helgaleena

Eclipse transmission

22 Jul 09 13:26:17 GMT

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/07/watch-longest-tot...

Eclipse to Me :

my darling hush

for you

have lived to be old

still wear

your rainbow crown

streams still flow

pains dissolving risen remain

and there will be

places to see

people to do

first fruits to pluck

wicker men to burn

and stories

http://www.astrodispatch.com/2009/07/27/solar-ecli...

Here is a wise woman...

30 Jun 09 11:57:10 GMT

This not-so-wise woman heartily recommends her, and anything she might have to say.

http://laraowen.com

Midsummer on the way!

14 Jun 09 18:24:52 GMT

The above is an all-ages ritual that is highly seasonally appropriate.

I recently joined this initiative:

http://thepaganandthepen.wordpress.com/

Connie, one of our members from Down Under, reminded us that for her it's Midwinter. The shortest day is approaching instead of the longest.

Is it Beltane yet?

04 May 09 17:28:33 GMT

Nowadays Beltane, the main bonfires of spring, about which Stravinsky enthused in music for the ballet, is conflated with May 1. May Day, International Workers of the World Day in many places, has no correlation with the full moon, but then, neither does Halloween. Still, since it's only first quarter at the moment, I say let's have Beltane for another week!

Let us circle our May poles with wreaths and weave our ribbons. This year I have been circling threads so much with my wee crochet hook I sprained my thumb. Let us eat our soups of the first chives and nettles and dandelions, garnished with cheerful boiled egg. Let us munch on violets and smell jonquils and plum and cherry blossom. I hear that the smart Pagans down under have moved their Beltane to October and are having their Samhain now, as well they should. For are not our fortunate grocery stores full of the harvest of South America?

Never mind what this Druid did privately to celebrate, unlike the wild citizens of Edinburgh with their RedMen and WhiteWomen flirting all over the streets round the May Queen. For all ages I prepared the kettle of dandelions de luxe. It goes very well with North American 'soul food'-- our cornbread was in the shape of a heart, also very seasonally appropriate, though no Green Men died for our celebratory rites round here.

I like to start with either good olive oil or bacon fat, supplemented by a couple cloves of miced garlic for sweetness, and two or three cups of finely sliced cabbage as well. Dandelion is a bitter green, though not as potent as mustard. My front yard yielded an easy quart of young leaves. When they come up through mulch they are specially tender, and it's important to get them before the plant flowers, after which they toughen up. And float them in a basin of water before you chop them! no matter how I try to pick cleanly, there are always flower buds and grass and dead leaves lurking, not to mention sand. Two-inch lengths cook up well.

Once the cabbage is braised to your liking, begin to add as many dandelion greens as the kettle will hold. You will need to add water each time you add more greens in order to get them to steam and wilt down. The dent de leon is thirsty. That is why it is such a good tonic for the liver and kidneys. And once you have stirred down the final batch of leaves, it is important to fill with water to the level of the leaf mass as well. They will continue to absorb more water as they cook.

I like to poach eggs on top of the greens, but discriminating presentation frowns on this because the egg turns brown. You have heard of dandelion coffee, have you not? That is why sliced boiled eggs are the garnish for company. And they will turn a quiche brown too, like this:

Tastes good though, even with very little salt. Save it for the BBQ ribs. I find myself craving barbecue at this time of year, and many cook-offs for BBQ trophies take place in the spring.

I have heard that paradoxically, swine are immune to swine flu. So perhaps consuming pork products is a way of boosting one's immunity? It's worth a try anyway.

http://www.myspace.com/blackpigbordermorris

Here is a great link for more information about this holiday.

http://planetaryenergies.net/2009/04/28/planetary-...

Peace peace peace!

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12 Apr 09 21:07:11 GMT

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Easter spam

12 Apr 09 15:49:05 GMT

I am a woman giving birth to myself...

09 Apr 09 22:09:28 GMT

And it HURTS!

However I have promised to live until I have got the hang of enjoying it.

My new favorite astrologers

02 Mar 09 23:17:37 GMT

I have two new favorite cheer-ups in the stars department. One is Christopher Witecki at Soulgarden, who is handsome and has endurance and the common touch.

http://www.soulgarden.tv/ also reposted at youtube if it's not working smoothly

The other is The Great Fernando, of http://turnwise.blogspot.com/ The Turnwise Almanack, where you may also follow the prognostications of Lady Anaemia Asterisk.

Just let me share with you this wonderful advice from the most recent edition of WOSSNAME, the newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion:

Lesser Umbrage 19 Feb - 20 Mar

Peoples often ask Fernando how he stays so calm, cool and collected

at all times. For Fernando, this is easy, because Fernando has the

very, how you say it, "laid back" personality. Except for the making

of love, where Fernando is moltissimo hot-blooded. But for

Umbragians who wish to be more like Fernando, the stars say that

your self-improvement is the ancient Laotan mystic art of yoga. You

too can learn to breathe through your third eye. And for those who

do not have the personality for yoga, never fear, for the stars have

the answer: the ancient art of tantrum yoga. If you can't stay calm,

let your tantrums work for you to give you the great power and

endurance in the obstacle race of life. Then you will be as relaxed

as Fernando.

I too shall learn to breathe through my third eye.

Btw, if you think I might be a bit of a skeptic regarding the power of the stars, let's just say that my thinking is much like my Myspace friend Melodee Aaron's here;

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog...

The doctor in the delivery room has more impact on your personality than a distant planet-- but how exactly did you get that doctor attending? Not being born yet...

Something excellent and free

18 Feb 09 23:51:29 GMT

Now that we have all made it to the other side of Valentines Day the great marketing of romance phenomenon, which in the old days was called Lupercalia and involved ripping hearts out, I have to exult in two things.

Thing one: the band Lamb of God has made their entire new album, WRATH, available to listen for free! at Myspace.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=us...

Thing two:

http://www.darkroastpress.com

I am now officially a published romance author, not just a fanfictioning and editing wannabe. The anthology My Dark Roasted Valentine, released on Valentine's Day 2009, contains 25 percent Helgaleena romance in the form of my short story, Heartseeds.

Imbolc-- Bridget's bathwater

08 Feb 09 01:29:36 GMT

Bathing in Moonlight by *jmulcahy on deviant ART

There is a legend that holy Bride the threefold goddess of the domestic arts could turn her bathwater into beer. I think that is wonderful.

It is also the season when the maple sap begins to flow, ready for tapping, and the ewes are with lamb. It is the season for St. Heikki festival in Finland, when all the gods of the Kalevala visit the towns, and carnival before Lent.

Space Program rant Update in honor of NASA

15 Jan 09 03:09:55 GMT

My romance- sci-fi author friend at Myspace Melodee Aaron combs the newsfeeds and comes up with some excellent ones.

NASA wants citizen input on what the Space Program's 'civilian' goals should be. TELL THEM FOR GOSH SAKES! click on the link.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090113/sc_space/wa...

I asked them to shoot down giant asteroids please. Below is a repost of my earlier blog on the space program and why we need it. Nature is Good. But if we can keep from being incinerated or boiled off into the vacuum, that is a bonus...

Look here, all--

Star Wars geeks may think of ourselves as nerds but actually we are escapists. The real action is in the Real World in Actual Outer and Inner Space. Thank you to the NERDS for this crucial reminder.

On the whole I would say that the non-Star Wars sci-fi parts of my friendsbase at Livejournal have a much higher IQ overall, and know what the Real Nerds with Science Jobs are toying with lately. Whether it's giant particle colliders or Chandra or polar monitoring stations, they are better to spend time eavesdropping on than we 'Jedi' standing around cyberspace waiting for the next Lucas product to spend our grocery money on.

Having shaken my heavily splinted index finger at you all I give you the link.

<a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/200...

It's from scifi author Jay Lake,

<a href="http://jaylake.livejournal.com/">http://ja...

a great provider of regular helpings of 'link salad'. I advise you to read each and every comment in the thread because the posts are NOT by the braindead.

Then form your own opinion on whether or not you think humanity is worth perpetuating in the best interests of the planet we parasitize. Tailor you citizenship practices accordingly.

New Years update ! If you click on the following link, there's a great commentary by sci-fi author Melodee Aaron, and a huge and interesting quote of JFK (deceased president John f Kennedy, for the younger crowd) regarding the USA space program.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog...

That is all.

It's that time--- tell me what a great editor I am! with adult exerpt

10 Jan 09 23:57:29 GMT

This is a repost from the group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MMRomancereadersandW... ....

For those who may not have gathered this info yet, I am the chief
editing Sith at Dark Roast Press. My public persona is a dreadlocked
Hutt, as I began my love of M/M romance with Star Wars fanfiction and
still have not fully left that phase of my evolution behind. There's a
pretty comprehensive collection of links to my Star Wars work in all
genres at the Myspace profile.

http://www.myspace.com/helgaleena

What I learned from that incubation was that I could get equally as
much satisfaction from beta reading and mentoring new writers and those
whose mother tongue was not English yet chose to write in it. My
masters in South Asian linguistics wasn't quite as useless as I thought!

In 2007 I followed a brave cadre of fanfiction writers into the world
of e-romance publishing, under the banner of Aphrodite's Apples Press.
I was priveleged to work with over fifty different authors at all
levels of expertise during that time, and count many of them as friends
still, though when the Apple Tree fell, our editing children had to
scramble for new homes.

Worst off was the Aphrodites GLBT line, scheduled to be born on
Valentines Day. Instead, the whole press went down. Rhiannon Rhodes
stepped in and made us a home-- Dark Roast Press.

http://www.darkroastpress.com

I am so gratified
that we are getting such kudos at the P&E Poll. And my work there with
all our writers has meant so much to me, and will continue to do so.

Adrianne Brennan is a former SW geek, yea one among many, whose paranormal romance novel
Blood of the Dark Moon has now been reissued by Freya's Bower at last,
and also her short Blood and Mint Chocolates, an F/F title in the same
universe-- both works are my satisfied editing clients. A vote for her (yes non-M/M
titles, sorry) is a vote for moi. And the books are doing well there at
P& E, http://critters.org/predpoll

also at the LoveRomances Cafe poll.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/

But that's not all! Claudia, my boss at Loveyou Divine Alterotica, has
been nominated for a CAPA! You know them; Carol McKenzie and Bryn Colvin and Nix Winter all the other cool writers are there.

Over there I got to do an M/M edit called One Night Stand. It's a paranormal
with plenty of kink. Do check it out.

http://www.loveyoudivine.com/index.php?main_page=d...

EXERPT:

When their lips parted Arda whispered, "You'll appreciate
tonight. You'll see." He touched Greg's shirt and drew his finger down
his forearm. That feels nice. "I want to seduce you."

No kidding. "I realize this. But first, I want to get to know you."

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything...just talk to me."

He shot Greg a bewildered glance and shrugged. "I'm just like you.
Well, almost. I enjoy good food, mostly earth food...Italian...some
Chinese. But I also enjoy food from other planets...like Klingdon
cuisine. Occasionally I drink a glass of fine earth wine." He raised
his glass in a wordless toast. "I have all the emotions you humans
experience. I have many enjoyments and many dislikes. I like to play
the piano and I can sing. I like to paint nudes in oils and belly
dance."

"Art?" He is toying with me...lying maybe. Greg shook his head and
rolled his eyes.

"We have things in common, don't we? Actually, if you got to know me
better, you'd find we have a lot in common. Unfortunately, we don't
have time to form a relationship."

He slipped his hand around Arda's neck and pulled him into a kiss. When
their lips parted he murmured, "Tell me about your being a Demi-Lord,"
wanting to get to know the situation better.

"I'm royalty of Dezcartia of Ghod ZoHepez. I'm in line to take the
throne and rule with the Uba Thaph, which is much like the Congress
that you know. I'm risking all that and death to be with you because
I'm not to mix with anyone, except the servants the Uba Thaph provides."

"That's not fair."

"No, it's not."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right." He paused in thoughtful silence, then added, "There's
not enough time, Greg, to tell you all of it. I'm sorry."

"You're risking death to be with me?" He's totally obsessed! I'm
impressed with his defiance.

"You're going to be my sexual entertainment for this evening. You'll
love it. It'll be different for you." He raised a hand. "Usba Echu?
Come here. It's time to prepare Greg for the rack."

While the servant stood nearby, Arda's eyes elevated and lazed over the
lowest point of the V in Greg's shirt, where a few sprigs of chest hair
showed. Taunting Greg, Arda fingered his own sex through his clothing,
running a finger up and down the outline of his bulge and down the left
leg of his pants, showing Greg his formidable length, maybe ten inches
or so. On second thought, maybe I'm the obsessed one.

He switched his attention to Greg's crotch and took his hand off his
own pants, reached over and brought Greg's hand into his lap.

Feeling him for himself, Greg relished the intimate touches that he
gave to Arda's cock, even though it was through fabric. Arda's member
pulsed under his pressing and plying palms and fingers. Greg began
squeezing it gently, causing Arda to squirm and moan as he lay back,
his eyes closed. Greg felt the old familiar, hard pang of his own
erection; he teased him until his organ engorged and ached.

"You have no idea what you do to me, love. All night I've been half-
hard in anticipation of this intimacy. Sweet, blissful agony." An
appreciative gaze twinkled in his eyes. "Let's get undressed and go to
the shower," Arda urged. "There's more to come. Much more."

"What will you do to me?"

"You'll see, my precious."
http://www.loveyoudivine.com/index.php?main_page=d...

I don't know what promo has been done for it, but I was told I
went 'above and beyond' on this one. Most of the other works I do at
LYD are het.

And someday, SOMEDAY, I am going to let another editor see the little
story of a blow up doll who comes alive, my first try at original
fiction that came out of November's NaNo WriMo.

So, am I Best Editor in the universe? Maybe not, but I have lots of fun
trying. Vote here.

http://critters.org/predpoll

Solstice Reposting of THE AGENDA

12 Dec 08 06:29:18 GMT

The original sermon is here:

I am much too chintzy to write another one just because it's nearly winter solstice. It's hibernation season and I'm fighting that as it is.

http://helgaleena.mylivepage.com/blog/141/1034

Remember you can never have too much Sex. But if it's leading to reproduction you are doing it wrong unless you want the world to die from having too many damn humans on it. And if it involves long term harm to any involved then you are not nice and will get coal in your stocking or your wooden shoe depending on your ethnicity.

This time of year creates intense craving for sleep, or lights twinkling and hot stimulants if action is involved. (y/n)

You know what's pernicious mythology? Soulmates. the One and Only. In the flush of initial compatibility after long searching for a comfortable fit, couples think every single thing is going to go chronically right forever after due to this. Then they go and evolve into better people who might no longer fit each other so well. What's more, if narrowmindedly they think there is no other option than each other, they are stagnant and stuck.

Guess what? It is guaranteed that Death Do Us Part. All things pass from one stage to the next. We can only do our best for one another and hope for the same in return. It doesn't always last, and it doesn't always work, and the least we can do is give the old shoe a decent burial when it wears out. Oh the roads it's been down!

Yours truly keeps outlasting things I thought fondly might kill me. Including 'the love of my life' who turns out to be as steadfast in venom as he was in sweetness. And both turn out to be non nutritious after all. I did my best and try to play by the rules still, whatever illusion he dresses me in with his increasingly unfamiliar mind.

All this had me trying to remember why I am helgaleena, whether I still am, because, that man I married once is seeming so strange suddenly. I came across THE AGENDA and behold, it still fits.

So I box it up and put new paper on so all the people who didn't read it before will think it's tinsely and festive.

http://helgaleena.mylivepage.com/blog/141/1034

A year ago this time I was helping Nikki Watson with her first full length novel for Aphrodites Apples Press. It was about a girl who loses her fiancee and falls apart for months, then is pulled out of herself again by the love of her friends. The title was SPIRAL and I hope it makes its way to print again. It was strung together out of fragments, much like the protagonist herself. AA is gone, but there is Dark Roast, and there is Nikki, now a multi published Australian author of our fine genre.

May your downward and inward spirals tighten into little clumpy lumps in the middle and then unwind outward into increasing illumination as you unfold again.

This is the time of year for it. Must sleep now.

PIE versus chaos

18 Nov 08 22:08:41 GMT

Pie Out of Anything

No, I am absolutely serious. Hard times are coming, if they haven't already hit, and we may not be able to get a turkey to stuff this year and have to buy the two dollar ‘breast roast' instead. It is a lot more festive if you have pies around the lump on the platter. And they can be full of just about anything.

Day by day, there are times when it's hard to know what to make out of the miscellany they handed you at the food pantry, if you were far enough forward in line to get a sack.

Just invest the five bucks in flour instead of a footlong sub at the takeout place and you will have some options. Oh, and another five bucks for a jug of generic vegetable oil. They'll last you two whole weeks at the least, and probably all month if you don't bake your own bread.

Pie crust is simple. You mix oil into the flour until it's almost holding together on its own, then add the last bit of water needed to achieve workable dough. Half a cup of flour should be enough for a top or bottom crust in a standard tin. Biscuit dough is similar, only you only add enough oil to get it crumb state, and also add leavening so it'll rise, and make your more bread like product with buttermilk and water. If you aren't already familiar with producing biscuit and pie crust, learn fast. And I have not mentioned the salt. Lots of people object to me not adding it, but I am allergic to it, you could say. Commercial baked goods are full of the stuff so you hoi polloi probably will miss it.

I shall be dealing with main course pies first and dessert pies second. As I am steadfast in my contention that they can contain anything, I will subdivide by method.

Method one-- stewed anything into an egg pie

Start with a pint of leftover anything with chunks and juice or gravy. Line your tin or casserole with your pastry crust; you probably won't be needing a top crust for this one as the egg will hold it together. Scoop the solid parts of the stew out with a slotted spoon and into your crust. Then whisk together the remaining liquid, three to four eggs, and enough milk to make enough scrambled egg to completely immerse the solids. If the top surface is too unsightly, top with crumbs or grated cheese or something. Bake at medium heat until completely set all the way to the middle.

In England they will put whole small sausages in this. In Finland they will leave out the anything and just bake the eggs. In Spain they will serve you tiny slices of this, call it tapas and charge you a lot of money.

Method two-- tins of anything cobbler

This calls for biscuit dough and has no bottom crust. Mix several tins of things together and add any spare diced vegetable you may have until there is at least a pint but less than a quart of food in the casserole. Make two cups of flour into biscuit dough and cover the top of the casserole of food with roughly walnut or tablespoon sized chunks of the dough. Scrape out the bowl very well, stir into a solution with water or milk, and pour over the casserole so that liquid surrounds the hunks of dough. Bake at medium heat uncovered until the top is a sentimental golden brown and the stuff underneath is bubbling and no longer smells like the inside of the tin. You'll be fine. If it's brown already and hasn't bubbled yet, put a lid on it and keep baking till it smells better.

Method three-individual pies

This calls for twice as much pastry and dry textured anything that can be spooned into a six inch or larger circle of crust, the edges moistened and aggressively sealed, and baked on a cookie sheet. Do not try to fill with more than you would put in a burrito. Unless you like Cornish pasty that requires knife and fork or a towel wrapped around it, that means under a quarter cup per pastry. This is simple engineering.

Method four- the custard pie

Here we are probably entering the realm of dessert, unless you have no teeth. The basic custard pie has one half cup of sugar, an egg, no top crust, and pureed anything. Blend well to fill the crust, and bake until set and bottom crust is completely done. If you are feeling positive about eating, experiment with spices and flavorings.

Method five -fruit pie or tart

If you are lucky enough to have a can of something labeled ‘pie filling' you can use it as is. Otherwise you need to cook and/or thicken the fruit juice with flour or tapioca or cornstarch. It's easy to do this in a saucepan on the stove. In Finland you'd skip making pie at this point and just eat a bowlful. One quarter cup of flour or starch will thicken your quart of fruit. Sweeten to taste.

Are you still making pie? Okay, the bottom crust you will fill, then attach your lattice work or your entire attractively vented top crust and bake. This is also how steak pie is done, and that anomaly, rhubarb. Just as tomato is a fruit we treat as a vegetable, rhubarb is a vegetable we treat as a fruit.

If your fruit is sufficiently presweetened and cooked that it's better to refer to it as jam, the resulting pie is called a tart. Pizza is in my opinion merely a large savory tart on a yeasty crust. However we are not dealing with yeasty crusts or strudels here.

Surprisingly, an onion will cook down to tart state, but not a squash or yam-- too starchy. Treat them as custard.

Method six-gelatin, ice cream or pudding pie

I cannot bear to deal with these until summer, but the directions are on the box. Just cook your crust and not the pudding; put it in later, genius. Precooked crusts are also nice piled full of potato salad or fruit salad which you then weigh down with the correct dressing. Expensive versions from the ice cream store cost big bucks and you can do it at home for cheaper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie

Actually, I am only posting this to console myself on a day when I have been too out of it to do anything else constructive but lecture thou internet that cannot object.

Method seven-- the no-bake cream pie.

This is very romantic but difficult to arrange. It requires cooperation from at least two people, but I can think of no more delicious pie or one that is more pleasant to serve to the appreciative consumer. Do not let a pie like this go to waste. It's extremely nutritious and it doesn't keep.

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13 Nov 08 00:06:27 GMT

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I know less than nothing.

proposition 'h-eight'

12 Nov 08 20:25:18 GMT

Sadly a few places in my nation voted to reduce the constitutional rights of their own residents at the same time we put in our first ethnic minority president.

Romantic suspense author Rick R. Reed took this broadcast to heart and shared some of his own life story.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog....

Fellow romance author Brenna Lyons reports on the sad plight of romance distributor and author Terry Pray and her husband (who are Not gay and Are Married) in Greene Iowa. Seems the inhumanity has spread to the corn belt.

http://brennalyonsden.blogspot.com/2008/11/town-ne...

Fellow romance author AJ Llewellyn was outside City Hall in Los Angeles and found it an uplifting experience, no matter how the vote came out, because in the crowd, "the good people far outweighed the bad."

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.... Way to smile in the middle of the thundershower, AJ.

Howdy Doody It's Banned Books Week!

03 Oct 08 19:56:08 GMT

Romance author Terry Odell has been keeping this event at the top of her blog this week, and since I am involved with a company that produces an adult-rated product, erotic romance, it seems apropos to mention this.

United States libraries and bookstores are all featuring displays of such 'objectionable' titles as A Wrinkle in Time, Huckleberry Finn, the Harry Potter books, Lysistrata, Rabelais, Gulliver's Travels, and so on, and shouting READ A BANNED BOOK! Amazing the things narrow minds can find to protect their fellow minds against.

It's a slippery slope in our so-called free country, with its so-called free press. First they censor the things you can do in public, then they burn your books and bleep your broadcasts, and before you know it they're burning your neighbors instead of their books.

But Helga, weren't you in favor of Burning Man (and burning other things) just last August?-- you might ask. And I might answer, Yes, my children, there is a positive side to discrimination, when it is used synonymously with discernment. One must learn to tell red from green, and white from black, and warm from cold, and edible from recyclable. But we do not eliminate any color from our spectrum without distoring the entire color scheme and making it hide things best seen! Just because I know the difference between having sex with love and having sex without it, which is no better than rape, does not mean there should be no sex!

Burning is for cook-fires and sweat-lodges, and I am not in favor of burning people unless you are meaning to eat them yourself. If you are just doing it to frighten others, you are despotic. I don't like burnt witch. I like steamed witch, fresh from sauna and cooled by a swift dip in the lake and then moistened with a nice beer and snacks table in the kitchen before serving under the covers, at this season. And surely at a well-managed homestead you have enough cordwood ready for the coming snows that you don't need to burn books or other furniture.

So, let's read as many banned books as we can, just to annoy the banners and see what they are being so silly over!

Here are some links to Terry's postings,

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog....

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&...

and some nice stealable quotes.

Banned Books Week
Category: Writing and Poetry

We're in the middled of Banned Books Week, as evidenced by my quotes of the day.

"The trouble with censorship is that once it starts it is hard to stop. Just about every book contains something that someone objects to."

~Studs Terkel

"A Texas town has banned the Harry Potter books because they glorify magic, and learning to read."
~Craig Kilborn

There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
~Joseph Brodsky

"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."
-- Mark Twain

"Adam was but human - this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent."
-- Mark Twain

"All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let's get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States -- and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!"
-- Kurt Vonnegut, author

"The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book."
-- Walt Whitman

"There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all."
-- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame." Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." -- Oscar Wilde
Continuing with the Banned Books Week theme, some more banned titles:

http://www.highlands.edu/academics/library/banned/... William Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury, Henry Miller, Joyce Carol Oates, Mark Twain, Toni Morrison, George Orwell, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Steig, Joseph Heller,various Newberry Award winners, Salman Rushdie, DH Lawrence, Kurt Vonnegut, Maurice Sendak, William Faulkner, my goodness they've got most everybody in all sorts of genres! Including the Bible!

thanks to author Mechelle Armstrong for this link to the ALA multiple banned list source.

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/banned...

Dark Roasting It-- repost from 'helgaleena says'

12 Sep 08 16:40:01 GMT

http://www.darkroastpress.com

It has been unconscionably long since I did a romance industry type blog post. How can I nag at the promo department if I haven't been putting my own oar in the water this summer? Private life woes are not a valid excuse. Dark Roast Press is the flagship, by gumby, and we shall wave its flags now. Those of you tuning in late may wonder who we are. We are a tiny but mighty erotic romance e-press just finding out cybervoice after the sudden shutting of Aphrodite's Apples Press, that bold experiment in fanfiction writers invading the realms of original erotica for fun and flavor.

In the fanfiction world, adding sex to plot-driven fiction, often between same-sex or other unconventional pairs, is called slash, and writers do it for the burning desire to make the stories better, the outcomes more healing to the reader who uses fiction to soothe the pervasive burn of existence in our mad modern world. In the spirit of this attitude, that love can conquer all, no matter how fantastic or perilous the setting, Dark Roast adds its pungent take upon the extreme edges of the romance genre.

M/M, BDSM, F/F, interspecies, horror, fetish, menage, fantasy, space opera, satire, and myth, we wish to take the darkest brew the imaginations of our writers can produce, to make into published stories that contain the crucial grain of healing that transforms poison into medicine. At Dark Roast Press, and Aphrodites Apples before it, we are a group of like-minded writers and editors who believe that sex should not be confined to pornography. Sex needs to be incorporated into the framework of our stories of life, of our mythologies, and especially our romances. It is very important to note that the lack of a story defines porn. And without story there can be no beauty, no meaning, no message.

That is why Helgaleena decided to write fanfiction in the first place, and it is why we at DarkRoast encourage the stories of life and love that we do. Love takes many forms, but it lies beneath the best of them, and we strive for the best. As EIC I am still able to work intimately with our writers to polish their stories to the highest gloss they will take. My boss Rhiannon Rhodes approves not only a book, but also the author him- or herself, as we welcome multiple submissions from those who share our vision.

You will find the quality of our offerings consistently high, and we have the reviews to substantiate that claim.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=us...

If you find it hard to read these dark links, simply highlight them.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog....

Our present list of authors in no particular order: Angelia Sparrow

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=us...

coming soon, the sequel to this critically acclaimed work-- NIKO-CHAN...

J C Natal

http://www.darkroastpress.com/jnatal.php

Also the author of the Rysykk series...

Tyree Kimber

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=us...

Jesse Fox

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=us...

Jamie Lynn Miller

http://www.darkroastpress.com/jmiller.php

Christopher Newman

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=us...

author of the Ravenswood series and much more... Expect titles upcoming as well from Helgaleena, Kyle Jordan, Nera Ragno, and Heidi Norrod... as our editing and layout departments allow. We all have other things in our lives besides paddling the good ship DRP through the web. We are adding distributors slowly but inexorably, making us ever more available.

http://www.darkroastpress.com/index.php

Authors of love, fantasy, supernatural, and kink, see if you can help us save the world, one heartfelt book at a time! Readers, taste our blend and enjoy the results!

Daisy and the $777 Burger Blowout in Vegas

08 Sep 08 17:31:19 GMT

Original post at Daisy's lovely blog, http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog....

When You Consider that the well off capitalist in the Yangtze River Gorge makes $24 a month, the mind boggles.

September 5, 2008 - Friday

What Would be on YOUR $777 Hamburger? Current mood: curious Category: Life

My husband and I watched a show on the Travel Channel the other night called Super Swank. It was all about what the exceedingly rich do Las Vegas when it comes to dining, hotels, gambling, special favors, etc.

Wow. What an eye-popping program. The $20,000 to $40,000 per night hotel rooms were mindboggling—especially the ones that were 4,000 square feet in size, larger than the average house. The personal shoppers selecting $8,000 purses and $350,000 evening gowns for mega-bucks hotel guests simple astonished. The one-of-a-kind super-pricey jewelry shown at viewing tables inside a vault was unbelievable.

But it was the $777 hamburger that really caught my attention.

It's offered by the Le Burger Brasserie in the Paris Hotel. What do you get for your $777? Six-ounces of Kobe beef topped with caramelized onions, brie cheese, crispy prosciutto, 100-year aged balsamic vinegar and Maine lobster. It comes with a side of dressed greens and a bottle of Dom Perignon. Oh, and a pickle spear. Sheesh, you'd think they'd at least throw in a lousy handful of fries, wouldn't you?

That segment of the show got me thinking about how the ultra-rich spend their money. How much money, how many figures, would you have to make to think that spending $777 for a burger was reasonable? For the life of me, I simply can't imagine.

The guilt alone would totally ruin the dining experience for me when I'd think that each one of those bites I took cost more than enough to feed a good number of people in need.

Even if I were filthy rich and highly philanthropic, I'd still have one hell of a hard time trying to justify throwing THAT kind of money away on a damn sandwich. How do those wealthy people do it? WHY do they do it?

So I got to wondering if, on my next royalty check, I realized that the astounding mega-sales of my books had suddenly catapulted me into the Super Swank $800 Burger Affordability Category. (Don't laugh. It could happen.) Let's say the disorienting realization of all that stupendous wealth rendered me temporarily insane enough to immediately fly to Vegas and actually fork over $777 for that cutesy sandwich with the Dom chaser.

What would I want on it? What would have to be on a burger so pricey it sends the Le Burger Brasserie restaurant proprietor laughing all the way to the bank each time some moneyed yahoo orders it to impress his big-bucks buddies?

Ketchup. It would definitely have to have ketchup because I can't eat a hamburger without it. But I suppose I'd have to upgrade from Heinz. Maybe Le Burger Brasserie has $300 bottles of ketchup made from rare thousand year old tomatoes in their pantry. Sautéed mushrooms would be nice. Guess I'd be expected to substitute truffles though… Gee, I don't know. There are so many options.

What do YOU think?

Go ahead and deconstruct the famous $777 burger detailed above and build your own insanely expensive version instead. Remember, you're going to pay an outrageous sum for those few mouthfuls, so make sure your burger includes everything necessary to make it the most perfect, sublime, memorable burger of all time.

Tell me about all about it in the comments section!

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DaisyDexterDobbs.com Daisy's Blogspot Blog

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Check out Daisy's books!

From Ellora's Cave (http://www.ellorascave.com): Last Strathulian Standing (fantasy shape-shifter) Coming October 10! Samantha and her Genie (erotic paranormal Rubenesque) Absolutely Not (contemporary erotic romantic comedy) Finding Cupid (erotic romantic comedy fantasy) Polly's Perilous Pleasures (contemporary erotic romantic comedy) Caroline's Christmas Viking (contemporary paranormal erotic romantic comedy) Wicked Payback (paranormal erotic romance with plenty of humor) Accidental Foursome (contemporary erotic romantic comedy) Wednesday Nights with Jamie (contemporary interracial erotic romantic comedy/drama) Forever, Blue Eyes (WWII 20th century historical erotic romance)

From Samhain Publishing (http://www.samhainpublishing.com/): Just Like a Dame (contemporary erotic romantic comedy) Also available in Print!

3:20 AM - 8 Comments - 9 Kudos - Add Comment -

Jude's Place

Don't think I can actually answer your main question of what I would want on a $777 burger, cause I can't picture any food that expensive that I'll actually eat! LOL...but I will answer what I would have to earn so that such a ridiculous price might not seem so ridiculous. It basically boils down to a simple decimal point. Since I would only be willing to pay about $7 for a burger now and make a 5 figure salary, that would mean moving the decimal point over by 2. So I would need to have at least a 7 figure (million $) salary to spend that much (relatively speaking). LOL :)

And yes, I agree. Why can't they throw a measly handful of fries on the plate? They could make them nice like adding Parmesan and garlic (I just love those!)

Posted by Jude's Place on September 4, 2008 - Thursday 3:12 PM [Reply to this]

Daisy Dexter Dobbs

I like your astute financial figuring, Jude. It makes sense. Hmmm...I think we'd have to sell at least three or four more books per month to reach that 7 figure group by the end of the year. LOL

Mmmm...parmesan and garlic on fries...

Thanks,

--Daisy

Posted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs on September 5, 2008 - Friday 10:05 AM [Reply to this]

Kealie Shay

I have to agree, I'd feel WAY too guilty spending that much money on a piece of meat slapped between two pieces of bread. I live in Vegas, and that whole story is the main reason I avoid the Strip unless I have to go there.

Sigh* I guess if I HAD to build a burger: it could be absolutely regular with lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mustard... but it would be served on some Gorgeous DemiGod's six-pack abs.

I'd pay $777 for that (if I could afford it)! .. Hey, what happens in Vegas... stays in Vegas... I guess that only really works if you don't live here.

Posted by Kealie Shay on September 5, 2008 - Friday 2:52 AM [Reply to this]

Daisy Dexter Dobbs

Wow, Kealie, living in Vegas must provide some interesting experiences, as well as the occasional celebrity spotting. I think that's cool!

I'm with you on the six-pack abs instead of some boring old china plate. ;-)

Thanks,

--Daisy

Posted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs on September 5, 2008 - Friday 10:09 AM [Reply to this]

Bob

Let's see, my favorite hamburger is from a place called The Assembly. I'd order a 10 ounce patty, ground from fresh sirloin, grilled to just medium but still juicy enough to drip all over my hands, cover it with mozzerella cheese and three strips of crispy bacon. To assuage my guilt, I'd add some lettuce to the top and - yes - a side order of perfect fries. I think that burger runs about $8 (say $7.77).

Now, when would I pay 100 times that much? Probably when I could get above mentioned burger for around 2 points rather than the current 65 (i.e. three days' worth of food). Weight Watchers is a tough road to hoe sometimes!

I wonder if they ask to super size at Le Burger Expensieve?

Posted by Bob on September 5, 2008 - Friday 2:53 AM [Reply to this]

Daisy Dexter Dobbs

Mmmm, that hamburger you detailed sounds delicious, Bob! And you even get a 10-oz burger instead of a measly 6-oz!

Ah yes, I imagine the $777 burger could be squeezed into your daily allotment of WW points. Just think of your TV commercial... "That's right folks, I lost 25-pounds for ONLY $777 per day!" LOL

Thanks,

--Daisy

Posted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs on September 5, 2008 - Friday 10:14 AM [Reply to this]

Gosh, Daisy, I love the answers already.

You know, that $777.00 burger would pay for BOTH our car payments... But not the insurance or the gas.

I guess I'd take the insurance on the side and top it off with a tank. Pity there aren't residuals for that. Maybe if I got some gorgeous hunk painted on the hood...

The six-pack abs are a great idea too, but I think my hubby would still object unless he got his (um, sandwich...) between the breasts of a tall blonde. Then I wouldn't be happy unless the Dom was poured over -- wait a minute, I am so not going there!!

Posted by CJ on September 5, 2008 - Friday 9:18 AM [Reply to this]

Daisy Dexter Dobbs

I love everyone's answers too. I get hungry each time I read them.

The last paragraph of your comment cracked me up, Connie. Do I sense an emerging erotic romance writer? ;-)

Thanks,

--Daisy

Posted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs on September 5, 2008 - Friday 10:17 AM [Reply to this]

WATCH Your Moose!!! the republicans have rifles

02 Sep 08 15:25:56 GMT

Posted originally at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog....

Monday, September 01, 2008 SARAH PALIN ~ LOCK UP YOUR BEAR CUBS.

Current mood: cynical Category: News and Politics

Ahh well, I was going to say "you've gotta laugh haven't you ?" when it came to the subject of Senator John McCains 'sex ticket' Republican running mate Sarah Palin, but after reading the following I have my doubts... I think I'll laugh AND cry instead.

http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/sep/sarah-pal...

Enemy of the species ? nahhh, of course not ~ and to prove it here's a rather fetching photo below of Governor Palin posing quite happily in her Alaskan office with a grizzly bear skin draped across the back of her sofa, accompanied by an equally and enormously dead crab on the coffee table.... Now then Sarah... Where exactly DO you stand on the subject of animal rights ?

11:42 PM - 4 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment -

RIP CRUNCHER

Posted by RIP CRUNCHER on Sep 2, 2008 12:11 AM [Reply to this]

crazy christina

Dam Rip this subject was wild fire in my home, Alaska WOW he came out of no where with that if they win "Oink" will be the next head on there wall!!! I got lot's more to say but I'll bite my tongue a little NOT that crab you know where that crawled out of Christ she should have fired downward BANGGG !!!!!!!!! Posted by crazy christina on Sep 2, 2008 2:42 AM [Reply to this]

Teresa

At the moment I am speachless from seeing the bear thow and crab ashtray or whatever the hell that is supposed to be but give me some time to recover. Posted by Teresa on Sep 2, 2008 3:50 AM [Reply to this]

helgaleena

Holy schmear, Rip, you get the repost-to-helgas-blog award. But hey, when she hunts moose she has the guts to do her own skinnin'. Animal rights bleeding hearts aside, this is the shocking true state of American politics, BP and all. They bought my credit card debt from Amoco years back. They are in the Brits' back pocket. :( Posted by helgaleena on Sep 2, 2008 6:49 AM [Reply to this]