The weekend etc.
The weekend does not seem to have been very weekend-like.
I got a work project dropped off on my doorstep late Friday afternoon, so I've spent a fair chunk of the weekend working on that (as they wanted it back Monday). Work is good, money is good, it's not too many hours, but I wish I didn't have to do it on the weekend.
Saturday we had the hospital's "All About Babies" class, and while it didn't cover absolutely everything, it did seem to cover the important stuff. I took about three pages of longhand notes in addition to the handouts they gave us. Though I was a bit annoyed by the "women already know all this stuff because they all love babies and talk about it with their girlfriends all the time, but men don't have that innate knowledge" approach of the guy who stopped in to push the just-for-men baby class. For one thing, Phil apparently talks about child-rearing with his coworkers way more than I ever have with anybody. For another, I wish I could get into that class, but I lack the external genitalia. Ah well.
Then we went to the newly open Taste of Asia Restaurant (or was that Fresh Taste of Asia?) on Nicollet, near Market BBQ, and I had one of the more confusing dining experiences of recent experience. I left unsure if this was a very good restaurant, or a not-so-good restaurant. Let me explain. The decor, the ambiance, is fantastic. They did a great job with the space. The staff are excellent, very attentive, very friendly, clearly eager to please since they are just opening the restaurant. The menu is like 10 pages long--ridiculously ambitious. The prices are moderate, comparable to any hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant. The portions will feed you for 3 meals. The cook really knows what he's doing--all the ingredients are of very high quality and cooked to perfection in a way that I haven't encountered outside of white-tablecloth dining. The thick Chinese-style eggrolls were crispy and not heavy or leathery--something hitherto untasted. The cream cheese wontons were light and crispy and delicious. The noodles were cooked to exactly the right texture, and the vegetables were fork-tender. This is not your gloppy takeout Chinese food. But! The flavoring and sauces are so light as to be non-existent. There wasn't that complexity of flavor. The things we ordered spicy really, really weren't. Clearly they do not have the crack sauce that, for example, the Red Dragon--though in every other respect the food was vastly superior. All they need is for someone to go in and tweak their recipes a bit to make them more flavorful. We were both conflicted as to whether it was a good restaurant, or a bad restaurant. Definitely worth going back to try the sushi (which is more dependent on quality of ingredients and preparation than saucing or seasoning) and the hibachi. By the end of the visit, I was rooting for them to be a good restaurant, to become successful--I just don't know if they are/will.
sinister_dr_x had his movie day on Saturday as well. We missed the movie I'd wanted to see because of a scheduling mix-up. Can we say I never react well to my plans being disturbed for any reason? Apparently my "attempting to not be irrational and fussy" is not actually the same thing as "not being irrational and fussy." Ah, well. I'll give myself points for the attempt. But it was great watching Faster and Predators in air-conditioning with friends, so it was all good, even if I did have to leave to go back to work on my work project.
Today was more work and some trying to get other stuff done.
Oh, and Phil trimmed my hair today, which took all of three minutes. Three cheers for hair-cutting scissors and long hair! Totally easy to have the husband cut four inches off (at the longest point--probably about two at the shortest) in a straight line.
Circus of Brass and Bone Writing Log
Total
Episode 12
New words: about 400
Total words: 75,207
Overused word: savaged
Gratuitous Freudian slip: lifting chests
Type of scene: the impetus
Challenge(s): Getting any writing done at all. Though truly, I think a lot of the problem was that I was hung up on one scene. Once I got past that, it got better.
Which line is it anyways?She smiled noncommittally and dutifully returned her attention to her bowl of mush, which seemed unlikely to do anything improper or even remotely interesting.
Researched: Zoos, the feeding habits of large cats, yoga, and the feeding habits of 1870s American travelers.
Notes: I just need to get a little transition in there, do the horrifying thing, and then the episode will (finally!) be done!
Other writingy stuff:
* Posted writing log.
* Submitted “Missing You In Pieces” to Pedestal Magazine. Somewhat concerned about the copy-and-paste format into the form.
* Submitted “Warmth in the Cold Time” to Moonlight Tuber.
* Did a Critters critique--time for me to get active there again.
* Submitted “Demons of Disease” to Raygun Revival. Three cheers for another online submission form! And dayumn but do they ever have detailed story format guidelines.
* Read WritersWeekly newsletter.
I got a work project dropped off on my doorstep late Friday afternoon, so I've spent a fair chunk of the weekend working on that (as they wanted it back Monday). Work is good, money is good, it's not too many hours, but I wish I didn't have to do it on the weekend.
Saturday we had the hospital's "All About Babies" class, and while it didn't cover absolutely everything, it did seem to cover the important stuff. I took about three pages of longhand notes in addition to the handouts they gave us. Though I was a bit annoyed by the "women already know all this stuff because they all love babies and talk about it with their girlfriends all the time, but men don't have that innate knowledge" approach of the guy who stopped in to push the just-for-men baby class. For one thing, Phil apparently talks about child-rearing with his coworkers way more than I ever have with anybody. For another, I wish I could get into that class, but I lack the external genitalia. Ah well.
Then we went to the newly open Taste of Asia Restaurant (or was that Fresh Taste of Asia?) on Nicollet, near Market BBQ, and I had one of the more confusing dining experiences of recent experience. I left unsure if this was a very good restaurant, or a not-so-good restaurant. Let me explain. The decor, the ambiance, is fantastic. They did a great job with the space. The staff are excellent, very attentive, very friendly, clearly eager to please since they are just opening the restaurant. The menu is like 10 pages long--ridiculously ambitious. The prices are moderate, comparable to any hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant. The portions will feed you for 3 meals. The cook really knows what he's doing--all the ingredients are of very high quality and cooked to perfection in a way that I haven't encountered outside of white-tablecloth dining. The thick Chinese-style eggrolls were crispy and not heavy or leathery--something hitherto untasted. The cream cheese wontons were light and crispy and delicious. The noodles were cooked to exactly the right texture, and the vegetables were fork-tender. This is not your gloppy takeout Chinese food. But! The flavoring and sauces are so light as to be non-existent. There wasn't that complexity of flavor. The things we ordered spicy really, really weren't. Clearly they do not have the crack sauce that, for example, the Red Dragon--though in every other respect the food was vastly superior. All they need is for someone to go in and tweak their recipes a bit to make them more flavorful. We were both conflicted as to whether it was a good restaurant, or a bad restaurant. Definitely worth going back to try the sushi (which is more dependent on quality of ingredients and preparation than saucing or seasoning) and the hibachi. By the end of the visit, I was rooting for them to be a good restaurant, to become successful--I just don't know if they are/will.
sinister_dr_x had his movie day on Saturday as well. We missed the movie I'd wanted to see because of a scheduling mix-up. Can we say I never react well to my plans being disturbed for any reason? Apparently my "attempting to not be irrational and fussy" is not actually the same thing as "not being irrational and fussy." Ah, well. I'll give myself points for the attempt. But it was great watching Faster and Predators in air-conditioning with friends, so it was all good, even if I did have to leave to go back to work on my work project.
Today was more work and some trying to get other stuff done.
Oh, and Phil trimmed my hair today, which took all of three minutes. Three cheers for hair-cutting scissors and long hair! Totally easy to have the husband cut four inches off (at the longest point--probably about two at the shortest) in a straight line.
Circus of Brass and Bone Writing Log
Total
Episode 12
New words: about 400
Total words: 75,207
Overused word: savaged
Gratuitous Freudian slip: lifting chests
Type of scene: the impetus
Challenge(s): Getting any writing done at all. Though truly, I think a lot of the problem was that I was hung up on one scene. Once I got past that, it got better.
Which line is it anyways?She smiled noncommittally and dutifully returned her attention to her bowl of mush, which seemed unlikely to do anything improper or even remotely interesting.
Researched: Zoos, the feeding habits of large cats, yoga, and the feeding habits of 1870s American travelers.
Notes: I just need to get a little transition in there, do the horrifying thing, and then the episode will (finally!) be done!
Other writingy stuff:
* Posted writing log.
* Submitted “Missing You In Pieces” to Pedestal Magazine. Somewhat concerned about the copy-and-paste format into the form.
* Submitted “Warmth in the Cold Time” to Moonlight Tuber.
* Did a Critters critique--time for me to get active there again.
* Submitted “Demons of Disease” to Raygun Revival. Three cheers for another online submission form! And dayumn but do they ever have detailed story format guidelines.
* Read WritersWeekly newsletter.