Cuani walked without seeing, the countryside around her empty of the people that could give her sight. It was a rare joy. The wind was a warm comfort against her face and set the drapes of her shield mesh dancing across her legs. She pulled the mesh, a shapeless dress of web-thin ceramic beads, off over her head and draped it around her shoulders, realizing that here she didn't need it. Here she was not inundated by the sensations and thoughts of other people. She could feel instead the reality of the nuanen farmland through which she strode.
"Stay on the road til there is no more road, if you really want to walk that far, then turn left. There's a driveway but it's kind of windy, and the house a bit up slope to the right. Hopefully they'll spot you if you can't find the house. It's open enough, but they might not be looking."
That's what the shuttle pilot had told her when she disembarked and asked for directions instead of a ride. The shuttle wasn't allowed in the farmlands, nor motorized vehicles, but buggy drivers could be booked in advance. Buggy drivers and hosts and empaths were all that were allowed. And her. Wherever empaths but not telepaths, wherever telepaths but not empaths, she could go almost always. But she had checked. The exceptions were rare but important. She hadn't bothered with the buggy driver. It was a walkable distance and she wanted to experience it without the encumberance of people.
The sun, she could feel, was already high overhead, warming her hair, her forehead, a little of one cheek. The mesh was keeping the sun from heating her shoulders, an unexpected benefit. Academically, she knew the mesh was a kind of temperature moderator, but that wasn't it's purpose, just a side bonus she forgot about in the already-controlled temperatures of the comm center where she lived and worked. Her legs, lightly wrapped by the thin overalls, were cooled by the light breeze, almost chill despite the high sun and she reminded herself not to pause in her walking. She would want to be there by the time the sun fell. Her luggage had been sent ahead with another buggy rider and she hadn't thought to grab a coat.
She took a deeper, cautious, breath, reminding herself that, though this wasn't the filtered air of the comms center, the odors might be better as easily as worse. She sniffed with her nose, took a deep breath with her nose, smiled her own smile with her own delight. Bread, she thought. Warm bread baked with flower petals and served with honey butter, perhaps, or, no, herbed butter. Sweet and savory herbs eaten on a picnic blanket with crushed grass underneath. She stumbled and laughed at herself with her own amusement. The eyes of people around her gave her sight, and the floors of the comm center were smooth unless someone had left a box or bag in the walkway, but she gladly gave up the sight they offered for the pleasure of knowing she wasn't smiling because someeone else was happy, her own feelings lost and buried by the joys and sorrows and frustrations and amusements of everyone around her.
She paused, made sure she was still feeling the grainy texture of the stone beneath her boots and that she hadn't stumbled because of shifting off to the shoulder or into the fields that would line the road to the farm houses. Yes, still road, and the soft feel of distance presences, the cluster of homes and stores and services around the shuttle dock, remained behind her. She lifted her arms to feel the air more fully, breathed through her nose again, and considered turning around just to dance in the emptiness of it all and the warmth of the sun and the cool of the air, but kept herself from doing so. Keeping to a straight line was relatively easy, getting on the right straight line again not so much. For just a moment she might dance when the hosts at the farm were close enough to sense, so long as they were happy to see her.
Fiction Friday Prompt: Use this phrase or sentiment in your story ” a culture of solitude”
Friday, November 11, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Grimm
Saw it. Liked it for now but we'll see if they can keep it up. A little heavy on the almost-werewolf stuff as opposed to the other story elements of the Brothers Grimm stories, but maybe it will help the transition to have something that has been recently popular, as does the contemporary detective-story-like setting. Not brand new fantasy by any means, nor high fantasy (my favorite) but I'm always happy to see anything with strong traditional elements because it means things that were popular awhile back might become popular again and some of my own writings are not in the current pop themes.
I caught a glimpse of some other show last weekend that I thought was the same series but obviously it's a competitor, with strong similarities and distinct differences (that one seemed to switch between contemporary worlds and somewhere else in a way that this one does not, but I didn't catch enough of it to be sure. Often I've seen stations come out with shows and movie producers come out with movies that have such an obviously shared basis or premise that I wonder if they are two scripts based very loosely on the same book or story, whether someone writes a proposal like a back-of-book blurb and the stories are written based on just that much info, or whether its more like a writing prompt, where a phrase or statement is presented and everyone--at the conference or web site or whatever--is invited to write their own version. I get the challenge, I can see it in series at the same network - hallway chatter? A news blurb passed around the e-mail net that inspires? But when there are so many themes and premises and all out there, can't we get a little wider range of material to choose from?
I caught a glimpse of some other show last weekend that I thought was the same series but obviously it's a competitor, with strong similarities and distinct differences (that one seemed to switch between contemporary worlds and somewhere else in a way that this one does not, but I didn't catch enough of it to be sure. Often I've seen stations come out with shows and movie producers come out with movies that have such an obviously shared basis or premise that I wonder if they are two scripts based very loosely on the same book or story, whether someone writes a proposal like a back-of-book blurb and the stories are written based on just that much info, or whether its more like a writing prompt, where a phrase or statement is presented and everyone--at the conference or web site or whatever--is invited to write their own version. I get the challenge, I can see it in series at the same network - hallway chatter? A news blurb passed around the e-mail net that inspires? But when there are so many themes and premises and all out there, can't we get a little wider range of material to choose from?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Don't mix ink and clothes
Especially check pockets to make sure that pens are still not in pockets when the clothes are put in washing machine or drier. They sometimes survive the washer, but rarely the drier, and replacing clothes is always a bit hard on the budget. yeah, personal experience and periodic reminders...
Friday, October 21, 2011
Holiday Foods Cheaper
With the approach of the holidays, my mind always turns to food and menus. I like to try new recipis and experiment though the family doesn't always appreciate it and the bulk of the menu is usually family traditional. Still, the budget has varied and the food with it. Along the way, experiments and all, I've found some good tricks for serving festive and formal meals that didn't have to be expensive. Here are a few tips:
Hors d'ouvers (however that's spelled) always add something to the party atmosphere. They can be as cheap as "dollar store" ingredients or pricy, and it won't matter a whit to your guests: what matters is that you spend a little bit of time putting them together, preferably in several colorful combinations: crackers topped with cheese spread, some with an olive half, some with a quarter sausage slice will do nicely. Sliced hotdogs heated in barbecue sauce and served with toothpicks makes a nice hot alternative and give the host or hostess a chance to mingle with guests as he brings them around, still hot.
Basic foods "dressed up" will also add to the sense that you're giving your guests a treat. We dress up macaroni and cheese or other casserole foods by piling it into a baking dish (lightly oiled). We crush six or eight saltines with a little melted butter, and sprinkle the results on top. Bake for half an hour (forty five minutes if the cassarole was made ahead and is cold) to brown the crackers. Alternatively , dress up a bowl of mac and cheese with a sprinkling of paprika or a pattern of paprika and parsley for a pretty effect. Dress up canned beans by adding slivered almonds. The little added touches turn a common meal into something special.
Cheap meats can serve as well as expensive ones: the main thing is to cook them appropriately. Don't buy a cheap roast and cook it like a steak. The results will be unpleasant in all respects. Instead, cook it appropriately for a roast and present it on a pretty platter. If you do it as a pot roast, take the large chunk vegetables (we usually do quartered potatoes, small or halved carrots, and onion quarters with a pot roast, foil-wrapped baked potatoes with an oven roast, with thinly sliced onions as a flavoring on the roast itslf) and spread them around the side of the meat on a platter. Serve the broth on the side for gravy or save it as a soup base for leftovers and rice.
If you need to make several meals for guests staying over, you can keep them satisfied and your budget in control by stretching a soup lunch with the addition of rice, potatoes, or pasta. Pasta can be added directly to the soup (it will tend to turn it into a cassarole) or cream soups and thicker soups like chili can be served as a generous sauce over the top of pasta for a filling meal.
Jello can be made into an elegant dessert by making it with an extra packet of gelatin, cutting it up when it's firm, and mixing it with whipped topping and maybe fresh fruit. For a large group, use more than one flavor, make them separately, and mix the cubes together for a colorful treat. Alternatively, separate the liquid from a single flavor into two or three separate dishes, one of them them the serving dish or a series of individual dessert dishes. Chill the other parts only part way: whip. Add one to the serving dish in its new foamy state, stir whipped topping into the other third and put it on top of the rest for a three-layer dessert. It's the obvious effort to make it pleasing to both eye and pallat, not the expense of the dessert, that impresses friends and family best. (And a light dessert is all folks will have room for after a filling meal.)
Hors d'ouvers (however that's spelled) always add something to the party atmosphere. They can be as cheap as "dollar store" ingredients or pricy, and it won't matter a whit to your guests: what matters is that you spend a little bit of time putting them together, preferably in several colorful combinations: crackers topped with cheese spread, some with an olive half, some with a quarter sausage slice will do nicely. Sliced hotdogs heated in barbecue sauce and served with toothpicks makes a nice hot alternative and give the host or hostess a chance to mingle with guests as he brings them around, still hot.
Basic foods "dressed up" will also add to the sense that you're giving your guests a treat. We dress up macaroni and cheese or other casserole foods by piling it into a baking dish (lightly oiled). We crush six or eight saltines with a little melted butter, and sprinkle the results on top. Bake for half an hour (forty five minutes if the cassarole was made ahead and is cold) to brown the crackers. Alternatively , dress up a bowl of mac and cheese with a sprinkling of paprika or a pattern of paprika and parsley for a pretty effect. Dress up canned beans by adding slivered almonds. The little added touches turn a common meal into something special.
Cheap meats can serve as well as expensive ones: the main thing is to cook them appropriately. Don't buy a cheap roast and cook it like a steak. The results will be unpleasant in all respects. Instead, cook it appropriately for a roast and present it on a pretty platter. If you do it as a pot roast, take the large chunk vegetables (we usually do quartered potatoes, small or halved carrots, and onion quarters with a pot roast, foil-wrapped baked potatoes with an oven roast, with thinly sliced onions as a flavoring on the roast itslf) and spread them around the side of the meat on a platter. Serve the broth on the side for gravy or save it as a soup base for leftovers and rice.
If you need to make several meals for guests staying over, you can keep them satisfied and your budget in control by stretching a soup lunch with the addition of rice, potatoes, or pasta. Pasta can be added directly to the soup (it will tend to turn it into a cassarole) or cream soups and thicker soups like chili can be served as a generous sauce over the top of pasta for a filling meal.
Jello can be made into an elegant dessert by making it with an extra packet of gelatin, cutting it up when it's firm, and mixing it with whipped topping and maybe fresh fruit. For a large group, use more than one flavor, make them separately, and mix the cubes together for a colorful treat. Alternatively, separate the liquid from a single flavor into two or three separate dishes, one of them them the serving dish or a series of individual dessert dishes. Chill the other parts only part way: whip. Add one to the serving dish in its new foamy state, stir whipped topping into the other third and put it on top of the rest for a three-layer dessert. It's the obvious effort to make it pleasing to both eye and pallat, not the expense of the dessert, that impresses friends and family best. (And a light dessert is all folks will have room for after a filling meal.)
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