The Last Day of 2011

Posted on December 31, 2011 by joanienaz

This has been a pretty strenuous year for me. There have been more than the usual number of ups and downs. It’s nice if they at least balance each other out, but I haven’t made a list to compare. I don’t think I will, either.

On to 2012. I would like to try to blog every day during the rapidly approaching new year. I need to choose a simple topic, one that won’t encumber me, but will inspire me instead. I have thought about a variety of projects, but they are all topics that I have thought of before, and I’m not doing anything with them, so this should be a big hint that they probably won’t be good choices.

I like the idea of a word or picture a day, and thought I might do both. I could choose a word semi-randomly from the dictionary (I reserve the right to toss out something dreadful or inappropriate, or dreadfully inappropriate), and then illustrate it somehow or other. This might improve my vocabulary and provide a creative element as well.

Or, I might choose a photo from my extensive files of amateur pix that I can’t bear to part with, and write something about it. I always wondered why I saved all those photos…I could even take new photos if I was feeling especially inspired.

Hmmm. The possibilities are endless, which is why it’s so hard to choose just one. I guess you’ll find out tomorrow what I decided to focus on for 2012. Oh, and Happy New Year!

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Time to Celebrate!

Posted on December 28, 2011 by joanienaz

One year ago yesterday I began this blog, and I have stayed with it , more or less. There is the matter of August, which seems to be missing for some reason. Best not to ask why. Must have been a rough month!

So, in honor of my dedication, I will share with you a cake recipe. It was a very nice chocolate cake that morphed into Rocky Road Cake. Here it is:

Combine 2 cups flour, 2/3 cup cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat 3/4 cup oil, 1 3/4  cups sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Add 2 eggs, beating in one at a time. Alternately add dry ingredients and 1 cup water to sugar mixture. Stir in 1 1/2  cups chopped walnuts and 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows. Pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 inch pan, distributing the marshmallows evenly. Make sure the marshmallows are coated with cake batter so they don’t burn. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. (I used a glass pan.) The marshmallows will float to the top, and look and smell toasted. Check the center with a toothpick to make sure it’s done. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool and enjoy!

Note the absence of salt in the recipe above. Add it if you must. My husband thinks there should be chocolate chips also, but I will leave that up to you. A cup sounds about right. I also substituted oil for the butter. You are on your own there as well. Choose your degree of sodium, animal fat, and chocolate. This cake recipe is very adaptable!

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End of the Year Pep Talk

Posted on December 20, 2011 by joanienaz

 Here we are again, my friends. It’s the middle of the holiday season, and the end of another year. Always a good and appropriate time to take stock of the year’s triumphs and trials, comedies and tragedies, in hopes of shedding some light on the quality of our lives and our vision of the future. Inevitably,  it is the jumping-off point into another attempt to right the wrongs and find our way into the next chapter of our lives.

I wonder if it is the holiday season, or the winter season, that most influences the phenomenon of New Year’s resolutions, of the desire to start fresh and dismiss the rubbish of the past? I guess that depends on your belief system. In any event, it’s hard to ignore the bare trees that will soon bud once more, and the fact that, although the flower bulbs are hidden in the frozen ground, they will be sending up fresh shoots before you know it.

So, how do you prepare for the next step in the annual cycle of renewal? Do you brace yourself by firmly grabbing hold of something solid, muscles tense in anticipation of whatever may come? Or do you prefer to duck and cover, with your eyes shut tight against the shrapnel of life as it whistles past your huddled figure? Would you rather stand tall on an elevated position, and shout, “Here I come ready or not?” for all to hear? Personally, I have my eye on the garden. I know it will be back, and I am prepared to welcome it with open arms.

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Hot Cocoa

Posted on December 14, 2011 by joanienaz

It’s the middle of December, and the winter holidays are rapidly approaching. The air is crisp, and may cause you to gasp as you escape from a warm, cozy building and soon wish you hadn’t. You might decide to return to the warmth.

Or, you could take a quick stroll, hoping you don’t get chilled as you brave the icy weather in the name of fresh air and exercise. Fresh air can be overrated when it drops below a certain temperature. It’s best to decide for yourself.

Some of our favorite activities during December are shopping and eating. These tend to take place inside warm buildings with background music. Holiday tunes softly playing in a restaurant filled with cheerful, chatty people can be festive.

However, Christmas oldies blasting into an empty restroom as you temporarily inhabit a stall can be somewhat unsettling. Some people find the entire holiday season disconcerting. Family, friends, shopping, visiting, traveling, working, fitting everything in, conflicts, drama, job loss, and illness tend to add stress and dark clouds to an otherwise bright sunny sky.

There is, however, a recipe for comfort and joy during this chilly and hectic season. I offer two words to warm the chilliest disposition: hot cocoa.

Even those with lactose intolerance can indulge with careful substitution. For chocophobics, there is carob. But I have a recipe with somewhat traditional ingredients that is quick, easy, and instantly satisfying.

First, choose an eight ounce mug. Then measure one-third of a cup of instant, non-fat dry milk, and place it in the cup. Now add two tablespoons of cocoa powder. Most real cocoa powders call for four tablespoons, but I believe this is too much. You decide. Next fill the cup with cold water, and stir until smooth. Microwave on high for one to one and a half minutes, depending on your microwave. Stir again, and enjoy. Don’t burn your tongue, and you will find yourself smiling uncontrollably!

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Only in California?

Posted on December 9, 2011 by joanienaz

California is a mess right now. In fact, it’s been a mess for a while. We have, I believe, the highest unemployment rate in the country.

But it’s so beautiful here. That ought to count for something. In how many places anywhere in the world can you witness, in about three hours’ driving time, sailboats on a natural lake and forested, snow-covered mountains, in December?

The old saying, “you can’t eat the scenery” isn’t necessarily true here. It’s hard to go anywhere in the Golden State, north or south, without tripping over some kind of a crop, whether it’s grapes in a coastal vineyard or olives in a valley orchard.

So, with all this bounty at our fingertips, why can’t we get it together and use our plentiful resources wisely? There is work to be done and there are people who need jobs. There are overcrowded classrooms and out of work teachers. What’s wrong with us?

Perhaps we have so much, we forget how precious it all is until it’s gone.

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I Finished! 50,026 words

Posted on November 30, 2011 by joanienaz

This afternoon, I finished the first draft of my first novel. The National Novel Writing Month, sponsored by the Office of Letters and Light in Berkeley, CA motivated me to attempt this feat. My own stubbornness kept me going. And the bonding that I did with my characters is urging me to continue.

Now, while I attempt to edit/rewrite my first novel, I am already plunging onward with the sequel. Why? Well, I want to know what happens next! I think the part I loved best about writing this little book is the fact that, although I had a pretty good idea of the general direction in which I was headed, I had no idea where I would end up after my 50,000 word goal. I found a natural stopping point, and hopefully it will pique my future readers’ curiosity as well.

What happens next could change any number of times as I find my way, and listen to my characters. It’s a lot of fun to watch them grow and change. As well as I know them now, after one hundred and sixty pages, I want to know even more. And I will, doggonnit!

If you have never tried writing something lengthy, I would urge you to. It helped me tremendously to have a deadline. I wrote my word count on a calendar every day, and glared at the numbers. I slowed myself down by editing the first half, and then saw where that was going, so I pushed ahead, trying not to look back too often. Now, I think I need a little rest. Tomorrow is a fresh month, daring me to face the next challenge.

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Onward

Posted on November 21, 2011 by joanienaz

It has been nine days since my last post. In those nine days, I have almost doubled my word count in the great NaNoWriMo challenge, the National Novel Writing Month event. But it was slow there for awhile.

I was beginning to panic. My characters were dazed and confused, wandering in too many directions at once. The plot was thinning. I had bonded with them, but I didn’t think to ask them where they wanted to go. They had to think about it for a few days. Then they got back to me.

When I woke up this morning, the final destination of my story appeared in the distance. I reached out, grabbed it, and didn’t let go. I worte over 3000 words today, then I got tired.

Not of my story, which is still swimming in my head, but of the telling of it. Time to take a break. I can’t wait to find out what happens next. What fun!

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A Covey Ain’t Bad

Posted on November 12, 2011 by joanienaz

I counted eighteen quail through my window at 7:30 this morning. They were scurrying around the driveways and yards across the street, and then a few of them leaked over to the sidewalk in front of our house. They were rummaging in the gutters, on the edges and in the crevices. foraging for the remains of whatever the wind and rain showers left behind yesterday.

A creek is nearby, and we often see them along the road. They always appear so organized even in the midst of their constant movement. One minute they’re scattered, and the next they’re all clumped up together again. They instinctively know what we’ve been telling our kids since they were small.

There’ s safety in numbers. Unless you’re a lemming. Now that’s a perfect example from nature of another piece of advice that we have passed to our offspring. Choose your associates wisely.

As the middle of November approaches, my thoughts have turned to the holiday later this month. Plans are unfolding, and I am readying my speeches. I have dusted off my soap box. The impending arrival of our children always inspires me to think about where we all are and where we’re headed.

And with whom. My parents tried to steer me clear of companions they felt were less than a good influence on me. I had fairly good sense, but there were times when I strayed, and they were what many would consider overprotective. I turned out OK. (That’s what everyone says, isn’t it?)

Now I’m trying not to do the same thing to my kids, but oh well, those apples are still falling pretty close to the tree. Whatcha gonna do? I hear the familiar words leaking from my mouth, and feebly attempt to tuck them back into my cheeks like a squirrel saving up supplies for the winter.

They’ve turned out pretty well, otherwise I wouldn’t be looking forward to their visit. Forget about those darn lemmings. Guess our covey worked out after all.

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The Watercolor Game

Posted on November 8, 2011 by joanienaz

Well, after almost two weeks I finally got back to my rose watercolor painting today.  If you missed my first post on this topic, you can check it out here: https://jmnaszady.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/how-to-paint-a-rose/ .

I was distracted. The weather changed, and so did the month. It feels as if we’ve gone from August straight to November. In the meantime, all the petals fell from the real thing. But, as predicted, the leaves remain. I thought this would be the last rose of the season, but now there is one more bud. It’s been so cold lately, we’ll see what happens to this one.

Painting with watercolors can be a lot like playing poker, I think (although I’m not what anyone would call a card player). You have to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em. Today I only painted in the stems and leaves. I wanted to keep painting, but this would not have been a good idea. Sometimes you just have to leave things as they are.

In the past I have been known to “over work” a painting. So I stopped myself, and will continue another day. If I kept going, I would inevitably have gone beyond the point of no return. It’s so much easier to put paint down than to pick it up again. You can’t paint over watercolor without the color underneath showing. You end up with a muddy mess.

It’s all about transparent layers, and a light hand. I must meditate on my next move. Now that sounds a lot like chess, doesn’t it?

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NaNoWriMo

Posted on November 5, 2011 by joanienaz

When I began the National Novel Writing Month project earlier this week, I foolishly thought I would take breaks from my pursuit of lengthy prose by posting on this blog. Ha! Well here I am finally, 6, 072 words later. Only about 4,000 more words to reach the short-term goal of 10,000 words by midnight on Sunday.

So far the ideas and words have been flowing into my Young Adult novel. I psyched myself up for this genre by writing a short story earlier this fall. With my background as a middle school teacher, it seemed like a good fit.

I slowed myself down yesterday doing some research, but a little reading is a good thing. A lot of reading, even better. It’s hard not to get side tracked, because there is so much going on out there that I don’t want to miss!

My writing process is to lay down my ideas, and then go back multiple times to flesh them out. I am trying not to go back to previous chapters, once I have begun the next. Of course there are only two chapters so far, but I typed in the heading for the third chapter to give myself a little encouragement!

My goal is to try to resist too much picky editing along the way. This is much easier said than done. I keep thinking about all the editing I will have to do AFTER November.

Thank you! to the Office of Letters and Light in Berkeley, California (site of my alma mater) for sponsoring this event. You have inspired me to do something that I have put off far too long.

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