Two more signs of the Alpaca Lips

1. Parker Brothers will no longer be making Monopoly money for their games. They are, instead, creating a "debit" system that will work with the new games as well as the old ones. No more Monopoly money.... Think about it.


2. Nicholas Cage is on board to play Liberace in a new bio-pic. ::applies an s.o.s. pad to the brain to scrub away the mere thought of it::

Just a little over six more years and all this insanity will be over.

New Victims

Over the past month or so, I have had the honour of being befriended by a new batch of hapless prey hoopy froods. After gaining a pack of pals, I often direct them to my "memories" page so people can learn a bit about me and decide on whether or not they want to remain here. That said, any curious onlookers may want to direct there attention HERE. If these posts don't answer your questions, feel free to ask me. I'm pretty open, so I promise to answer to the best of my ability.

Thanks and welcome to the Cliff of Insanity!

Productivity

I just finished the final uploads of all the 40 second song samples for Barry Andrews. All I need to do now is wait for his approval before creating the music page. The song index on the insert for "And If I Refuse?" didn't match with what is on the CD, so I had some difficulties there and need B to make certain everything is A-OK before proceeding further.

Also, my "Sui Generis" block is gone and I've finally got that bastard Nissius killed. It's now time for Cadmus to reveal what he knows about the chalice and give Kelat the shocking news that she's a mum. HA! I still don't know how she'll react to this revelation. Will she weep? Will she be horrified? Will she accept it with calm resignation? I guess I'll find out when I get her there. I'm considering not including "Sui Generis" as a chapter in The Chalice; instead, I was thinking of making it an appendix at the end of the book, behind the Vampire Lexicon. It's awfully long for a chapter in the book, compared to the other chapters, that is. I don't want to give any readers (if there are any) a sense of stagnation when they fall into the abyss of Cadmus' biography. I don't know. I just don't know. Maybe once the second draft is complete and I see it all as a full organism, my decision will be an easy one.

I was hoping to finish the second draft of The Chalice before school begins, but that's not gonna happen. But I've written my own stuff while doing school work before.....when I was 20 years younger than I am now. BAH! I can do it. ::firm nods:: I see no reason why I can't juggle website maintenance, writing a book, doing school work, and noting my progress with all of it in my journal. It might drive me crazy, but at least the trip will be a short one and I hear the sights are to die for.

Ah, and for anyone interested, you can access the song samples here: Barry Andrews' music. There are three folders in this directory. One for "Haunted Box of Switches," his piano and vocal work, one for "Stic Basin," his techno work, and one for his early solo work. A person can get a pretty good idea of how versatile and talented this scary fellow is. Shriekback fans may be interested in the "Haunted Box" files, because he does acoustic piano versions of "Faded Flowers" and "This Big Hush." It's sure to make the hairs on the tops of your toe knuckles stand on end.

Southern Sweet Tea

I'm posting this recipe with Aunt Tudi's permission in answer to moad_terran_hq's question about how to make real Southern sweet tea. This recipe is the one I was raised on, and I have found none better, although the Beacon's sweet tea comes in close. Aunt Tudi's tea is so strong that you can see the oils swirling in it around the ice cubes. My friend Todd began calling it kerosene, it was so strong, but he loved it every bit as much as I did.

What you need:
-A large pot that will hold 2 quarts of water and its lid (at least a 3 quart to gallon sized pot)
-A gallon jug or container
-A large spoon
-2 cups of sugar
-12 standard sized or 4 large sized Lipton tea bags. Either will work, but it has to be Lipton.

What you do:

• Place two quarts of water in the pot. Tie the tea bags together at the tabs and place in the water with the tabs over the edge of the pot. Place lid on pot and turn your burner on high.


• When the water begins to boil, turn the burner off and set the pot to one side. Let the tea steep for 15 - 20 minutes. Then take out the tea bags and squeeze all the water out of them by pressing them against the pot lid with a large spoon.


• Pour two cups of sugar into the tea. You can use less or more sugar depending on your taste. Stir the tea until all the sugar is dissolved.


• Let tea cool, then pour it into a gallon jug. Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water.

You can then pour this over ice and add lemon if desired, but the best way to drink it is to let it get ice cold in the fridge, then pour it over ice. We typically never used lemon in this tea, but it's totally up to the person drinking the tea.

WARNING: This is very strong sweet tea. It can be used to revive a Southerner on a hot day or it can be used as fuel for your moped.

The Ascension and the Grail

More on "Sui Generis."

( cut for graphic violence, so don't clickie if you get sickie. )