Empty Picture Frames

So, I've been contemplating picture frames.

I love pictures and documenting the things I do, the places I go and the people I share it all with. I have a wall in my room dedicated to picture frames. And I've been looking at some of them and thinking about updating the pictures. There are people in some of the photos that I haven't talked to in years, that aren't important to me anymore.

But they were.

At some point, they meant a lot to me, or that moment did. And it feels a little like a betrayal to change those photos, to replace them with something newer.

There's a quote I love from a television show called “Witchblade” that was said as two of the characters looked at a photo of someone who had died and talked about mourning and remembering.

“I used to think that time was linear, like a string...Well, maybe time isn't that way.   Maybe time is more like photos in an album, you know? Maybe each moment lasts forever and it is only our perception that streams them together. And if that's the case, then you can turn the page and be with your friend at any moment, anytime you want.”

I am somehow comforted by that idea, that even though we aren't close anymore or I haven't even talked to some of those people for years or they have passed away – the photo, that moment is eternal in someway.

It might be rubbish. But I'm still struggling.

Maybe I'll just buy more picture frames.

Throw Out Your King Cake Recipe

I have a great love of New Orleans and its food and so very year I make King Cakes around Mardi Gras. The King Cake in Louisiana is traditionally served during Carnival season beginning with the Epiphany and ending with Mardi Gras. There is usually a small plastic baby hidden somewhere in the cake and whoever gets the piece with the baby will have good luck...or has to bring the next King Cake.

Now, I'm not saying you don't need a recipe at all, I'm just saying don't feel trapped by it. Once you have the basic down, decide what sounds good to you and go for it! King Cake is really more of a sweet bread, like a cinnamon roll, but in recent times has been filled with different flavors like chocolate, strawberry and pralines and cream. I've been experimenting with this dessert for a while and I have decided this is the best recipe for the bread part. It is basic and totally customizable. I have added cinnamon and cloves to the bread if I'm doing a traditional recipe or if I'm adding a fruit filling.


2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup butter, melted
5 egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose white flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt

     In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and white sugar in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

     Stir the egg yolks and melted butter into the milk mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Beat the flour mixture into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.


Now we get to the fun part: the filling. I have tried lots of things. I have done peach, cream cheese, chocolate and traditional no filling. You can do anything and not a single one I tried turned out bad, but some were better than others. I think my all-time favorite is cinnamon caramel cream cheese.

To do that, I added a teaspoon of cloves and a tablespoon of cinnamon to the bread dough. I then took 8oz of softened cream cheese and mixed in a tablespoon of cinnamon, ½ cup of powdered sugar and ¼ cup of caramel sauce.


     Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out into a 6x30 inch rectangle. Spread your filling (if you have one) across the center of the dough. Bring the two long edges together and seal completely. Using your hands shape the dough into a long cylinder and place on a greased baking sheet, seam-side down. Shape the dough into a ring press the baby into the ring from the bottom so that it is completely hidden by the dough. Place a well-greased 2 pound metal coffee can or an oven safe bowl in the center of the ring to maintain the shape during baking. Cover the ring with a towel and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

     Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove the coffee can and allow the bread to cool.

     When it's cool, drizzle with an icing mixture of 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk. Then sprinkle with purple, green, and yellow colored sugar.


Want to add a flavor to the icing? Do it! A couple of drops of flavored extract like vanilla, lemon, raspberry or almond could be just the thing. Come up with the greatest combination ever? Let me know!

Happy baking and Happy Mardi Gras!

No Damsels In Distress!!

I work at a library.  I believe it might be the greatest job in the world and is definitely the greatest job for me.  Because I get to read books, talk about books and music and movies, recommend books and music and movies and generally nerd out with my fellow library peeps.

And I get to write blogs.  Really cool blogs.  About things I care about and think others might find useful.

Like this blog post about strong female characters in books for adults.  I also wrote this one about books featuring strong girls for children.

I'd do this stuff for free.
But I have the best job in the world.
:)

How Theatre and D&D Saved My Life.

I have started and stopped this entry countless times. But as a lovely theatre friend put it in her blog:  "I realize I’ve been avoiding having this conversation with myself and others...so it's time".

I am the most content in this place in my life, than I have ever been. And I credit theatre and Dungeons and Dragons.

Roughly a year and a half ago, I was utterly and completely lost. I was told by the director of my church choir that the ministry team of the church had decided that I was no longer welcome to sing in the choir I had been a part of for more than 10 years.

What grievous thing did I (and other members) do to get kicked out of a volunteer church choir? We were too old, too experienced, not the right demographic.

Being in that choir and involved in that church was a huge part of who I was. I made countless friends there. It shaped my schedule, my commitments, and my service. And choir was the greatest part of how I worshiped. Music has always been my favorite way to find God, to speak to God, to listen to God.

These weren't faceless bureaucrats that summarily dismissed me. They were people I considered family and when they kicked me out of my church, they cut off personal contact and kicked me out of their lives, too. Maybe they couldn't look me in the eye, but there were certainly bridges burning all around me.

So, I cried for three days and tried to figure out what I was supposed to do.  Who was I now?

My church had abandoned me, but God never did.

A few days after the aforementioned events, I got an email for a person I have still never met. She got my name from a friend that thought I might be interested in being in a sci-fi rock opera. A community theatre company still needed some actors to fill out their cast. I auditioned and was cast. I made new friends. I had the most fun I have ever had on stage. I laughed and sang and danced and felt like a person again.

Two days after that show closed, one of my new theatre friends convinced me to audition for another show. I did and was cast. And in that show, standing beneath bright lights on stage, I felt God and home and fire and purpose. And I thank the Creator for the people who led me there.

“Ok, so theatre I get. But how did being an enormous nerd help you out?”

During all of the tears and the upheaval and terror of auditions, I was participating in a Dungeons and Dragons gaming group with some friends. That's right, we are young professionals and we game. Loud and proud.

We were friends when we started, but we are family now. They, and the Gaming Widows, appeared right when I needed them. I thank the Creator for nerd-love and for putting them in my life. They held the line, carried the light, and sounded the applause when I finally found myself again.

Sometimes, people suck. They disappoint you, betray you, and break your heart. Maybe it does all happen for a reason.

Or maybe I'm too damn stubborn to let them break me.

Either way, a year and a half, I'm still doing theatre, still gaming -- happy again.   

Just Do It.

New Year. 

Not really a new me. 

I'm pretty happy with the me I've got. 

But I have decided to finally get serious about this blogging thing. Mostly I've just been doing book reviews and rather sporadically at that, but I have so many other ideas: cooking, crafting, catharsis. It's time to stop talking and start typing.  Stay tuned...

Book Review: The Twelve by Justin Cronin

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Why I Checked It Out:  “The Twelve” is the sequel to “The Passage”, one of Time Magazine’s Top 10 Books of 2010 (and the best book I’d read in six years).  To say I have been eagerly awaiting this follow-up book is an understatement.

Why I Recommend It:  Middle books in planned trilogies are tricky things, often full of set up and character development, but very little action or payoff.  “The Twelve” is as gripping as the first, but in a different sense.  Where “The Passage” ramps up the action with a fight for human survival in a harsh, post-outbreak world overrun with vampire-like killing machines, “The Twelve” delves more deeply into the evil that ordinary people are capable of. 

“The Twelve” follows the format of “The Passage” in that it begins with the story of several characters in the time immediately following the spread of the virus and the panic and confusion that it caused.  It introduces you to a couple of key players in the story and then jumps back into the future and rejoins the main characters of “The Passage” in their post-apocalyptic setting.  It sounds confusing, but it isn’t.  The storyline is clear and well-told.

Yes, this book is full of people eking out a living in unforgiving conditions, dealing with separation, little food, horrible jobs and the uncertainty that comes with the dwindling human population in a world filled with monsters, but given all of that, none of it is truly the heart of the book.  I feel like Cronin, just as in “The Passage”, really makes his characters the focus of his books.  Their love for each other is often the only thing they have.  Their relationships and their loyalty are what give them the courage to face what seems to be overwhelming foes.

The conclusion of the trilogy, “The City of Mirrors”, is due out in 2014.

Book Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Why I Checked It Out: This book and its first-time author are getting a lot of buzz, including being short-listed for the Orange Prize, which recognizes outstanding female authors.

Why I Recommend It: It would be easy to label this book as an overly-romanticized retelling of “The Iliad” and dismiss it, but that would be a serious underestimation of an incredibly well-written and well-researched historical novel.

This book is the story of Achilles, the son of a king and a goddess, and the “best of the Greeks,” all told through the eyes of his beloved companion, Patroclus. The two met as young princes, grew into teens under the tutelage of Chiron and were swept into the politics of men and the machinations of gods. It is less about the Trojan War and more about the twists that led two young men to fight in a war they wanted no part of.

Miller has an effortless voice that brings to life men of staggering reputation and makes them painfully, beautifully human. She dove beneath the anger and the pride of Achilles and revealed the naiveté of a boy who wanted to be a hero. Even secondary characters, like Odysseus, are completely rendered and ready to step off the page.

“The Iliad,” which tells the story of the end of the Trojan War, is the story of Patroclus’ and Achilles’ battles and their deaths. “The Song of Achilles” is the story of their loves and their lives. When you already know how the story ends, what matters is the road there. Miller has crafted a living journey with language so striking that it deserves to be savored.