Lakeshore

Awesome Deal with Sky Warrior Books! : $20 worth of E-books for only $10 — Check out The Feathered Edge, available under this sale. There's a story by calendula_witch and me.

Why I Like Speculative Fiction — jimvanpelt is interesting.

Once Upon a Time — The lure of the fairy tale. (Via Gene Stewart.)

anghara with with a magnificent rant on the snobbery of reading lists

Q&A: The Gourmand Behind New York's $666 'Douche Burger' — Wow. Hahahaha. (Via willyumtx.)

Genetic Aberrations Seen as Path to Stop Colon Cancer

Nanoparticle Completely Eradicates Hepatitis C Virus — We are indeed living in the future. (Thanks to danjite.)

Hubble spots spiral galaxy that shouldn't exist

Resolving the Pioneer Anomaly — “The effect is something like when you’re driving a car and the photons from your headlights are pushing you backward. It is very subtle.” I am always amazed at what we can measure.

The Average Canadian is Now Richer than the Average American — We're number one! Except for those damned hockey playing socialists up north. (Thanks to danjite.)

Limbaugh's Dark Knight Rises/Romney Conspiracy: "Do You Think That It Is Accidental" The Villain Is Called "Bane"? — Wow, that is profoundly dumb, even for Limbaugh and his low information audience.

?otD: Whachoo talkin' 'about, Willis?

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7/19/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0 minutes
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.75 (solid)
Weight: 238.6
Currently reading: The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

Your Thursday moment of zen.



Me at the Missouri Breaks, 2006. © 2006, 2012 B. Lake

The current photo series is from my 'favorites' file, hence the dates jumping about



This work by B. Lake is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Very strange dream last night. I was driving back to Portland from somewhere in the old, old Genre car — the gray Chrysler sedan that IRL I sold about four years ago. But I wasn't really in Oregon, as the physical geography was more like the trip from San Antonio to Austin. There were a lot of construction projects tearing up abandoned railway lines. (I dream of trains and train tracks fairly often.)

The car broke down not far outside of Austin, so I got it pushed into the parking lot of a mechanic's. Then I went to find a place to stay. There was a little resort motel nearby, which looked sort of like the Village from The Prisoner, if the builders had been rednecks working with salvage lumber and no plumb lines. Lots of little oddball buildings scattered among the pecan and live oak groves.

Somewhere in here, my family appeared. Dad, (step)mom, my mother, the_child, lillypond, the Niece. As we wandered around, I pointed out some wild animals nearby.

The animals turned out to be a troop of baboons. They didn't like me pointing. As the Niece and the_child laughed, the troop began approaching us. I twigged that we were at risk, so I tried to get my family to step back and walk away. Everyone was too excited about the baboons to pay any attention to me.

I wound up spanning my arms wide, jumping up and down and screeching, and pounding my chest. A classic primate aggression display. The baboons backed off a bit, as everyone began running away from me. I was fine with that. The desired result had been reached. As I began to back away from the baboons, still facing them and baring my teeth, the troop ran to attack me.

In real life, I used to live in Nigeria. When you travel cross-country in Nigeria, at least in the north, one thing you do any time you stop the car is watch for baboon troops. They will come to investigate what you're doing, and they will rip your arms off if they feel like it. So even in dreamland, I knew to run like hell.

It turned into a zombie apocalypse dream, with the baboons taking the place of zombies. People were running everywhere, screaming and crying. The baboons were breaking down doors, leaping through windows, running down the weak and slow and unlucky. Taken literally, the whole thing was horrible, but I also knew I was dreaming, so it was more like watching a movie.

I woke up laughing about the whole thing. Other than the cancer, my life is not particularly infused with anxiety just now. Not sure what the dream meant, but it was funny and it was weird.

Chile con queso

• Half brick of Velveeta cheese


• 4 tablespoons sour cream


• Small can Rotel tomatoes


• Small can Hatch chiles

Place above ingredients in bowl. Microwave until melted, but not overheated. (I check every 20 seconds.) Stir together. Add chili powder and garlic salt to taste. Serve hot with corn chips. If leftovers, microwave cautiously before consuming.

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Scrambled eggs

• 2 large eggs


• 1/2 tablespoon sour cream


• Squirt of sriracha sauce

Beat above ingredients together. Add a heavy dusting each of chili powder, garlic salt, onion salt and dry mustard. Fry in medium hot pan with small amount of bacon grease or olive oil. Serve as with any breakfast egg dish.

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Wilted spinach and fruit salad

• Six to eight slices of salami


• 1 cup of fresh baby spinach


• 1 apple


• 1 cup of strawberries


• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (jack or some blend)


• 1/2 cup small manzanilla olives


• 1/4 cup pickled jalapenos


• 1/4 cup pickled pepperoncinis

Chop apple and strawberries into small, bite-sized portions.

Slice salami so finely it is almost minced. Fry slowly in a wide pan, being careful not to burn. Once well cooked, add several splashes of olive oil and turn the heat up. Place spinach in pan with salami and olive oil. Cook quickly, turning spinach frequently to coat with salami grease and olive oil. Add a tablespoon or so of rock salt while cooking.

Turn hot spinach and salami shreds out into bowl. Mix in chopped fruit. Add cheese, olives and peppers. (Peppers may be omitted per taste.) Dress very lightly with a favored salad dressing if desired. Serve with spinach still warm.