Miami (#FridayFictioneers)

On October 30, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Stories8 Comments

“There.”

“What is it?”

“Desk chair, maybe. Plastic shell. The metal might still be good.”

The scavvies pulled the chair out of the muck and tore it apart, discarding foam and fabric and setting plastic and metal aside. There were whoops and hollers from both of them– the ball bearings in the wheels were intact, and a tension spring. Sealed, so the salt hadn’t gotten them yet.

“What was this? Business district?”

“Maybe. Cheap chair; maybe from a house, before the Atlantic swallowed it.”

“Think there’s more?”

“We’ll look for another ten. Haven’t seen a sea snake yet. I’m getting nervous.”

WORD COUNT: 100.

Friday Fictioneers is a weekly blog hop hosted by Rochelle. She posts a photo prompt then challenges readers to write a 100 word story inspired by the prompt. It’s a fun challenge. Give it a try! Check here for the info then write your story and post it, link up and enjoy the other stories!

In which I am content

On October 26, 2015October 26, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Parenting, Photography4 Comments

unnamed I admit it: I’m feeling slightly guilty right now about the fact that I’m not going to work again this week. The note from my doctor specifically said that I was not to return to school before November 2nd, and the main reason was that we wanted to check on the new medication. Well, so far, the new medication’s been fine, although I can come up with at least one example in the last couple of weeks where I was fine one day and emphatically Not Fine for several days after that. Point is, I’m following orders.

I’d be off today anyway, though, because for the first time we have a fall break, and today is the last day of that fall break. As it turns out, the preschoolers at Hogwarts (have I mentioned this? From now on, my kid’s school is Hogwarts) had a field trip today, and they went to a farm in southern Michigan– here, specifically. They put out a general call for chaperones last week and since I didn’t really have anything else I needed to be doing today (again, I’d have been off of work anyway) I decided to tag along. And… well, it was a hell of a lot of fun, actually. There’s perfect October weather outside. We went on a hayride and explored the farm and picked and ate apples and grapes right off the tree (or vine, as the case happened to be) and the boy got a pumpkin to bring home with him. There are now four pumpkins in the house; I probably ought to get thinking about what I’m going to do when I carve mine, because I wanna do something fun and creative and having an idea of some sort would probably help with that goal.

Speaking of perfect October weather, I was lucky enough last night to get a gorgeous one-day-before-full moon and a completely cloudless sky, so I hauled out the telescope. I need to get an attachment to make taking pictures easier, but I did manage this one:

Searching for Malumba is out tomorrow! I’ve officially hit my goal for pre-orders, but if you want to make me even happier, it’s available in print and digitally here. Expect more about that tonight. 🙂

We went to the zoo yesterday

On October 12, 2015October 11, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Photography1 Comment

I only took a few pictures, but why not, they make for a good Monday morning post. The zoo previously had two elderly Amur tigers who both passed away in the last year from natural causes. They just recently replaced them with four, effectively, kittens. They’re all two years old, and apparently the tiger people are having fits from having to adjust from two geriatric tigers to four energetic babies.

Well, not so much “energetic” today, I guess. Witness the Triangle of Tiger! The fourth one was around the corner.

Flamingo. They have a dozen or so but this one was close by.

And a peacock. The zoo has two peacocks and they’re allowed to just wander around as they see fit. Both of them were hanging around the food court trying to steal french fries. It was pretty cool.

Note that this isn’t typical behavior for them, which is kind of surprising. If I was a bird and I knew there was easy food at the food court all the time, I’d be there more often, but I’ve never seen the peacocks there before.

Because I haven’t done a #cooking post in a while…

On August 31, 2015August 31, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Cooking3 Comments

CNxHYtLUcAESoz1 I made blueberry risotto for dinner tonight, using a Facebook post from an old friend and this recipe as inspiration. Changes were minor, mostly involving using more blueberries than the recipe called for (a full pint initially and then another half-cup or so as garnish afterwards; I don’t think you can really overdo the blueberries in this dish) and using heavy cream instead of light cream, since no grocery store in Indiana knows what the hell light cream is. After tasting it, I endorse this change; I don’t think it would have been creamy enough without the extra fat content.

Basically: melt 3 tablespoons of butter and sauté a diced onion in it at medium or medium-low heat for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, have 6-7 cups of vegetable stock (chicken would be fine too) at a boil in a nearby pot. Add 2 cups of arborio rice and stir until golden-brown, which shouldn’t take more than another couple of minutes. Add 3/4 cup of white wine, stir again until the liquid is gone, then add the blueberries. Start adding stock about half a cup or 3/4 of a cup at a time, and don’t worry too much about the amounts. You’re basically stirring in between each dose of stock until the majority of the liquid is gone– the rule of thumb I use is that if I can split the rice in half with the spoon and it takes more than 2-3 seconds to merge back together again it’s time for another dose of liquid. Once all the liquid is absorbed– which means 25 minutes or so of constant stirring, probably– taste the rice to make sure it’s done. Actually, you should probably be tasting it along the way so you don’t overcook. Don’t worry about adding more stock or even water if you’re out.

Once the rice is done, add some more blueberries, half a cup of heavy cream, and half a cup of parmesan, and then whip the hell out of it, trying to spill as little of the cream as possible, for at least a couple of minutes. Then? Done. I may fiddle with extra ingredients next time, as both my wife and I thought it needed something, but weren’t quite sure what, and add salt, pepper, and extra parmesan to taste.

Delish.

Summer rainstorm

On August 15, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Photography5 Comments

In which that’s not fair at all

On July 31, 2015July 31, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn idiocyLeave a comment

So, see that fortune cookie in the post before this one? It’s from yesterday. We had Chinese last night.

I’m going through the blog in search of material for Malumba right now.

Check this bullshit out.

What I have waiting for me

On July 27, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Work2 Comments

Had to pop into work for a couple of hours this morning to deal with something minor that came up. While I was there I went to check on all the stuff we ordered at the end of June.

I… uh… I have a busy August ahead of me. Because this is all my problem. Not pictured: the boxes in the principal’s office and the boxes around the corner from the first picture.

I’m still not going in until August. Can’t make me.