JamesSavik

I have a nice little laptop but I only use it when I travel or I'm working.

I like to write late at night when its quiet and I can concentrate. Downside is that 7:30 comes awfully early but, my ADD brain isn't chasing as many rabbits. Sometimes I listen to music. Mostly classic rock. What depends on the scene. In my latest story, I include a YouTube link at the end for a song that featured in chapter like:

I've got a two monitor set up with a 22" and 20" screen (that's 55.8 cm and 50.8 cm to metric folk) I use one to write and the other has email, spreadsheet and browser I can pull up without taking my eyes off the ball. Now, it the cats behave, I might have this next chapter posted soon.

In my latest project I've got more than a hundred named characters. Insanity!? Probably but, that's how I roll. Goofy bastard. So... how do you keep track of it all? It's a struggle. These are the tricks I'm using and, the pros and cons of each. 1. Dramatis Persona... word document This worked Ok until it got to sixteen pages with notes and pointers to other entries. Then it became too complex and cumbersome to easily work well. It lost the virtue of simplicity when it was overloaded with more and more complex and unformed information. This is what it looked like at first: Chris Ashley (19) == Father Ashley (n) Tony Ramano (18) == Mother Maria Ramano (n) Toby Rankin (13) (d) == Father Sam Rankin (deceased) Brandon Rankin (14)(d) == Father Sam Rankin (deceased) Jeb Somerset (15)(d) == parents Somersets of Savannah Cole Matthews (14)(d) == Father new age fruitcake Barry Anderson (13) (d) == trafficked child, actual name is Cutler You don't want to know what happened later. Each entry expanded from name, age, shift (day or night), parent to paragraphs and description and sketches and why the F* are my notes outpacing the writing??? This still exists but it has been trimmed down to only what is needed at a glance. Just basic stats. If I need hair and eye color... Well that's my next step. 2. Dramatis Persona... note cards Anybody that's ever written a paper knows about note cards and how handy dandy they are. They were hyper-text before there were computers, right? WRONG. Three by five note cards are amazing things. They help in lots of ways... until they become a horrific cluster of complexity and you can't find your arse with a flash light. Once again, Keep it simple, stupid. Index cards work but, you can't expect them to be a database. They are useful for marching ideas across the desk, matching up characters and seeing how things look. If you keep them simple and don't try to do too much with them, it works FINE. Keep it simple and, it works best if you can remember how to write. (That's actually a thing- handwriting vs keyboarding). 3. Dramatis Persona... spreadsheet- for the win. Yes it is a clear winner. It's searchable. You can make fields for EVERYTHING. Want to search by how many redheaded characters you have? It's possible. Want to sort by age? You can do it. Want to know who is boffing who? Yeppers, it's a complete possibility. There are highly complex writing packages that you could spend forever learning and not get anything done. Databases are possible but if you can do that, someone wants to hire you to fix the mess his last guy left. Spreadsheets are old tech and have been around forever. The key thing about them is they are built generically enough that as your complexity grows, it can accommodate you without breaking anything or having to start over. Your mileage may vary. If you've got a sane number of characters, data management isn't a huge issue. You may absolutely love Scrivner and have figured out how to make it all work. That's fine. If you can use Excel, you've got a serious power tool.

Ingredients: 3 X chicken breasts 1 X large onion (red or yellow) 1 X green bell pepper 1 X red bell pepper Spice Mix: 1 TBS chili powder 1 TBS Cumin 1 Teaspoon salt 1 Teaspoon black pepper 1 large crock pot Steps: Prep the veggies Slice onions and peppers. Load up the crock pot Create a bed of onions and peppers for the chicken. Park the chicken on a bed of onions and peppers Apply the spice mix to the Chicken Be sure to get both sides. Add 1/2 cup water, cook for 4 hours on high. When done, remove chicken and shred it with a fork. Retain the onions and peppers. Strain the liquid, add broth to the shredded chicken. Build your fajitas as usual with shredded chicken, onions and peppers. Add your favorites like cheese, guacamole, Spanish rice, refried beans, salsa, pico, lettuce, tomato, etc. Enjoy.

Shaggy lives!

I think we're annoying them.

i. At zero dark stupid in the morning, Junior woke me up by nibbling on my ear. I’m not sure when I’d started calling Frank’s kitten Junior but, it was easier on my sensibilities than “Frank’s kitten” or “Kitty”. The feisty little beastie didn’t care if it was four in the afternoon or four in the morning. He wanted some attention. I pet him, and he rumbled with delight, then nipped my knuckle and ran to the door swishing his tail. He was hungry. I gently disengaged from Frank, put on s

Porky's Chili Ingredients 1 pound lean ground beef 1 pound pulled pork (smoked is best, no bbq sauce) 1 medium red onion 1 bell pepper (may add or sub Anaheim or Poblano) 1 small can chili peppers (heat depends on your tastes) 1 can Hunts chili fixings 1 can Rotel chili fixings Spices (note: this is a "safe" amount. If you are more adventurous, you can turn up the volume by adding more chili powder, cumin or red pepper at your own risk) 1 1/2 tbs cumin 1 tbs chili powder 1 tea spoon salt 1 tea spoon black pepper 1/2 tea spoon red pepper Kidney or Pinto beans (optional) ________________________________ Dice the onions and peppers. It's OK to cheat with a food processor. Start browning the ground beef Add diced onions and peppers to the beef, cook them together ~6-8 minutes until onions turn translucent. Add Rotel chili fixings, Hunts chili fixings and small can of chili peppers. Add pulled pork. Add spices Stir thoroughly, bring to a boil for ~ 1 1/2 minutes. Optional: add beans at this step. Reduce heat and allow cooking for thirty minutes. Stir frequently. Serve with Mexican cheese, sliced Jalapeños, sour cream, tortilla chips . Pairs well with light beer. Also goes very well on hot dogs. Even better the next day if you have leftovers. WARNING: This chili is VERY rich.

So... I cooked 10 pounds (4.54 kg) of pulled pork and this happened. Tattle tale piggie.

#QuarantineCats

Take this course from Columbia For more check him out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyFgCoP4ovsHbt92vM4zN2A

Me on twitter

This is my version of the recipe. Your mileage may vary. 🙂 Chili Verde 2 pounds pork loin cut into chunks- browned on the stove 1 X 28 oz can of tomitillos (crush them 5 X 7 oz cans of verde salsa 1 X can Rotel 1 X small can of chili peppers (to taste) 1 red onion chopped 3 garlic cloves 1 tbs chili powder 1 tbs cumin 1/2 teaspoon red pepper 1 tsp black pepper Put in (large) crock pot for 4-6 hours. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream.

Damn social distancing.

This gentleman has been on the case since the very start. He has had a daily video and, published this summary. Things are looking up. It looks like we're not going to have the deaths we thought we might. Lockdown may be boring but, better bored than infected with this little monster.

Twofer Toozday