizarre.
This sort of takes me back to my occasional rants about Daylight Saving Time. Detroit needs to simple settle on Eastern Standard Time and stay there. It's already nearly DST for our longitude, based on solar noons here. Enough already!

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

What About NaNoWriMo? - 19 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 617

Micah 6:8
John 21:25
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

NaNoWriMo - what about it indeed? (that's National Novel Writing Month, aka November)
In years passed I have probably bored many folks with my constant updates, either celebrating the number of words I'd written or bemoaning the fact that I had hardly written any.

Sadly, I've been stuck on the same novel project for a few years now - it seems like a great story to me, and much of it is written and/or outlined, but actually finishing a draft has eluded me thus far.

Well, I came across a book title the other day that may have been just what I needed to spur me on to writing again. I have no idea what the book is about, but the title spoke to me of a book I could actually enjoy writing while I wait for the other one to finally congeal in my mind.
It's much more of a kind with my first novel, Bytes Akimbo - a not-quite-absurdist humorous sci-fi romp. This should be fun for me to write and for me to read as I proof and revise.
(Here's a link to that first novel if you're interested - it's actually part of Kindle Unlimited for those of you who have that service.)

I think I'm going to jump on this one as soon as I'm done outlining the sermon I have to prepare for next Sunday. Stay tuned.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Use Your Words! - 17 July 2021 - Plague Journal Day 492

Micah 6:8
Daniel 5  John 8:3-11
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?


I read recently that a survey of emoji users indicated that a significant majority of them think that using emojis at work is totally appropriate. (I thought of this because for some reason today is World Emoji Day.) I have long railed against the decline of the use of actual words in our society as we move to a post-literate world. (Does anyone think that would be a good thing?)

I mention that I've been against this for a long time simply to emphasize that it's not merely a getting-older-and-therefor-more-curmudgeonly kind of knee-jerk reaction. It's a more heartfelt knee-jerk reaction than that.
I have no doubt that you have heard parents telling their young children to "use your words" many times. I also have no doubt that you have never heard parents tell their children to "use your emojis." Are we going to go back to pictograms for everything? Will we lose the ability to read and write alphabetically? Will Bullwinkle ever be able to read fan mail from some flounder?

This isn't life or death stuff, but it's the next level down. Please - Use Your Words!

Given the terrible flooding going on in the greater Grosse Pointe Metroplex, I doubt I'll be able to celebrate Record Store Day here today, but I do want to acknowledge it. I miss being able to browse through the racks of records (even CDs, tapes, whatever format of recording you prefer) in an actual store, discovering - and buying! - music I might never otherwise have heard. Go shop at a record store if you can.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Make A Book - 06 May 2021 - Plague Journal Day 420

Micah 6:8
John 21:25 
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Make A Book Day. It is part of National Family Reading Week, and I heartily endorse both of these activities. It appears I was destined to write / make books, as I have recently found a book I wrote sometime in the first or second grade - and it still holds up! A riveting story of a young boy and his pet turtle, this is a page-turner of the first rank. I'm only glad I never had to write a sequel describing the ravages of salmonella wreaked upon the unsuspecting family by the tropical island-dwelling reptile.

(Aside: Does anyone else remember the PSA that ran probably in the 1960s showing Viking germs singing about salmonella to the tune of the Ride of the Valkyries? I can't believe I made it up, but I've never been able to find a copy of it anywhere.)

Back to making books. I've been involved in collections of recipes (two of those so far), devotional writings (20+ of those), a memoir, written a couple novels, a Bible study, a Christmas collection, a collection of writing prompts and exercises; the list goes on and on, and I don't see an end to it. The sense of accomplishment as each is published is very rewarding and I recommend it to you.

You know you have a story to tell, or some recipes to share, or some thoughts on various topics - why not get them written down and share them? You'll be glad you did.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Art and Faith - 30 January 2021 - Plague Journal Day 324

Micah 6:8
Philippians 4:6-8
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I attended a very interesting web conversation yesterday around the topic of Art, Faith, and the Church. It was based on the book "Art and Faith" by the speaker, Makoto Fujimura - the subtitle is A Theology of Making. What an exciting conversation it was!
As I noted to the organizers, I can't remember the last time I pulled out pen and paper and took notes from an online discussion (and I took quite a lot, really).

Fujimura was saying that when we Love, we Make - that's his distillation of his book, really. My musings on that phrase took me back to a definition of Love that seems very helpful in a lot of ways. Love can be seen as a will to reality. What I love, I want to be real to me - to be as real to me as I am to myself. That's why when we love people we want to learn about them, we find ourselves thinking of them.
That's why I want to know everything there is to know about Heidi - so she's as real to me as I am to myself. That's why I think of her all the time.

Them, moving on to the subject of making or of creating or of art, it means that what we create - what we're making real - is what we love. We want it to be real to us, so we think about it ... a lot. Another point I made in the conversation is that one way of judging our creations is to ask "where does it point?" If it points to God, then it's definitely worthy. Even if it's a work of less than mediocre craftsmanship, it's still doing what it's supposed to do. If it points to me, or another person, or to the world, it's almost certainly flawed - much as I am. Even if it's a stunning work of the finest craftsmanship, it's not doing what it's supposed to do. (Remember - this was a conversation about the role of creativity and art in the church.)

That brought to mind the line Paul wrote to the Philippians - "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." When our minds are focused on those things, what we create will be as well.
In a similar vein, just before that he tells them that they should "not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." There it is again - living in that peace that passes all understanding keeps our hearts and minds in Christ. When that's where our hearts and minds live, only good works can be made - only the fruit of the Spirit will be found. (Even though I can't write like C.S. Lewis or Charles Williams, nor paint like Van Gogh, nor compose like J.S. Bach, I can still do what I can with what I've been given to the glory of God. Amen.)

S.D.G. indeed

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Unity - 20 January 2021 - Plague Journal Day 314

Micah 6:8
Daniel 5:1-9,17,23-28
Ecclesiastes 12:11-13
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

No, not national unity (that would be great, but I think we'll have to hope for that at some later date). Instead, as (not quite) promised yesterday, I'm going to look at Edgar Allan Poe's theory of writing - that there should be a Unity of Effect in a composition.

One of the consequences of his ideas is that short stories are superior to novels or other longer works, simply because reading them in one sitting means getting the full effect of the words - and that without the dilution of real world happenings which eventuate between reading sessions of a longer work.

I see his point. I think he's wrong, but I see his point. 

Maybe I'm just a really good reader and am able to re-immerse myself in a novel after having put it down for a time. That's probably true (I do practice reading a lot, so I should be good at it by now), but I think it's also down to the writing involved. There are novels I've read where I see Poe's objection writ large in every pause I take. Then there are novels where within the first few words back at it I'm fully engaged and drawn into the story. The latter ones tend to have much more "superfluous" matter - beautiful language, vivid descriptions, extra subplots, even a plot cul de sac here and there. In sum, the ones with which I can most easily re-engage are the ones most different from the short story style of writing - the ones that are most obviously "novels" per se.

To sum up (not that there was a lot to go through above), I think Poe was exactly right in his prescription for writing short pieces; but I also think that by saying this doesn't work for longer works, and thus longer works are inferior, he simply betrays his own penchant for short stories. Poetry, short stories, and novels all require very different types of language, structure, and development. The fact that the requirements of one won't work for another doesn't mean one is superior to the other, simply that they are different.

As an aside, I note that today is day 314 of our ongoing plague/shutdown/work from home/shelter in place regime. 314. As a mathematician that makes me think of pi, so we may have quiche or pizza for dinner tonight, but it's time to be real and rational, as this illustration indicates.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

The New Book! - 03 December 2020 - Plague Journal Day 266

Micah 6:8
John 21:24-25
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

At last I can attest that my latest book is fully available on Amazon. I can say this with confidence because I just received a few copies, and it's really real.

So, if you're interested in becoming a writer, in getting back to writing, in giving yourself a kick in the proverbial pants to get writing some more, this might be the book for you.
It's a book of writing prompts and exercises that are designed to build a habit of writing, and to build up your ability to just plain get something down on paper (or on screen as it generally happens these days).

I'd be more than happy to have you all buy my book, but I know that's unlikely to happen. Still, I do hope it will help some folks to be happier with their writing, and to boost their output. Who knows? Maybe some of us will become as productive as Mitch Rycus! One can but hope. (Check out his books on Amazon as well - I have really enjoyed pretty much everything he has written so far!)

All of my books can be found on my Amazon author page. https://www.amazon.com/author/cvb is the address.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Crime, Punishment, and Shameless Self-Promotion - 14 November 2020 - Plague Journal Day 247

Micah 6:8
Proverbs 13:5-6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

First off, whether it affected the outcome or not, whichever way any of it went, if there was fraud in the vote, those responsible need to go to prison for a very long time.
There should be no dispute on that point; and if there is, that's evidence of an attitude that must be totally eradicated from these United States.
Defense of fraud is complicity and should be punished accordingly. 

OK, with that out of the way, it's time for a bit of shameless self-promotion. I have a new book out and available for purchase on Amazon. This is a book of writing prompts, challenges, and exercises designed to help writers build the habit of writing, and then to find it easier to finish the writing they start.
It's a thirteen week program, but only three days a week - Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - so it's not a huge commitment of time, but it's a discipline that will build the habit needed to keep writing and finish what's been started.

I'd be very pleased to see a few sales show up in my reporting, and I thank you in advance for your support.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Different Kinds of Art - 12 November 2020 - Plague Journal Day 245

Micah 6:8
Exodus 35:30-35
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today marks the 180th "birthday" of French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, perhaps most noted for his statue, The Thinker.

  

Of course the Burghers of Calais outside Parliament in London is pretty famous as well.

Well, it's November (as if you didn't know that), and that means it's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for the uninitiated). Frustratingly, you can't tell it's NaNoWriMo by my output.

Sculpting and Writing are rather different artistic pursuits. Sculptors work to take away everything that isn't what they're sculpting. Writers stare at empty pages, trying to fill them up with everything they're trying to create. I suppose editing is more like sculpting, but I don't think there are many sculptors who create their own blocks of marble to carve. Sometimes it doesn't seem fair, but then, what is? As Matisse said, "Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working." Somehow this pandemicized, locked-down, isolation-riddled year is wreaking havoc with my writing.

I did manage to get a non-fiction book out - ironically it's on how to make a writing habit - but the novel I started a few years ago is languishing in various folders, notebooks, and digital files.

"Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story...."

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

31 August 2020 - Plague Journal Day 171

Micah 6:8
John 21:25
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I'm an anachronism. 

I think I've known that for a long time, but as I read more books on writing, as I attend more classes and webinars on writing and editing, it's like my nose is being rubbed in that fact.

I'll admit it. I like to read stuff that was written in ways that I'm told isn't good - that readers won't like. I even like to read the classics - books full of words and people rather than just action. I enjoy the words, the language, the rhythm of the writing, not just the plot. Novels aren't movies. They don't have to flow quickly from opening titles to closing credits because people will get up and go to the bathroom or the kitchen if it slows down.
Novels are a place where the author - the writer - can show and tell us things that are impossible in nearly any other medium. (Maybe radio can challenge, but only in a slightly different way. Film and TV would have to be made in a way so different to their norms that they might be unpalatable to most viewers.)

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

22 August 2020 - Plague Journal Day 162

Micah 6:8
Acts 1:21-26
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Christian is after me to get back to playing D&D again. 

 

It's been a looong time since I've DM'ed a game, and even longer since I've been a player. Looking at the current rule books and so forth, I'm amazed at how much things have changed since I was a regular player.

OK, maybe changed isn't exactly the right word. The whole concept is the same - a role playing game of the mind, not on a board, it's almost like radio, in a sense: theatre of the mind.
As I've written before, I'm a big radio fan for that very reason - it engages the mind rather than subsituting for it. So the changes in D&D are not exactly cosmetic, but they're not fundamental. There are new character races and classes available. There are new weapons and spells and magic items and all that. But we're still left with a game where one person (the DM) has created a world within which other people (the players) will roam and act. It's a shared creation of a story or stories. In a sense, it's what authors are talking about when they say their characters dictate what they write. The bones of the plot are there: the setting, the cast of characters, their basic attributes, etc. Then, as the author puts them through their paces, it sometimes becomes obvious that what was originally intended simply won't work; that the characters need to be true to themselves and do what they need to do, not what the author initially intended.
That's pretty exciting.

I have often wondered how authors can collaborate on stories and novels and so forth, but maybe now I know. They're each bringing some of the background, the setting and characters and story arc, but then they each listen to the characters they're dealing with and weave it into what it really needs to be, rather than what they had intended.
I know sometimes one author has created a world and a basic plot, maybe a very detailed outline, and then the other one writes to that outline and plot, but often they work much more closely than that. I think that's how D&D creates stories. The DM has created a world with a set of problems to be solved, or a series of goals to be achieved, and then the players go in and make it what it really should have been.
This could be exciting!

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

What to Read Next - 25 April 2013

Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

It's been a long time since I had read this book, and the last time I didn't actually make it all the way through it.
I almost didn't make it through this time, but I really don't like giving up, so I pressed on, and I'm pretty sure that I'm glad I did.

Delany is never a quick, breezy kind of read, and Dhalgren is about as dense as anything of his that I've read (I'll leave the Tales of Neveryon aside - that's been reviewed separately below.). When I hit the part at the end with multiple streams of narrative on the page, I wondered how long I could keep at it, but it did settle down to a readable amount.

Anyway, I really hadn't realized just how much this book had influenced my writing in A Rune With A View (2012, Grand Teuton Press). Much of the mysterious aspect of  how Jerry doesn't really know what's going on around him - while his companions seem to have a bit more of a clue - is at least atmospherically related to the way Kid drifts around Bellona in Dhalgren.

Still, unlike Delany, at least I let everyone in on what had been going on by the time the book ended; and the climactic scene in my book owes much more to Charles Williams than to Delany. In fact, it was that scene, and its very conscious debt to Williams, that was the whole point of writing the rest of the book.

But, back to Dhalgren:
I'm not sure I can recommend the book to other readers (there are simply too many bizarre and quite disturbing scenes and actions in there), but if you've read others of his books, but not this one, then you really ought to add it to your reading list.

Etymology du Jour - 21 January 2013

Acoustic (adj.)

From:
A, meaning not or without and
cous, meaning grain (witness couscous, the grain dish)

Thus an a-coustic space is one without grain.
Originally this referred to granaries or barns which had been emptied to make space for barn dances (and hootenannies!).
These impromptu musical venues lent their name over the years to the general idea of spaces for music, and the study of the properties thereof.

Now you know.

Shameless Self-Promotion - UPDATED! AGAIN!!!

It seems a near certainty that you all have been waiting (and it is to be hoped that none were waiting with breath held) to hear when - at last! - my next novel would be published.

I am pleased to inform all and sundry that the wait is over.
A Rune With a View is now available from the CreateSpace store, and will be available at Amazon in short order as well.
(OK, here is the link, now that it has happened, but you should be able to search there and find it easily - it is Amazon, after all.)

Clearly nearly everyone on nearly everyone else's Christmas list should be jumping for joy, or shivering in antici ... pation.

Grab a copy - it's good for you!

Amazon is now also ready for your shopping pleasure!

For those out there awaiting the Kindle version, I have good news: it is available and simply waiting for your order to be delivered directly to your reading device. Please, feel free to purchase and enjoy - and why not share that experience with all your Kindling friends? They'll no doubt thank you for it.

Cheers,
Charlie

Projects Update

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

Well, it's been far too long since I posted anything here.

I don't know if anyone is actually interested, but I have almost completed the first draft of my second novel, and I'm pretty happy with it, really. The good part is that it's pretty well finished and the plot and scenes hang together well; the bad part is that I hate rewriting.
I don't mind revising paragraphs and sentences - I'm pretty well able to accept that the first choice of words that came to my mind isn't necessarily the best.
I don't like wholesale re-writing, however. If I wrote a scene, I generally like it, and I will resist removing it from the finished product. I'm better at adding scenes where things simply don't flow properly, or where I've left out something that the reader needs to know.

I haven't gotten back to the two cookbooks that are in my writing / editing pipeline, but I have at least collected most of what needs to go together, so I'm at the point where I can get things going pretty quickly.

The interesting thing is that November is coming soon, and we all know that's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I really don't think they like to count revisions as writing - that's kind of the antithesis of the "write, write like the wind!" fever of getting 50,000 words done in the course of those 30 days. I have my doubts that I can both revise / rewrite one book while pouring out another 50K words as the basis of another.

I also have to go through a thorough revision of my Mass setting. I seem to have a bunch of projects backing up right now.  Better that than no idea of what else to do, I suppose.

What to Read Next

from grandteuton.blogspot.com
 
Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller.

Wow. I waited a long time before finally buying and reading this book. I had heard nothing but good reviews from people I trust and/or admire, but still, I waited a long time before I bought it and read it. Generally that's a good way to make it nearly impossible for a book to live up to those raised expectations, but this one was even better than I had expected and had been led to believe it would be.

I've read plenty of books on theology.
I've read plenty of books on Christian living.
I've read plenty of books on growing up and learning what it's all about.
This one was different.

Rather than laying out a systematic theology, rather than giving advice on how to live so that my beliefs would show through, this book shows the reader what Christian living can look like.

The friends and acquaintances who peopled Miller's experiences and relationships were real enough to actually matter, and the lessons weren't simply presented as lessons, but rather as stories. There's a power to stories that can't be matched by discussions and arguments, and that power is very much in evidence here.

It reminded me of On the Road, by Kerouac, in that there was a great adventure of a man learning who he really is. At the same time, it's completely different - Miller grows into knowing what relationship is, and how that defines each of us.
Each time he spouted a strong opinion that bothered me, it was quickly followed by something like, "Now wait a minute; that's how I felt at the time. Let me tell you why, and how things changed after that." It was a very effective way to confront the reader with something challenging.

To sum up, this is one of the best books I've ever read - not just on Christian living, or spirituality, or whatever, just one of the best books I've ever read. It's nice to be challenged so much in a loving way.
Highly recommended to all and sundry.

Some Current Projects

(from grandteuton.blogspot.com)

I'm working on a few things right now.  As I've finally gotten my great-great-grandfather's book published to Amazon (as noted here in a recent post), my thoughts are still largely in the literary vein.

• First, it's nearly November, and November brings National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)!  So, it's back to my in progress second novel, which I really plan to finish this year (as I have for the past few).  [I'm also wondering about getting my first novel up on Amazon, but that's something to think about later.]
• Next, apart from that writing, I'm also getting back to the revision of my Mass setting.  I really like much of it, but there are a few movements that just don't quite work yet, and I think I need to revise some of the accompaniment as well.  It's for small mixed  chorus, soloists, and organ.
• I'm also working on a cookbook - well, actually I'm working on two cookbooks right now:

1. I'm scanning and transcribing my Grandma's handwritten recipes from the [handmade!] cookbook her brother made for her as a wedding present; and
2. I'm compiling my favourite  original dishes, along with stories of their creation (or other happy occurrences related to their eating).

• A tedious (but likely useful) project is upgrading our computers to Windows 7 from XP.  The bad part is that it's not a direct upgrage - I have to back up the documents and reinstall all the applications.  The good part is that they should all be happier and run faster (and the disks will be cleaner, too!).  Microsoft seems to have done a good job with the latest version of Windows, and by offering the family pack - 3 users for less than the price of two - they're likely to get a lot of people going legal. (Not that anyone ever installed the same copy of Windows on more than one machine ....)  Well done Steve and company.