Carrots Grow from Carrot Seeds

Mission Accomplished

2008-11-28T19:34:00.007-06:00

Oh my god. I think I wrote a novel. Well, it's official. I got to the requisite 50,000 words (actually 51,173) and even managed to tie up all the loose ends in the plot. So I, along with our good friend the Left Reverend Lynn, are both official Nanowrimo 2008 winners!

Mine was in the light mystery genre with a senior apartment building, one that sounds suspiciously like the place where my mother lives, as the backdrop for murder. Publishing is highly unlikely given that I plan never to let anyone read it. Even all the people who insisted that I insert a character that happened to be just like them.....

Interesting process full of frustration, exhilaration, pain, fun and angst. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm actually already thinking about next year......

Aaaaahhhhhhh

2008-11-18T20:19:00.014-06:00

No, my NaNoWriMo novel isn't so controversial that any one would burn it in protest. Neither will it set the publishing world on fire. But I have been tempted to hit the delete key--the electronic equivalent of burning the damned thing.

Nothing like losing your narrative arc when you don't even know what that is! I have always admired writers and knew that it took talent and hard work to write a good novel. But when I first embarked on writing my own novel for NaNoWriMo it never occurred to me how hard it would be to write a BAD one.

As noted below, the focus of this endeavor is on quantity not quality. Word count is everything. You know, this blog entry has over a hundred words already...I really can't afford to waste any more in a blog when I need them in the novel.......

2008-11-04T08:32:00.008-06:00

Well, apparently I'm actually doing this. Let me tell ya, though: 1,666.7 words a day is a lot harder and more time consuming than one would think. To be honest, I did not plan on actually participating in national novel writing month when I wrote about it a few weeks ago. I just thought it was an interesting idea. Then I made the mistake of listening to the left reverend Lynn and my sister and my mother. So here I am. As of the end of day three: 7,003 words. 43,000 more words to go.

Making the task more difficult is that I'm writing in a genre that I haven't read much of in a while. What you might call "light" mysteries. There are the usual dead bodies but the books aren't full of gore or fear or suspense or true evil. They don't exactly keep you up at night. They're light and sometimes funny. Despite the corpses. My mother, does however, read a lot in that genre and so this one is for her. So, of course, I did have to base one of the main characters on her. No, not the corpse. And no, not the murderer, either.

Nanowrimo, along with reading for book club, and, oh yeah, working, have kept me busy. I did, however, take time out to vote. I was not first in line this morning, but in the top 10! It was quite exciting. So really, go vote if you haven't already.

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-17T10:31:00.009-05:00

Well, National Novel Writing Month begins on November 1. As in, “write a 175 page (50,000 word) novel in a single month” month. Which translates to 1,666.7 words a day. The good news, if you’re inclined to give NaNoWrimo a try, is that the emphasis is purely on quantity, not quality. As the official web site states, “Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap.”

Even if you’ve never wanted to be a novelist, the forums on the site are fun to browse. They offer a place for writers to get help on character and plot, and on realism and accuracy. A few examples: I have a character who needs to get arrested. How do you make a suicide look like murder? What’s it like to be shorter than 5’2”? What’s the hardest dish to make? Would it be possible to escape prison by faking suicide? What are some good 16th century names? Good flammable household objects? How is a proper tea served? What difficulty setting would, say, a 30 year old bachelor who lives in his mom's basement have on Guitar Hero III? How do you swear in Icelandic? Hours of fun. Really.

In 2007, there were over 100,000 people who signed up on the web site—and 15,000 completed the task. So, will I be one of them in 2008? Not sure about that. I’ve never had an overwhelming desire to write a novel. Never thought I had that much to say…but maybe.

Oh, who am I kidding? 1,666.7 words a day? I can’t even keep up with posting on a blog.

Alt-Country First

2008-09-09T06:52:00.005-05:00

As anticipated, the Rockbend Folk Festival in St. Peter was fantastic. The music was mostly what would be labeled folk, alt-country or Americana, but with some bluesy groups thrown in the mix as well. I will follow the Brass Kings anywhere they play. I see some road trips in the future. Another highlight was seeing John Elliot sit in with Chris Roth on the smaller stage. Elliot’s real name is John Mayer but for some reason he decided to use his grandmother's name instead. Go figure. At times he sounded a lot like Paul Simon, but with a much darker and more twisted side.

Minneopa State Park was a nice place to camp and only about 15 minutes from the festival. Although I don’t know why the two guys with the pop-up camper had to decide to camp at the site right next to ours—when just about every other site in the park was free. Oh well. At least they weren’t noisy drunks. Just two old guys talking about golf all the time.

Have to say it was a nice change to be at a gathering of thousands without seeing lines of riot police—or any police presence at all for that matter. If you haven't read it yet, Coleman (Nick, not Norm) has a nice piece about the convention in the Star Tribune today. Oh, and don't forget to vote in the primary.

Well, I didn’t get arrested….

2008-09-04T23:13:00.010-05:00

Quite the swirl of activity and emotion this week with the RNC in town: walking with 10,000 others in the peace march on Monday; the sense of community that kind of participation fosters; and the feeling that democracy really does allow us all a voice. That combined with anger and annoyance at self-identified anarchists roaming around other parts of downtown breaking windows, setting fires and hijacking the word "protest".

I appreciate that the police officers who were there on Monday were doing their jobs and were trying to keep both themselves and us safe. But I have trouble reconciling that with the atmosphere of intimidation created when a completely peaceful march is faced with lines of officers in full riot gear holding clubs. How many people, out of fear, didn't march? What is the appropriate show of force to maintain public safety without so intimidating people that they stay home? At what point does a show of force inflame rather than deter violence? How do we reconcile the importance we say we give to a free press and the free flow of information with the arrest of journalists covering protests? How can they "accidentally" serve a search warrant at the wrong address? And why does freedom of the press sometimes only seem to apply to the mainstream press?

It's not that I've never thought about these questions before. But it has been odd to see them played out in my own town.

But mostly I'm just glad the convention is over and it's time for the both delegates and anarchist sto go home.

The Republicans are Coming....

2008-08-19T17:15:00.016-05:00

The Republican National Convention will be hitting St. Paul soon and the city is getting ready for their arrival. Crews of volunteers are out planting flowers and picking up trash. Short term leases are allowing downtown St. Paul to fill up all the empty storefronts that have plagued the city for ages. New restaurants and boutiques are popping up.

At the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, a survey of delegates showed that 58 percent had annual incomes of $75,000 or more, and 27 percent had a net worth of $1 million or more. So it's no surprise that Macy’s is apparently doing its part to cash in, er, I mean welcome, them. On my way to the bus the other day I walked through Macy’s and noticed that on the Wabasha street side (closest to the convention center) the sale racks and moderate sportswear aisles have given way to Jones of New York, other designer labels and displays of women's business suits.

Coincidence? Maybe. It did make me wonder, though, what changes they were making to stores in Denver for the Democrats….

Judging a Book by its Cover

2008-08-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

If this cover was the only information we had to go by, I suspect my book club would not be reading this. Screams Harlequin/Historical Romance. And not the kind of romance novel that at least has decent sex scenes, either. However, this is actually the cover on the used copy of Jane Austen’s Persuasion that I picked up recently.

There’s an online quiz going around the internet (or at least around my book club) to help you figure out which Jane Austen heroine you are. Apparently I’m Anne Elliot from Persuasion. Granted I’m only on chapter three, but so far that is not sounding like a good thing. Check out the link to Janna’s blog if you want to see which heroine you are most like.

2008-08-05T18:23:00.010-05:00

I didn’t know what to expect when I went to Cornstalk 2008 last weekend. This music/peace/art festival was held on a farm just outside of Dunnell, MN (pop. 197). The music was a mix of folk, blue grass, and rock. I hadn’t heard of many of the bands before, but they were all a lot of fun. I even bought two CDs by Bus Nine out of Marshall, MN. And the camping was free. And contrary to our initial fears, this didn’t just mean that you set up your tent next to your car in the hayfield. Yes, we did park in the hayfield. But, we were able to set up our tent among the trees in the grove surrounding the farm house. The term “farm house” is somewhat misleading. While it is the house on Heidi and Homer’s farm, it is not your ordinary, conventional structure. It's actually an earth bermed house. As alternative construction goes I kind of have a preference for straw bale homes, but this was still very cool.

While definitely the smallest music festival I’ve ever been to, with maybe a hundred people there each day, it also was one of the most fun.

After talking to some of the other people at Cornstalk, I already have plans to go to the Rock Bend Folk Festival in Saint Peter the first weekend in September. The Brass Kings are playing on Saturday and they are not-to-be-missed. There's no on-site camping at this one (it’s in the park on the main drag in St. Peter), but Minneopa State Park is nice and close.

If I keep this up, I don't know when I'm going to find time to work. I think it's time to go buy a lottery ticket.....

What I had for lunch today....

2008-07-24T17:50:00.005-05:00

I haven’t exactly read this book (No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog), but I love the title. A friend told me about it when I first told her I felt a little left out since almost everyone in my book club had a blog, except me.

I think she was trying to give me some advice. Which apparently I’m ignoring. In other words, not only do I now have a blog, but let me tell you about what I had for lunch. Actually, I think I'll call it a restaurant review instead.

The Dunn Brothers on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul has a large outdoor grill. They do your normal brats, burgers, etc. Not necessarily a place you'd think would be a good choice for a vegetarian. Ahh, but can you say portobello? They have an absolutely wonderful grilled portobello mushroom sandwhich. And the clincher: they don't just have your oh so common ketchup and mustard. Nope. They have cilantro dressing, olive oil pesto, ancho chili sauce and more. Yumm...

The dangers of salsa...

2008-07-23T18:27:00.000-05:00

The same salmonella strain that has sickened a number of people across the country, and for which tomatoes were initially implicated, has been found on a jalapeno pepper in Texas. Or as I heard a radio announcer try to say, ”the pepper proved positive”. Really, try saying it three times fast. Harder than it looks. And funnier too. Even when the guy on the radio only tried to say it once. Of course they haven’t completely let the tomato off the hook—which basically means they still don’t know what happened, how it happened, or when it happened. All of this has led, however, to national warnings about eating fresh salsa.

These kinds of outbreaks show the dark side of what we've done with our food supply system. A lot of us don't even think about whether things are "in season" or not. We've gotten used to having all sorts of fruits and vegetables available year round. When everyone ate more locally, incidents like these were much more, well, localized. And easier to investigate. I'm guilty as the next person. I don't think that banana I had for breakfast came from Minnesota.

But for now? I think I'll go out to the garden and get my dinner. Doesn’t get much more local than that.

Things You Never Knew to Fear

2008-07-22T19:50:00.024-05:00

I read in the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week that a house fire in Mendota Heights has been traced to an overheated flowerpot. “It appears it was most likely caused by spontaneous combustion in a flowerpot on the deck," according to Fire Chief John Maczko.

Sounds like an old Saturday Night Live skit. No. Wait. That was people not flowerpots. Never mind.

So, I got curious. And Google didn't let me down. While not common, in 2006 Consumer Reports did warn readers to “Watch out for flaming flower pots”. And the state of Wisconsin issued a consumer alert about their flammability. Granted, those focused more on the danger of using flowerpots as ashtrays…but still. The problem? You know that dirt in flower pot you bought this spring? Not dirt. It’s mostly vermiculite and, the real culprit, peat.

The Wikipedia entry on bogs was even more helpful. Peat apparently has a high carbon content and can burn under low moisture conditions. Undetected underground peat fires can burn for centuries! It's apparently a popular heating fuel in some parts of the world. But I bet you're wondering about the picture accompanying this entry, aren't you? That of course brings me to my favorite piece of trivia about peat: some distilleries use peat fires to smoke the barley used in making Scotch whiskey.

Less Hip & Less Cool than I Realized

2008-07-16T19:27:00.000-05:00

I sometimes listen to music while at work, so there is often a stack of CDs on my desk. The other day the collection included L.P., Chris Whitley, Patti Smith, Neko Case and some Lucinda Williams…all very cool stuff, I assure you. Now, you’d think I might be feeling a bit old because, really, who the heck hauls CDs around anymore. But even though I know it's an MP3-iPod-iTunes kinda world, that's never really bothered me.

But then....a colleague stops by and sees the CDs.

I watch her as she tilts her head to one side. Then the other. I watch as she contemplates the cover art on L.P.'s Suburban Sprawl and Alcohol. And this is her question to me, spoken with frightening incredulity: “Do you listen to rock music? I always thought you looked like the kind of person who'd listen to classical.” WTF? Now, I don’t know what a person who likes classical music is supposed to look like exactly; but it's not supposed to be me.

Maybe I should get that tattoo and eyebrow piercing after all.

Weird Musical Attractions

2008-07-15T12:05:00.001-05:00

Some bands I listen to because when I first heard them I was totally blown away by the songs and the talent. But sometimes a band will spark my interest because of some weird obscure detail that connects me to them emotionally. Maybe they remind me of a particular time in my life. I remember when I first heard the band The Killers. Sounded to me like an American band trying to sound like a British pop band from the '80s. Flash back to college. And I loved details like the fact that they got their name from a fictional band in New Order’s video for “Crystal".

And then there are bands I first listen to because I am shallow. As in, I'm enthralled by the look of the lead singer. I saw a review of L.P.’s video Only Good with You/Cling to Me that described her look in the video as channeling Shane of the L-Word. Now, in case you didn’t know, I have a major celebrity crush on Kate Moennig. The show is basically a soap opera, but I’ll watch it just to see Kate play Shane. See, we’re even on a first name basis! So, anyway, I had to check out the video. Not sure about the Shane connection, but L.P. sure reminds me of someone I used to know. Now I’ve already bought her first two CDs; am eagerly awaiting the third; and am adding her to my list of obsessions.

Running Away From Home

2008-07-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

So I seem to have this odd fascination with the idea of living in a small town. I have a friend (okay, ex-boyfriend) who has a house in Walnut Grove. And, yes, it is THAT Walnut Grove. Anyway, I always liked the feel of the small towns out that way. Always at least one bar--and a gas station if you were lucky.

I see the houses for sale in this small town of 600 and shake my head at the prices. If you’re willing to live out on the prairie in southwest Minnesota (where there are no jobs, by the way), you can get quite a nice little house for $29,000. Yes, the brain starts buzzing.

Hey, I could sell my house here and pay cash for a nice little place there. I could have enough left over to not have to work for a year or two. I could spend all my time gardening, reading and petting the cats.

As they say, "hay is for horses". Let's see. It's not exactly the best time to sell a house. What about health insurance? What about when the money runs out? And, what in the hell am I thinking? The same small town as the ex? Oh, the danger. Yikes, we might get back together. Yikes, we might not. Yup, fraught with peril.

But when I’m tired of work, tired of traffic, tired of the rut I sometimes feel I’m in, I think about it. After all, who doesn’t want to run away from home sometimes?

What's up with the Carrot Seeds, Anyway??

2008-07-10T21:39:00.001-05:00

How can any gardener resist a song called "Carrots Grow from Carrot Seeds"? I ran across this Ruth Krauss story/song on the internet recently. Somehow it manages to both bring back fond memories of my childhood AND be one of the most annoying things I've ever heard ("It's so big....").

And scarier yet, did you know there is a Carrot Museum? I think that will be my next job--curator at the Carrot Museum. I wonder what the qualifications are.....