Writing Update!

I found a friend who shares the writing compulsion and we have formed a writing group. We came up with a name. Then I made us a logo. 'Cause I'm crazy.

As Safe As Horses! Yeah. The email is great "assafeashorses@gmail.com."

LOLZ!

Hopefully, new group will offer that. It's also really nice to be around someone else who shares the writing stuff. He does mostly poetry - which I tend to dislike - it takes a lot to move me. He recently sent me about 6 poems and I was surprised how many I liked.

Anyhow, writing update!

I have completed up to story 10 of 32? I might end up altering the final number of stories. At this point, stuff is still going good, I believe. I just need people to give me feedback and provide me some editing. Much harder than it seems.

I really was struggling with 10, until I just started another plot and that popped out fairly quickly. So, 11 is on deck while 10 was done. I just left myself with a fairly important and no-backies plot situation and I was unsure if I wanted it to continue the way it was. Morals. You know.

Writing is often talked about as if a book or piece is a "baby" - which is horrible because babies are people and not just completely controlled and creative-perfect constructs.

To me. . .writing is like throwing up. I feel it bubbling inside of me. It hurts inside. It dwells and mixes with whatever I most recently consumed. Then, in a fit of uncontrollable reaction, I puke forth this thing.

Or I take a lot of meds and the stories stay quiet inside of me.

But, they stories are always there. At middle-age, I didn't know people didn't have stories like this inside of them. There are always people and things waltzing around in there.

Oh well. Back to writing.

Maddy-Monster: Swimming!

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Face Mask - ON

My hubs went to get me some surprise treats from Blue Mercury - which was foot cream. Can't beat having a husband who gets your foot cream in order to rub you feet. It's pretty much the best thing ever - just saying.

Anyhow, with the cream were free samples. Since my husband is uber-hot, he gets a lot of free samples. I get like. . .no samples.

One of the samples was this Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque from Dermalogica. I love a face cream even though I never actually see any results and ultimately forget to use them or re-purchase them - so. . .that's kinda that. I was excited to try this one because it was there.

I'm pretty complex.

Anyhow, Dermalogica promises this product is:

Ultra-replenishing masque helps rescue stressed, aging skin. This revitalizing masque contains powerful, concentrated vitamins A, C, E and F to help skin recover from damage that leads to skin aging, while Vitamin A helps increase elasticity and moisture content, making it the ultimate remedy for dulling, dry, dehydrated, lackluster, photodamaged skin.

All sounds like good stuff! What the hell is photodamaged? Is that a problem that comes from a selfie-stick? What IS that. Oh well. I have sort of bad skin, In fact, in the last few months I have had an un-going white-bump attack. Sure, I love bursting those little sacks, but, be nice to not have them all up and down my jaw line and accenting my temples. Seriously.

Ok, so, the stuff is a whiteish-yellow. Dangerous choice - looks like pus.

It also sort of smells like new car smell and paint. I don't know how I feel about that - I like both those smells. I would think it would smell like. . .maybe. . .rose or something Watercrest?

According to Amazon, most people were favorable toward it. Other than maybe the smell and people breaking out or turning into zombies.

I am curious if I would notice a difference in my skin after a whole tube - for $30-$40, I am not sure I would do it. I think me drinking $30-$40 less alcohol might bring about the same results.

Anyhow, you apply this cream like stuff for about 10 minutes and then wash it off. Goes on and comes off super easy. This is what it looks like.

Yep - that's my review. I would want to try it, I just don't want to spend the money. No bad effects, that's for sure. Makes me want to paint.

Image Credits
Product from company's site.
Insides coming out from Carolinesmode.com/

Things I Eat: Orange Anise Chicken Thighs

I'm not sure I can eat olives. IDK, man. IDK.

Here was my out-of-the-box dinner since we have a lot of oranges. No survy here! All I really needed was the anise which is aka as fennel. It tastes great raw, like a light licorice. And I dislike licorice. I'm a complicated person.

What You Need

• 1 bulb fennel: Slice that into long stripes. Eat some. YOLO.
• 1 onion: I used a sweet onion  but other recipes say to use red onion. Whatever.
• Green olives: I got uncurred ones not package in vinegar because of the yeast thing.
• Garlic: Minced from my jar-stash. I used a healthy soup spoon full.
• Olive oil for coating
• 1 orange: Don't peel, just slice them into fourths or eights.
• A pack of chicken thighs. 
• White rice: You know, to serve with it

What You Do
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the fennel, onion, olives, garlic, in a baking dish and mix 'em all up - I think I used my dutch oven because it's how I live.

Season the chicken with paprika and onion powder - use a little oil. Just coat 'em a little with some nice seasoning.

Cook for about 30 minutes, rotate the pan if your oven is a gateway to Hell and unpredictable. Check it after 30 - cook a little longer if you have to. Chicken should not be raw.


Take out of the oven and mix up the onions, olives and orange with the chicken.

This is a delightful dish! I crushed up the orange a little over the chicken and make sure to spoon in some juices. The olives, mine were brine, so it added a punch of salt and sweet. Give it a shot!

This is more of how the artful people make it:Broiled Chicken Thighs with Oranges, Fennel and Green Olives

Maddy-Monster: Leaders and Followers

Just a message. . .

The 3rd Annual BP Winter Classic Hosted by Lake Placid & Whiteface Mountain

I spent about a week at Lake Placid in the beautiful Northern Light Lodge.

Things that I thought would happen included wendigo, flame throwers and a giant bathtub!

The group of us. . .yeah, it's from Until Dawn

What actually happened was more like skiing and looking at Olympic stuff.

I don't do winter type stuff - I did go skiing once - you can read about it in my post Go Skiing.

Things I Eat Tikka Marsala (Crockpot Style)

It's been a while since I have been foodcited. You know, excited about food. Then, I took FaceBook advice.

Thanks, FB friend!

This is the recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala that she had posted and I thought - I like Indian food. I don't like to really say "Indian food" because India is made up of many types and styles of food in different regions. I'm sure I don't like them all. But, let's face it. .curry.

Curry is the paprika of India.

Also, I suck at using a crockpot. So, extra victory.

To the details! By the way, this is how I made it because. . you know, I got issues.

What You Need

• Olive oil: For sauteing
• Onion: Delicious, delicious onion. I used one GIANT onion. 
• Ginger: I used Gourmet Gardens Ginger because it's delicious and easy. Use a couple inches.
• Garlic: I used my pre-chopped garlic which is in a giant jar in the 'fridge.
• Tomatoe puree or crushed tomatoes: 1.5 cups-ish of  or about half a 28 oz can - I skipped the diced tomatoes and tomato paste because it wasn't worth open a whole giant can.
• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch: You could use flour
• Half tablespoon cinnamon
• Half tablespoon cardamon
• 1 teaspoon and some of cumin
• 1 Hungarian tablespoon of sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon of basil
• Hint of oregano
• .5 jar of 1 oz container of curry or maybe more. A lot. I used like 1 ounce. My favorite is McCormick.
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 family sized back of chicken thighs - maybe 2lbs.I used boneless because I wanted it to fall apart. You could use bone-in.
• Coconut cooking spray
• 1 cup light coconut milk - If you do dairy, you could use cream or yogurt. 
• 1/2 a jar of dried cilantro (and then some)
• Spinach: I chopped up some to put into the crockpot at the end and to eat with it.

What You Do

The night before, you cut up your onion and saute it with the garlic and ginger. Don't be shy. Cook this until the edges of the onion start to brown a little AT MOST. Or just keep it transparent. 

Stir in crushed tomato and simmer everything for about 3 minutes. Add the cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add paprika, curry powder, salt, cinnamon,  cardamon, cumin, oregano, basil - Cook for about a minute. 

TASTE TASTE TASTE - add a little more of whatever! Don't be shy!

Take out your chicken thighs - dark meat is the best! Anyhow, spray those mo-fos with the coconut oil spray and stack them in your crockpot. Add the tomato mixture over the chicken. Maybe adjust some of the meat to make sure that sauce gets all over. 

Now, I did all this the night before and stored the pot in my fridge. Then in the morning, I put it in the base. Live as you would like, folks. You could probably make the sauce like a few days in advance, really. Mmm. 

Cook the awesome at love. . I mean. . low for 7 hours. It will look like this when you come back. It will also smell very, very delicious. Give it a stir!

Then, add the coconut milk, curry power and cilantro and put that pot on high. Give it a healthy stir. It's super nice if the chicken falls apart. It should maybe look like this. I used boneless thighs, might I add - so it fell apart and became all thick and meldy in the. . .*drool*

Make up some white, long-grain rice. I used a dash of chicken bullion in mine and a base of sauted onions. Spoon this joy over the rice, add some spinach. Top with a sprinkle of dried cilantro. 

Don't overeat and convince your husband there is nothing left.

Maddy-Monster: YOU

Just a message

Bump It

My fist. Bump it. 'Cause we're all in this together.

Maddy-Monster: Worry

Just a message

Writing Update

I found maybe another person who agreed to edit my awesome works. Inspired, groundbreaking. . .yes. .

Seriously - feedback for writers is like water. We need some to keep us going and hydrated but too much and we drown.

And by "we" I. . .mm. . I just wrote that so I sounded deep.

I did make some covers up for my stories because I find if I can keep engaged in the project someway, it is less likely to fail.

Would you read these stories based on the font Birth of a Hero by Segments Design and random clip art?

(Click to enlarged because I was too lazy to actually cut these into reasonable chunks)

Maddy-Monster: Hair

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Maddy Replies to Marriage (Fixed It)

If anything turns my lip it's these posts. How do you manage to stay married? You don't get divorced. Being married doesn't mean you are happy or even living with your spouse. Marriage does not indicate love. Sorry, folks.

I have family members and friends who have been married for a long, long time and see each other a couple times a year for public type functions. Otherwise, they just do their own thing.

Not a model.

Anyhow, for this post - if this couple has been married for 65 years, let's assume they got married in the 1940-1950s, right?

Remember, a woman's career was considered being married - she was not expect to go to college or work, she was only expected to find a husband. Let's check on a little timeline of why marraiges "worked so well."

• 1908 - Oregon limits the workday for women to 10 hours (That means no real income, women couldn't be single and live, they needed a man).
• 1940 - WW2, most men went to combat leaving women alone (No fights, no disputes, no contact)
• 1941 - Wonder Woman is introduced (Just like to mention this)
• 1940 - Marital conflicts were usually handled within the home and kept private (That's right. Private.)
• 1950 - Domesticity was idealized in the media, and women were encouraged to stay at home. Women who chose to work when they didn't need the paycheck were often considered selfish, putting themselves before the needs of their family. (This means, less options, less choice - more happy marriages?)
• 1950 - Sex was viewed as a key component of a marriage. Without an effective female-controlled contraceptive, young wives faced three decades of childbearing before they reached menopause. (Submit to your husband, stay pregant)
• 1974 - Equal Credit Opportunity Act passes in the US. Until then, banks required single, widowed or divorced women to bring a man along to cosign any credit application, regardless of their income. (That's right, women could not get credit or often have access to money without a man)
• 1978: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is passed in the US. Until the law was put into effect, women could still legally be dismissed from their jobs for becoming pregnant. (Can't get birth control? Married? Pregnant? Get thee home!)
• 1980: Sexual harassment is first defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, although a court had heard the first case in 1977 (Up until this point, women could be openly abused outside the home.)
• 1993 - Marital rape becomes illegal. (That's right. 1993, it became illegal to rape women)

Infidelity, one of those things that tends to end marriage, if it was committed by the male was normal. Marital abuse was a private matter and women were raised that these issues were their fault as it was a woman's job to create a happy marriage and if that didn't happen, it was her fault. 

Experts suggested that wives consider whatever they were doing or not doing to cause their husbands to cheat, drink or abuse them. Women could not leave their marriages, they could not support themselves and "experts" easily told them it was their fault.

Husbands and wives of the 1940s began having children at a younger age on average. Therefore, most spouses learned to relate to each other in the context of parenting together early on. Couples had more children on average as well, as birth control methods were significantly limited. Imagine that burden on people today.

So, is this to say all people who have been married for 60+ years are unhappy or all the marriages of those times were unhappy? No. But, let's not pretend because time has past after a contract has been signed, everything is fantastic and we all need to learn a thing or two. 

Make you own decisions. Walk away when it's right to walk away. Ain't no shame in admitting a mistake, in leaving a bad situation or even trying again. Don't stay in any type of bad relationship because you think the length of time you suffer is a "good" thing. 

Be equal. Be smart. Be kind. Love. 

Maddy-Monster: Change Your Life

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Applebee's Replies!

Applebee's thinks I'm funny. Rather, I appreciate that Applebee's has a social media person with a sense of humor.

I did not have the heart to tell ARN that I don't even know where the nearest Applebee's is.

Ringworm Strikes Again

Curses! I can't help but snuggle those kitten faces even if they are sick.

And. . .why is the back of my arm itching too?

SO ITCHY!!

Happy 2016.

Safe and Sober Ride (Still Costs Money)

IDK who drinks and drives anymore. Not like. . in the way one drink can get you a DUI if you didn't wait exactly 60 minutes. I mean being truly impaired.

That stupid post is going around about the 1-800 number that does work - here are some better resources. And, YES, you do have to pay for someone to drive you around so just go somewhere where you are going to stay overnight or have a DD.

You can check out the Holiday Safe Ride Program

Or check out the Sober Ride site that gives you a list of cabs and the general prices for lugging your drunken self around.

Cheers!

Maddy-Monster: Overwhelmed

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Maddy Replies to Fish Bowl

You are not lost, you are in a fish bowl. You are a female beta with another female beta in horrible living conditions. I'm sorry the jar-master is abusive.

You are not lost.

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry! Happy, Happy!

Happy Five to Me!

Happy 5 years out of treatment to me!

I battled for my life for over 15 years – with a couple close calls. So, quite a nice time for me – I normally try to get myself a treat and reflect on the journey from active sickness to chronic illness to permanent damage.

As with my sickness, though, it’s a lonely marker. I never looked sick enough and then I was sick for too long for too long for it to be a milestone. I was also sick for almost half my life, making it almost a layer of my personality rather than a real fight.

Long-term illness is a lot like space like REAL space. Where astronauts go and all that. It’s endless and epic beyond what we can often comprehend so we rarely think or notice anything about it.

So, happy 5 years out of treatment to me! It is not an unnoticed time for me even if it passes like a normal day for everyone else.

Faith in Humanity Restored

So, for the last few weeks I have been volunteering with this guy who is there for court ordered community service. You know, you kinda roll your eyes about it when kids come in for some type of mandatory community service. Court, school, religious - they tend to be a little flighty, not really into it. They just trying to get in and get out and get that box checked. They normally do what you tell them, that’s about it.

So, some kid got himself into trouble. He’s this big dude, too. Football player. Kinda quiet. Could be really intimidating. He tells me he has a dog but his girlfriend has a cat. So, I go over the basics. We chat about how many hours he needs to put in.

Every Monday he’s there with me. He does everything to the letter. Shows up on time, gets right in there cleaning out the litter-boxes, cleaning the cages. . .. You want to think, “of course he’s going to do a good job, it’s court ordered. He doesn't want to screw up.”

But, he’s spending a little extra time with the scared cats and laughing at the kittens playing in the cages. A couple little kittens got to scared and he waited and talked to them at the cage door until he could coax them out and cuddled with them.

This Monday he says, “Hey, listen. My CS is up next week. I’m going to keep coming in though, if that's ok.”

So, here’s this silent-type, giant football player guy who got himself into some trouble, has done a SUPER awesome job cleaning cages, soothing scared kittens and talking to people, showing kids how to hold the cats - holding a tiny little kitten who’s falling asleep in his hand – saying he’s going to keep coming to help out.

Faith in humanity restored.