Alex

Christmas Martini

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Dec 262011

Alex is a happy writer! For Christmas, my partner gifted me with a penguin cocktail shaker and a penguin ice bucket. He knows me quite well. In honor of that, here is a Christmas Martini recipe I developed.

Christmas Martini

Ingredients

3 oz. vanilla vodka
2 oz. peppermint schnapps
peppermint disc candies or candy canes
sprig of mint

Directions

Crush several peppermint candies. Wet rim of martini glass and press into crushed candies. Put one whole candy at the bottom of the glass. Pour the vodka and schnapps into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Shake well and strain into the martini glass. Garnish with mint.

Penguins

Travel Goals Part 2

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Dec 222011

Southern Rockhopper Penguin

My other travel goal was inspired by my first trip to Antarctica and reinforced by this one. I want to see all the different species of penguins. There are currently seventeen (or eighteen/nineteen depending on the classification of Rockhoppers). I’m splitting Rockhoppers into two species. Some scientists also add a Western and Eastern Rockhopper. That’s too complicated for me.

List of Penguin Species: Adélie Penguin, African Penguin, Chinstrap Penguin, Emperor Penguin, Erect-Crested Penguin, Fiordland Penguin, Galapagos Penguin, Gentoo Penguin, Humboldt Penguin, King Penguin, Little (or Blue) Penguin, Macaroni Penguin, Magellanic Penguin, Northern Rockhopper Penguin, Southern Rockhopper Penguin, Royal Penguin, Snares Penguin, and Yellow-eyed Penguin.

King Penguins, Gold Harbor, South Georgia Island

The penguins I’ve seen and have photographs of are in italics. I technically did see Northern Rockhoppers but we couldn’t close enough because of rough seas to get a decent picture. So far my favorites are Adélies, Rockhoppers, and Chinstraps!

Chinstrap Penguin, Elephant Island

Travel Goals Part 1

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Dec 182011

After visiting Antarctica last December, I met my first travel goal of setting foot on every continent. I live in North America and have traveled to Italy (Europe), Ecuador and Chile(South America), Mongolia and South Korea (Asia), New Zealand and Sydney (Oceania), and Egypt (Africa). I love to travel and therefore needed a new travel goal!

I have two new ones. My first one is to plunge into all the oceans of the world! While this sounds difficult, it’s not because there are only five oceans: Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Southern, and Indian. I’ve seen the number of seas listed as any number between 85 and 115. Wow, that one is much more daunting. I’m sticking with oceans. Three down (Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern), two to go! Next post, I’ll talk about travel goal #2.

Trip Pic: Gypsy Cove on the Falkland Islands

It’s a Small World

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Dec 152011

Just like the Disney song, It’s a Small World, we all have moments when the smallness of the world crashes into our real life. These moments are different for all of us from day to day and from person to person but they happen more frequently than one would guess. I love these moments. I feel they increase my connection to every person in the world.

Today, I had a wonderful conversation with my friend, Victoria. She works with “at risk” teens in my local school system and she is just an amazing person. She works miracles with the kids and has an incredible rapport with them. She has four dogs, which she adores, and is someone that everyone can relate to in one way or another.

From our previous conversations, I gleaned that she is also a very devout Christian and had a very traditional mindset. For those reasons, I never told her that I wrote gay fiction. Today, I decided to take the proverbial leap of faith and show her my books as well as tell her explicitly what I wrote. It turns out that Victoria’s daughter is gay and she is a firm supporter of gay rights. Wow! I was surprised but very happy to find this connection with Victoria.

Trip Pic: Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands

Homophones

Writing Comments Off

Dec 112011

Homophones are the bane of a writer’s existence. Anyone who has written the wrong their/there/they’re knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s such a waste/waist. Homophones are one of our/hour/are biggest problems when you’re trying to write quickly.

Hear/Here! Homophones can be a pain in the arse. All good writers are aware of them and pay attention to the ones that they are prone to make. There is know/no way to avoid them! Everyone gets a peace/piece of them! I wish there were some way/weigh to keep away from them but it seems unavoidable. Thank goodness I have an incredible editor!

Trip pic: Penguins on Saunders Island in the Falkland Islands

Bye/By/Buy,

Alex

Montana Burger

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Dec 082011

Holy cow, peeps! I’m back in WI for less than a week and craving a burger. This is delicious death on a bun and one of my all-time favorite burgers! Use a ¼ lb. burger and enjoy. If you put away two, you da the man!

Montana Burger

Whole-wheat bun or Kaiser roll (Montana=wheat)
Thick sliced sharp Cheddar cheese (You can wuss out and go with mild or American cheese)
2 oz. deli-sliced ham
4 slices bacon, cooked medium crisp
1 fried egg, I like mine over medium but you do yours your way
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Back in Wisconsin!

Travel Comments Off

Dec 042011

Greetings everyone! The Packers are still undefeated and we are back in Wisconsin. Partner and I went to Antarctica again although it was a different trip than last year. This year we started in Ushuaia, Argentina, visited the Falkland Islands, then South Georgia Island, and finished up with the Antarctic Peninsula. The next few entries will have some pics from the trip as well as other stuff.

This is pic is from Tierra del Fuego National Park in Argentina. The land is named Land of Fire because the Spanish explorers found a stark beautiful countryside where the people (Yamana) were always naked and had many fires. The temperature in summer ranges from 32 to 50^oF! Naked with a fireplace sounds like a good way to live!

Wickles Pickles

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Oct 202011

Nothing beats a great pickle. Be it on a burger, next to your favorite man-wich, or in your Bloody Mary. I have recently discovered Wickles Pickles. The name is catchy and it almost sounds obscene. Couldn’t ask for more!

I normally like generic pickles. Nothing fancy, no secret recipes, no weird obscure tastes. Just plain cafeteria pickles! Now, I had a Wickles spear in a Bloody Mary and several slices on my burger. (I’m at Benchwarmers, an awesome pub that plays loud country music and has the friendliest employees in all of Wisconsin!)

The folks at Wickles use a seventy-year old family recipe that will knock your socks off. They are sweet, spicy, and have a flavor unlike all other brined cucurbits! While I don’t officially pimp any products unless I’ve been offered tons of money, I highly recommend Googling the product and getting yourself some! They are worth it!

Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Musings Comments Off

Oct 162011

ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fatal disease where motor neurons slowly die and thereby slowly reduce a person’s ability to move. The drug, Riluzole, slows the progress of the disease and there are various devices and therapies that can be used to manage the symptoms however there is no cure for this disease.

On August 31, 2011, one of my partner’s co-workers passed away from ALS. I never met him but he was the source of one of my favorite character’s names: Nishant. I felt sadness at his passing. He never knew that I “borrowed” his name and that he unintentionally became part of my stories. I developed the character by myself but I do know, from my partner’s description, that both shared a vibrancy and love for life.

The real life Nishant was married and had a beautiful six-year old daughter. He had a promising career with a software development company, and was loved by his family and many of his co-workers. Part of me is angry that he was taken away too soon. There is no history of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 95% of the cases diagnosed. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why it strikes. My mind screams, “Not fair!”

Life is frequently unfair. No matter how much we want the bad to not happen it is irrevocably intermingled with the good and it wouldn’t be life otherwise.

What’s in a name?

Writing Comments Off

Oct 092011

Part 2

International names. Those are always a challenge. I like writing foreign characters into my stories because in today’s global society, people of every nation and culture are found anywhere in the world.

Choosing a name for a recurring non-English character is a bit trickier as far as I’m concerned. I feel the name has to be authentic, definitely no Anglicized nicknames, but it must also be easy for English-speaking readers to pronounce. I have a hard time relating to characters whose name I cannot pronounce and I don’t think I’m alone.

What nationalities have I used? I frequently write characters that are from Central or South America since JoyBoy Island is located in the Caribbean. I’ve also incorporated Chinese, Japanese, European, and Indian characters in my story as well as a few from more unusual locations like Papua New Guinea!

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