I had yesterday, but I can only speak for myself. The rest of you are on your own. (Though I can now recommend an amazing chocolate stout.
)
XoLeIn GaEpRuXoMyRuEp
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I had yesterday, but I can only speak for myself. The rest of you are on your own. (Though I can now recommend an amazing chocolate stout.
)
Any wine mavens in here? One of my characters is a foodie, and does the wine thing, and since I'm a teetotaler, I'm without clue. I can find webpages that talk about what foods go with what wines, but years? Vintages? I'm lost.
Sigh. This wine maven thing is a reminder of why it's sometimes irritating when the characters start breathing and talking and making demands on the writer. Why couldn't he have been a bibliophile instead? THAT I could have written about easily.
Why can't he be a foodie that does the beer thing? Different kinds of beers pair with different kinds of foods, just like wine does.
And beer I can talk about.
And beer I can talk about.
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I love wine, but I know next to nothing about it. I just enjoy the drinking part...
However, I'd say taking a gander at the Wine Enthusiasts Magazine online might give enough clues and all:
http://www.winemag.com/
Food parings and reviews, etc.
Why can't he be a foodie that does the beer thing? Different kinds of beers pair with different kinds of foods, just like wine does.
And beer I can talk about.
Ooh, now that's an interesting variation on the theme I (and the character) could roll with. Tell me more!
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And Good morning! I'm feeling better than yesterday. My throat is still sore, but it's just the throat now, not up into the sinuses.
I think it also helped that I went to bed early... well, actually I went to bed when I should, which was early for me.
I think it also helped that I went to bed early... well, actually I went to bed when I should, which was early for me.
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*staggers into Cantina, staggers up to the bar, drinks 5 cases of Pyramid Hefeweizen*
Hi guys!
Whew! Long, busy week, but it was a lot of fun.
Did 8 hours of mandatory training yesterday on WMDs and DHS/FEMA protocols. How to identify, responses, etc. Learned that chemical agent incidents have 3 zones: Cold Zone(aka the safe area), Warm Zone (where decontamination happens), and the Hot Zone (where the Motaba virus and Dustin Hoffman in a HAZMAT suit are found).
And I got to put on a full-face respirator and hooded chemical suit!
Security story: The other day, another officer and I were in the hospital parking garage when an older Indian gentleman approached us for assistance. When asked what he needed help with he replied: "First, let me tell you that I'm a retired nuclear physicist who worked on the atom bomb in four countries. Second, I parked in the garage but I cannot comprehend your parking system and thus I cannot find my car. There are no identifying numbers on the walls."
The identifying numbers were on the ground in front of each marked stall.
We found his car for him.
Hi guys!
Whew! Long, busy week, but it was a lot of fun.
Did 8 hours of mandatory training yesterday on WMDs and DHS/FEMA protocols. How to identify, responses, etc. Learned that chemical agent incidents have 3 zones: Cold Zone(aka the safe area), Warm Zone (where decontamination happens), and the Hot Zone (where the Motaba virus and Dustin Hoffman in a HAZMAT suit are found).
And I got to put on a full-face respirator and hooded chemical suit!
Security story: The other day, another officer and I were in the hospital parking garage when an older Indian gentleman approached us for assistance. When asked what he needed help with he replied: "First, let me tell you that I'm a retired nuclear physicist who worked on the atom bomb in four countries. Second, I parked in the garage but I cannot comprehend your parking system and thus I cannot find my car. There are no identifying numbers on the walls."
The identifying numbers were on the ground in front of each marked stall.
We found his car for him.
This actually doesn't surprise me as much as it should. My mother used to tell stories about one of her college professors. He had a PhD, was an absolute genius. The guy had memorized his entire doctoral thesis and could recite it on demand, for heaven's sake! But couldn't figure out how to drive. He even offered a reward to anybody who could teach him how (he'd buy a brand new car for the lucky teacher). Never did master it.
The gaps in people's minds and abilities are just odd, no?
I know my stories are tiresome, but sometimes I can't help myself. It's part of my nature.
So thinking about that professor reminded me of a story about him that my mother liked to tell. The professor in question was a German Jew, who escaped Germany just ahead of the Nazis.
So anyway, when he had scheduled tests, they'd do a review of the subject matter on Friday, and then, at the end of class, he'd say, "Go home. Go see the football game. Go have fun. Do not study for this exam!" He was insistent about it."
Somewhat out of character for a teacher, no? Somebody finally worked up the nerve to ask about it. In answer, the professor started naming people, dozens of names nobody had heard. He said, "These are my friends, men I went to university with. They were brilliant men, the pride of our university. They all worked so hard, studied so hard, all wanting to be the best. They're all dead. I'm the only one that survived. All that effort and study was for nothing, because none of them escaped the Nazis. You're young, you're alive, go enjoy it while you can."
I'm not sure I agree, but that story always touched me.
So thinking about that professor reminded me of a story about him that my mother liked to tell. The professor in question was a German Jew, who escaped Germany just ahead of the Nazis.
So anyway, when he had scheduled tests, they'd do a review of the subject matter on Friday, and then, at the end of class, he'd say, "Go home. Go see the football game. Go have fun. Do not study for this exam!" He was insistent about it."
Somewhat out of character for a teacher, no? Somebody finally worked up the nerve to ask about it. In answer, the professor started naming people, dozens of names nobody had heard. He said, "These are my friends, men I went to university with. They were brilliant men, the pride of our university. They all worked so hard, studied so hard, all wanting to be the best. They're all dead. I'm the only one that survived. All that effort and study was for nothing, because none of them escaped the Nazis. You're young, you're alive, go enjoy it while you can."
I'm not sure I agree, but that story always touched me.
It runs along the same themes as pairing wines with your food. And bear in mind we are generally talking about smaller brewed beers, not mass market stuff (with the exception of those breweries like Sam Adams and a few others that manage to straddle that interstitial zone between microbrew and major market). But nothing you can't find if you've got a good supplier.
*misses the specialty beer shop that was 2 blocks from my Boston apartment*
And, like wines, these beers have different "notes" depending on how they are made. And the different categories of beers - ales, porters, bocks, stouts, etc - are much like the different category of wines.
Best part is, you can do "research" simply by going to a good bar where the server or bartender knows their stuff.
You also retain better when you take breaks in your studying and let your mind just process stuff in the background. So it's good advice for a couple of reasons.
You also retain better when you take breaks in your studying and let your mind just process stuff in the background. So it's good advice for a couple of reasons.
I take you at your word. I was never a studying kind of person. I've always been the kind of person that, if I kept my eyes and ears open, and relaxed into the right state of mind, the learning just kind of happened.
That used to drive my sisters crazy; they were all the intense "study until your eyeballs bleed" kind of people. I never knew what my teachers made of it.
That story is so touching and brilliant in so many ways. Not tiresome at all!
Hahahaha. I know the feeling... Currently I have an MC who is supposed to be a child prodigy on military strategy and tactics. Before I started writing him seriously, I didn't know there was a difference between strategy and tactics.
The idea of anyone with some actual knowledge on the subject reading and finding all my research mistakes scares me...
Of course, it helps that all the wars in question are fought on dragonback.
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Whoo another wild Cantia story out in the world. (Be careful of world domination!)
Also I'm always nervous about beta reading for someone. However, this morning I learned I'm pretty good at it.
Also I'm always nervous about beta reading for someone. However, this morning I learned I'm pretty good at it.
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Mega-Happy Fun Times Day to Tifferbugz! Succubus Lost is now in the wild!
Dance, bananas, DANCE for Tifferbugz!
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Huzzah!!!!
So....
Our headline is: "Lost" in the Wild?
Yay for improved kitteh!
THANK YOU!!!!
Thanks!!!!
zanzjan
killin' all teh werds
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This calls for the GIANT BANANA OF HAPPINESS!
What Zan said! You go, Tifferz!
(I don't have the cool Giant Banana smiley, so I'm swiping Zan's)
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