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Showing posts from January, 2013

“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads
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Music Rambles: The Departure of Adam Gontier from Three Days Grace

Recently, Three Days Grace announced that lead singer Adam Gontier resigned from the band due to health issues. My first thought was, “That sucks.” It does suck. I love the sound of Mr. Gontier’s voice, the distinctive quality it gives to the wonderful songs 3DG puts out. It’s not something that can be picked up by someone else and it still be the same. That said, I applaud the band for marching forward. Their tour was already planned out, tickets sold, and though I know it won’t be the same, I’m sure Matt Walst of My Darkest Days will do an excellent job. (MDD puts out some sweet music, too.) Sometimes, things change. It happens. Thank you, Adam Gontier, for the music you’ve fill our lives with, and I hope you feel better soon. And thank you, 3DG, for that same music, and for passion to keep going. I hope you continue to give us awesome tunes and wish you all the best. I want to thank Matt Walst as well, for stepping up to fill the vacancy. It’s not an easy thing he d
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The Difference Between YA and NA to Me

New Adult is emerging. Agents and publishers are acknowledging that the 18-24 crowd is a bit different than the 14-18 crowd, and not quite the same as the adult crowd. Unfortunately, some articles are simplifying the difference into YA issues plus steamy sex scenes. And that’s a gross understatement. As a reader, to me YA generally deals with issues like finding a place in the world, who you want to be, and gaining a sense of independence. It’s about personal identity and friendships and the evolution of a person from a child to a young adult. Sometimes it is about first love. Does it sometimes cover sex and sexuality? Why, yes, yes it does. Now, while some of these issues continue—some of us never know exactly who we want to be—there are new issues and experiences when someone becomes a new adult. A new adult is free from the relative uniformity of spending the last 13 years or better of their life in a regimen of classes and homework. There are new options. Lots of opti
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Anime Rambles: Trinity Blood

I love Trinity Blood. Enough said. Well, no it’s not all I have to say about it, but that sums it up. Nine hundred years after Armageddon, tensions remain high between the two great world powers: the human (Terran) world, led by the Vatican, and the Methuselah—vampires—who are ruled over by their Empress in Byzantium. While some on both sides strive to achieve peace among the peoples, there are other factions undermining their efforts. Some humans want the vampires to vanish for good, some Methuselah hope to gain the upper-hand in this age-old power struggle. And the Rosenkreuz want a whole new world order which puts them on top. First off, I love the layers of this series. On top, you have the political battle between the Empire and the Vatican. But under that are other scrabbles for power. The Vatican, whose figurehead is young Pope Alessandro, is really directed by his siblings, Cardinals Caterina and Francesco, who have very different ways of handling things.   And so
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