Friday, May 30, 2014

Bubblegum Bubbles

I'm always amazed at people who can just walk around in their own little bubble without ever talking to anyone. I'm just not built like that. Yes, I'll admit that I'm often guilty of the bubble thing, but I like talking to people far too much to operate my day on Mute, in a shatter-proof bubble. 
So I may have a bubble, but it seems to be made of gum.
And like all bubblegum bubbles, my bubble frequently pops.
Which means a fresh bubble later on, sure. But who doesn't like fresh?
Fresh is better, right?

I guess that's one of the hazards of being a writer. 
Or maybe it's one of the advantages.
I talk to so many interesting people and learn so many different things. And Lord knows it keeps my days from stagnating and my conversational level above a grunt. 
I find sources for articles I'm working on, get ideas for characters, make friends, and network. I've gotten some really great content, and I've met some truly inspirational people that I wouldn't have, if I'd kept my bubble intact.
Shatter-proof bubbles are overrated.
Sure, they may seem like a good idea, all protective and impenetrable.
But bubblegum bubbles can grow. 
Bubblegum bubbles are pretty colors.
Bubblegum bubbles are fun.

If we constantly operate within the confines of our own bubbles, the world would be a sad place. 
We'd lose connections, and I like connections. 
I like knowing that there are people who care about me, and people I care about. 
I like knowing that, as sticky as things can be, as difficult as life can become, there are people I can reach out to. People who don't mind that my bubble popped and I got stuck in their hair or on their faces. They get stuck to me, I get stuck to them. 
And then, we get stuck to the shatter-proof bubbles and prove that sometimes being bubblegum can fix holes. 


   

Thursday, May 29, 2014

What's Cookin,' Good Lookin'?

Slow cookers are a thing of beauty for anyone who has one, and this new cookbook takes the slow-cooker meal to a whole new realm of possibilities. Packed with page after page of healthy, gluten-free dishes that taste divine, The Healthy Slow Cooker, Second Edition: 135 Gluten-Free Recipes for Health and Wellness by Judith Finlayson will be one of your favorites on days when you want to have dinner ready and waiting when you walk in the door. There are great variations on recipes that might not have ever crossed your mind as slow cooker possibilities, like "New World Leek and Potato Soup," which is not only vegan and gluten-free, but great because it uses sweet potatoes in place of the standard yellow or white variety found in most recipes for this soup. You can even try your hand at a Thai-inspired dish like "Mixed Vegetables in Peanut Sauce." Easy, delicious, and a fun way to get tons of veggies onto the plate! 

Got Chicken? Of course you do! The real question would be what to do with that chicken...And here's a great way to solve that mealtime mystery: 125 Best Chicken Recipes, by Rose Murray. It'll give you quick, tasty ideas for chicken that you'll love, like zesty tacos and fajitas, flavorful burgers, soups, and even stir fry dishes. No more boring chicken! 

Try your hand at becoming a queen of the casserole with 125 Best Casseroles and One Pot Meals by Rose Murray. You might find yourself scratching your head about what to do with all of those unused pots and pans after browsing this book, which is packed with great recipes that make mealtime and clean-up time a breeze. It'll be hard to pick a favorite!

For more info on all the books above, visit www.robertrose.ca 




Saturday, May 17, 2014

Muddle On

I seem to be having one of those days where it seems that every word I type is laborious and not-quite-right. Which is a bad thing when you're staring down the business end of a deadline. It leaves you with little choice but to muddle through and hope that something magical happens between the time the thoughts squeeze out of your brain on their way to your fingertips as they hit the keys. Unfortunately, there is no app for writer's block. There's only sheer force of will...That, and the oh-so-galvanizing reality that if you do not work, you do not get paid. And paid is good. Paid means I get to keep a roof over my head and food in the fridge. All of which I like, so I muddled on. 

All morning and into the late afternoon, I have muddled on. 

Fortunately, I can now cross the muddling off and breathe a sigh of relief for a little while. I can try to think about something else...like who might next get booted from the teams on "The Face." You know, the really important stuff. Sometimes it's refreshing not to have to navel-gaze, okay? It keeps things a little more balanced, a little more sane. Yes, insane reality TV can keep you sane; there's a study on it, I'm sure. 

But even if it's not a proven scientific fact, it's fun. And fun is sometimes precisely what you need, especially after a long day of un-fun brain squeezing. So as you can imagine, I'm quite looking forward to going home later and planting my rear on my Ikea couch to watch the next installment of "The Face" that awaits me on my DVR. There are worse things I could be doing; so this particular vice is, in my opinion, a healthy one. It keeps me sane. 

And sanity is necessary to good writing. And good writing gets the bills paid. And paid bills includes paid cable bills, which means more of "The Face." It's good to have goals, isn't it? It keeps you muddling on.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Escapism

There's a lot to be said for lack of focus. Or maybe it's just me. Today, I'm so unfocused that it's distressing––I have too many things to do to feel this scattered. I'm terribly happy about the fact that I have a full list of assignments, but none of them seems to be taking any particular shape at the moment. I'd call it writer's block, but can I call it that if I'm actually writing right now? Hmmmm...interesting thought. 

As I sit here in my home-office away from my home-office, I'm chugging coffee, trying to warm up both my brain cells as well as the body that holds that brain––non-functioning though it might be at the moment. For some reason, every public place in the free world seems to feel the need to run their A/C at maximum, never once considering that their patrons might actually welcome the idea of tolerable thermostat settings. Some of us actually think better when we're not tying to thaw out, but I guess maybe we don't count. We're the minority, perhaps, but still.

But I digress. This was not actually what I intended to be writing about for today's post, but sometimes things have a mind of their own, don't they? The mind runs away with itself, taking the fingers with it and whipping across the keys to compose something entirely unintentional. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes a bad one. Whatever the case, it is an unescapable part of reality.

Speaking of escape...I am now the proud owner of a Ford Escape. In all the torrential rain activity that plagued my sector of the map last week, my car was part of the toll. And while the thought of being able to get a different car in place of my Suzuki was an appealing one, the way that it happened wasn't quite ideal. Normally, the purchase of a new car is a planned one, not an emergency one. But God was certainly watching over me as I made my search, and everything went much more smoothly than I could have imagined. It was an amazing blessing, a silver lining at the edge of the rain clouds. Fittingly enough, the Escape is the color of a storm cloud––a rolling reminder that life is full of storms, but faith will see you through them. You only have to believe and pray. And remember to be thankful for the miracles God can work, even in the middle of all the storms.