Monday, August 31, 2009

Remolding - Day Six

Today didn’t quite start out the way that we had initially planned. We had planned to leave around 9.30 am but when we checked out the Station Fire conditions allegedly the Sierra Highway had been closed. According to that Info there was no way for us to get into town. Shortly after we had found out that our Contractor (Danny) had gotten there via an alternate route. So Harry checked with CalTrans and got no info about road closures, so we decided to drive up to the house and see if we could make it. Turns out that the story about the road closures, that we had read online, was greatly exaggerated. We got to the house without any problems and it looked even better than the day before. There was hardly any smoke visible, most of the smoke was to the northeast (Acton area). Of course here and there you could see dark smoke rising but you could see the large fixed wing air crafts as well. Certainly makes you feel better.

When we got to the house we saw that our contractor had made a lot of progress. He had started prepping the 2 holes in the walls of the office, removed the tile from the fireplace that we want to have refinished, taken the carpet out of the bathroom and dismantled most of the built in’s in the bedroom. I was very impressed with the progress he made. While our contractor was working on other stuff Harry and I put a second coat of paint on the accent wall in Guest Room. And later we put a 3rd coat of paint on the remaining 3 walls in the Guest Room. After that was done we painted the closet doors in the color of the accent color. I have friends who ask why we continue to paint and have a contractor doing work when the house could possible burn down. But both Harry and I look at is as we have to keep positive. The house is currently in no danger and we have to move by the end of September. Positive thinking will lead to a positive outcome... But just in case it doesn’t we brought some of my toys and some of the stuff that is irreplaceable back to our rental house in Reseda. Tomorrow we will assess if we take more of the stuff back to Reseda or not. That will depend on how the wildfire is behaving.

By the time we left there was no smoke visible. Apparently the firefighters have made some progress. Additionally the wind had been blowing all afternoon long in a north east direction. That means it had been driving the fire away from our house and we are very happy about that. On the other hand there are still 11 miles between the fire and our house and the fire is still in the hills above Acton.

I guess that's it for today report.. will keep you updated on our house progress and the wildfires.

Ode To Coffee

Coffee. Nature’s most perfect gift. I, for one, could not function in the morning without it. And I don’t mean the four dollar, glorified milkshakes my wife buys at Starbucks on the way to work (usually after waiting in a line longer than the one at Space Mountain in Disneyland). I mean straight, uncut, coffee-type-coffee, the kind Dunkin Donuts has blessed us with by making it available at our local grocery store that comes in only three flavors...mild, medium and strong.

Coffee saves lives. Not just my own, but the oblivious-to-the-world drivers I meet on my morning commute. Paramedics would still be trying to pry the steering wheels from their chests if I didn’t have at least two cups of my morning elixir in me before heading off to work.

But I digress. What could I say about this wondrous, magic liquid that hasn’t been said before by folks greater than me? So, with that in mind...

"But, Mom, I need the caffeine...BADLY!" - Zack Galligan, Waxwork

"Whatever happened to coffee-flavored coffee?" - Denis Leary

"A morning without coffee is sleep." -Author Unknown

"I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee." -Flash Rosenberg

"Way too much coffee. But if it weren’t for coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever." -David Letterman

"Decaffeinated coffee is the devil’s blend." -Author Unknown

"Decaffeinated coffee is like kissing your sister." -Bob Irwin

"I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon." -Ronald Reagan

"Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee." -Stephanie Piro
"I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee." -Carly Simon

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." -T.S. Elliot

"It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. I bet this kind of thing does not happen to heroin addicts. I bet that when serious heroin addicts go to purchase their heroin, they do not tolerate waiting in line while some dilettante in front of them orders a hazelnut smack-a-cino with cinnamon sprinkles." -Dave Barry

"In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running." -Jeff Bezos

"My blood type is Folgers." -Author Unknown

"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis - a good hot cup of coffee." Alexander King

"Given enough coffee, I could rule the world." -Author Unknown

A Worldly Breakfast

It's the most important meal of the day, right!? And breakfast makes everything better - especially at our house. We're the sort that loves breakfast food so much we like to have breakfast for dinner too sometimes.

A breakfast here, especially after a sleepover, is a major tradition. We have homemade pancakes, waffles, or french toast, bacon or sausage and ALWAYS homemade syrup.

Yup, the syrup is legendary around here.

When we first married, my husband scoffed at bottled syrup and proceeded to educate me on the wonders of making one's own maple goodness. It's easy, fresh, more flavorful, and dare I say it...less expensive. (that's important when you have syrup addicts like us). I was soon turning up my own nose at those cleverly shaped bottles of inferiority on grocery store shelves.

My children have never known anything less (though they assure me they are polite when faced with bottled syrup away from home) and it just might be the elixir that brings them home to visit once they've flown the coop - um, I mean nest.

My opinions about syrup (and other kitchen adventures) even show up occasionally in my books.
Check it out - after breakfast of course - you don't want to get the book sticky!

Regan


Buy Pixie Chicks at Quake or Amazon today, and tomorrow you'll find me blogging at Echelon Press Shorts about the release of Hot Spots, the next installment of the Hobbitville Saga.

The photos are courtesy of Wikipedia, but they could just as easily come from my kitchen!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Panic

Today when I got up I was reading on twitter that Agua Dulce was under mandatory evacuation. My heart dropped and I immediately went online to find out more info. The "Station" wildfire is out of control and is moving closer to Acton and at a slower pace it's moving north west and that is where Agua Dulce is located. The closed the Agua Dulce off ramp on the 14 freeway so the only way you could get into the city was through Sierra Hwy. It seems that the east side of the city is under mandatory evacuation but where we live is not. So I spent the morning cleaning and continuing to pack up stuff but checking the news often to find out the status of the fire.

Around 2pm Harry and I decided to go up to the house and check everything out. When we got up there is actually looked better then it did yesterday but there was alot of smoke north of us (in Acton) but our place looked okay. It eased my mind a bit. The fire was still 11 miles or so away from us. We didn't do any painting and we also didn't bring anything else up to the house (just to be safe). We cleaned up the place a bit as the contractor will be starting tomorrow.

We headed home and I continue to clean and pack. We plan on going back up tomorrow and start painting once again. Of course I listen to the evening news and it made me worry about the house again.. but to be honest there really is nothing we can do.. just hope the firemen stop this fire before is reaches us.

But I guess living in the hills we need to get use to this.. but I don't think I ever will.

I'll keep you all posted.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

More Packing and Cleaning

Today we stayed home (rental) and continued to clean and pack up this place. Bill (the owner) said he was placing ads about the rental and that he would want to show people the house. And I would be super embarrassed if they saw it like this. We have stuff all over the place as things are half packed and dumped in corners.. so today I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, finished the bathroom that Harry started yesterday, finished cleaning and packing the living room and did a little bit more packing of my toy room. All in all it was a good day of packing.

The scary part of today was this "Station" wildfire that is slowly moving in the direction of Acton which is next to Agua Dulce (where our new home is). We look to be okay but it's still very scary.. Let's hope everything works out.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Remodeling - Day Five

Another early day, got lots moved over as we packed up Harry's truck every time we go up. Once there we did a second coat on the Guest Bedroom and did a first coat on the Guest bathroom. Also our contractor Danny stopped by to pick up the tile and go over other construction things, as he is starting on Monday at 6am. We talked about the fireplace and he suggested putting wood over it to make it look more rustic as this was something I wanted and I loved the idea.. so now we are doing that also. So construction wise we are getting the office windows drywalled up. getting the carpet taken up and tile laid down in the master bathroom. Removing the two side closet built-in's in the master bedroom and having the fireplace re-faced and tiled. Along with Harry and I painting every room. Today while at our new place the air got so smokey you would think that there were fires all round us, but fortunately they were miles away and the wind was blowing our way. I had to drive home to grab my check book and had to drive through a down pour of ash. Harry also said there was ash falling at our house. It's a fact of living in the hills that fire are fairly common.. let's just hope they are never close to us. So things are moving along nicely.. hopefully in a few weeks everything will be done and by that time almost everything will be moved over to the new house so we can set everything up and move in full time.

Remodeling - Day Four

Today we got an early start and headed out around 9 am. We got to the house around 10 am. After unpacking the truck we started setting up all the paint stuff in the Guest Bedroom. We still had to paint the borders and corners of the 3 walls we had painted yesterday and on top of that we had 2 window frames to paint. After we were done with that Harry and I headed to Lowe’s to pick up more paint and paint supplies. While we were at Lowe's we finally decided on the tiles for the Fireplace and the Bathroom. Both of us really liked the tile we choose.. the fireplace is going to be AWESOME. After Lunch we started setting up the TV Room for another coat of paint. To our surprise the second coat of paint went fairly quickly and actually covered the walls. So it only took two coats and the TV Room is complete and I have to say looks great. Around 5 pm Harry and I headed back to Reseda to get some more packing done. While I continued with the Toy Room, Harry started packing up his Desk in the Office. All in all it was a good day.

Peace, Man!

Okay, I admit my '70s-post Woodstock roots. I grew up with Tie-dye and the Peace symbol, familiar items to everyone now, too.

In recent years, it seems that no generation has escaped war: the Depression era families were touched by World War I; their children entered World War II; then came Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm...

According to the recent annual Mindset List for the Class of 2013 at Beloit College, the current generation of college freshman has grown up with the war in Iraq.

The cry in the Sixties and Seventies was "Give Peace a Chance!"

Following are a few quotes from those who have had something to say on peace, and say it much better than I ever will:

Benjamin Franklin: There never was a good war or a bad peace.

Jimi Hendrix: When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

John Lennon: Imagine all the people living life in peace.

Martin Luther King Jr.: One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.


* See John Lennon/Yoko Ono video, Give Peace a Chance

* See more peace quotes

* Sam in Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery thinks peace is cool, though she won't find it with crabby Mrs. Drake - or will she?

ANNOUNCEMENT: CHEAP EDIBLE FOOD COMING TO ADAMS MORGAN...in the form of Hellburger!!!!




Read it to believe it, ya'll. (Maybe this will free up seats from VA tourists--aka DC residents--heading to Arlington.)

OK, maybe Wash Biz J isn't a reputable source. Denied, by Michael Landrum.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Star Trek Guide to World Peace



The first thing that comes to mind when I think of world peace is Star Trek. Yeah, no kidding. I think of this Utopian globalised planet where everyone gets along. Of course in Star Trek, you have to note that there are plenty of other beings that do not get along... But as a planet, Earth is a pretty peaceful place with no wars, global money, (Or is there money at all?) and a unified population that seems to agree on everything.

Ok, world peace will never be achieved quite like that. At least not everyone will agree on everything all of this time, but the ideas are sound and whether you know it or not, we're moving in that direction. Will we see it? Nope. But give it another few hundred years or so and I fully believe that we could have a pretty strong foundation for world peace. Just look how things have changed in the last few decades. The Internet connects the planet in light speed bringing communication and understanding where there was confusion, misinformation and fear before. The Euro is another example of countries agreeing to get along financially.

While there are plenty of arguments against global money, the Euro has strengthened Europe and is a sign of things to come. Think of it this way, the Euro unified Europe's money... so one nation has the same cash value as another. Think if that was in place for the last 200 years how many lives would have been spared and how many wars could have been prevented. Dare I say that a unified monetary system would probably have prevented World War II?

The attainable goal of world peace is something that doesn't just come from a song or a protest sign. This is something that everyone has to agree on. Everyone has to be on board and they have to realize that it isn't going to happen quickly. A lot of bitterness and centuries of anger have to subside or be forgiven, but it's like I always say, "Keep chipping away at it." Like Spock says, "Live long and Prosper."

My steampunk adventure novel, Thomas Riley, comes out in October on Echelon Press.
http://nickvalentino.blogspot.com

Kiera

This is Kiera. She is a 4 year old cross Pitbull whose best activity is to watch TV on the couch with some biscuits to munch!

Kiera is a DARG dog, and according to DARG, she's a great companion, bonds well with people, is love-starved and is a real softie. I guess that's quite hard to believe from a Pitbull, given the bad reputation they've got over the years.

But like all protective breeds, if they're treated properly, they will be great companions. The Pitbull reputation has been brought about by unscrupulous owners using them for fighting purposes. So, there is no such creature as a bad dog, only a BAD OWNER.

I hope she finds the loving home she so deserves.


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

KOTG Microcast #6 - Quest for the Music Video

KOTG Microcast #6 Quest for the Music Video

This is a special Maxi-Microcast about the Hit music video from Felicia Day ‘Do you want to date my Avatar’ Both Jenni and i worked on set during the filming of this.

51-iK1D5iSL_SS500_.jpg

For this microcast:

  • We talk to Greg Aronowitz, who created and built the Weapons used in the music video

GregA.jpg

  • We then have audio and written fan feedback about the video
  • And finally Jenni and I talk about our experience working on set during the 14 hour shoot.

Hope you enjoy it…

Please send your audio or written comments to knightsoftheguild@gmail.com or you can leave your comments in the comment section of this site.

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

Help support The Guild by buying the music video and the MP3.

Get the Video here on Itunes http://bit.ly/itunesvideo

Get the MP3 here on Amazon http://bit.ly/amazonavatar

Cleaning up the Rental

Today we took a break from painting our new house to work on our rental. They will be showing it to potential renter and it needs a good cleaning. We also did a bunch of errands that we have been putting off because of the new house. I also edited and released a new podcast. I miss the new house but it was nice to do something different.. but back to painting the house tomorrow..

World Peace.

World Peace.

The most common interpretation of these two words deals with everyone becoming friends with each other, rather than becoming enemies.

It is often a complicated topic as people argue over who believes it can be done and who believes that it is impossible, who believes it should be done and who believes it shouldn’t, who believes it should be top priority and who believes that it should not be top priority.

World peace is a topic people seem to actively seek, but wonder if it will be possible to ever actually attain. Questions begin to arise about whether or not people can actually change to fit the guidelines that are necessary for peace to rein throughout the world.

So here’s the question you need to ask: Is it important to you? Do you want it and feel it is necessary for the world? Or do you not care and simply wish to go about your daily life? If you answered yes, you feel it is necessary, then decide if you wish to help. Every little thing can help – being nice to your neighbor, co-worker, friend… It can all add up.

What are you opinions on world peace?

Pistachio Pizza - I want it!

Yesterday we saw some of the PIZZA episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network, and some stuff looked amaaaazing. In particular, the Rosa Pizza at Pizzeria Bianco was making my mouth water--a super-thin, lightly charred crust topped with red onion, parm-reg, and pistachios. [If you're like me, then just now you went OMG PISTACHIOS?!?!?!? And then you quickly did a Kayak search for rates to Phoenix.]

Read other bloggers' descriptions of it here and here, and even WaPo giving you the recipe here.

The other pizza that looked ridiculously amazing was the breakfast pizza at Little Dom's in LA. Luckily we have family and friends out there, so I WILL be having Little Dom's, unless heaven forbid it closes in the next 3 years (I figure that's a good window where we're sure to get back there). I'm so into breakfast, so it's no surprise I want eggs on everything, including pizza.

Anyway, where are my manners--here is a link to the episode so you can see when it's on next and then set your DVR.

To be entertaining, here are pictures of some pizzas I've eaten in the past year...




Tuesday, August 25, 2009

MOM Earth


Look at that picture.

Beautiful, isn’t it? Or she, if you’re into the feminine avatars like Mother Earth, Gaia and Ötüken we bestow upon the space faring orb that we constantly abuse with pollution, war and reality shows.

Although we inhabit just the smallest portion crust of this planet, we do so many things that grossly affect her, such as bare stinky feet and global warming, which even the most hardcore of doubters finally admit is happening.

Imagine a world without ice on the poles. It would be a swirling, cloud covered planet looking like a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal. As the water warms, the frequency and ferocity of storms would soar, battering the surface of the planet, which lose landmass as rising sea levels gobble up valuable beachfront property and swallow entire islands like Cuba, Hawaii and Kirsty Alley.

Imagine a world where a war-torn planet is ripped apart by a nuclear war. The resultant cloud cover and radiation would wrap around the planet as a sick, ugly yellow cloud trapped in the atmosphere. The sun would cook a noxious stew of poisonous gasses killing human, animal, plant and maybe even Madonna.

Hah, just kidding. Madanna would survive.

If you watch a beauty contest, the contestants are asked inane questions, like ‘What would you like more than anything else?’

Besides a diet pill that actually works, as the movie “Miss Congeniality” made clear, the rote answer is, “World peace.”

Uh, huh. Okay, so what keeps us from achieving this World Peace?

Any ideas?

I think it’s easy. The thing that keeps us from World Peace is World Piece. As in greed. Everyone wanting a bigger slice of the pie. And not just their share of the pie. They want a bigger piece than they are entitled to.

Greed for possessions, greed for other peoples’ property, greed for the big gas guzzling car that denotes status, the greed of one country coveting the resources of its neighbor or from the not-neighbor in, say, the Middle East, greed for power, greed for the biggest bowl of ice cream.

So until we figure out some way to handle greed, we won’t see World Peace. Simple as that.

And hopefully we won’t tear Mother Earth to world pieces along the way.

I got no solutions, except maybe everyone should read funny books or something. And I’m sorry I wasn’t funny today. If you want funny, go read one of my books. They’re funny, I promise.

And they’ll bring us World Peace.

(Oh, and my new vampire humor YA book, Fang Face can be had on Earth friendly e-book, as well as traditional paper.)

Norm

http:www.normcowie.com

Remodeling - Day Three

Today we got up, packed up the truck and headed to our house. But first we had two stops. First stop was our escrow company up in Valencia. We had to pick up a check for overages that we paid at closing. Unfortunately they dropped the check in the mail just a half hour before. So we left there and headed to Lowe's. We needed to buy more paint for the TV Room and while we were there I picked up another three paints, one for our master bathroom and two for our guest room.

Once at the house, we unloaded the truck and started painting by finishing up the window frame and the remaining wall in the TV Room. Once that was done I started taping off the Guest Room, while Harry did some touch-up work with the first 2 walls in the TV Room. We had planned to do the guest bathroom next but I decided that there would be less taping and I really wanted to get at least one room done.

While we were doing that, Mike, the Internet guy, stopped by to set up the Internet. He uses our hill side for a tower that feeds the valley below and because he uses our hill and electricity we get free internet. Once he was done we were eager to check out how fast the Internet was since he said it's faster then dial up but not quite as fast as DSL or Cable. This worried Harry and I but we were both surprised at the speed. One thing going for us was that we have our very own connection. So there are no other users on our line.

Once we both checked our Twitter we got back to work. Harry finished up the TV Room and I continued to tape off the guest room. The TV Room now has one complete coat, with exception to the area near the base board that had drywall damage. We have to let everything completely dry before putting on another coat. Harry then moved into the guest room and painted as I finished up the taping of baseboards. Once I was done there I helped with the trim work. We got the three walls covered with one coat (there is an accent wall that we did not do). But we were happy with our progress. We now know that painting is tough. It's tiring and take lots of patience and time. Well get it done.. might be a few weeks.. but will get it done and it will look great.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Remodeling - Day Two

Today we are up, packed and out the door by 10am. We planned to finish the TV Room and get a start on the guest bathroom. When we got there the paint was alot darker and looked good. It needed a few touch ups here and there but both Harry and I jumped in and started painting. Around 1pm our contractor Danny stopped by to go over everything that we wanted to do to the house. That took about an hour. Both Harry and I knew we had alot of property 2 1/2 aches but when walking around with Danny and standing on hillsides looking down at it, it hits you on how much 2 1/2 aches really is. Once Danny left we were hungry and needed to also pick up some more paint supplies. So we headed to Lowe's once again and on our way back found one of our favorite fast foods El Pollo Loco so we picked up some lunch. Once we were finished eating we continued to paint the TV-Room. And once again daylight started to disappear and we had to call it a night. We were almost one with 1 coat on all the walls. The painting looks so easy.. and HGTV makes it look like it can be done in hours.. this is day two and we are still finishing up just 1 coat on 1 room. Maybe will finish it tomorrow.. but I'm not making any promises.

World Peace?

I saw the topic for this week was World Peace, so I did a little entry on my first thought...and second thought...and extra train of thought detours...on World Peace :)



World Peace?



…What does that mean?



Is it, simply, a world without conflict? I’m asking because actually, the first thing that comes to mind is a world inhabited by robots. The second is the book “The Giver.” Has anyone read that book? Or any other post-apocalyptic utopia stories. In the ones I’ve read I’ve found the characters a bit dull (though that might have been done on purpose), but the reoccurring concept was freakier than any of the murder mysteries I’ve read. Is that what World Peace truly means? A mindless state of contentment, almost programmed into the bland role to avoid conflict…hmm…I believe we’re back to robots.



Don’t get me wrong. There are some great aspects to peace. But I don’t dream of a world without conflict. I dream of an alternative to wars, advancements in crime-solving technology, reduced instances of violence…basically, reasons not to do horrible things. Good people working to prevent horrible things. You know, crazy stuff like that. Because in a world without conflict, there’s not much else either. Try reading a book, a short story, a newspaper article, even a blog post, without conflict. Try writing one! In a nutshell, it is going to stink. Badly. Now, try living without conflict. Sure, you don’t have those down moments, but you don’t have any senses of triumph or pride. And those are what make us human. Without those ups and downs, we’re…oh, no. I’m back to robots again.



Anyway, I'd have to do a lot more research on the meaning of World Peace before I could decide if I wanted it or not.



--Kieryn

My novel, RAIN, is coming in 2010 from QUAKE!

Find me at www.kierynnicolas.blogspot.com, or www.kierynnicolas.com. I'm also on Facebook!

(photo credit www.soil-net.com)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Remodeling - Day One

Wow.. what a day.. now that we got the house we want to paint and do some small construction remodels before we actually move in mid September. We planned to be on the road at 10am but I figured since we would be at the new house for the next few weeks the majority of the time that we needed to go food shopping. So instead of heading up to the house we went food shopping. After we got back and split up the groceries between our rental and our house we got back on the road. We also agreed that when we drive up we will always take a load of boxes with you.. so we loaded up Harry's truck, but before we could head north I have to go to Kim Evey's (The Guild) Producer and return the BTS camera I was using for shooting season three. Once we dropped off the camera we head up north to our new house. We got there around 1:30pm and unloaded the truck. We then had to make a trip to Lowe's (the closest hardware store) but first we wanted to teach Daisy about the doggie door that lead out to a small enclosed area for to do her business. Well she figured it out fairly quickly but our little "Houdini" also figured out how to squeeze through a gap at the top and get out which she attempted as we were leaving. So we had to leave in inside the house until we were able to block that exit.

We get to Lowe's and head to the paint department, we try and find the matching colors that we had picked up from Home Depot but couldn't find the exact colors (we had previously gone through the house and picked out colors for all the rooms). I remember that they can color match so we asked if they could match these color, they said of course and that it would take ten minutes. During this time we walked around and picked up other painting supplies like, rollers, brushes, etc...

By the time we got out of Lowe’s we were both starving and looked for something to eat. We found a Carls Jr. that was on our way home. We headed back home and were greeted by a totally overexcited Daisy. By the time we were done with our lunch and started working it was about 5 pm... where did the day go?? We pretty much knew that we wouldn’t finish the room, but we wanted to get as much as prep work done as possible. The first room we decided on painting was our TV Room. We went with a darker color called Butternut Wood but it looks more like a dark Olive Green. Both Harry and I really like it. We figure it's the TV room so a dark color would be best. There were these plastic strips that covered the cable running along the baseboard that we didn't want. So we went to pull them off. They were being held on by double stick tape and when pulled off took off some drywall as well. So I attempted to patch up some of the damage while Harry started taping off the six windows. I came to realize that my patch work wasn't going to work and that we would talk to our construction guy about fixing it so I started to paint, I wanted to a little paint on the walls to see what it looked like. I started with the Window surroundings. About and hour later we had to stop, because we ran out of daylight, we had 2 window frame painted. The day didn't go exactly as planned and we didn't get nearly as much done as I was hoping but it was still a great day working on improving OUR house. Can't get any better than that. Going back tomorrow and hoping to finish the TV Room and if were lucky our guest bathroom.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Blizzcon Day 2

After a wonderful morning I was on a high, but that was soon gone as I hit traffic driving to Anaheim and Blizzcon. I had a shift at The Guild's booth from 3pm to 8pm. Traffic was horrible, but I got there around 3:15 but then had to find parking as all the lots were full. I finally found something miles away so I didn't get to The Guild booth until 3:30pm. I got excited again about getting my keys and folks kept congratulating me as I showed them the actual key.

The booth was packed with Guild fans. The signing was fun, meet several folks who said how much they enjoy my Twitter feed. And at 5pm I was asked to run the raffle (The Guild was giving away 4 Zune MP3 players). I had Jeff (Vork) and Robin (Clara) pull the names out of Vork's deep fryer. That was a lot of fun. After that there was the cast's final signing. There was a new Cast photo/poster that a fan did for The Guild and I wanted a copy signed by everyone so I did that. I also got a picture with each cast member because I take 1000's of photos of the cast and crew but there are so very few pictures of me on set and none with the cast members. After the signing everyone helped break down the booth and Blizzcon 2009 was over. Jenni and I finished our podcast and she drove me to my car and I headed home.

Tomorrow we got to our new house and start painting.

Keys

Today Harry and I went to the Seller's Realtor at 9am to picked up our keys to our new house. We headed over to the house to check it out as we hadn't seen it in almost three months. We get to the front door and I finally allowed myself to get excited. It was over, all the stress and crap we had to put up with was over. The house was ours and no one could take it away. I am now a property owner (never thought I would be able to be one.. Thanks Sweetie)

The house looks completely different empty compared to when it had all the seller's furniture in it. We walked from room to room and check out ever corner.. the walls were a little worse then I remember but luckily we planned on painting everything. After going through everything we then went from room to room and planed out what colors we wanted on the wall and where we want the furniture. It was a lot of fun trying to decorate our home, luckily Harry and I have pretty much the same taste when it comes to paint colors.

We also brought Daisy up for the first time so she could check out her new pad.. not sure she liked it but she'll get use to it. We couldn't say long as I was working The Guild booth later that day in Blizzcon. But we planned to come back tomorrow and start painting.. So we grabbed some lunch and headed home.

A few short words on Internet Friendships

The Internet is a great place to meet people.

Over the years I have met many wonderful people through blogs and other social networks. Some have become lasting friends, some not.

The tricky thing to remember is -- you can call someone your friend, and feel very sure you know them, but you do have to be careful. The Internet harbors predators of all kinds, from people who aren't who they say they are, to people who are much worse than I'd like to imagine (and I write gothic fiction!).

Some have speculated that the rise of technology has eaten away at the mystery of life. That there is no more room for fairy tales and fantasy, because virtually everything is known. We can talk to people all over the world through a chat client, we can search up information about the bottom of the deep blue sea at the click of a button.

I disagree. When it comes to meeting people online, there's a whole lot of mystery. Are they really a 16-year-old girl, or are they a 30-year-old man? Are they really that into 'The Lord of the Rings,' or are they just watching in horrified fascination at the frenzied forum discussions on it?

Or are they something else entirely?

Demons and monsters... they're around us, it's true. Maybe not in the forms I feature in my fiction, but similar all the same.

We just have to be aware of them, is all.

Carlos

Carlos is an elderly gentleman(dog) who lives in an historic house in Constantia, one of the first wineland areas established in the Western Cape.

My sister was doing her dog/housesitting with Carlos and two of his pals whilst their mom went overseas to the UK.

I met him when she brought him round for a visit. He is practically blind and quite deaf, but he still loves life, and very definitely, FOOD. Put your hand near him and it's snuffle, snuffle, looking for tidbits to eat.

I don't think he's going to be with us for much longer, but as his doctor says, he's happy and in no pain, so let him enjoy his twilight years in the luxurious comforts of the Constantia greenbelt.

Sides Hurt, Pee Alot, Discharge

Cillit bang


If you already have released products for carpet

what have trouble, I say, invent a lotion

pa 'repel asshole?

Knights of the Guild Ep7 pt2

Knights of the Guild Episode 7 Part 2

Show Notes:

Here it is Episode 7 part 2 of Knights of the Guild. We hope you enjoy it.

Today’s show features:

  • First up we have our monthly Vorkism.
  • Our location today is at Codex’s apartment, this time for a Thank you Dinner
  • For our BTS segment we discuss our experience working on Season Two Episode Nine: Grouping Up.
  • Then we have part 2 of our interview with the one and only Felicia Day

FeliciaAvatar2.jpg

  • We have our Fan Feedback.
  • We ask for Donations and Thank those who already donated.
  • Mention important links
  • Then we have our final words and we say goodbye.

Please send your audio or written comments to knightsoftheguild@gmail.com or you can leave your comments in the comment section of this site.

Thank you again for all your support, we do this podcast because we are fans and more importantly for the fans.

Kenny & Jenni

Other Important Links

Friday, August 21, 2009

We Got The House!!!

When I got back to my car after spending the day at Blizzcon I plugged in my cell phone as it died around 3pm and of course I had a ton of messages but two were urgent. One from my Mary our Realtor and the other from Harry. They called around 4pm and both left me message.. like "I don't know where you are but you loan has closed, you can pick up you keys, you got the house." Of course it was almost 5:30pm when I got this and I was in Anaheim and the Escrow is in Valencia I knew there was no way we would get the keys today. But I found out that the seller's Realtor had the keys and said we could pick them up tomorrow morning.

I still wouldn't allow myself to get excited. It was a long and hard process and I didn't want to allow myself to be happy until I was holding the keys in my hands.. which will be tomorrow morning at 9am.

Blizzcon Day 1

Today was Blizzcon Day 1. I was asked to help with The Guild's booth and of course I said yes. My shift was 10am to 2:30pm. It was a lot of fun. I'm not a gamer so I was there just for The Guild and to support them. Met lots of fans and sold lots of Guild stuff. After my time at the booth it was time to get ready for The Guild panel. I was lucky enough to go back stage with the cast and wait for them to go on stage. While we waited I took the opportunity to interview some of the cast for a special KOTG microcast. After the panel, which was Fantastic.. I went back to my car to head home. My cell had died around 3pm so I plugged it in and had several urgent messages.

Feature Author: Sam Morton


Sam Morton is the author of Betrayed, a new release from Quake!

From the Back cover:


It’s an election year and Senator Ben “Pitchfork” Stevens from Texas made a campaign promise to stop illegal immigration. He virtually has. Problem is, people trying to cross the border seem to disappear. That’s a dilemma for 15-year-old Austin Pierce whose father is a political consultant and whose best friend, Rico Alvarez, happens to be in the United States illegally. When Austin discovers Rico’s beautiful cousin Veronica helps people break the law and cross the border from Mexico, he faces a decision: should he help his friends or try to stop the senator? Either path could lead to danger, even death.

And here's an excerpt from between the book covers:

"No. Your friend has come to our town—to our country—and I'm interested in what our American friends believe about our culture." Veronica's steel gaze locked into Austin. Even in the low light of the setting sun, he could see the glint in them.

But it seemed this girl had no interest in being friendly and Austin refused to be intimidated. He cleared his throat so his voice would be firm. "Well, I guess I just didn't expect to see all the retail stores here carrying all the familiar products, and whew, the Super Wal-Mart really threw me for a loop! I mean is there a place in the world those guys don't go?"

Rico put his palms out toward his friend attempting to quiet the rising tension and volume of their voices, both to no avail.

"I suppose you expected to come to some third-world dirt village, where the women grind corn and hand-pat tortillas around an open fire, and the men dress up like mariachis and sing the Mexican Hat Dance!" She swept her hands in each direction. "Or maybe you thought you'd find a bunch of gang bangers cruising around with handguns in low riders with bandana's half covering their eyes. Sorry to disappoint you, but that's more prevalent in Los Angeles—you know, the one in the United States."

"That's not what I meant," he said, his voice louder than he intended.

Her head seemed to swivel and she pointed an accusing finger in Austin's direction as she continued her rant. "Take a moment and look, Señior Pierce, and you'll see we're much the same. We have email and the internet, cable and satellite TV…surprise, surprise, surprise."

He cut her off, hands raised. "Exactly what did I do to piss you off, Roni?" Austin threw his hands apart and arched his brows, too. "I mean I hadn't even said hello before you turned your nose up at me like I reeked.”

The two had inched closer, squeezing Rico between them. They sat for a moment in an electric silence until Rico finally broke it.

"I can tell you exactly why she doesn't like you," he said.

Austin's eyes widened, the confirmation that the gorgeous cousin really disliked him striking a blow. Veronica's expression changed too. Her cheeks reddened and Austin thought her pupils glowed red. If the fire in them were real, Rico would be a block of crusted ash by now.

"She doesn't want you to know…"

"Rico do not …" she said through gritted teeth. Balled fists hung past her trousers just inches from the curb.

Her cousin ignored her. "She doesn't want you to find out that she has been helping people here cross the border illegally since she was twelve.


want more? click here for the first three chapters!

Readers are raving:

“I liked it so much, I read it three times!” - Jaylen Suther, 10th-grader, Irmo, S.C.

“Armed with a powerful story, stunning language, and a belief that right must triumph, Sam Morton weaves a tale of laughter, passion, and fury in Betrayed. Don’t miss a word. Sam is an author on the move.” - Pat Conroy, bestselling author of The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and The Great Santini

Best, Worst, and Craziest Aspects of being a writer—

The best part for me, without question, is the creative process. I have complete control of the story—who lives, who dies, what takes place in the action, the emotions and reactions of the characters. I especially like, when it’s time for a bad guy to get his due, coming up with exceedingly painful and humiliating ways for the bad guys to die. I think I have an over-developed sense of justice!

The worst part of writing for me is always having to figure out how to have something go on behind my main character’s back without him knowing it, but at the same time letting the reader know. Some writers find that easy to do. I find that it takes a deftness of skill I’ve not yet mastered and have to work at.

The craziest part of being a writer—and I’ve talked to enough writers to know I am not alone—is that, as much as I love the creative process, when it comes time to put my fingers on the keyboard and write, I do almost anything to avoid it! I do laundry. I clean the kitchen. I’ll even re-organize my office. I believe I’m intimidated to some degree. Writing makes us all vulnerable, and even though we have back space keys and delete buttons, once you’ve written it, at least in an emotional sense, it’s out there and hard to take back.

What's next for Sam and Austin?

Austin will have another fabulous adventure. He will see a wrong and try to make it right. He will encounter the wrath and resistance of those committing the wrong, and his life, and those of his friends, will most definitely be in danger. Will he survive it this time? Will his friends? You’ll have to read to find out!

You can buy your copy of Sam's book early at Quake, or Amazon, visit him at his website or follow him on Twitter and facebook.

Leave Sam a comment or question here at Teen Seen today and connect with this amazing talent!

Thanks Sam!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Transformers 2

I finally saw Transformers 2 today with Harry and my Dad. I really enjoyed it, it was what I expected. Action, action and more action. I actually liked it better then the first one as I felt it had more of a story. Of course there were plot holes in the story but they didn't bother me. It was just a fun roller coaster ride.. can't wait for #3

Eventide


Let's start with the good:

The dining room is stunning. It's blue and black, pretty but funky (though not too funky) at the same time. The piping hot biscuits that came out first were DELIGHTFUL. Flaky and buttery and lovely. A delicious amouse bouche from the chef just as pleasing--mushroom risotto fritters on perfect little spoons with a touch of Dijon-y-ish (maybe?) sauce. And as an appetizer we shared the uber-delicious rabbit cannelloni. The rabbit was so flavorful and tender, and it was the perfect appetizer. I joked that I wanted it to be my meal, but I'm sure if I ate too much of it myself the richness would be overpowering.





The not so awesome: The dinner menu is pretty small. For example, I don't dig the texture of steak or lamb (unless it's ground), and I don't eat pork or much shellfish. As a result, my options were spring vegetable risotto, roasted chicken, and salmon. Of course, we ate salmon for dinner the night before at home, so I was left with Token Vegetarian Option and chicken. I was assured by my super friendly and helpful server that the chicken is "really good" so I got it. It's not the best roasted chicken I've ever had. Let's be honest, only one place can claim that! BUT, the stuffing was really really good, and I ate it all. To be honest, it's a bummer to eat $24 chicken that's just ok, when the Palena chicken is $13 and more than twice as good--it just seems wrong! J had the lamb. He says it was really good. If only that were enough...





So dinner had its ups and downs, but brunch at Eventide was a complete disappointment. They have a fabulous rooftop seating area, though, so if ambiance and decor made a meal, this place would have it! J enjoyed the bison sausage omelet--it was tasty, I tried it. The portion wasn't unreasonably small, but it was markedly smaller than what we've seen for brunch elsewhere in the area (Boulevard Woodgrill, Harry's, 3 Bar & Grill). Maybe we were just sore because the yummy biscuits from dinner were conspicuously missing, making us long for the basket that R3 provided with their brunch. Those amazing biscuits were great at dinner, but they seemed even more appropriate at brunch. Alas...

My frittata was room temperature. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be or not, to be honest. I generally like food HOT unless it's leftovers straight from the fridge and still cold, so it was sort of a bummer. Kinda like cold chicken on a salad--Bummer City. The "frittatta" tasted more like a quiche. It was edible, but not very good.



The roof was a nice place to sit, but the service was nowhere near as attentive, even though there were only two other tables seated for brunch upstairs at the same time as us. Brunch prices are significantly different than dinner (which is a little too costly for frequent returns), and you almost don't feel like you are at the same restaurant. I can't believe they have $8 brunch entrees and nothing less than $23 for dinner. It's sort of surprising. I would have been just as happy, or maybe happier, having brunch at the Silver Diner down the street.

And just a notice to every brunch establishment in the DC area that doesn't adhere to this already: You must offer iced coffee. And it must be delicious. It is way way way too hot (especially recently in August) for people to be sitting on your patio or roofdeck drinking hot coffee. Please don't look at us like we're crazy when we ask for iced coffee--we swear it's normal where we're from.

Eventide
3165 Wilson Blvd
Metro: Orange Line to Clarendon
Eventide on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Finally Signing the Papers

Wow.. what a day. I was told, through my "loan specialist" that it was possible that we would be signing the papers to our loan today at 3pm.. well I had not heard from anyone so I assumed it wasn't happening. Well I get a call from my Realtor Mary saying URGENT!!! you need to get to escrow and sign those papers ASAP!!!!

I guess they did schedule a notary for 3pm but failed to call me and let me know. Now it's 3:30pm and the escrow company is in Valencia. So I quickly get dressed, wake up Harry who was taking nap and we rush out of the house heading up north. Of course it's Wednesday and I knew there would be traffic and I was told that I had to sign everything by 5pm. So flew down side streets trying to find the least congested route. We arrived at the Escrow company around 4:15pm. Later Harry told me I was driving like a maniac but I got us there in one piece.

We sit down with the Notary, Steve and we start to go through the paperwork. I have to say I was told that this is the most stressful part of the process but after our 90+ days of hell this was the best part. Steve was so funny and we laughed alot. After a half hour we were done.. all the paperwork was signed. All that was left was giving them a cashiers check for our down payment. Luckily there was a BofA down the streets so we quickly went over and pulled out the biggest check I have every given to anyone and went back to drop it off. They were going to try and rush everything through but the loan still needs to go back to BofA for approval, then be recorded with the county register office and then the loan needs to be funded by BofA and only then would we get the keys.. They hope to get all this done in the next two days and we can get the keys on Friday... Here's hoping.

PS.. I was in such a hurry that I left my camera at home.. but Notary Steve took a picture of us and I'm hoping to get a copy of that.

Pen Pals but Without the Stationary, the Stamps, or Even the Pen




When I was in high school, I had six pen pals. Six of them. I spent most of my study halls (do they still have those???) writing to any one of my six mail mates. I was hooked on envelopes and stamps and nothing was as much fun as finding a reply in my mailbox. To date, there is at least one of those pen pals I never met. She had placed an ad in 16 Magazine, and I had answered. We sent each other Christmas and birthday presents, and wrote pretty regularly, but we never did meet.

So now I have Internet friends. As with my earlier pen pals, we share jokes and complaints, book titles and mini-movie reviews, wonders and woes and other scraps of our lives. And while the exchange doesn't have all the magic of opening that waited-for envelope, I do still get a kick from seeing the sender's name and the subject line in my in-box. Some of them make me laugh like no one else I know. All of them remind me that I don't have to deal with everything life hands me all by my one-sy. And just like my pen-pals of old, I have met all of them except one.

Do I still think Internet relationships can be dangerous? Heck, yes. But every electronic pen friend I've got came about through a shared interest, whether belonging to the same favorite author's chat board, or being introduced by another mutual friend. And while I know this doesn't necessarily mean everyone is on the up and up, I've been lucky in that all of the people I've actually met have been brutally honest about who they are.

I'm glad to have my online community. They help keep me sane. On the other hand, I do still have at least one person who sends me stuff through the post office...

Speaking of friends, see how friendship can help stop a vengeful spirit in my new story, Hunting Spirits!
http://www.echelonpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10_32_36&products_id=171

Not News To Us: Virginia Wines Are Delicious


But we already knew that. Check out this Washington Post article about a blind taste test given to experts who were told they were pitting US wines v. French ones, without more specific state origin information.

Maybe now we'll finally start seeing some Virginia wines on area restaurants' wine lists? Maybe?! I can't tell you how it irks me when restaurants are all OMG WE <3 LOCAL, ORGANIC, LOWER MILEAGE/EMISSIONS/LET'S SAVE THE EARTH and all their super heavy cases of bottles of wine come from around the world. Show me local wines, or admit your cowardice and ignorance. Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Don't want to get my hopes up.. But!!!!

This morning when I woke up there was an email from my "loan specialist" informing me that the case number has been approved and that she sent this information to the underwriter who will now complete the loan documents. According to our loan specialist we should close by the afternoon (this just shows you that she really has no idea what the process is). Now the loan documents go to Escrow where I will sign and approve them. Then they go back to the lender where they are recorded and finalized. At the same time I will wire the escrow company our down payment and fees which will take a day and after all that is done the loan will close and we will officially own the house. Not going to happen in six hour as our loan specialist thinks.. if we are lucky it can be done by Friday.. if not early next week. Needless to say I don't want to get to excited as we are on our 90+ day of our 60 day planned escrow. I'll celebrate when the keys are in my hand. But at least it seems to be moving in the right direction.