Other stuff

[prog]

Unless I am forgetting someone, nobody on my flist was nanowrimoing last year. This year, a lot of you are. I am proud of all of you and wish I could join you.

---

We're at around $9,500 in seed-funding commitments, which is $500 less than halfway to the floor of our "we need this much investment by Dec. 1" range. (And $5,500 less than halfway to the ceiling.) The line is still warm; some people I've pitched to are still thinking or waiting for me to get back to them. I am both confident and very aware of the ticking clock.

---

I have started to read I'm Just Here for the Food as my sleepy-time book. (Being an enormous hardcover volume it's not the best form factor for such activity, but whatever.) I like it so far even though it quickly becomes clear that its intended audience has more cooking experience than me. Frequently AB takes a "Allow me to go against everything you've learned" stance, to which I can only say "don't worry about it; please continue."

After a lengthy introduction that explains heat and the different ways to get heat to go from from $HOT_THING to $FOOD, the first chapter covers searing. And here also we get into the territory that misuba warned me about, with AB insisting I hit the kitchen and hardware stores and buy these thingies before attempting to sear anything or I will die. And of course my reaction is hooray for justifiable crazy shopping! I have not done this yet but it is inevitable.

Comments

[mangosteen]

Upon watching Good Eats for the first time, my inital impression was "here is a man who never had to wash his own dishes and cookware after he was done".

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I do, however, get the impression that he'd enjoy doing dishes if he had to. Or maybe his puppet microbes can help!

I was doing okay with NaNo

[kyroraz.livejournal.com]

... I briefly fell behind over the weekend, but I spent most of last night catching up. Now at 10,056 words (20.1%).

Besides, if I had to choose which was the stronger goal (But with more rewards at the end), I think yours is more impressive than NaNo.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Technically I was last year, but fell off the wagon. And I wasn't on your flist then. And I'm not really doing it this year. So...mu.

Also ...

[kyroraz.livejournal.com]

Have you considered a George Foreman grill? They're kinda handy.

Re: Also ...

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

One of the best things we got from our Registry. I would recommend it to anyone. A George Foreman grill and regular trips to Trader Joe's can keep you well fed without tons of hassle.

Re: Also ...

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

My roommate hates those George Foreman grills -- he says that anything he's ever tried from one of those things have come out bland and tasteless.

[misuba.livejournal.com]

Just stay away from "Gear For Your Kitchen" and you'll get away with minimal damage.

Glad you're enjoying the book. It's great for people like me who only really remember things when they understand them.

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

We found Gear very helpful when we were selecting things to get other people to buy for us. :-)

[radtea.livejournal.com]

I'm technically unemployed at the moment, so figured that NaNo November was a good way to kick-start a book I've had in mind for a while--no-holds-barred space-opera based on the classic adventure story "Captain Blood". The first week was great (22983 words, w00t!) but I got blindsided by a prospect with a short-term, highly lucrative development contract yesterday, so winnership is suddenly in doubt. On the other hand, if I can close the contract, I get to eat over the winter and still have a chance of putting a second story on the house in the spring, so it's pretty much win-win.

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

I thought of nanowrimo'ing but I can't really write that way -- at least, if I tried it would end up being 50000 words of garbage.

[prog.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that that's understood. Nobody can write that way, and you will write total crap. But the point is, you'll still be a novelist.

[jtroutman.livejournal.com]

no. Stephen King can write that way. He just gets up and writes every day, no matter what.

[prog.livejournal.com]

I believe that this statement and my statement are not mutually exclusive.