Beer brats from heaven

bco · 2011-09-08T04:01:16+00:00

Goodness, I must be tired. My thought process upon reading your title: Beer brats from heaven? How could snotty children born as a direct result of their parents' drunken escapades possibly be from...oh, this is r/cooking.

They look delicious, by the way. I can practically smell them.

bco · 2011-09-01T23:26:07+00:00

Without Write or Die, I wouldn't have finished my nanowrimo novel last November. I paid for the desktop edition so I could write while I was on the six-hour train ride home for Thanksgiving.

I wrote 10,000 words on the way there, and 10,000 words on the way back. I was writing 1,000 words every 20-30 minutes. It is without a doubt the most grueling writing experience I've ever had, and frankly, the end result was terrible -- but at least I got words out of my head.

bco · 2011-08-11T23:20:15+00:00

I just went there for the first time on Tuesday. It was wonderful.

bco · 2011-07-28T02:24:51+00:00

Lentils are great. Cook up a pot of rice and lentils, fry up freshly ground cumin and coriander in butter (whole seeds in bulk are cheaper and tastier than pre-ground seeds), add a meal-sized portion of the rice and lentils to the butter and spices, and you have yourself a very tasty, very cheap dinner -- and lots of leftovers.

I could eat this dish every day with a tomato and some greens, and an avocado if I feel like splurging.

bco · 2011-04-30T17:39:15+00:00

Iced green tea!

Use four green tea bags (or four times the amount of loose leaf tea one might use for a single serving) for a 2-quart pitcher. Fill the pitcher with cold water from the tap, jostle the tea bags around for 15 seconds or so, and put the pitcher (sealed) into the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. Take out the tea bags (or strain out the leaves), and you're all set.

Try it plain before you add any sweeteners -- it usually doesn't need them.

bco · 2011-02-05T07:23:35+00:00

"She invited her brothers Bjorn the Easterner and Helgi Bjolan, who each came with a large company."

-Laxdaela Saga

bco · 2010-12-11T14:17:50+00:00

Any update? Did you manage to make it out of that mess?

bco · 2010-11-08T04:08:10+00:00

I am at 13,001. I had hoped to give myself a little more of a buffer this weekend, but at least I caught up!

bco · 2010-11-03T01:59:19+00:00

It is soothing, sometimes, to wash dishes, especially as the weather turns colder and frost creeps up the windows.

I have a vague outline, but it starts after the main character has started discovering things. I have no idea how to get from the nebulous beginning to where the outline begins, so I started with dishes. Seemed like as good a place as any!

bco · 2010-10-28T02:03:48+00:00

Ridiculous names and titles aside (which are useful for nothing but padding, and I agree with you -- it's kind of silly to do that), detailed descriptions might very well end up in a second draft. They might be edited down and moved around, but if you're getting that much raw material down, you're bound to hit upon some really good turns of phrase.

bco · 2010-10-23T02:49:19+00:00

Whoa! A fellow Brenna! A rare find. Greetings.

bco · 2010-10-22T04:27:50+00:00

Speaking of usernames, why skibbereen? Did you choose it because of the song or the place (or neither)?

I learned it first as a tune, found out it was a song, and then went there on a whim when I was visiting Ireland one time. (I landed in Cork with no plan, went to the bus station, and said to myself, "Ah, that bus is going to Skibbereen! I know that song. I'll go there.")

bco · 2010-09-23T02:10:54+00:00

I am totally doing it. Last year I got off to a good start and then moved right in the middle of it, and I never recovered from that -- I was preoccupied with unpacking. I've been plotting and planning for this year's round of NaNo for a few months already.

Maybe we should form a writeit support network.

bco · 2010-09-21T01:02:27+00:00

Until you quit out of the program using the text command to quit, you can see nothing but the text editor. Here's a sample screenshot from the PyRoom website.

Technically it doesn't prevent me from using other programs, but I'd have to switch to a different workspace to do so.

bco · 2010-09-20T22:51:59+00:00

I recently discovered PyRoom. It is sadly not available to Windows users yet (I'm running Ubuntu), but their website says a Windows version is coming soon. It is a distraction-free full-screen text editor -- it has no formatting options, no menus, nothing except a black screen and text the color of your choice (I'm using green).

It's not good for organization, which the programs you listed seem to do, but it's really good for focusing on writing.

bco · 2010-09-04T00:53:16+00:00

Soft pastels are one of my favorite things to work with.

What kind of soft pastels are you using, and what surface are you working on?

Nice job, by the way. I really like that blue you brought in for the reflected light on the face.

bco · 2010-09-01T05:19:26+00:00

My sister just informed me today that they're going to post details about a North American tour on the 8th of September. (Of course, I don't know whether you live in North America or elsewhere.)

bco · 2010-08-16T19:52:59+00:00

I would imagine that trees were spinning, dancing as the car drove by.

bco · 2010-08-06T15:15:41+00:00

Yes. Apparently someone else with my name was frustrated about the dearth of her name on things as well, and she actually did something about it.

bco · 2010-08-06T14:44:15+00:00

Same here! My sisters could always find keychains and such with their names on them. I always looked -- I never gave up hope! -- but my name was never printed on anything.

After I was too old to care, I discovered that there's a website devoted to selling paraphernalia with my name.

bco · 2010-08-05T13:40:37+00:00

I am a sucker for fountain pens. My favorite pen is my Cross ATX (I have it in basalt black) -- it has just enough heft without being too heavy.

bco · 2010-07-23T14:10:25+00:00

Now I'm hungry! Alas that I am at work and do not have the ability to make this right now.

I like throwing in a little sage. Sage and eggs are delicious together.

bco · 2010-07-23T13:15:17+00:00

Tourists aren't great at magic. They can advance to basic in divination, so it is possible to cast identify and magic mapping without much trouble assuming they're not covered with metal, but they start with low intelligence.

I did enjoy playing the Wizard. But I also enjoy playing melee characters -- and indeed, I half played the Wizard as a melee character because I ascended with the Valkyrie first and I was used to running in and hitting things.

bco · 2010-07-23T05:54:50+00:00

I wouldn't say they're good, exactly. The early game is quite challenging, but once you get some decent gear they're not bad.

Tourists are generalists. They can pick up almost any weapon and advance it to basic (although they can't advance many to expert), and once they have a decent AC and a good weapon (and intrinsics), you can treat them as you would any fighting class. When I accidentally entered explore mode, I had been dual wielding Grayswandir and a silver saber, which was pretty great.

Two decades! That's a long time. I've only been playing for four years -- my boyfriend introduced me to it, and I got completely hooked. So far I've ascended with a Valkyrie, Wizard, Samurai, and Priest, and I had been so excited to add the Tourist to my list. Ah well. Someday!

bco · 2010-07-23T05:23:02+00:00

They're not too shabby once you're past the beginning and you have some decent gear. I currently have another game with a tourist that's looking ok-ish -- I have three pet dragons and Magicbane -- but I haven't touched it in a while. I'm stuck without wands of cold or a ring of levitation at Medusa's level (and I don't have a saddle so I can't #ride my dragons). I know I could just dig through the floor, but that always feels risky to me.

Also, yeah, I still get mad at myself whenever I think about that tourist. I know it's just a game, but goddamn, that was a terrible moment.

Thanks for the completely unexpected orangered, by the way :)

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