Saturday Brunch

What happens when you sleep in till 10 in the morning after staying up till midnight playing Fallout: New Vegas and then wake up and decide, "You know what, I feel eating pancakes." ?  Well turns out, you get your lazy butt up and make pancakes.

I have to confess, this is the first time I have slept in past 9 in the morning in years.  Years, I tell you.  Why?  I'm not sure, I just don't like sleeping in all that much.  It bothers me somehow, like I'm wasting my day or something.  ( Which doesn't make a lot of sense because I'm down for taking naps in the middle of the day any time you ask but if I made sense I wouldn't be me, would I? )  So I was actually super surprised that I felt lazy enough to sleep in that late.  But when I did finally get up, my tastebuds wanted pancakes.

I struggled a bit making these pancakes, not because they're hard to make or because I'm capable of burning water* ( I actually make a mean baked potato soup with home made rue and all the works so A+ kitchen skills for me ), but because my blood sugar was low.  Very low.  I get lightheaded very easily if I don't eat enough, so after not having eaten since dinner the evening before ( that's what, 18 hours or so without food? ) I was in need of those pancakes.

*I have never actually burned water, just want to put that out there.  Not that you can, but still.

I piled myself some of those bad boys up in a bowl with blueberries and honey and boy, where they good.  It was about 11:30 or so by the time I finally took a bite, after mixing and cooking and cleaning up after myself ( because you do not want to leave a dirty kitchen for your mother to clean up ( not because she's threatened to tie a pork chop around your neck and leave you in the foothills for the coyotes to eat or anything, but because you're a nice person who wants to help your mother out** ) ), and also after taking a couple of pictures just for you, yes that's right, wonderful you, who is so special and who I appreciate so much for being here with me reading this ( I truly do ).

**Or both.  Both is a possibility.

They tasted as good they look.  Maybe even better.  It was a milk free, egg free recipe ( though I did use extra butter ), so my mother could eat them without feeling bad afterward.  It was good start to a great lazy day, and later in the evening, the extra pancakes had fried chicken piled on top of them for a great breakfast-y dinner.  Yum.

Now I'm off to drink even more caffeine then I did this morning, because it's going to be another late night.  The Rhythmic Gymnastics All Around Individual Finals comes on here in my area at 23:30, and won't end until 0:30.  Then, at 9 tomorrow morning the group finals will be on, and I don't want to miss either of them.  Olympics over sleep is what I say.  They only come every four years, so might as well watch all you can, right?

Let's go USA!!!!!  WHOOO!!!!!

Em

Orange Tinted Smoke

There is a huge wildfire burning near the area I live, and the gray smoke coming from it is not only a reminder of the danger that comes to my area each summer with the wildfires, but is also the creator of some fairly strange looking mornings and evenings.

Unlike a cloudy day, where the thick, gray clouds will block out the sun for a muted day where colors can pop against the cool background, the voluminous smoke creates a film for the sun to filter through.  This, aside from being a health hazard, gives us fire-light scattered across every object in sight.

The sun turns red, the blue morning sky is hidden behind the smoke.  We wake to find our quilts and walls and floors bright orange, an orange so bright, in fact, that the camera can't pick up on it properly to show you how vivid it really is.  Outside everything looks oversaturated, and you can hold your hand up in some spots to see beams of light shinning through the smoke, much like you would see the light shinning through thick clouds of dust in an old room.

It really is sort of pretty, but the destruction of the fire is not worth the nice colors it creates.  Houses have been lost, roads shut down, people evacuated from their homes.  The amount of smoke in the air is, as I mentioned before, a health hazard.  Despite the nice summer temperatures, we can't have our windows open, least the smoke fills our house, too.  It makes for summer days spent inside, instead out enjoying the sun like we might be otherwise.

The mornings are orange, and the days a pale yellow with bright gray tinted skies.  But the evenings have purple in their skies.  Gray tinted yellows, teals, and sometimes even greens accompany the dusty purples when the red sun sets.  These sunsets will have to be left to your imagination, though, because the camera sensors fail me once again in not being able to pick up on what the colors really look like.

Despite the color show it gives us, I hope the fire is put out soon.  Even after it is, the smoke may hang around for a while after it, but perhaps we might still get to spend our last few summer days outside, like we should be.  More importantly, let's hope no more houses are lost before it finally burns out and leaves us.

Em

Checkmate

From my library's corner sale I acquired my very own chess set.  It was only a dollar, so I thought, why not pick it up?  I am now on the slow but steady path to learning how to play chess properly.  On this journey with me is my little sister.  We decided that we would learn to become masters of chess together.

My chess set is a plastic one, molded in the 'authentic Staunton design', according to the side of the box.  You can tell just from looking at the box that this is an older set.  The yellowed tape, the style of the type, the discoloration of the box.  Upon inspection of one side of the box I found a date; 1969.  It may not be as pretty as some of the chess sets in the book my sister and I are using for instruction, but it does have some sort of charm to it.  I'm certainly glad I have it, and that it simply wasn't tossed into a dumpster somewhere.

The book we are reading from is "Chess move by move" by Paul Langfield.  It was written in 1968, just a year before my chess set was made.  I think that makes my chess set and it a pretty good pair, don't you?  I was amused to see the fictional quote it has printed on it's copyright page.

'I declare it's marked out just like a large chess board!' Alice said as last . . . 'It's a great huge game of chess that's being played–all over the world . . . I wouldn't mind being a Pawn, if only I might join–though of course I should like to be a Queen, best.'

THROUGH THE LOOKING–GLASS

Lewis Carroll 

I thought it was a fitting quote to add in there.

We've gotten through the first chapter, which explains to us how to properly set the game up.  The two things I have learned from it are a) the bottom right-hand corner of the board must always be a while square for each player, and b) the white queen goes on a white square and the black queen goes on a black square, always.  The idea that the king should always go on your right-hand side and the queen on your left is wrong.  This puts the king and the queen diagonal from each other across the chess board, and doesn't create the king's side and the queen's side of the board like it should.

When the queens are set up properly, a grid is created, as shown above.  This is especially important if you are recording the game in ledger or some other thing.

We haven't gotten to any of the actual moves yet, so we might not be able to out wit you as of this moment, but so far my sister and I can at least keep your board straight and even record the match properly if you so wanted us to.

There are many varied and unique chess sets pictured inside our book.  It almost makes me want to go out and start collecting them, just for the looks of it.  But if I started collecting anything else, I'd end up on an episode of Extreme Hoarders one day.  That's what I'm told, anyways.  Though, arguably, is it really hoarding if all the stuff is really cool stuff?  I don't think so.  Still, I am living on limited space at the moment, and limited cash, so there will be no old chess set collecting for now.

For now.

By the end of this book I will be a chess master ( probably ), and so will my sister ( maybe ).  Either way, we're going to have fun with it, and that's all that will matter when the covers are closed.

Em

A Yarny Recap: Where I Went & What I Did

Now where on Earth did I go for just over two weeks?  Somewhere without internet connection or the ability to socialize, apparently.  Ok, so that's not entirely true.  I actually stayed right where I'm sitting as I type this, at my desk, in my room, drinking tea and over caffeinating ( as usual ).  I may have also been consuming copious amounts of peanut butter.   Can neither confirm nor deny.

But I'm back now, and here to give you the recap of the past two weeks or so.  Let's a make a bullet list.  Yes, I think a bullet list will do nicely.

• I finished my Egypt mythology book!!!  Yes, isn't it exciting!  I even wrote an essay on it, albeit a very confused one because I was trying to cram all of the things I found interesting into a tiny little essay without turning it into a 500 page thesis or something.  Here's the opening paragraph.

"The waters of the Ancient Egyptian mind are murky and uncertain regions to traverse.  Even in today’s world of the internet and seemingly endless knowledge where we think we know it all, much of the Ancient Egyptian world and it’s thoughts still remain shrouded behind the curtain of the Nile, lost deep within it’s dark waters and muddied banks.  Plunderers, grave robbers, and even the Egyptian people themselves caused damaged that has lead to a deficit in our understanding of their ancient world.  But the biggest culprit?  Time.  It is the age of Egypt that bars our way most strongly, that has caused much of it’s old world to be, almost literally, lost to the sands of time."

Intriguing, yes?  Makes you want to read the whole essay, doesn't it?  Well trust me, you don't.  But please, continue to think that I am a master of the essay.  Some lies are ok to believe ( but only the little ones I give you, ok?   Don't go believing everything everybody tells you, because they don't have your best interests at heart like I do. ).

Back to the bullet list.

• My next culture to study?  The Irish!!!  I have to tell you that I'm super excited about this one too, possibly even more excited then I was about Egypt.  Though I am a little concerned about the size of this Irish book.  It's over 600 pages long.  Mildly concerned that it might crush me by accident.

• On the subject of books, I finished "A Gathering of Shadows" and I loved it!!!

• Oh, and "The Bell Jar"?  It was definitely one heck of a book.  I can't say too much without running the story for you ( and I HATE that ), so just go read it.  Like, right about now.

• I have a new plant.  What does this mean, you wonder?  Well my Johny-Jump-Up died, sadly.  The one I had sitting in a little glass container on my windowsill.  It was't going to last forever, and after it seeded, it was gone.  But I have now planted some of my very own bachelor's buttons in the glass container, and they are doing great!  I am questioning that decision now though, because they are a tall plant.  A very tall plant.  In a little container.  On my windowsill.  But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

• I drew this little guy!  How cute is he?!  I just love him.  My little bitty ghost, looking a bit unsure of things, probably slightly concerned with the sanity of the person who drew him ( at least I would be, if I were him, and, you know, if he were actually alive but shhh ).

• Oh and this.  I drew this.  I'm just gonna' leave it right there.

• Yoga has become a regular ( -ish ) part of my weeks and it has done me a ton of good.  I basically do hours of walking and lifting heavy things where I work and I have to admit that I am a small person, so this does not exactly make my little back feel good.  But yoga does.  It also helps me relax, because I get kind of stressed about time a lot.  Turns out, I'm not actually as flexible as I thought I was!  But that's getting better too.  I haven't managed to rip anything important yet so I'm counting that as a win.

• I have also a) been continuing with my editing b) been super busy with school and work and responsibility ( ick ) which is the main reason I disappeared into the unknowable void that is my room and c) been working on starting a new book focused blog but never fear!  I have plans to move to Wordpress ( shhh, don't tell Google ) and I believe I can have multiple sections, so to speak, under one blag name, which means the main part of my blog will be for books, and on the side I can still do some journal blogging just like I do here.  I'll keep you posted on this. Like, literally posted.  Because that's what these are, you know.  Blog posts.  Anyways.

So now I'm back ( for now ) and I will stay back ( for now ) so don't worry!  You don't have to miss me anymore!  I certainly missed all of you and missed writing a blog post or two here and there but boy, was I super busy ( also, I might have spent some time just lying on my bed stressing about how busy I was but you know ).  I think I have my act together now ( at least slightly more together then it was before ) so all there is to do is continue pressing forward!

Em