The Friday Feast and Other Food Rambling

Happy Friday!

THE FRIDAY FEAST

Appetizer
Using only one word, how does grocery shopping make you feel?

Broke.

Soup
What is your favorite part about the season of Autumn?

NO BUGS. I love that after that first freeze that kills all the plants and makes everything dull and brown, there are not biting bugs. Mosquitoes? Gone!! WOO! OTOH, I can't think of one other thing I like about Autumn, mostly because it means winter is coming. Ugh.

Salad
Have you ever had any bad experiences online?

Not really -- though once, long ago, I posted a picture of my daughter on the blog (and never will again) and got a really icky comment from some sleazeball about it. I deleted the comment, pulled the picture, and swore I'd never post another of her in any kind of public forum.

Main Course
Name three things that make you happy daily.

My daughter, my dog and lots of sunshine!

Dessert
What one household cleansing or organizing item would you not want to be without?

Cleaning would be all-purpose cleanser. Or the vacuum. Or a sponge. Hmmm....Nope, can't choose just one. Sorry.

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A couple of days ago, I bought some Digiorno Garlic Bread Crust pizza. Oh. My. Word. -- this pizza is so good, it's sinful. Yes, it drips butter (oil?) and has to weigh about fifteen pounds. But, yum. I highly recommend it. Especially if you have a vampire problem. Because, yes, it gives you dragon breath.

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I feel really awful about something I did to poor Rose, in Pillar Place: Swallowtail P2 -- she pulled a Phil on me. I guess she was inspired by Martin's roaming for a perfect pupa place, and started a walkabout before she was ready. I figured she was all done, and I dumped the food.

Later that day, I saw her on the floor of the box, eating old, dried up bits of carrot greens. I can't express to you how really rotten I felt! I ran to the garden and snipped some greens and laid them next to her. You've never seen a pillar move so fast. ((hangs head)) Poor Rose.

In Pillar Place: Monarch P2, DD found yet another butterbaby. That brings the current total to eight. And if they don't make their chrysalis's soon and hatch, I'm going to end up having to drive them south because it'll be too cold to release them here. What on earth were their mothers' thinking?

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We are in need of more flash fiction and articles at LASR. Send 'em on in - submissions guidelines are here!

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I may have done this already... but, in keeping with the food theme:

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Booking it Perfectly? And Thanks!

BOOKING IT THROUGH THURSDAY

From the blog: Okay, so the other day, a friend was commenting on my monthly reading list and asked when I found the time to read. In the ensuing discussion, she described herself as a “goldilocks” when it comes to reading–she needs to have everything juuuuuust right to be able to focus. This caught my attention because, first, I thought that was a charming way of describing the condition, but, two, while we’ve talked about our reading habits, this is an interesting wrinkle. I’d never really thought about it that way.

So, this is my question to you–are you a Goldilocks kind of reader?

Do you need the light just right, the background noise just so loud but not too loud, the chair just right, the distractions at a minimum?

Or can you open a book at any time and dip right in, whether it’s for twenty seconds, while waiting for the kettle to boil, or indefinitely, like while waiting interminably at the hospital–as long as the book is open in front of your nose, you’re happy to read?

Good heavens -- if I waited for the perfect moment to read, I'd never get any reading done. I have to wonder if the woman above, the original "goldilocks" reader has a husband, children or pets? I read at any spare moment, sometimes in one or two minutes bites -- five minutes while I'm stirring a pot, two minutes while I'm having DD do a math speed drill, ten minutes before bed. I'm interested in seeing if there are many "goldilocks" readers out there -- I can't imagine getting any reading done with a need like that!

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Thanks for all the warm wishes yesterday on my contract for "Isn't She Liv Leigh". Yes, I'm still floating. My Uncle (you remember -- the mean man who is here to take my mom back to California...Ha!) called me "Marianne Roberts" -- from his lips to God's ears.

:-)

Hey -- have you headed over to The Long and the Short Of It yet this week? Have you entered our contest? Have you checked out Ceri's contest yet? Today is the best day yet: Thrifty Thursday -- with a FREE short story for your reading pleasure. Go check it out.

Also, remember that we're looking for romantic flash fiction and articles for the site, among other things. Check out our submission guidelines -- we'd love to hear from you.

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In Pillar Place: Swallowtail P2, both Martin and Rose went on the prowl yesterday and Martin is in place to pupate today. Rose is sitting quietly on a stick, and I imagine she'll only be a few hours behind Martin. Once that's done, the box goes into the bulkhead for the winter. Gotta keep them cold, or they'll think it's time to hatch!

Nothing much going on at Pillar Place: Monarch P2 of note. They're eating, sleeping, pooping and shedding their skins... you know, a day in the life of a monarch pillar. My only real concern is having enough milkweed. We're not just on the edge of fall here (with nearly freezing temperatures at night -- down in the thirties), we're also in a bit of a drought. So things are beginning to yellow and die, including all the milkweed. I'm told it can be picked and frozen (who knew?), so if things begin to look desperate, I'll give that a try.

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You Follow Your Head

You're rational, collected, and logical. Generally, it takes you quite a while to fall in love. In fact, you've even been accused of being very picky. While you're cool, you're not ice cold. You just know what you want, and don't mind waiting to get it.

Do You Follow Your Head or Your Heart?

Sometimes, when I take these romance-y type tests it makes me wonder how I ever ended up writing romance in the first place...LOL.

It's Official

The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs. ~Vance Havner

I've been sitting on my hands for over a week with news that I've wanted to share -- but needed to wait until I actually had the contract in hand.

My novel has been accepted for publication with Samhain Publishing!

I'm so excited about it, I can't stand it. I emailed a few online friends with the news when I first got the offer just over a week ago, and they've asked me why I haven't hollered it from the rooftops. Well... the person who issues the contracts at Samhain was on vacation, and I really just wanted to wait until all the t's were crossed, and i's dotted.

They are, so I am (shouting... from the rooftops...)

My novel is (tentatively) called "Isn't She Liv Leigh" and it's a lighthearted romance I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2005.

Here's a short blurb from my query letter:

Olivia "Liv" Leigh, wealthy socialite and spa owner, believes her fiancé is cheating on her, so she takes drastic steps to discover whether appearances are deceiving. And if those steps require a bit of stalking, a change of appearance, dealing with a sneaky ferret, a hippo-sized dog named Spike and a man determined to break several of the strangest Guinness Book of World Records, why should that be a problem?

So that makes THREE shortish stories with TWRP and this novel all recently contracted. Huh... guess I need to get busy on some new stuff!

Actually, Judy and I challenged each other to submit something somewhere twice a month. We both managed last month, but I'm a little concerned about this on my end for September. Judy? You have two somethings you're sending out this month?

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Pillar Place: Monarch P2 has suffered a population explosion. DD went out to gather leaves for the two we have and discovered a whole colony. We now have, SEVEN monarch babies scattered throughout the house. I can't keep them in the spare bedroom like I did all summer, because my uncle arrives here from California today (to drive my mom and all her stuff back out there...mean old Uncle. Just kidding, he's actually about the kindest, most generous person you'd ever meet... but... still... he is taking my mom away. So... yeah... mean)

My DD has two in her room and I have FIVE piled in the windowsill of my bathroom. One is a little bigger than I would have liked to bring inside -- I worry about parasitoids -- they're really yucky, live inside the butterbaby and don't hatch until the pillar makes his pupa (thereby killing it).

Ewww....

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Ha! This cracked me up:

You Are Curling

What you lack in athleticism, you make up for in concentration. And while curling isn't much more of a sport than bowling, you *can* win a gold medal for it!

What Winter Sport Are You?

It's Tuesday... Yes, Really :-)

"Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as its accomplice." - Tom Watson

It was a LONG day yesterday... but I made it through! The DH spent most of it washing vehicles and painting stuff outside like the electrical box (-- ha! Won't PSNH be surprised next time they come by) and various other metal things. I've never lived somewhere so humid and am amazed at how everything rusts. I've had to chuck some of my metal pans and utensils (a pancake turner I've had for twenty years, for instance) because they've rusted. In the house. In a drawer.

Please, God, let us move west soon -- the land of few bugs and nearly no humidity.

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Did you go visit Ceri's blog yesterday to enter her contest? It's wicked easy -- just read a short excerpt from one of her books and email her the answer. It's for an autographed copy of "Finally Home" -- and folks, I'll tell you this: the reviewers at LASR have loved Ceri's work. The ladies who review for us are tough and Ceri has wowed them all (well, at least the three who read her books!). You WANT to win a copy of "Finally Home".

Check out the review here.

If you still don't believe me when I say her writing is amazing, look at the reviews of her other novels, Where One Road Leads and Sweet Forever.

What are you waiting for? Go enter!

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So... Pillar Place.

**sigh**

Pillar Place: Monarch now has a P2 as well. ((shakes head)) I know, I can't believe it either. But DD was outside collecting seed pods for the milkweed (I don't need anymore where I have mine, so I'm going to find a happy home for the seeds those gorgeous and yummy-smelling flowers made), and she found not one, but TWO monarch babies -- probably about a week along. Still tiny, but big enough to see easily. Descendants of one of the ones we released? Maybe. I've seen a couple monarchs fluttering around (Fly south! What are you waiting for? It's getting cold here!) so anything is possible. These babies should become butterflies by the end of September, but boy is that pushing it for them to be safe to migrate.

I told my mom I was going to send them to California with her... LOL... That's halfway to their migration area. Though -- I wonder. If you take an east coast butterfly, and send him out west, will he still try to make it to his east coast Mexican migration area?

And, OH, where is Felix going to hit? The monarch population was decimated a few years ago when a tropical storm destroyed where they were hanging out for the winter.

Oh, the worries of being a foster butter-mom...

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Which Extremity of the World Are You?
From the towering colossi at Rum and Monkey.

YOU ARE THE ATACAMA DESERT

You are the driest area on Earth. Your annual rainfall is roughly the depth of a dollar bill. In fact, often you can go for several years without any precipitation whatsoever. If you wanted to fill a pint glass by rainfall alone, you would have to have started in 1704, five years before the invention of the piano; to get enough water to drown a man of average height would take 3600 years, or the time between us and the Hittites. You really put Canadian "dry" ginger ale into perspective.

I'm not sure what that all means... but there you are.

I'm dry.

My skin? Yes.
My hair? Yes.
My wit? Yes.

((grins))

Meandering Monday

“Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.” - Shunryu Suzuki

Monday... Normally I love Mondays. Monday is when my days slip back into a routine and I love me a good routine. Not so, today. Today is Labor Day -- so DH is off work. Additionally, although we have what is apparently the best boat in the whole world now, and even though it's going to be 86 degrees and sunny here, DH has opted to stay home. So, wave goodbye to the return of routine! ((Bye, bye routine)).

However, since it's Monday it must mean that The Long and the Short of It has started a new week as well! We have a new author spotlight (Multi-published author, Ceri Hebert), a new contest, and something else new every single day. Why not stop by and check it out?


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In Pillar Place: Swallowtail P2, both Martin and Rose are nearly big enough to make their pupae. They've been so easy... I keep wondering what the catch is. After all the drama from the previous group of swallowtail caterpillars, I expected more trouble. Not that I'm complaining.

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I took Tori up on this meme:

10 Things I Love that Begin with A

1. Apples -- I'm pretty sure I eat more apples than any other kind of fruit. Of course, if some fruits were as easy to eat -- say, pomegranates or kiwis, I'd probably eat a lot of those, too!

2. Allie's writing -- She's seriously one of the best authors I know.

3. Agnes and the Hitman -- restored my faith in Jenny Crusie. I didn't LOVE "Don't Look Down", though it was readable. And I couldn't make it through "The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes" -- I skimmed the last third. But, Agnes? Oh yeah. Great book, great fun, great writing. Thanks, Jenny and Bob!

4. Anno's blog -- she never disappoints me and can make anything sound interesting.

5. Alliteration -- though I wish I was better at it. Judy and I had a lot of fun thinking up phrases for each daily event at LASR. Did we do a good job?

6. Animals -- Pretty much all of them. I'm thinking... yeah, I love 'em all.

7. Arachnids -- good bugs, and so very cool to observe. I wanted to cry the other day when two boys found a spider on their skateboard jump and squashed it. If I'd'a been closer, I'd've grabbed the poor critter and moved him away from those murderers.

8. Armed Forces -- thank you. Need I say more?

9. Asparagus -- wish our crop would have grown better. Best we can figure, the wire worms got it.

10. Arms -- especially those of my DD. She uses them frequently for big, squeeze-y hugs.

Anybody else want to play? Let me know in the comments, and I'll give you a letter of your very own.

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Stolen from Anno, who got it from Charity:

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Intuition

You are: Multilayered and complex Inspired and driven to achieve your goals A visionary with a complete life plan Intuitive enough to understand difficult problems, ideas, and people

What's Your Personality Cluster?

Sunday?

“The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it's only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on.” - Chuck Palahniuk

The above quote explains why I write... that and I have to respond to the voices in my head :-)

So... Three day weekends always confuse me...I'm going to be messed up all next week. Even worse, my DH took Friday off. Tell me again: What day is it?

Anyway...

I stumbled across a giveaway from a fellow TWRP authors, and thought I'd share it with you -- because there are few things better than FREE BOOKS. Don't you agree?

Betsy Ann St. Amant is giving away a copy of her contemporary inspirational novel, "Midnight Angel". Go comment and enter!

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Hey... I got a decent review for "Pregnancy Cravings" from Fallen Angels Reviews!

They gave me four angels and said these nice things:

Marianne Arkins has created a light-hearted, fun short story. Patrice’s dedication to hunt down snacks of all kinds will bring a smile to the reader’s face. The playful bantering back and forth between Patrice and Joey is delightful to watch. The realism of a comment or statement being misunderstood is a nice building block for this plot. Although this story was told in less than twenty pages, it is no less enjoyable. This reader was glad she decided to stay up those extra minutes to read it. Pregnancy Cravings is a well-written story that follows two innocent bystanders and one pregnant girl’s interesting food choices. 4 Angels!

Thanks Shaylee!

BTW, I know more than three folks have purchased and read "Pregnancy Cravings"... would you please head over to the link and leave me a review?

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Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

French? You must be joking...

I Forgot To Post!

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. ~ Emily Dickinson

Morning...

I can't believe I forgot to post this morning. Yikes.

Lots of craziness. The dog woke me up at 3 a.m., and I curled up on the couch and fell asleep until about 5:30, at which point I leaped up and realized I needed to upload the new webpages for LASR since our grand opening week is over. I also put up the new review at the reviews blog.

And then... my SIL showed up. DH and SIL and DD are going out on our new boat (that DH and SIL drove all the way to Pennsylvania to buy yesterday) today, and wanted an early start (I get motion sick, so don't go). I got busy making breakfast, packing lunch, making sure DD had everything she needed...

And I only just now sat down to check emails and saw comments on yesterday's post. And remembered you. Sorry.

Craziness. I don't know if I could funtion without it.

Fact is, though, aside from the above craziness, I don't have much to say.

Mom and I were going to go to the Harry Potter movie today, but it isn't playing. How is that possible? Sheesh. I'm sure we'll figure out alternative plans. It's my last weekend with my mom around. She'll be headed west by this time next week.

:-(

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MySpace Quizzes

What Will Your Last Words Be?

No, I'm not going to fall. You are adventurous and you'll try anything once. Of course, that will probably be your downfall, but whatever.