Supertramp, Anyone?

First, a quick deviation: Really? Child's Play 2010? With Brad Dourif as Chucky? How long does poor Brad have to play that particular role? It's been 22 years, people. 22 long years. Let him go. Just let him escape with a shred of dignity intact. Please. Go the way of all remakes and GIVE THE ROLE TO SOMEONE ELSE.

Or not.

For the record, I've never seen any of the Child's Play films. But I spent a great deal of time as a rabid fan of Brad Dourif back in high school, and I still feel a sense of loyalty to the man. It just makes me sad to see the same old films on his filmography. A little variety, maybe?

Anyway...

Took the long way home (hence the title...did anyone else listen to Supertramp a ton? I did...). Drove through some beautiful houses in a nicer area just outside my town that I never seem to explore. And I've determined a few things about the exterior of my dreamhouse.

Sunlight exposure (not TOO many trees), privacy (just ENOUGH trees), a crowded garden, and one of those farmhouse connectors between the house and the shed. You know, like the thing Lizzie swings from in Pride & Prejudice? During that lovely seasonal-change interlude thing? Yeah, one of those.

There will be cozy lighting, visible through the just-enough amount of windows. A covered porch for rocking chairs on rainy days and summer meals al fresco. A screendoor and painted shutters. Oh, and that reminds me: fun but not garish paint color. Depends on the area I live in, probably, but something fun. And a red or green door. After Ireland I need a red or green door.

Also, there will be no stucco. I'm not a fan. Nor will there be modernistic all-straight-lines business. Sloping roof, eyebrow windows, a plump chimney, and nooks and crannies.

I like looking at houses. It's one of those fun not-so-guilty pleasures. :)

-The GLS
(PS: To combat my Lord Dunsany malaise, I appeased myself by buying two of his collections from Amazon. Price for both? Under $30 including shipping. Take that, $300 rare edition of The Collected Jorkens Volume 1...)

Not Gutsy. Just Ticked.

Look out. There's a fantasy writer/geek on the loose, and she's ANGRY.

I've been reading a fantastic collection of short stories, that I borrowed from the library, by the Irish writer Edward Plunkett. Also known as Lord Dunsany. Dunsany wrote in the late 1800s to early 1900s and is considered one of the main fathers of the modern fantasy genre. He inspired Tolkien, Le Guin, Lovecraft, and many other famous fantasists/horrorists.

And...he's bloody brilliant.

The man can tell a story, and he can tell it well.

Now, the collection I've been reading is called "The Collected Jorkens". For awhile Dunsany wrote a series of short stories from the point of view of a man named Jorkens who is reputed to be a bit of a liar, but for a whiskey and soda he'll tell you of all the remarkable places he's been and people he's seen. And these stories are genuinely fascinating, moving, dazzlingly written, and marvelously executed. Dunsany is a genius, and any fantasy writer worth their salt ought to read him at least once. Especially the stories of Jorkens.

Here comes the fun part...

I've enjoyed this book so much that I decided...heck! Why not search for a copy that I can purchase for my own library? Can't be that hard, can it?

Long story short, this collection (in three volumes) is nearly impossible to find. Especially Volume 1, for some ridiculous reason. This is, from what I've read, because Dunsany is no longer well-regarded by a fantasy community that's obsessed with the new, the now, the shallow, and the awful. <---my words.

The copy on Amazon is $300.00 to purchase. And that's USED.

As if in mockery, I'm searching on Barnes & Noble, and all the while there's a banner above the search page screaming JUST ANNOUNCED: NEW STEPHANIE MEYER NOVELLA! PRE-ORDER NOW! and I want to say a lot of very unflattering (and profane) things about the nature of where literature is headed, but I won't.

I will say this: the good parts of the past WILL disappear along with the bad parts. Unless we preserve the good things now, while we can, we may never have them again. And Lord Dunsany may turn into a footnote. And that would be a truly, truly tragic day.

Will I pay $300 for a copy of Volume 1? Not likely at the moment. But someday, maybe. When I have the resources. It's worth that much to me to not buy in to the lack of love for the tried and true.

So there.

-The GLS

The Ice Cream Fairy...

...is currently out making a delivery.

More gutsiness tomorrow.

-The GLS (aka The Ice Cream Fairy)

Congratulations! It's A Hat!

Yep, it's finally happened.

I was a busy little bee, today. Before noon I had already hung my tea-dyed yarn out to dry on the gazebo, measured my nearly-completed prototype elfin hat on the head of the elf to whom it would be given, and started making a batch of tea scones for brunch.

Phew!

The scones were delicious, although a bit dense...but scones often are, right? And the clotted cream to put on them was fantastic. Thank you, PCC, for stocking Devonshire cream!

But my greatest achievement is this: I FINALLY FINISHED THE ELF HAT.



Yes! I had decided I was going to give the hat to the child of a friend, whom I refer to here as "Cheeks". I drove over there this morning with the hat sans strap, buttons, little flower things, and with the elastic untied just to see if the body of the hat itself fit her head. And it did! Perfectly!

After measuring it on the little elf's head I went home, added the finishing touches (the strap, the buttons, the cute little flower/leaf/treestar/butterfly things), and drove back to their house a few hours later to drop it off and let Cheeks put it on!



She seemed to really like it. At the moment the strap is a bit too loose under her chin (I'm hoping she can grow into it), so she enjoyed pulling the hat off and then sticking it back on, pulling it off, sticking it on...great fun. Glad I sewed that strap on good and tight. :)

It feels nice to have that bit of knitting done. And now I want to make more. Lots more! Uh oh. This may be the start of a beautiful friendship between me...and elfin hats.

-The GLS

Redefining "Tea Room"

What is this?



Is it muddy spaghetti? The world's largest pot of pho?

I'll give you a hint: My room smells very strongly of Irish Breakfast Tea.

Here's another hint: The cupboard in the background is where I keep my yarn.

Got it yet?

Yes, I'm TEA DYEING yarn!

I bought this skein of white Kerry Woollen Mills yarn from the Irish imports store a few months ago, and I mainly wanted it because it smelled like sheep. I LOVE that smell.

But it's white. And I make a point of not buying white yarn, because there's very few things I'll wear that are white. It just invites stains.

So I thought...why not purposefully stain it? Using Irish Breakfast tea, and keeping well within the same theme? I'm going to let it set overnight. I hope the color darkens a bit more than it already has. That weird effect in the photo is actually a glass plate that I set on top of the yarn so it doesn't float. Apparently my great grandma used to do that with her pickles to keep them submerged. According to my mom, anyway.

I'll let you know how it goes. Could be interesting...

-The GLS

A Blog With A View.

Yes, I'm watching the old favorite "A Room With A View". Lovely film. Helena Bonham Carter before...the Weird. Back when she was sweet-faced, innocent, and adorable.

Anyway, tonight's gutsiness was food-related once again.

It begins with leftovers: spaghetti and mizithra cheese with one pesto-chicken sausage.

Sounds pretty humble. Delicious, but humble.

But then you grab your cast-iron skillet (once again!). Throw in a chopped onion, a portobello mushroom cap, some black pepper and garlic powder, some ruby red port, and the sausage. Sautee the lot until you can't tell what's what.

Heat up the spaghetti, browned butter, and mizithra.

Consume!!

The music today? The "Keep It Together" album by Guster. LOVE Guster. Forgot how much I loved them until I dug the afore-mentioned album out of the closet.

"In the backyard...in the garden...you were always there...digging down where the roots had burrowed underneath. Now the grass is always overgrown. And the weeds are choking out the sun. Pretty soon they'll come under the door...and you don't care!"

-The GLS

Iambic Parathas.

So much silliness! And gutsiness! Ish!

Fun Fact #1: The Elf Hat of ye long ago is nearly finished. Thank goodness! I actually had to email the original creator of the pattern to ask her a clarifying question, which she promptly responded to. Now I have the answers! I will post pictures when it's ACTUALLY finished, and perhaps when it's on a cute little elfin noggin. That would make the pictures even better, yeah?

Fun Fact #2: I did better than I thought I would on my Logic exam! Huzzah!

Fun Fact #3: I DID try a recipe from my lovely new "100 Great Breads" book this evening. In fact, I tried the "easiest" one (meaning the one that required the least ingredients...and the exclusion of yeast). The recipe was for a sort of Indian flatbread known as a paratha.

First you mix the dough, let it sit for 20 minutes, then roll it into pancake-shaped rounds:



Then you fry the rounds in a cast-iron skillet with some veggie oil until they're golden brown:



You lay them aside to cool:



And finally, you enjoy them with butter, Pav Bhaji (courtesy of Trader Joe's), and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" starring Stanley Tucci:



Mmmmmm...Stanley Tucci.



-The GLS