Holiday Hodge-podge
I had really good intentions about regular posting on the blog this month, but I've been a little busy, and frankly, I'm about Christmassed-out.

I want to like Christmas more than I do, and I try pretty hard to maintain the holiday spirit. But with the incessant litany of Christmas songs, the massive crowds everywhere I go, and -- just all of it, I just sort of shut down, grit my teeth and hope to God I make it through all of this without exploding.

I wish I could explain to people how it all makes me feel, but every time I try, I'm dismissed as a Scrooge or a Christmas Crab or a Grinch or whatever.

This has nothing to do with a lack of love for my fellow man, or with a lack of Christmas presents when I was a kid, or anything like that. It's the extremity of it all, and the relentlessness of it all.

I just want it to stop, and for God's sake there's still two weeks to go. It's a good thing that I don't drink or do drugs, because I'd start doing that stuff on November 1 and stay high until mid-January.

On the good side, I'm rather excited about what I'm getting for Most Patient Wife this year. I can't wait until after Christmas, so I can tell more folks about it.
AngryTeen is getting a class ring (when did those things get so damned expensive?), a yearbook, and some other stuff I won't divulge since she might actually read this.

And the kitties are getting a little something too.

So that part is good. Maybe if we could just dial down the world just a little, I wouldn't mind so much.

Speaking Of Recipes
The other night I made something I'm going to call Fiesta Chicken. I wanted something different from our normal routine, and the chicken was already thawed. I considered a chicken mole, but it looked too complicated to tackle at the moment. So instead I went with this.

All indredients are low or not fat, just to let you know.

Fiesta Chicken

Stuff you'll need:

Cut up chicken pieces, grilled

4 cups chicken broth
1/4 C sour cream
1/2 C Kraft Shredded Mexican Blend cheese
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
dash of pepper
dash of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce of your choice.
(I used some mild jalepeno sauce, but just
about anything will do.)

What to do:

*Cook the chicken. I used our George Foreman
Grill. As it cooks, heat up the chicken broth.

*Once the broth is hot, add the sour cream and
stir it in. After that starts to simmer, add
the cheese shreds.

*It's important to keep stirring this until the
cheese is completely melted and dissolved into
the sauce.

*Add the spices and let it simmer for about five
minutes.

*Thicken the sauce. I used a couple of
teaspoons of cornstarch mixed in about a cup of
cold water.

*Reduce heat to low, and keep stirring until the
sauce is creamy. Add the cooked chicken to the
sauce and simmer for a few more minutes.

I served it over whole wheat penne pasta.

The beauty of this sauce is the light taste that is even better the next day.

The next time I serve this, I'm going to julienne and saute some onions and multi-colored peppers to go with this, and choose a lighter-textured pasta or seasoned rice.

This meal took me about thirty minutes once I hit the kitchen.

Most Patient Wife really enjoyed this, and so did AngryTeen. I wanted a little more spice to it, so I added some at the table.

Giggling Quietly In The Early Morning Hours
This morning, as Most Patient Wife snoozed away, I got up and wandered the house a while. After feeding the cats, I made my way to the computer for a quick surf and maybe work on the chapter of my latest project.

Then I was waylaid by The Sneeze. Folks, I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long time. But since MPW was trying to sleep, I had to do it quiet-like, so instead of guffawing, the sound was kind of close to that wheeze that Muttley used to do back in those Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the 70's.

Each and every entry of this site made me laugh, and some were just hilarious. Since I like cooking, I think my favorite bits are the Steve Don't Eat It! stuff.

Have you ever wondered what pickled pork rind tastes like? Or Beggin Strips?

Well, Steve goes there for you. And the result is so incredibly silly that I can't recommend it enough. (Some people might think the language is strong.)

One memorable entry is when Steve attempts to make wine using a recipe for people who are in prison, using materials that are available in lockdown. Steve became my hero with this line: somehow these ingredients went from sweet and child-like to harsh and alcoholic quicker than Lindsay Lohan.

If you need a laugh, I can't give a higher recommendation than The Sneeze.

Excuses, Excuses
Well, I've been gone for a while.

I was going strong with my National Novel Writers Month project, and got just over 25,000 words before I stopped.

There are a couple of good reasons: I picked up a lot of extra hours at work, and was runing out of time to write. By that I mean that I spent quite a few days either at work, driving to work, or sleeping. In fact, I was away from the keyboard completely for eleven days last month, which is unusual for me. I was really busy.

Another reason I stopped writing was that I scalded a few fingers on my left hand and was unable to type for a couple of days. I healed up nicely, but that first day was murder.

The last two reasons are excuses.

A. I no longer want to write long pieces for free. Sure, it could be argued that my Nano project could get turned into something that pays, but as I got further into the piece, I saw that while this was a fun exercise, it wasn't very compelling or interesting. So I turned my writing efforts to paying gigs.

(This piece has some good potential, but as it stands, a massive rewrite is in order.)

B. I wanted to do something in the month of November that was away from the computer. With my work schedule, there was no way I could do Nano as well without cheating myself and my family. If we were talking about a paying gig, or something I was really driven to do, that would be different. But Nano was a lark.

Add up the extra hours, the scalded fingers, and the rest, and there you have why I didn't finish Nano this year.

But I also didn't update, and I fell behind in my email correspondence. My writing routine went out the window -- and so did my sitting on the butt in front of the computer routine.

But we're back in the saddle again.

The Best Reason To Visit The Post Office Next Year
Okay...the cost of mailing a first-class letter in the US is going up to thirty-nine cents.

I don't like it, but when you look at our postal system and compare it to the rest of the world, we're coming out okay.

Mike Norton's blog featured the One Reason I'm visiting the post office next year. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, allow me:

I'm all a-tingle!

Monday, Monday
Well, it was a busy weekend at Casa de Sawin, and I found myself a little too overstimulated to get any writing done.

So what I did was make mental notes to follow once I was able to carve out some time for writing.

The result?

I took two days off from the project, but because I was so far ahead before, I was able to finish a chapter this morning with a word count that has me exactly where I should be.

And I have time to write another chapter today, so all is well.

And you were worried.

About the only thing I don't like about National Novle Writers Month is the fact that I'm almost too busy to read. I have a couple of books in at the library that I was really looking forward to, but I won't have the time to devote to them.

I have done a little reading: I polished off The FairTax Book, by Neil Boortz and John Linder. In a nutshell, they propose the elimination of the income tax and the IRS. To fund the government's essential duties, they was to institute a national sales tax.

I'm totally on board with this. I'm no economist, but I think I understand the basic premise of taxing consumption as opposed to taxing income. It seems to me to be more just, and I'm all for getting the government to back off out of our lives a little.

I also read Bait and Switch, by Barbara Ehrenriech. Or most of it, anyway. I don't know if I can read another book by this person; she's a fine writer, and Ilike some of what she has to say. But the last two books just left a bad taste in my mouth.

And I'm sorry, but I just can't bring myself to hate George Bush or blame him for the mess our coutnry is in. The fact is, we have a broken and corrupt system. Bush is the scab on the wound, and nothing more. To buy into Eherenreich's books, it's almost required to hate Bush, the rich, and the Republican.

And I can't do that.

But enough for one day. On to Chapter Five!! and more words!

The Great Avoider
So here’s what I have done today instead of working on my National Novel Writers Month project:

• Listened to Bruce Springsteen’s Devils and Dust CD. (It’s pretty good, but I just don’t “get” Springsteen. Most Patient Wife really loves him.)

• Took down some Halloween Decorations.

• Played Pounce! with Ginger and Lovey.

• Did a load of laundry.

• Surfed the web while listening to the morning show on my favorite local radio station.

• Listened to the Indigo Girls’ latest CD, Becoming You.

• Made a pot of coffee. (Freshly ground Highlander Grogg, thankyouverymuch!)

• Ran to the store to get some fat-free CoffeeMate. (I drink coffee the way my main character, Evan Johnson, does. It’s the only thing we have in common, except the love of word games.)

• Wrote a nice e-mail to one of my favorite writers, telling them that I loved their latest work.

• Looked for a job online.

• Looked at the blank screen for a few minutes, trying to decide where I was going in Chapter Three.

• Wrote this blog entry.

Wowzers, it’s 11 am. I’ve successfully avoided any productive writing for three and a half hours! Who knows what else I won’t get done today.

Well, it’s time to get back to the blank page, and also to put more music in the player. This time it’s Johnny Cash’s American Recordings IV: The Man Comes Around. It’s an astounding CD, and it carries me away every time I hear it. In fact, I can only think of one other CD that moves me so: Van Morrison’s Greatest Hits, Volume Two. (Which had very few actual hits on it, but some of his most incredible songs.)

I’m making Cheesy Potato Soup for dinner. AngryTeen has a choir concert tonight, and I have lots of other non-writerly things to do today.

Nano Day Two
I just uploaded my second chapter of the Woman In Black. Astute readers will notice that it has nothing at all to do with the first chapter.

You can read it for yourself at: Mike's Nano

So far, my word count is pretty healthy: 6285

I hope I can keep up a good word count. I need to average 1666 words per day to meet the 50 thousand word goal by November 30.

Other than that, things are great at Casa de Sawin.

And so it begins...
A moment of silence as we mark the beginning of National Novel Writers Month.

I started at work last night, and I have 2711 words so far. You can read them, if you want, at my NanoBlog

So far, I've not used the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night". But I have used a couple of cliches -- mostly in dialogue, because most people I know use cliches often.

But go ahead and give it a look if you want. The first chapter is done, and so far, I'm happy with it. No murder or crime in the piece yet (unless you count my writing as a crime); just some character stuff -- and foreshadowing.

I'll do my best to keep it all updated.

Sawin Wood

(A tiny joke I thought I would never use, but it actually fits here.)

We're having a cord of wood delivered to the house today, and guess who gets to stack it? Give up? Me!

I don't mind, really. We all love having a fireplace, and since I don't have a truck or anything to haul wood, this is going to have to do.

Besides, it'll be good exercise, so I can skip a trip to the World's Least Intimidating Health Club today.

Strange Pictures
A picture entry for today. First up is Ginger giving me some much-needed instruction on how to carve a pumpkin:





Then, Lovey Gump had to prove that she wasn't afraid of the pumkin, at least as long as AngryTeen was holding her:

And finally, a picture of the Superhero known as MichaelMan, who stopped by Casa de Sawin to hand out candy to the children. He is aided in this mission of justice by the Mighty Action Kitty!



MichaelMann has some silly super-powers: Super spelling (useless without Super Typing), a Magnetic Colon, and of course the supernatural ability to Make A Rhyme Out Of Anybody's Name!

Yes, those are Paisley Zubas, a cape and a duct tape "M" on his chest. AngryTeen was somewhat mortified when MichaelMan was around, for reasons I cannot comprehend.