Sentence Variation 2 (Exercise)

Use any of the following words in ten separate sentences or very short paragraphs. Express a complete thought in each one, and try to make each one conceptually different:

• confidence
  
• questions
  
• purify
  
• creation
  
• hurtful
  
• number
  
• area
  
• exercise
  

Testing of the prosciutto cookbook goes well; not all of the recipes are perfect, but the food is delicious. First bout of gardening of the year has led to the first bout of sore muscles of the year; I need more exercise! A few more recipes and I'll also be able to review the Swiss Diamond skillet. It's holding up absolutely beautifully so far, but there's a specific test or two I want to put it through.

Finally Gardening

It's in the 60s here and sunny, so I'm finally starting in on a little bit of gardening. I pruned the rose bushes the last owner of this house left behind in the front yard; I have some holes in my arms to show for it naturally. I pruned some other things back as well. I dug up some weeds; if I can get to them before the roots really take hold then weeding should go easier on my tendonitis. I started to dig up something that turned out not to be a weed, but I think I managed to avoid killing it! I also swept aside some of last fall's leaves from under bushes and such (still have to bag them up). I wish we'd gotten to them in the fall, but things were so busy with my husband's job and it's more than my hands can really handle. So now I'm left wondering what's planning on hatching out of that pile of eggs I found next to the front porch.

Did I mention I hate bugs?

What's Important To You? (Exercise)

This is an exercise for anyone, not just writers. First, write down everything that's important to you in life. Set your timer for five minutes and go; just keep writing no matter what. When you're done, go through and pick out the things that are most important. Try to end up with a list of three to five things you feel you can't live without or without working toward, whether they're as big as world peace or as small as your right to have a cluttered desk.

Next, do the same thing for a list of the things that have made you grumpy, irritated, or angry lately. Try to list everything you've complained about--to anyone--in the last few days.

Compare the list of things you've complained about to the list of things you see as really important. How many of them truly intruded on the things that are really important to you? How many of them didn't? Put a check mark next to the ones you see as intruding on those most important things.

List these two separate groups of complaints on two separate sheets of paper. Next to the complaints that didn't intrude on your most important things, write down some thoughts on what you can do to reduce your anger or irritation at these things. If they aren't intruding on those things that are most important to your life, then maybe they don't deserve so much of your energy. Do they? Don't they? How can you keep them from ruining your good time? Write.

Next to the complaints that did intrude on your most important things, write down any thoughts you have on how you might go about fixing these problems. It's very important that you not think of yourself as helpless in the face of any of these things--assume you can solve them and procede from that assumption as you write.

This is a great way to take a step back and re-prioritize your life. It's hurting only you if you waste your life being angry about things that aren't really important to you, or not even bothering to try solving your own problems. Don't waste any more time--think about how to fix things today.

Entitlement (Rant)

A sense of entitlement isn't inherently bad. Feeling that you're entitled to a non-abusive living situation, for example, can spur you to take steps to make yourself safe. The problem is when people start to feel that they're entitled to anything they desire. And sadly, that attitude seems all too prevalent.

Entitlement is one of my hot-buttons. I find people who have this "I deserve whatever it is I want and I deserve it now" attitude to be incredibly obnoxious. Take one look through the posts on World of Warcraft's forums and you'll see a whole lot of entitlement bad attitude. It's one thing to bring up problems, and it's another to declare that you deserve whatever little thing you want right now and how dare someone not have given it to you already! I've lived with people who seemed to believe that they were entitled to have the people around them take care of them--do the cleaning, do the maintenance and chores, etc. while they slacked off and enjoyed themselves (and, usually, groused about things not being to their liking).

People like this have a set of double standards, which is another of my hot buttons. They believe they're entitled to treat others in one way, while others have to treat them in an entirely better way. Let's take one of those forum threads as an example. People are appalled to find out that some of the servers will be down for maintenance a couple of hours longer than usual today, resulting in their being down until late afternoon Eastern time, and want Blizzard to start maintenance several hours early to compensate. So essentially, they think that they are absolutely, 100% entitled to those extra couple of hours of game-play on those specific servers, while it's the Blizzard employees' job to get up at midnight or 1 am to make that happen for them. Double standards: they're supposed to get whatever makes them happy, but the folks who have to make that happen have to turn their own lives upside-down to make it so. Entitlement.

Whenever you get mad about the fact that you don't have what you want, try putting yourself mentally in the shoes of the person who'd have to provide it for you and imagine what you're asking of them. Are you really being that reasonable? Imagine that you're them. Really imagine that they are the ones asking for this thing and you're the one being asked to do it for them.

If you're truly being honest with yourself, you'll admit that there are times when maybe you could cut people just a wee bit more slack in what you're expecting from them. And I think if you do this maybe you'll even be a bit happier, a bit less angry and grumpy and constantly annoyed at the world. People who feel entitled to every last thing they want tend to be fairly unhappy people, because of course they feel that they deserve so much more than what they have. People with patience, who realize they can't have everything and make the best of what they have, tend to lead much happier lives.

Sadly, I think most of the people who have this attitude of entitlement have it in the first place because they're simply incapable of that level of empathy, so no entreaties to think of others are likely to do any good whatsoever. Which is why this is just another Random Rant, me getting something off of my chest.

Have a great day!

Something Different/Images (Exercise)

First off, I want you to do something a little different today. However you usually do your exercises, change your routine today. If you usually write in longhand, try a computer (or vice versa). If you write in a beautiful journal, use plain paper. If you write with pen, use a pencil. Write in all caps or skip lines (I got this one from Heather Sellers' "Page after Page," which I'll be reviewing after I finish reading it). Whatever it is that you usually do, change one or more aspects of that habit.

I'm going to link to a bunch of images. Using one of those images or a piece of artwork of your choice, free-write for 5-15 minutes (set your timer ahead of time) in whatever direction the image inspires you. See how the visual and the verbal connect for you:

• Vespers
  
• Sunset Cove
  
• Raven Moon
  
• Hawk Chi
  
• Twisp & Catsby's Moon
  
• Cardboard Tube Samurai
  
• Lisianthus Blue Rose
  
• The Crystal Cave
  
• The Portal
  

Mmmmm. Prosciutto.

This week we plan to work our way through testing out the prosciutto, etc. cookbook Ten Speed Press sent. We have prosciutto, pancetta, and bresaola in our fridge. I adore cured meats, and these recipes so far look simple and delicious--they look like the kind of recipes designed to showcase an ingredient without hiding it. Elegant without being unnecessarily complex. I hope the flavors hold up to that promise; I'll find out and let you know!

Animal Mania (Exercise)

List out three animals you love and three animals you really don't like (or have negative feelings about). List these animals across the tops of a couple of sheets of paper and free associate related words beneath them (or use some other free association method, such as mind-mapping). After you're done, go through each animal's cluster of words. Are there any idea kernels in there? Is there anything you could springboard off of into an essay, poem, article, or story? Are any of the words "charged" with energy?

Pick at least one of these things and start writing. Set your timer for 10 minutes and go!

World of Warcraft Top 10 Pet Peeve List

1. Players who snake in while you're fighting a chest's guardians and loot the chest.
2. Players who snake in while you're fighting a resource's guardians and loot the resource (herb, ore node, etc.).
3. Players who spam you with duel challenges or guild charters, particularly when you're in the middle of transacting business with a merchant or turning in/picking up a quest.
4. Players who spam you with either of the above and then call you names when you politely decline.
5. Players who can't understand why you wouldn't want to group and/or guild with people you've never even said "hi" to before and take it personally when you politely decline their invite. (I've never had it work out well when I've accepted one of those invites, so I've stopped doing so.)
6. Players who group with you, set looting to free-for-all, and then rush to loot everything first.
7. Players who group with you then rush to loot all the chests or quest items first. Folks, there's a randomized die-roller for a reason. Type "/random 100" (without the quotation marks) to use it. Or, if you don't have lots of people and you're teamed up for a while, take turns!
8. Players who agree to roll fair-and-square for loot while partied up, then anytime something they want shows up tell everyone to leave it for them and get whiny if they don't get what they want. (If people want to be nice and give you something you want for free that's great, but they aren't required to do so.)
9. Players who berate others for rolling fair-and-square on loot items they can't directly use. Hey, anyone could use the money from selling those items (even to vendors), and enchanters can disenchant just about anything.
10. Players who call other people names for failing to notice their off-in-a-corner peril. Try asking for help before calling everyone else idiots, huh guys?

Funny how so many of these items boil down to players who have a sense of entitlement when it comes down to anything they want.

This has been your Sunday Morning Random Rant In A Box. Chest? Food Crate? Lockbox? Bloated Brilliant Smallfish? ...

Reading Penny Arcade As A Hobby

Now, I'm not a huge video game fiend. I enjoy a good game now and then, and I've found World of Warcraft to be surprisingly addictive, but by and large I'd rather play tabletop roleplaying games, cook, garden, or read a good book. Still, I'm strangely attracted to that largely video-game-oriented comic, Penny Arcade. Not only is it hilarious as a comic, but there's something oddly alluring about Tycho's rants and news posts. Anyone with an appreciation for the English language and an enjoyment of modern video game culture (even a little bit of it) will probably get at least some of what I'm talking about. The man can have a positively hypnotic effect with words when he wants to, as evidenced in today's news post. There's a strange quality to it that floats you through from beginning to end, building up as you go and depositing you out the other side uncertain as to where you are and what you're doing there.

Or maybe just hungry for a Cinnabon.

A Little Traveling (Exercise)

If you could go absolutely anywhere that you haven't been before, where would you go? Imagine that you're being given this opportunity and that you have to leave tomorrow. You can only stay there for one week before you have to return. Answer the following questions:

• Where are you going, and why?
  
• Whom would you take with you, if anyone? Why? (Limit of four people--if that leaves anyone out, how would you make your choice?)
  
• What would you take with you? Why? (Limit of two standard suitcases and one over-the-shoulder bag, purse or backpack.)
  
• What would you do while you're there? Why? (Budget limit of $5,000 or equivalent--see end notes--not including accomodations and travel. If this limits your activities, how do you make your choices?)
  
• Where would you stay while you're there? Why? (No limits on this one!)
  

If you feel like doing more (or want a related exercise for tomorrow), write up a travelogue-style description of your arrival and first day there.

Some of you may have thought of this already, but note that I have put absolutely no limits on where you could go. Paris? Sure. Ancient Rome? No problem. A future space station? Of course. Your favorite fantasy world or TV world? Go for it! I also haven't specified how you get there--cruise ship, airplane, car, horse, time travel device, space shuttle, magical portal--it's all fair game. Enjoy!

Mixed Conversation (Exercise)

First, take people from three different professions or walks of life. Here are some examples you can work from, but try to brainstorm several more combinations just for creativity practice:

• A minister, a farmer, and a bank teller
  
• A divorce lawyer, a TV meteorologist, and a meter maid
  
• A package delivery driver, a pastry chef, and a community college janitor
  

Next, pick a topic of conversation for them--something completely random. Some possibilities are (but again, try to brainstorm a few extra) a church potluck supper, a local scandal, a tragic fire, or a predicted major storm.

Finally, write up a page (or more) of dialogue between them regarding your chosen topic. Try to have their professions and attitudes come through in the dialogue without ever having to state them outright, but try to make it natural and not forced. Allow their personalities to show; try to bring in some sort of disagreement or controversy for them to argue or discuss.

As usual, as long as your work isn't x-rated or offensive you're welcome to post a link to it in the comments. Have a great day!

World of Warcraft Patch

Okay, yes, there's been a lot of downtime associated with the new World of Warcraft patch. And you know what? The patch added and fixed so many wonderful things that I don't even care. Not one bit. It's very clear that Blizzard's been putting a lot of hard work into this game. The extra tool bars are a godsend, and the fixed tab-targeting system makes me want to dance with joy. The fact that there's such an insanely long list of changes alone is singularly impressive. It's okay; I don't mind growing pains and glitches. Just as long as we keep seeing improvement even remotely like this.

Fanning the Creative Spirit

Yes, there's a new review up! Check out Maria and Charlie Girsch's "Fanning the Creative Spirit." It isn't for everyone, but it's a solidly good creativity book. I like some of their ideas quite a bit, even if the tone of the book doesn't 100% appeal to me. Their tools in particular seem quite handy and productive, if a bit corporate in feel sometimes. In particular, if you want to employ some creativity in the workplace, check this book out!

I received a skillet from Swiss Diamond International that I'm looking forward to trying out just as soon as I feel up to cooking again (yes, I'm sick, either again or still, I'm not sure which--it's getting pretty silly at this point), and I have a cookbook on using prosciutto and similar meats that I can't wait to try out, hopefully next week (did I mention that prosciutto is one of my all-time favorite foods?). The other two books I want to review in the near future are "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page and Blog" and "Page after Page."

Observations (Exercise)

Throughout your day, try to pay particular attention to your environment--the objects and people around you. At some point pick one object or person (preferably something or someone you usually don't pay much attention to), sit down, and (for five minutes) write down everything you can think of about that object or person. Focus on physical description, and I don't just mean what you see. Remember to use all five senses.

Next, start a new page. Free-write about that object or person. Allow your imagination to carry you to unexpected places. How might that object be used in unusual ways? What does that person do when you aren't around? What is the object or person's history or future?

Now look at both pieces of writing. In what ways did the first piece inform the second? How did noting all of those observations help you to take your imaginings to new places? How did they help you to make your imaginings seem real, to give them depth?

Site update 12

Just a brief update to keep people apprised of the latest few things to be found on the site. It's a bit of a short one, but there you have it. Have a great day!

Word Jumble 2 (Exercise)

Ahh, Monday. It's so hard to get out of bed on Monday mornings. I'll have to make some coffee soon.

Today's exercise is another word jumble, in which we take two or three words and free-write off of the combination to see what emerges. Today's choice of word combos:

• reset daffodil compensation
  
• cough growth emphasis
  
• vigorous coffee verbal
  
• offend cold
  
• blind blunt file
  
• review create
  

Or, create your own combo from random words (it helps to pick up a book with lots of interesting words in it, open to a page at radom, and point to a word on the page) and go with that. I just provide these so you don't have to deal if you don't want to.

Character Naming

This particular rant comes to you courtesy of World of Warcraft. I think every third paladin character has "pally" (short for paladin) somewhere in its character name, and two out of three hunters' pet cats are named "cat," or, in rare variations, "kitty" or something similar. Come on, folks, show a little creativity! There's no excuse--WoW even provides a name randomizer for you. There are baby naming websites all over the place (our research links directory has an entire category of them). Heck, for your writer's exercise today, do the following:

• Write down your character's major overriding personality trait in one word. If you haven't even thought about personality then pick a word that describes a skill or talent he or she has, or a role he or she plays.
  
• Write down two minor or hidden personality traits.
  
• Pick up a thesaurus (or use an online thesaurus) and look up at least five synonyms for those words. Make sure to look them up in a dictionary so you actually know the different shades of meaning--they're unlikely to be exact synonyms.
  
• Now, use one or more of those words to help you come up with a name. If this is a fantasy character, you could use them directly. You could alter them into something that sounds sort of like the word but isn't. You could simply use them as inspiration--free associate off of the sound, concept, or whatever until you find something you like. Keep listing and listing until you have plenty of possibilities then go through and see if you can find the right name. If you can't, start over again.
  

This has been your friendly afternoon rant. Have a nice weekend.

The Adventures Continue (Exercise)

Yesterday you came up with adventure starts, and today you'll build on that. First, pick five of your adventure starts at random. As quickly as possible, write down five things for each of them that you could reasonably expect to see happen on that adventure. Next, write down five things for each of them that you totally wouldn't expect to see happen. Play around with various combinations of these events to see if you can come up with new and surprising ideas for where to take your new adventures. Try to write out a one-paragraph summary of each adventure that makes it sound exciting, interesting, and unusual, and that hints at surprises to come.

Going Adventuring (Exercise)

Many stories are about some sort of adventure or journey, whether it's a physical, emotional, or mental one. Adventures and journeys generally have starting points. Sometimes those starting points aren't obvious ones, are obvious only in retrospect, are ambiguous, or are as clear as day. First we'll start with a listing of sample types of adventure starts:

• The protagonist(s) receive a mysterious message and set out to find out what's going on.
  
• Someone attacks and pursues the protagonist(s), who must find out what's going on, stay alive, and turn the tables on their attackers.
  
• Someone hires the protagonist(s) to solve a problem for him.
  
• Someone appeals to the protagonist(s) for help.
  

First, list out at least four more generic adventure starts. Then sit back, take a look at the whole list, and brainstorm at least three specific adventure starts based on each generic category.

This exercise is useful for both writers and RPG game masters. Tomorrow we'll continue with an exercise that builds on this one.

Title Jumble (Exercise) and potluck supper cookbook review

Make a list of your three favorite types of book. For example: "cookbooks, science fiction, horror." Or, "gardening books, mysteries, crossword puzzle collections." Now follow the steps below.

1. Sit back with a notepad and pen in your hand (or computer keyboard) and close your eyes. Imagine yourself walking into a bookstore and going into the first of those three book sections. Be complete about this--imagine how the floor sounds and feels under your shoes, imagine what type of shelving the store has, the lighting, the other people around you, and so on.
   
2. Imagine that you walk up to the shelf of new releases and start checking out the latest books to hit the stores. As quickly as possible, come up with six titles off the top of your head and write them down. Repeat this step with the other two types of book that you wrote down.
   
3. Now put your three lists of titles next to each other. Imagine that you're a Frankenstein-like mad scientist making new creations out of the parts of old things. Take any two titles (as long as they're from different categories) and come up with a title for the book that would result if you "cross-bred" those two books. Continue until you've used up all 18 titles, crossing out each pair as you use it. (Alternatively, use a set of three titles--one from each list.) If any of the results are particularly similar, choose your favorite and cross out the others.
   
4. Finally, write a one-paragraph synopsis of each book as though you were writing the promotional back-cover blurb.
   

I just posted a review of Elaine Robinson's Church Potluck Supper Cookbook. Enjoy!

What Else? (Exercise)

There's a book called "Fanning the Creative Spirit" by Maria and Charlie Girsch (I'll be reviewing it soon) that makes the point that "What else?" is just as important a question to ask as "What if?" So, in that spirit, free-write on one of the following today:

• Imagine that a huge meteor is going to crash into the moon; scientists predict that this could have devestating effects on the tides. What else could happen as a result?
  
• Imagine that various famous prophecies regarding the apocalypse are coming visibly and publicly to pass. Widespread panic is setting in and people are starting to lose their heads. People have stopped going to their jobs. What else would they do?
  
• You look out your window and see a small part of a large parade. Immediately in front of you marches a man with a monkey on one shoulder and a bright blue bird on the other. What else follows after him?
  
• You decide to repaint each room in your house a different color. Pick an unusual and evocative color-name that you would like to paint each room in your house. Some possibilities might be oyster-shell white for the dining room, or computer-screen blue for the kitchen; what else?
  

I'm up a bit early; I had to take some Sudafed in the middle of the night and it's keeping me awake. This probably means I'll end up napping later, so hopefully I'll get to the potluck supper cookbook review this afternoon if not this morning. I'm getting old; I can't go without sleep any more!

Five Characters (Exercise)

From each of the following questions, craft an answer that becomes a character, such that you end up with five separate characters (give them any gender, age, etc. you like). Don't read the rest of the exercise until after you have the characters.

• What one specific location scares this character the most? Why? What happened to him there, or what does he imagine happening there?
  
• How does this character feel when she closes her eyes and turns her face toward the sun? What does it remind her of, or make her think about?
  
• If this character could plant flowers in front of his house, what would he plant? Tulips? Irises? Roses? Forget-me-nots? Carnations? Marigolds? Something else? Why? What colors would the flowers be?
  
• What did this charater's mother cook for her when she was a child? Meat-and-potatoes meals? Organic foods? Vegetarian meals? Exotic foreign dishes? TV dinners from the microwave?
  
• What does this character wish he could do for a living? What keeps him from doing it? Why is it so important to him?
  

Now imagine that all five of these characters spend a significant amount of time together in their lives. They work in the same office or lab. They all go to the same gym every night after work. They eat lunch at the same cafeteria table. They know each other fairly well, and perhaps know some personal information about each other. There's enough of a connection between them to create some friendships, some tensions, and some secrets.

Write the characters' names in pairs; make sure you have each character paired with each other character. Next to each pairing, write one word or short phrase to describe the relationship between those two characters. When you're done, go back and free-write for three to five minutes on any pairing that seems to have some dramatic energy to it. By the time you're done, you should have plenty of material that could be used as the basis or background for just about any sort of work of fiction involving those characters.

New Zine Issue

You wouldn't believe the amount of trouble I've been having sending out the new zine issue for some unknown reason. Normally it works just fine for me to save the issue in text format in Word, copy-paste it into my email program, and send it. But this time for some reason it's inserting all sorts of odd characters that only show up when I look at the email before I approve it for the list (good thing I checked it--not sure why I thought to this time since I don't usually; a hunch I guess). Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've upgraded to Panther since the last zine issue; it might have affected Safari somehow. Anyway, I've been trying to find a way to do this without having to type the entire darn thing into an email window--and, ultimately, failing. Have I mentioned how much I hate Microsoft Word? Most of the publishing industry insists on Word files as a standard (as do many other people) so it's too useful not to have and use. But sometimes it drives me nuts. And for some reason lately it's taken forever for emails to the list to arrive at the list for me to approve them, so every test to see if I've figured out what's going on takes yet another big chunk of time. Grumble, grumble.

Anyway, sorry for the griping--blame it on Monday. ;) It's a gorgeous sunny day here with reasonably warm weather; it's starting to feel like Spring. I can't wait for the small batch of purple-and-white Japanese irises I ordered to arrive so I can plant them. I can't afford to do all the gardening I'd like this year, but we figured one small batch of flowers wouldn't kill us, and I do so love irises. Eventually I want a culinary herb garden under our bay window out front, and I want to grow tomatoes out back. The last owner of this house had a thing for miniature roses, which I've never dealt with before, but they seem to be a low-maintenance variety thank goodness, and they're rather pretty even if pink isn't really my thing.

Our excitement for the weekend happened on Friday. We were downstairs watching our usual Friday night complement of science fiction when we heard a crashing sound. We thought that Selene (one of our cats) must have knocked something off of a counter and ran upstairs. I noticed that the quality of light in the dining room looked... odd, so I looked up and noted that the hanging lamp had dropped part-way out of the ceiling! Apparently the cord had been looped, the loop slipped, and the sudden drop of weight yanked the fixture free of its mooring. We had to detach the light, and now we'll have to get an electrician in to check everything, make sure it's all okay, and fix the fixture. Wheeee.

You know, in all of that griping about Word I completely forgot to actually mention what the zine issue was about! It's for those GMs who need a way to encourage their players to gradually develop their characters over the course of a game. It's a step-by-step plan for character development. After all, sometimes there are good reasons why you might not want to start out with terribly complex characters--maybe you just don't have the time for it, or you're playing in a high-death-rate universe and you want to wait and see which characters will live past the first session.

Positive and Negative (Exercise)

Let's call this Monday morning's exercise, early. Why? Because I feel like it. (I'm whimsical that way.)

Pick an item you like--a book, an album, a movie, your favorite brand of gum or cookware, a restaurant, etc. Now imagine that you have to convince someone not to use, buy, or visit that thing or place. Write a compelling argument against your item.

Pick an item you don't like, and this time imagine that you have to convince someone to use, buy, or visit it. Write a compelling argument for the item.

Pick an item you feel ambiguous about, and practice writing both positive and negative arguments--one to convince someone to use the item, and one to convince someone not to.

There are a couple of different ways you could approach this task; try to do each one at least once. First, be as honest as you possibly can. Force yourself to look at your item from the point of someone whose needs are different from yours and imagine what might make them want or not want to use the item. Second, be as not-quite-honest as you possibly can without ever lying outright--slant the truth, make sneaky omissions, imply things that aren't true, and so on.

Be convincing!

Sentence variation (Exercise)

New exercise for the day: use any of the following words in ten different sentences.

• Delicate
  
• Forecast
  
• Promenade
  
• Classify
  
• Punch
  
• Paint
  
• Paranoia
  

Make sure each sentence conveys a complete thought, and try to give each a different context, meaning, or point.

It's a very gray day here today, and Sunday is usually our chore day so I wouldn't call it the most fun day of the week. But it looks like we might be able to get a little World of Warcraft in at some point if we're lucky!

Review Something (Exercise)

Yesterday I posted an article on How to Be a Professional Reviewer. Today I feel like doing a writers' exercise related to the same. So, today, write a review of one of the following things:

• Your breakfast
  
• The last store you visited
  
• The last TV show you watched
  
• Your pet
  
• Your MMORPG or RPG character
  
• Today's weather
  

Evaluate it as objectively as possible. Weigh the pros and the cons, give some personal details of your experiences with it, and explain why you think it would be useful (or not) for other people. Even though I've provided some pretty strange things to review, write the review as seriously as though you were reviewing a book for the New York Times or some other major magazine or newspaper. Structure the review with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Updated list of publishers/manufacturers

Time for another updated list of publishers and manufacturers who've sent us things for review in the recent past or agreed to do so in the future:

Books: F&W Publications; Adams Media; Simon & Schuster; Ten Speed Press; Alpha Books; Boolana Collective Press; Prism House Press; Surrey Books; Workman Publishing

Kitchenware and cooking: Cooking Waterless; Microplane; Cuisipro; Lodge; KCJ Vanilla; Swiss Diamond International

I still have several cookbooks I'm working my way through (they take a little time, since I like to be sure to use them thoroughly before reviewing them), a handful of writing books, and a couple of novels; I also expect to receive another couple of items of kitchenware and some baking supplies for review soon.

Well, I'm off to stare at the amazingly pink-and-orange sunrise out of my front window. Have a great weekend, everyone!

What if? (Exercise)

A great writer's exercise, of course, is playing the "What if?" game. Free-write on one of the following questions:

• What if you knew with 100% certainty that the world would end in three days, but you were the only one who knew?
  
• What if you'd just finished the Great American Novel and your computer's hard drive failed? (And you had no backup.)
  
• What if you found out that your best friend had been secretly in love with you since childhood?
  
• What if you realized that your spouse was an alien?
  

For bonus points, use one of the following formats:

• A newspaper article
  
• A diary entry
  
• A horror story
  
• A letter to a parent
  

Why yes, I have been busy

The site update (#11) has gone out, and I reviewed the Maxam Stainless Steel Multi-Baker & Roaster. Now I'm acting as the cats' jungle gym.

A Plethora of Nutmeg Grinders

If, like me, you love the smell of fresh nutmeg (most cooks do, I think), you might enjoy my set of nutmeg grinder reviews. First, the classic steel nutmeg grater I used for years and hated. Second, the acrylic nutmeg grinder I used for years after that and could handle but wasn't amazed by. Finally, my favorite, the Microplane Grate-N-Shake, a fun (and distressingly cute) little kitchen toy that makes quick work of whole nutmegs. (I can't believe I just called a kitchen gadget "cute." Sigh. What is the world coming to?)

Objection (Exercise)

Another standard writing exercise is to pick an object and freewrite about it. Instead, pick one of the listed objects, match it with one of the following topics, and freewrite about the combination. If you feel like sharing and the result isn't x-rated, post a link in the comments.

Objects:

• a bruised apple
  
• a cat's scratching post
  
• an ornate wedding band
  
• a book of quotations
  

Topics:

• crime
  
• diabetes
  
• gardening
  
• the US postal system
  

For bonus points, use one of the following formats:

• a letter to someone you admire
  
• a short-short story
  
• a sonnet
  

In unrelated news, I'm working my way through a church potluck supper cookbook, a creativity book, and a book on creating web pages. I'm also hoping to review a roasting pan and a nutmeg grater today or tomorrow. I hope everyone's having a great week!

Word Jumble

Everyone's heard of the writer's exercise where you take two or more words at random and either use them together in a piece of writing or free associate off of the combination and start writing about the result. Today, use one of the following sets of words in a piece of writing. For bonus points, limit the piece of writing to one of the following topics: cooking, athletics, or science fiction.

1. survey crash therapy
2. code suicide school
3. ticket vanilla
4. joyride Arizona

If you feel like it, and your write-up isn't x-rated, feel free to post a link to the result in the comments section.

World of Warcraft review

I already had most of a World of Warcraft review written, so I managed to finish that off. One of Microplane's spice graters arrived in the mail today for review, so I'm looking forward to playing with that. A creativity book also arrived this weekend, so that'll be fun to review (I always enjoy reviewing creativity books). Now I just need to figure out whether I have the energy to cook anything this afternoon, and if so, what...

This is ridiculous

Once you start feeling better you're supposed to feel better. You aren't supposed to have three or four days of feeling almost better, and then come down with a sore throat. I hate falling behind with work, and at this rate it's going to take me forever to catch up.

Whining over...

We're working our way through a potluck supper cookbook. We were going to make a turkey yesterday as a last test of the roasting pan we're working with, but instead we're going to have to do that sometime this week. And next I'm reading the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page & Blog," from Alpha Books. I'd like to do a Twilight Time issue and a couple of articles, but I think those will have to wait until I feel halfway alive. For now, it's time to make some coffee. As a test I decided to try some Berkeley & Jensen coffee (from BJ's Warehouse Club). I figured it's so incredibly cheap that the odds were it would be terrible, but on the other hand, the BJ's brand things we've tried before have been, on the whole, quite good. As it turns out, I really like this coffee. It's a good light-medium roast, neither bitter nor harsh, which is perfect for me. I'm surprised but pleased.

Maxam cookware

I've reviewed a Maxam Chef's Secret griddle kindly provided by Cooking Waterless. It's a gorgeous item, with lots of great features. I'm looking forward to reviewing the roasting pan; we've used it for a roast, but we still want to roast a turkey in it as well. (I'm just not satisfied until I really put something through its paces. Besides, it has a feature that I think will make it much easier to do turkeys, but I have to try it first before I make any claims to that effect.) Now I have to dig out the book I was working through before I got sick, hopefully with the aim of reviewing it today or Monday.

The Original Country Bob's Cookbook

Yes, there really is a new review up! Phew. I feel so much better than I did before that I keep thinking I'm pretty much all better, then I do something and I'm surprised by how long it takes me and how much it wears me out. Time for a break before my next bout of work.

Now if only I could get Selene, one of our cats, to stop licking the curtains! Sheesh. This is also the cat that prefers spiderwebs and dust bunnies to actual food.

Getting there

Apparently for this illness "on the mend" means several days of feeling worn out, out of breath, and cruddy still to go. I'm only just now starting to do work again. I feel so far behind; I have a cookbook to review, a book I want to finish going over so I can review it; a piece of cookware to review... we haven't felt up to cooking all week so we're a little behind on the cookware/cookbook testing. I don't even want to think about the number of emails in my inbox. (Yipe!) As soon as I'm finished with my cup of coffee I think I'll take care of some of the email then review that cookbook. If this illness really has hit most of Maryland then I'm surprised the state didn't just grind to a halt.