Monthly Archives: July 2012

Earlier this month, I did a blog for the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Chapter of RWA, drawing a parallel between the Olympics and Writing.  http://ffnp.blogspot.com/2012/07/lessons-from-olympics-by-monica-stoner.html  All the raw talent in the world doesn’t do any of us…athlete or writer, much good without study and hard work.  As the games progress, it becomes increasingly obvious that timing and luck have a lot to do with success, but first they have to be AT the Olympic Games to take advantage of that success.

Out of the nearly 11,000 athletes competing in London, more than 500 from the UK and USA each, only 312 will take home the gold, silver, or bronze.   Not such great odds.  A lot of the athletes who paraded into that stadium will go home with nothing but memories, not always happy.

Well, this is certainly like writing!

Except. In each event, as with The Highlander, there can be only one–set of medals.  Fourth place and lower, even when the unplaced is a world class talent, becomes a part of Olympic history, to be dragged out in a future game of Trivial Pursuit.  Okay, still like writing.  After all there is only one winner in each category of RWA’s Rita and Golden Heart.

And here is where writing stands out.  Every Rita finalist is already a winner, since the Rita recognizes published books.  And every single Golden Heart finalist has the distinct possibility of publication.  Every. Single. One.  All of them winners.  Sure some of them will be read by  more people than others, but all of them will be read.

And that is just plain wonderful.

Lacking permission to display photos of the Olympics, the Rita or the Golden Heart, I’ll share a photo taken from my window.  Yeah, New Mexico has some pretty terrific sunsets.

I was searching for a quick news/weather update on the television and ended up in the middle of the Hoda/Kathie Lee (not) at the Olympics.  Generally I turn off the idiot box when they come on, but I was deep into untangling a plot point and not ready to step away.  Then they did one of their silly surveys, consisting of a few questions about the Olympics.  In particular:

What is your favorite Olympic event?

What is your favorite part of the opening ceremonies?

Huh, some pretty good questions.  So I’m going to give my favorites, and you can pitch in.  Let’s see, do we want to have prizes?  Why the heck not?  What about a random pick from my late husband’s collection of Olympic pins? No street value, he just collected pins. Particularly from when the Olympics was in Los Angeles.  And that’s when I find them again, things have been topsy turvy here for a while.  Or maybe we can just do this for fun??

My answers:

Favorite event.  For sheer eye candy, it has to be Men’s swimming.  Wow, talk about athletic beauty on display!  And when they do show a bit of Water Polo, I have to head for the ice water.  But my true favorite event is the Dressage, especially when it’s Classical, without the current trend for over flexing and mechanical devices.  I came into horses in the time when training was more about time spent and less about shortcuts.   A good Dressage ride, with horse and rider in perfect balance and coordination, is a thing of pure beauty

NOT Classical Dressage, but really fun!

Favorite part of the opening ceremonies. I realize every opening ceremony has some special secret attraction, not all of which come off as planned.  Remember Korea and roasted pigeons?  On the upside Finland’s Winter Olympics with the peek a book fairy tale aspect?  And who wouldn’t be impressed by the sheer magnitude of the Beijing opening ceremonies.

None of this holds a candle to the expression on the faces of the young athletes as they step into the stadium behind the flag of their country, and are met with that wall of noise.  The delight and awe and sheer exuberance makes the whole torturously long ceremony worth every second.

So, those are mine.  What about yours?

So, low carb since late January. How DO I survive.

Very well, thanks for asking!!  The big problem, of course, was getting over my eating habits.  NO more fries, NO more burgers.  NO more processed foods at all.  Sigh.  Cook all my own meals, or eat where I know how the food is prepared.  Okay, that’s not so difficult.  But HOW can I do without bread?

Rather well, actually, with the help of some wonderful low carb websites and blogs.  And cauliflower. Yeah, that weird white stuff makes a pretty darned good substitute for yummy.  This was the inspiration: http://whatsfordinner-momwhatsfordinner.blogspot.ca/2012/06/cheesy-garlic-cauliflower-bread-sticks.html

I’m playing with variations. When I’m feeling leisurely, I use fresh cauliflower.  But I buy frozen in smallish bags when they come up on sale, and my freezer is STOCKED. So tonight I microwaved for about five minutes, then ran it through my small food processor.  Scramble an egg in a small bowl, add a cup of the processed cauliflower.  Add a cup of grated Italian type cheese (I’ve used cheddar or Mexican cheese blends, especially when I’m doing a green chili cheese variation.  But tonight was all about Italian.

Add garlic powder and mixed Italian seasoning.  Use parchment paper on your cooking tray. (DON’T forget the paper) and a bit of Olive Oil.  Pat the cauli/cheese mix out flat, bake at 450 degrees until it’s dark.  You can add more cheese but I haven’t bothered, it’s just yummy as it comes.  MMMM

And tonight I baked spaghetti squash, scraped it out into a bowl, and added sauce made from crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, and the wonderful portabello mushrooms on sale at Smith’s.

Yep, surviving pretty well.

And if you’re looking for something to read while enjoying, I could suggest either My Killer My Love (Kendra makes her own bread) or Teach Me To Forget (Jonathan does the cooking, to save both of their stomachs)

Both books are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Black Opal Books, Smashwords.

Enjoy trying the “bread” or the books