Second Cake

super sweet birthday cake
Originally uploaded by dedi

Not so elegant. made for my friend Dedi's surprise b-day. Chocolate chip icing with ganache accoutrement to make it not look like a mush of frosting and chips. It was a fine cake, just really sweet for my taste, and I kind of hurried through some steps for no good reason. So the filling got gobbled by the cake, the layers were a lil uneven. Chocolate chips in icing=good, however spreading generic sugary icing with chips=nightmare--especially if the cake is deliciously delicate. Buttercream or cream cheese in the future for sure


UPDATE: Brought a piece home and the next day I could not stop eating it. Yum!

Rosemary & Chocolate Cake with Rosemary Buttercream

Rosemary & Chocolate Cake with Rosemary Buttercream
Originally uploaded by BozAphra

I knew you were comin' so I baked a cake.

Year in Review

I spent most of the year thinking I would probably be moving to Texas at the end of it. A secret I kept not so secret after a glass of wine. Dallas is not in the cards at the moment, but I still have an uncertain future in an uncertain city ahead of me. It's still the waiting game for us--but vacating Columbus is inevitable at some point unless the breadwinner decides to change career paths or I find a career path right quick. We're looking countrywide now and that ranges from the inspiring (Chicago) to the aw, hell no (Fayetteville).

I learned that I absolutely cannot work an office job, even if that means returning to the low paying world of retail. I have sought out several solutions to the ongoing career crisis--including going so far as to enroll in science classes (that I enjoyed!) but it seems unlikely hat I have the patience at my advanced age to make that career path come to fruition. I also discovered that I love cooking (no surprise since my jean size reveals I love food), and am currently considering that path but know that I am also WAAAY behind in that field too. I still write and draw but have pretty much given up on the hope that I will ever be satisfied enough with anything I produce to send it into the world of commerce. I have also become painfully aware that if/when this derby biz becomes more lucrative, my body will have fallen apart at the seams. I will play like a champ amateur until the day the I unravel though.

I have a few semi-secret pots on the burners as I always need things to strive and look forward to, but the angst is still the same ol same ol in this neck of the woods and I don't see an end in sight despite being past the polite age for this sort of thing.

Cheers and Happy Life Day!

NANOWRIMO starts tomorrow

Will I be participating? Perhaps.

Fancy That

I am not sure what I want to say. I have a lot on my mind. Mostly the musculature of the lower limbs. Both because it hurts me, and because I must identify various aspects of it on a cadaver tomorrow afternoon.

My body is wrecked form derby. So is my mind, but that's another hill of beans that has to do with silliness and things I don't have to think about in the next week or so. This summer has been full of injury. tiny ones, like the fracture blog so long ago. And an ankle sprain. And finally an actual skating injury to the hip/thigh area (I till have yet to determine which anatomical name to use for the destruction). My body is also wrecked from lack of derby. too little practice and weeks of limited mobility have left me a lil softer than I prefer. Glarg.

The world feels like it's on fire. Which I suppose it does now and again. I just hate this time in the human cycle. I prefer the building, not the burning down--but both are necessary.

Why did Kara Thrace have to go nutjob? This is the question I want answered most of all (I am sure there are adequate answers, really).

Flight of the Conchords +

Saw 'em. Live. Reignited old passion.

Apparently for Ryan too.... Conversation:

Ryan: The little one is your favorite, right?

Me: I dunno I like them both a lot.

Ryan: But you like Brett the best right?

Me: I dunno, I like Brett when he wobbles his head like a Muppet, but I really like Jemaine when he's being a jackass.

Ryan (in a voice only a 13 year old fangirl should produce): Jemaine is mine!


Other highlights;

*I won a beer lottery. It was basically a race to see who could down eight draft beers the fastest. We put all 12 tap beers in a jack-o-lantern bucket and pulled a new beer each round. I *lucked* out and kept getting light and easy to drink beers like Stella, Mich Ultra, and Budweiser. Apparently my powers of consumption become great once I summit at four beers (Let's just say nefarious folks snuck a shot of tequila and red bull and Johnny in there as well, which I apparently gutted quickly and efficiently). My body doesn't agree with me, as I--for the first time ever-reached memory loss drunk. Needless to say, I am glad to have the crown, but the next challenge will be sans wookiee as my drinking challenge days have met an end.
I will always compete to win, and frankly I'd rather just drink a couple good beers and watch every one else make themselves sick.

*Travelling time is upon us again. The next three months have me in STL, Philadelphia, and then Boston. Regionals are in Madison this fall, and then Nationals are in Portland. I'm not sure if OHRG is going to qualify for either, but I'd like to make one or both if time and funds allow.

The Wex

is trying to steal my schedule. Seriously, the Bad Plus, indie comic artists galore... They usually have awesome things a-happenin' but this is the first time I've picked up their flier at the local coffee shop and felt overwhelmed. I will probably just do what I always do and sit at home and watch Veronica Mars for the fifteenth time. But I'll actually feel guilty about it.

PS Who knew that Jeff Smith the creator of Bone is from/sometimes still lives in my hood? So odd.

www.wexarts.org/cal/