Keep calm and carry on

Image copyright Bloom Creatives 2009. All Rights Reserved.

I had a pretty upsetting incident occur today... The short story is that I was basically physically assaulted by my tailor after calling her out on her attempt to rip me off on the alterations I dropped off earlier in the afternoon. Boycott Buckeye Tailoring and Cleaners in Avondale, AZ, people. I'm trying to find out the name of the owner so I can get this see-you-next-Tuesday fired.

So tonight I am trying to calm myself down with a glass of prosecco, delicious homemade shepherd's pie and snuggles from the hubs and Riley Face. Even looking at photos of him slows my heart rate  : )  Amazing the wonderful ways in which animals affect us. I mean really, look at that sweet little nose.

Welcome home, veterans!

You guys, oh my god. This about sums up Veteran's Day, dontcha think? This is why dogs (and veterans) are so awesome. (Also, happy birthday to my dad!)

Safe in Pine Plains

There was a horribly scary hostage situation in a school in upstate New York this morning... Maybe you saw it on the news.

That's my high school. I graduated from Stissing Mountain, the Pine Plains high school in 1993 (that's me at the top of the pyramid!). Myself and every other kid in town thought it was hands down the single most boring place on Earth. But this type of excitement isn't what we were hoping for.

The short story, if you haven't seen the news, is that former student Chris Craft (I think he's about 42 years old) snuck into the school with a disassembled rifle when the kids were coming in, hid in a bathroom while he put the gun together then took the middle school principal Bob Hess - my mom used to babysit his daughter -  hostage (the middle and high schools share a campus). After about two hours the gunman surrendered and thankfully no one was hurt.

Pine Plains is a tiny town in the middle of the Hudson Valley. There is one single traffic light. The townspeople fought each other for years and years before deciding to allow a convenience store to open. There are more cows than people. My school bus ride took an hour each way because of all the weird, windy back roads we took to pick up kids scattered all over the county. I don't think anyone anywhere ever expects what happened there this morning, but you really don't expect it someplace like that. In fact, that's the place you move to when you want to avoid things like that.

The good news is, as I said, Mr Hess was released unharmed and all of the kids are fine. I'm sure they will be very glad to go back to being boring tomorrow, when boring equals safe.

Hot Buttered Cider

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperkinetic/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Autumn is hands down my favorite season. A big part of the reason is that the summer here in Arizona is so brutal that the cooler temps are a welcome respite, to put it mildly. Our autumn is like late spring/early summer in the northern part of the US. But the other big reason why I love autumn so much is because I of the food. I am a glutton and can't get enough of traditional fall cuisine. After months of eating lightly because it's just too hot to bother with anything but a salad, fall brings back the rich tastes I crave.

My father-in-law is visiting us from South Africa until Monday, and I wanted him to experience a real American Thanksgiving. We're throwing one on Wednesday and I am eagerly planning the menu. This is super exciting for me because it means I get to stuff my face with Thanksgiving deliciousness twice this year!

I'll be posting more of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes later throughout the week, but this one came to mind first because A) it's so sinfully delicious and B) I am nursing a hangover, not from this, but be warned - it can pack a punch.

A note on ingredients: I like to use organic apple cider (not apple juice) and Knudsen's organic mulling spices, but of course your favorite brands are fine. Look for mulling spices sold in tea bag form. You can make this without the rum for a non-alcoholic version, just replace that amount with more cider.

Hot Buttered Cider

1/2 gallon apple cider

8 mulling spice bags

2 cups white rum

8 pats butter

Simmer apple cider and rum in a large pot over medium heat. Add mulling spice bags and steep for ten minutes. Ladle into cups and top each cup with a pat of butter. Makes 8 servings.

This is a lovely beverage to offer guests at holiday festivities or just a nice reward to yourself on a chilly autumn night. It can be made ahead of time and reheated. Just wait until right before serving to top with butter. Make sure you use real butter, not a butter substitute. I used salted butter because that's what I had on hand, but I'm sure unsalted would be fine as well.

My little pumpkin pie

Image copyright Bloom Creatives 2009. All Rights Reserved.

I was going to make a pumpkin pie last night, but my other Pumpkin Pie decided the main ingredient had better uses. Riley really did not appreciate the paparazzi disturbing his cat nap. Quite comfortable where he was, he stayed there until I went to bed a couple of hours later, then followed me in and continued his slumber by my side. The life of Riley, indeed.

I *heart* Ainjel Emme

Have you heard this beautiful girl Ainjel Emme? She's a magnificent singer/songwriter (and also lovely friend) from LA by way of Austin, TX who is currently finishing up her second album Songs to Pass the Quiet Hours. The above video is a special leak just for you called The Down Song. Do you like it? 'Cause I love it.

While waiting for this new album (with baited breath, I might add) I've been listening to Ainjel's first release, Heartache is Boring, which by the way is fantastic make-out music. Luckily this was one of the first CDs I transferred into my iTunes because the disc was sadly destroyed and is now out of print. BUT! Lucky for you! CD Baby has eight copies left of the original 1,000 and you can still get your hands on it. Doing so will help Ainjel finish this long-awaited, much-anticipated second album. Preview a couple of songs over there and let me know what you think!

The Vendor-Client Relationship

Welcome to my life. (And the life of every copywriter/photographer/designer/videographer/actor/musician/anyone in any creative field.)

How do we put a stop to this nonsense? Stop accepting less than what you're worth. Writers, stop accepting $2 per article because you think you need clips. (Here's a clue - if you can't get a better paying gig than that, writing should not be your profession. Do you understand that major mags pay $1 per word?) Photographers, $300 to shoot a wedding? Really? $300 for an 8-10 hour day of shooting under the most demanding conditions plus 20-40 hours of post editing plus covering all of your expenses, including a real big girl camera and lenses? $50 to design a website? Are you all insane?  Do you realize you're just screwing yourselves? Again, I reiterate: if you can't get jobs that pay better than this, you're in the wrong business. You're dragging down the market.