My VDL...not an acronym for "Venereal Diseased Life", but something far more important: My Very Domesticated Life. Those who work, want it badly. Those who sit at home, desperately want to be working and contributing to society. Yes, the grass is always greener. My grass is a little brown and sparse at the moment. No, that wasn't a euphemism for my pubic hair...I have been forced to be a housewife on the Prairies. Moving to Edmonton meant giving up my job and following my man to Edmonton. My life sounds like a country song, but it is far less romantic and doesn't involve whips or lasso's. Far too kinky for us!
I liken myself to one of the Ingalls girls from Little House on the Prairie: I fill my days with many chores. I get up, shower, make breakfast for Chad and myself. If I don't have to take Chad to work, I sit on the couch reading my book whilst watching Ellen or Say Yes to the Dress until I feel like it is warm enough to go outside to exercise. After exercising, I eat lunch, watch more TV or listen to music. In the afternoon, I get a little restless and think about cooking something: soup, cookies or begin to prepare dinner for the night. Maybe I'll put a load of washing on, sweep the floor or clean the bathrooms. Sometimes, if I`m feeling decadent, I go to a coffee shop and read, or I wander Whyte Ave and window shop or go to the public library to borrow more books. Sometimes I volunteer and paint sets. Or, go for midday lunches with my one friend in Edmonton. It is a slow and calm life minus Michael Landon.
Reading has become my favorite new pastime. Ashamed to admit it, but the extent of my novel accomplishments in the past years has only been the Twilight Saga and school texts/plays. Since July, I have devoured books once again...although, I am still mildly obsessed with vampire novels and romantic fiction, I am proud to say that I am slowly weaning myself off that genre and moving onto more intelligent novels.
This is an unconventional romantic novel. Each chapter is dedicated to one day, the same day (July 15th) of a couples relationship spanning almost 20 years. It contains all the things I adore in a classic romance novel: unrequited love, sexual tension romance and passion.The ending contains a heart-stopping and arresting twist that left me gasping for days after. I highly recommend this novel. The best part is that it is being made into a film with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess from Across the Universe.
Ashamed to say it, but the only reason I began to read this novel is because Julia Roberts stars in the film. Prior to reading, I actually thought it was a cult, and friends had told me that it wasn't really about a woman giving up everything to travel and find herself: she was paid to do it and commissioned to write about her travels. However, I found myself getting caught up in the romance of Italy, India and Bali quite easily. Gilbert's friendly and likable writing style was charming; her ability to reveal her inner self and to frankly discuss discoveries about her life, lovers and relationships was refreshing at times. Too much praying in the India section warranted the skipping of a few pages, but the romance with Filippe was enough to make me want to finish the book and read Committed. I am also a septic of marriage (Hello, 9 years with Chad and still no discussion of the big M), this novel fleshes out why people feel marriage is important, the history of marriage and the nature of commitment. What this novel lacked was more chapters dealing with hers and Filippe's cross-cultural relationship and the strain of committing yourself to a person from another country. It took Chad and I almost 3 years of long-distance love and waiting to finally 'be together' in the eyes of Canada. I felt I needed to read more about her personal struggle rather than a non-fiction exploration and essays on commitment and marriage.
My desire to read all 10 novels in one week came from being at a complete loss with the TV series True Blood and the fact that I have a VDL. I needed more information as to why the writers were taking the show in the direction they were...so began my obsession with Sookie, Eric and Bill. The first novel, Dead Until Dark was a complete replica of the first season. In my opinion, it was the best season and one of the best books of the series. It is a supernatural romance thriller and is completely enthralling to the end. From the second novel on, the screen writers have altered the novels to fit their audience and in some respects it works, but in others, it seems like they are rushing the plot lines and aiming for the salacious and sanguineous instead of the intelligent and original. For example, the second novel Living Dead in Dallas has very little exploration of the maenad plot line, but in the series they develop it to the point of revulsion. Similarly, season 3 contained elements of the novel Club Dead but the writers have expanded minor character plot lines and drawn from books too far ahead in the series (Probably from the logical standpoint that no HBO series last 10 years and they are trying to hit all the main plot lines before the show gets cut). My favorite novel is the 4th: Dead to the World. Other websites predict this novel to be the stimulus for season 4. Hopefully, the writers follow this novel as it gives lots more Sookie and Eric time.Yay for the Sweedes producing such a hottie like Alexander Skarsgard.
If you want a True Blood Halloween costume, you can buy one here or here.
The Muppet's did a parody of True Blood called TRUE MUD: Love it!
List of The Southern Vampire Novel Series.
Before you think that all I do is obsess over True Blood and tacky vampire porn, I will share with you my other passion: baking. My VDL is filled with baking and cooking. I have a weakness for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and I was lucky enough to receive a small batch of Australian Macadamia nuts from Patti Marken in Saskatoon. I can taste a little bit of Australia in these cookies and I want to share the recipe with you all:
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (Recipe adapted from the Rebar cookbook)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, blending each one in well before adding the next. Blend in the vanilla and set aside. I usually blend longer than I need to until it is really creamy.
2. Coarsely chop the macadamia nuts and place in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Add wet mix and stir. Add chocolate chips and stir until mixed well.
3. Drop round dollops of mixture on baking trays. Allow room for spreading. Bake for 9 minutes. If they are not cooked, bake for another 5 until golden brown.
Reading has become my favorite new pastime. Ashamed to admit it, but the extent of my novel accomplishments in the past years has only been the Twilight Saga and school texts/plays. Since July, I have devoured books once again...although, I am still mildly obsessed with vampire novels and romantic fiction, I am proud to say that I am slowly weaning myself off that genre and moving onto more intelligent novels.
One Day by David Nicholls
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| Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess: Scene from the film |
Eat, Pray, Love and Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Ashamed to say it, but the only reason I began to read this novel is because Julia Roberts stars in the film. Prior to reading, I actually thought it was a cult, and friends had told me that it wasn't really about a woman giving up everything to travel and find herself: she was paid to do it and commissioned to write about her travels. However, I found myself getting caught up in the romance of Italy, India and Bali quite easily. Gilbert's friendly and likable writing style was charming; her ability to reveal her inner self and to frankly discuss discoveries about her life, lovers and relationships was refreshing at times. Too much praying in the India section warranted the skipping of a few pages, but the romance with Filippe was enough to make me want to finish the book and read Committed. I am also a septic of marriage (Hello, 9 years with Chad and still no discussion of the big M), this novel fleshes out why people feel marriage is important, the history of marriage and the nature of commitment. What this novel lacked was more chapters dealing with hers and Filippe's cross-cultural relationship and the strain of committing yourself to a person from another country. It took Chad and I almost 3 years of long-distance love and waiting to finally 'be together' in the eyes of Canada. I felt I needed to read more about her personal struggle rather than a non-fiction exploration and essays on commitment and marriage.The Sookie Stackhouse Collection by Charliane Harris
My desire to read all 10 novels in one week came from being at a complete loss with the TV series True Blood and the fact that I have a VDL. I needed more information as to why the writers were taking the show in the direction they were...so began my obsession with Sookie, Eric and Bill. The first novel, Dead Until Dark was a complete replica of the first season. In my opinion, it was the best season and one of the best books of the series. It is a supernatural romance thriller and is completely enthralling to the end. From the second novel on, the screen writers have altered the novels to fit their audience and in some respects it works, but in others, it seems like they are rushing the plot lines and aiming for the salacious and sanguineous instead of the intelligent and original. For example, the second novel Living Dead in Dallas has very little exploration of the maenad plot line, but in the series they develop it to the point of revulsion. Similarly, season 3 contained elements of the novel Club Dead but the writers have expanded minor character plot lines and drawn from books too far ahead in the series (Probably from the logical standpoint that no HBO series last 10 years and they are trying to hit all the main plot lines before the show gets cut). My favorite novel is the 4th: Dead to the World. Other websites predict this novel to be the stimulus for season 4. Hopefully, the writers follow this novel as it gives lots more Sookie and Eric time.Yay for the Sweedes producing such a hottie like Alexander Skarsgard.
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| Hello Sailor! |
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| Oh, Bill. Give up already! |
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| Vampire Sandwich! |
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| A Sookie Stackhouse Merlotte's Bar Outfit from HBO Website. |
List of The Southern Vampire Novel Series.
Before you think that all I do is obsess over True Blood and tacky vampire porn, I will share with you my other passion: baking. My VDL is filled with baking and cooking. I have a weakness for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and I was lucky enough to receive a small batch of Australian Macadamia nuts from Patti Marken in Saskatoon. I can taste a little bit of Australia in these cookies and I want to share the recipe with you all:
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| Yum! |
1/2 cup unslated butter, softened
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (I used close to 3/4 cups)
1-1/2 cups unbleached flour (bleached is fine if that is all you have)
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, blending each one in well before adding the next. Blend in the vanilla and set aside. I usually blend longer than I need to until it is really creamy.
2. Coarsely chop the macadamia nuts and place in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Add wet mix and stir. Add chocolate chips and stir until mixed well.
3. Drop round dollops of mixture on baking trays. Allow room for spreading. Bake for 9 minutes. If they are not cooked, bake for another 5 until golden brown.
1 comment:
Hey Jody,
I wont always comment but Ill always peek into your life through Russian Undies so keep posting.
As for the Glenns....We are good. Keiko has been working on a document review project for the past 7 months and I am working on getting the businesses I started with my buddy off the ground. Check out my sites: www.preparedcity.com and www.videotoviral.com Outside of work, I hang with Keiko-we went camping last weekend-, play hockey and well thats kinda it now that I think about it. Oh wait, I am also pretty active in the SGI, the Buddhist organization I belong to and have recently joined the Red Cross Disaster Action Team as a volunteer. I went out on two fire calls last night to assist the "victims" in staying on their feet for the next couple days while they decide whats next.
I guess I am living my own version of VDL But with a TRIP TO VEGAS COMING UP, Ill be able to break out. Keiko and i are going there for a wedding on Halloween. ANY SUGGESTIONS ON PLACES TO GO? Well, beds calling HOckey in the AM RESPOND VIA FB or to kevinglenndc@gmail.com
PS Talked to Dan West for about an hr the other day. He is getting married in April and moving to NZ sometime in the future--We talk
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