My good friend Pierce, AKA Tina Marie of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor, gave me a wonderful tribute in a recent post, and bestowed upon me something entitled the "Life is Good" award.
I have met tons of great people through blogging, both this blog and my regular blog, and Tina has become such a great friend to me, such a source of strength and encouragement, that I really feel blessed to have her in my life - even though we have never met! So, thank you, Tina, for being there for me, for your support and for your constant friendship! I do hope we can meet in person one day in the not-too-distant future!
Of this award, Tina says on her blog: "The rules are, to accept this award, I shall answer the 10 questions below and pass the award to six fellow bloggers."
I may not be passing this along...I don't normally do that part of these awards, but I will answer the 10 questions!
1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I am only semi-anonymous, though I started out wanting to be completely anonymous. It's easy enough to find my name out if you've been reading this blog (or the other one) for any amount of time. I am happy with this, however, or else I would never give the hints to my real name. It's only been a problem on my other blog, which is why I changed the site over to WordPress & took it off search engine crawling.
2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
Just one? Really? Hmmmmm... I have so many examples it's ridiculous. But let's stick with something simple: putting together furniture. I buy a piece that comes in a flat pack, and I will NOT give up on it until it's up and functional, even if it takes all night, even if the instructions are ridiculous (like Ikea's), even if I can't hammer straight - you name it!
3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the face in the mirror?
Very complicated question. I see a Plain Jane who is pushing 40 and showing it.
4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?
Simple: iced tea or girly cocktails! And frappuccinos!
5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
I go lay down on my super comfy new couch (which came assembled!) and watch TV all day. Or I read & listen to music. I used to take long baths, but in my new place, there is no tub, only a cramped shower stall. :(
6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
I have a lot of things I want to accomplish in life, and I feel time is running out with some of them. I want to get married & have a baby. I want to travel. I want to write a novel. That is my starting list.
7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the class shy person, or always ditching school? Describe who you were if not one of these.
I was the quiet kid who actually got along with her teachers and was thus labeled a brown-noser. I was also the bullied kid who was drastically marginalized & traumatized.
8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what do you see?
Never mind!
9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
Both.
10. If you had the choice to sit and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
God, I love a good chin wag on the phone and I don't do it often enough! But I also like to read. Either or.
So there you go! Thanks again, Tina!!!
Showing posts with label about WC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label about WC. Show all posts
Updates & On Foodblogging
This little hiatus I've been on seems to be dragging on for quite some time.
I have had quite a bit of stuff happen since the start of the new year. I started a new job, for one thing, and so far that is going well, though seniors seem like a finicky bunch to cook for!
I also found a place to move to, and I have been distracted lately with the details of that. I'll be moving between March 15 and April 1 (the place will be vacated by March 15 but it needs some paint & a few odds and ends done to it), and you can read more about my new home here. I haven't lived on my own for about 13 years, and I'm feeling quite daunted by it. The responsibility of it sometimes threatens to overwhelm me. This is a huge step for me, and I know it will be a positive thing, but it's stressful and frightening.
I also have been asked to be a columnist for our local online paper, The Rossland Telegraph. This came about indirectly through blogging, but more directly via my one-woman Owe-lympic protest when the torch relay came through town on January 24. You can see that post here. The protest went great and I was not arrested, and the editor of the Telegraph saw me out there with my sign (I was hard to miss). When he did his story on the torch relay, I sent him the link to my blog post, and after he read a bit of my "every day" blog, he asked if I'd like to write columns for the Telegraph. He invited me to a meeting with the two other guys who run the site and it was a great group of forward-thinking, open-minded people. So, now I have a a monthly column, the first of which was published today, and you can read it here. Well, I am now a columnist twice over, since I am still writing for Bread 'n Molasses (the new article will be coming out in the March 1 issue, and I'll post it when I get my copies of the magazine).
I have been struggling with food blogging lately for a few reasons.
For one thing, I'm trying to lose a bunch of weight, so I have pretty much stopped baking and I am eating what seems to me to be fairly unblogworthy meals. Nothing exciting, nothing overly photogenic. So far, so good: I am down 17lbs and have 24 to go.
I also have been distracted with other life stuff, as detailed above.
Mainly though, time is a factor. It's not the writing of the blog that is the big time consumer, it's the reading & commenting on everyone else's blogs. I subscribe to dozens of food blogs and I love them all! I really do! But I simply have not got the time to read and comment on so many food blogs anymore. And let's face it, there is a lot of give & take in the food blogging community. No one will read this site if I don't read other sites; my traffic proves that.
Food blogging has been a huge lifeline for me these past 3 - 4 years as I've been through a huge episode of MDD and been in recovery for that episode in that time. This blog gave me purpose, structure, goals, interaction, it's produced friendships and connections, and it's been fun, educational, and a great adventure. But I'm not sure I need it in the same way I did while I was so sick. Life is starting to open up for me (knock on wood it stays that way) and I don't have the same need for what food blogging has provided me with in the past.
I am not shutting down the site and I'm not quitting food blogging, but I do need to find a way for it to work in my current life, and I really don't know yet how that will look. It might be in limbo for a while longer as I sort it all out for myself. My traffic is going to suck, which means my advertising revenue is going to suck, but there isn't a lot I can do about that. I have to find a way for this to work for me again, and I don't know how long that will take.
Thanks to everyone for reading & sticking with me. You can always keep up with my general life stuff over at Wandering Coyote. Take care & I will see you when I see you!
I have had quite a bit of stuff happen since the start of the new year. I started a new job, for one thing, and so far that is going well, though seniors seem like a finicky bunch to cook for!
I also found a place to move to, and I have been distracted lately with the details of that. I'll be moving between March 15 and April 1 (the place will be vacated by March 15 but it needs some paint & a few odds and ends done to it), and you can read more about my new home here. I haven't lived on my own for about 13 years, and I'm feeling quite daunted by it. The responsibility of it sometimes threatens to overwhelm me. This is a huge step for me, and I know it will be a positive thing, but it's stressful and frightening.
I also have been asked to be a columnist for our local online paper, The Rossland Telegraph. This came about indirectly through blogging, but more directly via my one-woman Owe-lympic protest when the torch relay came through town on January 24. You can see that post here. The protest went great and I was not arrested, and the editor of the Telegraph saw me out there with my sign (I was hard to miss). When he did his story on the torch relay, I sent him the link to my blog post, and after he read a bit of my "every day" blog, he asked if I'd like to write columns for the Telegraph. He invited me to a meeting with the two other guys who run the site and it was a great group of forward-thinking, open-minded people. So, now I have a a monthly column, the first of which was published today, and you can read it here. Well, I am now a columnist twice over, since I am still writing for Bread 'n Molasses (the new article will be coming out in the March 1 issue, and I'll post it when I get my copies of the magazine).
I have been struggling with food blogging lately for a few reasons.
For one thing, I'm trying to lose a bunch of weight, so I have pretty much stopped baking and I am eating what seems to me to be fairly unblogworthy meals. Nothing exciting, nothing overly photogenic. So far, so good: I am down 17lbs and have 24 to go.
I also have been distracted with other life stuff, as detailed above.
Mainly though, time is a factor. It's not the writing of the blog that is the big time consumer, it's the reading & commenting on everyone else's blogs. I subscribe to dozens of food blogs and I love them all! I really do! But I simply have not got the time to read and comment on so many food blogs anymore. And let's face it, there is a lot of give & take in the food blogging community. No one will read this site if I don't read other sites; my traffic proves that.
Food blogging has been a huge lifeline for me these past 3 - 4 years as I've been through a huge episode of MDD and been in recovery for that episode in that time. This blog gave me purpose, structure, goals, interaction, it's produced friendships and connections, and it's been fun, educational, and a great adventure. But I'm not sure I need it in the same way I did while I was so sick. Life is starting to open up for me (knock on wood it stays that way) and I don't have the same need for what food blogging has provided me with in the past.
I am not shutting down the site and I'm not quitting food blogging, but I do need to find a way for it to work in my current life, and I really don't know yet how that will look. It might be in limbo for a while longer as I sort it all out for myself. My traffic is going to suck, which means my advertising revenue is going to suck, but there isn't a lot I can do about that. I have to find a way for this to work for me again, and I don't know how long that will take.
Thanks to everyone for reading & sticking with me. You can always keep up with my general life stuff over at Wandering Coyote. Take care & I will see you when I see you!
My Apologies
I am heartily sorry for this, but I am really having a hard time with my energy levels right now. We have been socked in with fog for so many days now I have lost count, and even though I am sitting in front of my SAD lamp lots, I am just not feeling like my brain is working great, and it's affecting my body, too. The unread items in my Google Reader are overwhelming me, so, while I will endeavour to post regularly, I am clearing all my unread items and this means that I won't get around to reading many of your wonderful posts. I apologize for this. I might also not be around visiting as much in general until I feel more energetic. I will try to keep to my five posts/week publishing schedule, something I've kept up for over a year now, but I just don't know about that anymore, either. Hopefully, I'll start to feel better soon. I kind of don't even want to look at food anymore at this point; I've overindulged and am feeling it. I might just eat canned soup (shocking, I know!) and crackers for the next little while.
I just wanted to let you know. Your comments and loyalty have meant so much to me; I don't want you to think I'm being aloof or anything, and I don't want you to take my lack of participation in your blogs personally. I just need a little space right now.
You can keep up with my non-food related stuff on my regular Wandering Coyote blog, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to be writing there either. It's a different ball of wax altogether there.
Thanks for your understanding, guys!
I just wanted to let you know. Your comments and loyalty have meant so much to me; I don't want you to think I'm being aloof or anything, and I don't want you to take my lack of participation in your blogs personally. I just need a little space right now.
You can keep up with my non-food related stuff on my regular Wandering Coyote blog, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to be writing there either. It's a different ball of wax altogether there.
Thanks for your understanding, guys!
Award Time!
Quick post today! In fact, many of the posts you'll see this week will be quick! I continue with NaNoWriMo!
OK, I have been blessed with some awesome blog friends, and two of them, Pierce and Karen, have bestowed upon me this lovely award:.jpg)
Along with this award comes a responsibility: I must give you seven facts about myself. So, here you go!
1. I sit in front of a SAD lamp every morning now. I call the SAD lamp Mr. Happy.
2. I worked as a dishwasher to help pay for university.
3. No one touches my KitchenAid mixer but ME!
4. I once ordered sea urchin pizza in Sicily, but the restaurant was out of sea urchins, so I had to order something else.
5. I have eaten fajitas in Helsinki.
6. I have sprained my right ankle several times just walking.
7. I admire a man who can cook!
OK, I have been blessed with some awesome blog friends, and two of them, Pierce and Karen, have bestowed upon me this lovely award:
.jpg)
Along with this award comes a responsibility: I must give you seven facts about myself. So, here you go!
1. I sit in front of a SAD lamp every morning now. I call the SAD lamp Mr. Happy.
2. I worked as a dishwasher to help pay for university.
3. No one touches my KitchenAid mixer but ME!
4. I once ordered sea urchin pizza in Sicily, but the restaurant was out of sea urchins, so I had to order something else.
5. I have eaten fajitas in Helsinki.
6. I have sprained my right ankle several times just walking.
7. I admire a man who can cook!
About Me
I was moved beyond words this morning when Dave of My Year on the Grill wrote a post about...well, me. You can read it for yourself here.
Rarely am I speechless.
Thank you, Dave.
Dave did a bit of research for his post over on my regular blog, Wandering Coyote. I have a few ReTorte readers who also read WC, but I don't know how many exactly. The WC blog is, as Dave said, a much darker than this food blog, which I try to keep mainly positive and enthusiastic. WC is where I let my "dark" side out a bit...OK, quite a bit. You should not be put off by the fact that my tagline is "Tattooed, Pierced, and Potty-mouthed;" I really am friendly!
In the spirit of being open with you all over here on ReTorte, and to give you a bit more information about me, and to clear up a couple of Dave's questions, here is a bit of personal, non-food related information about yours truly.
1. I have two tattoos: one on my back and one on my left ankle. The back one is of a moon goddess and I got it in celebration of my 30th birthday. The ankle one is my "divorce tattoo" which I treated myself to after my divorce.
2. I am divorced & have been for 4 years now.
3. I live with three mental illnesses: Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymia, and BPD. I am doing really, really well right now, though!
4. I have 12 piercings, all but one of them are in my ears. The one not in my ears is in my nose. I used to have a lip ring, but due to a long story involving WalMart, dentists, incompetent piercers, and passport photos, I had to take it out. I do want to get it re-pierced, though. I'm also thinking about an eyebrow ring, but I'm not 100% on that yet.
5. I listen to a lot of heavy metal music, and my favourite band is Nightwish!
6. I have a bratty but cuddly cat named Juno!
7. I definitely am potty-mouthed, but I do try to control it as much as possible!
8. I have a degree in creative writing from the University of Victoria. I got this in 1998, well before my pastry training at PICA.
9. I lived in Ottawa, Canada's capital, for seven years and, although I had good friends there, I hated that city more than I can possibly put into words. Don't get me started.
10. I currently live in the town I grew up in, after swearing I'd never move back here when I left in 1992. Sometimes necessity is a bugger. I got sick, I needed to be around my family, and my father, youngest brother, and sister-in-law all live here.
Anything else you want to know? Leave a comment!
And again, Dave, you are the best! Thank you for making my day!
Rarely am I speechless.
Thank you, Dave.
Dave did a bit of research for his post over on my regular blog, Wandering Coyote. I have a few ReTorte readers who also read WC, but I don't know how many exactly. The WC blog is, as Dave said, a much darker than this food blog, which I try to keep mainly positive and enthusiastic. WC is where I let my "dark" side out a bit...OK, quite a bit. You should not be put off by the fact that my tagline is "Tattooed, Pierced, and Potty-mouthed;" I really am friendly!
In the spirit of being open with you all over here on ReTorte, and to give you a bit more information about me, and to clear up a couple of Dave's questions, here is a bit of personal, non-food related information about yours truly.
1. I have two tattoos: one on my back and one on my left ankle. The back one is of a moon goddess and I got it in celebration of my 30th birthday. The ankle one is my "divorce tattoo" which I treated myself to after my divorce.2. I am divorced & have been for 4 years now.
3. I live with three mental illnesses: Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymia, and BPD. I am doing really, really well right now, though!
4. I have 12 piercings, all but one of them are in my ears. The one not in my ears is in my nose. I used to have a lip ring, but due to a long story involving WalMart, dentists, incompetent piercers, and passport photos, I had to take it out. I do want to get it re-pierced, though. I'm also thinking about an eyebrow ring, but I'm not 100% on that yet.
5. I listen to a lot of heavy metal music, and my favourite band is Nightwish!
6. I have a bratty but cuddly cat named Juno!7. I definitely am potty-mouthed, but I do try to control it as much as possible!
8. I have a degree in creative writing from the University of Victoria. I got this in 1998, well before my pastry training at PICA.
9. I lived in Ottawa, Canada's capital, for seven years and, although I had good friends there, I hated that city more than I can possibly put into words. Don't get me started.
10. I currently live in the town I grew up in, after swearing I'd never move back here when I left in 1992. Sometimes necessity is a bugger. I got sick, I needed to be around my family, and my father, youngest brother, and sister-in-law all live here.
Anything else you want to know? Leave a comment!
And again, Dave, you are the best! Thank you for making my day!
Your Favourite Food Questions
I saw this over at my friend Cal's place and thought I'd take it up, as it's a relevant subject to a food blog!
What is your funniest family food memory? My brother Rob, the onionphobic, was once assigned by Dad the chore of squirting weed killer on our lawn's dandelions and other weeds. He was about 12 at the time. He did the dandelions and whatever else, and then decided to take his pent up anger out against our rhubarb plant by dousing it with weed killer. He is the only rhubarb hater in the family and I think he was very resentful that my mom made so many killer crumbles etc. with this plant that he saw an opportunity to get rid of it and went a little crazy. It was a massacre. It was ugly. My mom was furious, my dad was furious, I was furious, and Jem was indifferent as he was 8 years old. The rhubarb plant died a horrid death that year, but luckily we were not SOL because our neighbour had a huge plant, too, so we just used that (she didn't mind & we shared the baking with her sometimes). BUT - our rhubarb plant came back the next year! It lived! In fact, it flourished! And...we harvested it. And I wonder if I'll get cancer because of that. Damn you, Rob!
What food makes you sick? Well, sick as in makes me want to puke: Fresh peas. But I'll eat split pea soup - different peas, you see. Steak & kidney pie is also rather vomit-inducing, as is any organ meat really. My dad gets a steak & kid pie for his birthday each year and it smells like ass and the odour makes me want to gag.
What is a food habit that you can't stand? WTF is up with people who put ketchup on every freakin' thing? It's disgusting! And rarely do they taste the food first to see if it even requires ketchup (and the lists of food upon which ketchup is acceptable, IMO, is small). Also, I was raised in a pretty traditional British household and we were not allowed, under pain of a smack, to crush crackers into our soup. And we never did. And I to this day I still DO NOT GET IT! Why would you do that to your soup? It really revolts me!
What food habit did your sister/brother used to have growing up that you couldn't stand? My brother Rob was an onion hater & it was almost a phobia. He had to pick everything apart to inspect it for traces of onion. My mom pureed onions and put it into stuff and he'd still pick it apart! Once, she told him there was no onion in a spaghetti sauce but that it had a lot of oregano in it, and he sat there picking the oregano out.
What is a food habit that you can't stand? WTF is up with people who put ketchup on every freakin' thing? It's disgusting! And rarely do they taste the food first to see if it even requires ketchup (and the lists of food upon which ketchup is acceptable, IMO, is small). Also, I was raised in a pretty traditional British household and we were not allowed, under pain of a smack, to crush crackers into our soup. And we never did. And I to this day I still DO NOT GET IT! Why would you do that to your soup? It really revolts me!What food habit did your sister/brother used to have growing up that you couldn't stand? My brother Rob was an onion hater & it was almost a phobia. He had to pick everything apart to inspect it for traces of onion. My mom pureed onions and put it into stuff and he'd still pick it apart! Once, she told him there was no onion in a spaghetti sauce but that it had a lot of oregano in it, and he sat there picking the oregano out.
What food cracks you up? Count Chocula. The name says it all.
What vegetable couldn't you live without? Onions.
What vegetable couldn't you live without? Onions.
Food gadgets you remember as a child? One of those woks you had to place on a metal ring on your stove's element. Things have come a long way, baby.
Food that was hidden, then discovered on the top shelf of your room? None. Never had food in my room. Even now - no food comes into my bedroom.
Without mentioning robots, how do you think cooking in the future will be better? God only knows. I'm pretty happy to have a George Foreman grill.
What is an annoying thing that bothers you about men and food? This question makes me have to generalize and I hate doing that.
Without mentioning robots, how do you think cooking in the future will be better? God only knows. I'm pretty happy to have a George Foreman grill.
What is an annoying thing that bothers you about men and food? This question makes me have to generalize and I hate doing that.
Food you once projectile vomited after being wasted? Ummmm...I've never projectile vomitted after being wasted. But when I put my back out in Feb. 2004, necessitating Percocet, which I am allergic to because it's related to opiates but the pharmasist assured me I'd be OK, I ate a frozen pizza because I was so housebound and the reaction was...well, projectile. Yeah. I couldn't eat pizza of any kind for a long time after that.
What would be your last meal? Tough question. Really tough question. Sushi? Chinese food? Pizza & chocolate ice cream? Bacon-wrapped filet mignon? I just don't know!
OK, my question:
What is your funniest family food memory? My brother Rob, the onionphobic, was once assigned by Dad the chore of squirting weed killer on our lawn's dandelions and other weeds. He was about 12 at the time. He did the dandelions and whatever else, and then decided to take his pent up anger out against our rhubarb plant by dousing it with weed killer. He is the only rhubarb hater in the family and I think he was very resentful that my mom made so many killer crumbles etc. with this plant that he saw an opportunity to get rid of it and went a little crazy. It was a massacre. It was ugly. My mom was furious, my dad was furious, I was furious, and Jem was indifferent as he was 8 years old. The rhubarb plant died a horrid death that year, but luckily we were not SOL because our neighbour had a huge plant, too, so we just used that (she didn't mind & we shared the baking with her sometimes). BUT - our rhubarb plant came back the next year! It lived! In fact, it flourished! And...we harvested it. And I wonder if I'll get cancer because of that. Damn you, Rob!
Award/Meme Time
Cathy over at Accountants Can Cook? awarded/tagged me with this passionate blogger award. Thanks Cathy!
The rules are:
1. Put logo on blog.
2. List five things you are passionate about besides blogging.
3. Tag five people and let them know you've tagged them
OK, so five things I'm passionate about apart from blogging...
1. Music, in particular: Linkin Park, Nightwish, Evanescence, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Midnattsol, Leaves' Eyes, Xandria and many others in the various folk/Gothic/symphonic/melodic/female-fronted metal offshoots.
2. Reading. I am a total bookworm!
3. Hiking, camping, and outdoorsy stuff. And I live in the perfect area for this kind of stuff, too!
4. My friends and family!
5. Various mental health and social issues.
You know, I'm not going to tag anyone (hope you're down with that, Cathy). My foodblogging community is pretty small and I'm pretty sure this one is going to make the rounds pretty quick.
The rules are:
1. Put logo on blog.
2. List five things you are passionate about besides blogging.
3. Tag five people and let them know you've tagged them
OK, so five things I'm passionate about apart from blogging...
1. Music, in particular: Linkin Park, Nightwish, Evanescence, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Midnattsol, Leaves' Eyes, Xandria and many others in the various folk/Gothic/symphonic/melodic/female-fronted metal offshoots.
2. Reading. I am a total bookworm!
3. Hiking, camping, and outdoorsy stuff. And I live in the perfect area for this kind of stuff, too!
4. My friends and family!
5. Various mental health and social issues.
You know, I'm not going to tag anyone (hope you're down with that, Cathy). My foodblogging community is pretty small and I'm pretty sure this one is going to make the rounds pretty quick.
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