$ImNotDead[6]= · 6:47pm Sep 2nd, 2013
" At least I'm not dead, mostly.
Again, sorry for the delay. I'm so very close, and yet so far away from finishing the rough draft of the next update. Only two scenes left, and I'm up to about 17k words. I have a feeling that this one will be 21k or more in length. I'm not sure where they all go to be honest. I look at my outline, and then think to myself, okay, this should maybe be a thousand words or so. I mean, all they're doing is going to x and doing y, and having a conversation about z. A gazillion words later, and we've gotten to them getting to y. It's like how if you don't pay attention and have a budget, your fritter away your money and wonder where it all goes. In my case I fritter away ink and words and create a super dense piece of prose.
Ah well. In other news, I'm very stressed out about job related stuff. I need to get rhsca certified by the end of this year ( so I can take even more certs next year, and the year after that, until I become rhca certified [ also known as the alpha red hat guy ] ) and I'm scheduled to take the test the later part of October. Now that's fine and dandy, except the more I learn about linux, the more I realize I don't know anything about linux. So I'm cramming for that test. Did I mention that it's the day before a NIN concert that I'm going to?
I asked my boss if he thought that it was a good idea that I go to a concert and then take the test the day after, and he said it should be fine. So long as I don't get as wasted as he did the last time he went to a NIN concert, wherein he remembers the first ten minutes, and can't remember the rest of the week. So yeah, me, iptables, vnc, acl's, and SELinux are all going to be having a lovely time for the next month or so, while I freak out.
Another thing I've noticed is that the more stressed I've become, the more I bake. It's kind of odd, but I'm going through bread flour like no one's business. I'm making everything from bread to baguettes, from crepes to pancakes, to cakes and cookies. Speaking of which, I'm going to go make a batch of double chocolate chip and cherry cookies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0tZq-Bexy8
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Sounds rough, man. I hope it all works out for you. Maybe after everything's settled down and you have some free time, you'll pick up the pen again. Not necessarily to write pony words, but just to relax and put some ideas down on paper. I myself, find it a bit cathartic to get my ideas out and on some form of permanent medium (as permanent as the internet can be, anyway).
...
Where did you get that recipe for those cookies? They sound delicious.
1323903
I made it up. Right now I'm trying to add more cherry to it. I'm using dried cherries that I let infuse with kirschwasser for about a day, but while it tastes great, it's just enough cherry duking it out with the chocolate for my tastes. I need to investigate alternative cherry additives.
Kirschwasser? Church water? In any case, I sometimes put cherries in my brownies, though it always comes out a bit mushy. I should probably drain the cherries better. Oh, and try not to read anything into my being able to translate that (I think, I still have no idea what it is), I just happened to have a German/English dictionary at my computer desk because I like making German-sounding names for characters.
1324004 Church water would be Kirchwasser or Kirchenwasser, the "s" distinguishes the building and the fruit.
OT: As much as I'm looking forward to your next chapter, real life should take priority. You are already doing much for us writing. Wir drücken die Daumen für das Zertifikat.
1324048
Danke sehr. Hopefully I'll be able to get an update out before my certification exam. Everyone's been waiting quite long enough in my opinion. Besides which, I only have 1.5 more scenes to go and the rough draft will be mostly finished. I just need to go back and spackle in a few holes and smooth over some rough spots before I send it to the editors to find out how poorly I write.
1324004
kirschwasser is actually an unaged cherry brandy that is most notably used for black forest cake. Of which I am a huge fan. I was actually born in Stuttgart, and though I moved away when I was five, and only know a few phrases of German, my taste buds have forever been imprinted with the flavors of Bavaria. Not to brag or anything, but I make a mean schnitzel, spatzle, and three bean salad dinner. I'm thinking of going back there. I can't get decent lebkuchen for love nor money here.
Anywho, for the cookies, I find that if you start out with a simple chocolate chip recipe, you can experiment with it and bend it to whatever you'd like. By the way, the measurements below are approximate, I don't really measure all that much so much as judge by texture and taste.
2 cp flour
1/4 to 1/3 cp cocoa powder (dutch pressed is great)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 and 1/3 cp brown sugar (maybe only 1 cup depending on how sweet you want them)
3 tsp vanilla (or a couple of shots as I like to term it.)
2 eggs
1 bag of chocolate chips ( I use either the bittersweet ones, or I take a bittersweet bar and chunk it up with a cleaver)
1 bag of dried cherries
1/2 cp of cherry brandy (kirschwasser)
The way I've been doing it is to soak the dried cherries in the cherry brandy over night.
Then, you want to cream the butter and sugar together first until they make a uniform paste. Then add the eggs and beat slowly at first, then like a mad fiend, forcing air into the mixture until you get stiff peaks, or as close to it as possible. Then, add the vanilla and make sure that it permeates everything. Add in the dry ingredients, as well as the cherries. You might want to experiment with how much brandy to use. I usually add in a couple more shots. Add in the chips and then bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 f for about 10-12 minutes. Use a wire rack to cool. This is at sea level, so make appropriate adjustments if at a different elevation.
Ooo... that sounds divine. I'll have to send the recipe to my sister, as she's the baker among us. I'm more of a stovetop cook. Want tacos? Pork roast? Beef roast? Pizza? I'm your man. I learned what few things I know about cooking from my mom, who was the best ever. Now that I think of it, we can all say that.
Thanks for catching that.
1324048
Well, I feel stupid for missing that "s".
Take your time, do it right. By "do it right" I mean the writing and the certification. And by "take your time" I mean write faster. Real life can wait, there are ponies to ship!
Also, despite having stared at DLTS for ever and ever, I'd never noticed the short description: "Twilight visits Canterlot and makes finds a new friend in Princess Luna ".
1325404
Huh, so it did. Thanks for spotting that.
Happy to hear you aren't dead. Take the time you need, I'll just be happy to know you are still interested in continuing your stories as opposed to abandoning them like so many others have.