One thought leads to another. Studying images of fine masonry work, the outlines of pyramids wanders into my mind, which quickly detoured to thoughts of Cecil B. deMille movies of Egyptian highness es being fed grapes.
Juicy, sweet grapes. Like the ones in the colander? No. Seedless grapes (says a cursory slide through the Internet) are a modern invention. Immediately we have 2 things to be thankful for.
1) To Hollywood for editing out scenes of Cleopatra spitting out seeds.
2) For hybridizers who developed these darling seedless varieties.
Writer's block is nothing more than unfulfilled intention. Some times the best thing to break the dreaded "Silence of the Keyboard"- you know, where letters are not tap-dancing their way into being- is to stand up. Move around. Stretch. Put all your attention on some unrelated project. Besides my garden- my glass work takes my mind away from where it got stuck.
To keeping creative juices flowing, relaxation is necessary Even on deadline. However a writer needs exercise caution- including as regards alcohol- other people depend on our part in their commerce. Because a bottle of champagne is opened doesn't mean it has to be drunk to be put to use.
There was still fizz when the stopper was pulled out- but writing requires diligence- there is a thing as too relaxed. What to do? There was a bit of the Basic citrus marinade left. Okay. Repeat after me:
Put on the surgical gloves.
Carefully open some slits under the skin of a prepared roasting chicken.
Side some of the rosemary laced potion into the cavities. Lay the chicken in a casserole dish like it is going to take a bath- in champagne. Let it luxuriate there.
Try not to envy the chicken too much. She's about to be speared and trussed and rotisseried until she reaches 160 degrees. At which time she's going to need a bit of rest before that first taste when we have a 3rd thing to be thankful for. Or at least I do. I am not a vegetarian.
There you have the basic push and pull of a day in the life of a writer. Struggling to stay creative while diligently stressing discipline.
You are the consummate writer and your 'diversions' are so fun to read!!! The chicken sounds/looks good too!!! I have all that marinade I made and a chicken is a good thing.... Was thinking even a beef roast or pork roast swimming in the marinade in the crockpot. What do you think? As always, love you blog. xo Sue
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sue. I am so in love with how the chicken marinade works with chicken that it is hard to imagine it with beef or pork.
ReplyDeleteOk. Not that hard. What I think would be divine would be to pump up the proportion of orange in the marinade- I'm fonder of braising than crock pot cooking- but really, whatever is easier for you is what is best...
I like to brown the meat first- make a "rack" of onion, carrots and celery to catch the juices under the slowly roasting covered meat - then ratchet up the heat at the end to get some really crusty excitement going.
Whipped sweet potatoes and green beans almondine almondine....
Yummmm.
Joan Bolton sent a note- the Internet Gremlins are blocking her from sending this- so on her behalf. The book she mentions can be read about on today's post at
ReplyDeletehttp://joansbolton.wordpress.com/
I've been dancing around all day trying to come up with a lead for an article I'm writing about nurturing birds, bees and butterflies in the garden. So far, I've written the back end of the story, worked out and sprayed my blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes and roses with stinky, anti-deer repellent. Now I'm on my way to a hort society meeting.
But still no lead. Maybe I should have popped open a bottle of champagne!
Also, as regards to your comment -- a "serious renovation" sounds quite fun. Definitely get Bob's book. It's fantastic!
Best,
Joan
Well, this was a very creative post...We got to see your "glass" work, and a Chicken Roasted. (sort of) and, your take on how to get around a form of writer's block....! Very informative.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words about Sweetie....I cannot help but worry, since nothing about his eating and pooping is even close to normal...I know: TMI...!
DOOLH- I'm laughing at the chicken comment. I was too tired to "stage" her on a proper plate- so I cropped the image down to the best looking angle of the chicken.
ReplyDelete