Spicy Summer Sundays: Craig is peppery!

Today over at Craig Sorensen's the Sunday Summer Spiciness continues - and he instructs us on the delights of a much overlooked spice - pepper - in it's many varieties. Because variety is the spice of life? Right? Sorry, couldn't resist. It's early. And I'm having no luck uploading a pepper image. So, you HAVE to go over to Craig's.

Oh, and I'm changing to a larger type size.

Good Stuff

~It's stopped raining!

~I finished a story I want to sub last night.

~There's only three more days of school after today and then I won't have to get up at 6AM (I am not a morning person).

~I've got a writing group meeting tomorrow - been missing folks.

~There's some good stuff out in blogland - poetry at Sommer's and Craig's - plenty of pretty purple/violet/whatever at Alison's (ya must scroll through all the purple posts) - thoughtful posts & discussions at Donna's and Scarlett's - word talk at Janine's - and one hell of a fun quiz at P.S. Haven's (plugging your ass again Haven!).

~I'm putting together an interview that I did with Randy Lagana, whose artwork I've used in various posts. Hope to get it up this weekend.

~It's stopped raining!

~There's even a hint of sun!

~Mr. Erobintica gets home from business travels tomorrow afternoon!

~ I got buttons AND a Trollop temp tattoo in the mail!

That there picture is of one of Mr. Erobintica's famous sparkler bombs.

Sometimes...

I don't think that what I do (be a mom, be a writer/poet) is of much value in today's world. Oh, I know it is - intellectually - but for far too long I couldn't see that worth for myself. My husband spent years trying to convince me, bless his heart. But it wasn't until recently - oh, in the past year or so that I started believing in myself. It's so damn fucking hard! 

This morning I read my horrorscope in the paper (I don't put too much faith in them ever since my husband told me how when he worked at a newspaper long long ago sometimes they'd get mixed up - I imagined all those little predictions fluttering to the ground and getting scooped up and glued wherever) - and it was one that gave me pause:

Self-approval is always of greater importance than acknowledgment from others. Don't let others make you think that you need their acceptance to have any worth. 

I had to get to a place of self-approval BEFORE I was able to start doing this erotica thing. Oh, I'd wanted to for years, but something always stopped me. 

Then after breakfast I start checking other erotica writer blogs and find that a question I'd posted in my blog the other day (basically - Why write erotica?) prompted Craig Sorensen to go deeper into his "simple" answer. And his long answer is wonderful. 

And here I'd been worried when I first started this that my blog was going to end up as some sort of lonely mental masturbation on my part. And I'm not ashamed to admit that it gives me little bit of a thrill to see that what my brain finds interesting - well, that other brains find interesting too. Thanks Craig.

And here I want to take a moment to thank all the other writer/bloggers who have welcomed me and put the little linky things to my blog on theirs and well, shit, I'm getting a bit emotional right now. So - THANK YOU - all of you who are reading and commenting. 

An amuse bouche and a kiss

Amorous. Anticipation. Appetite.

A kiss starts the "sensual and provocative progressive dinner ala Blog" over at Craig J. Sorensen's with the amuse bouche course - which literally means "mouth amuser" - a delightful image if ever there was one for the opening of an erotic blogland feast. This midwinter repast begins today and proceeds until Feb. 4 - each day a different course at a different erotica writer's blog. Conceived (cooked up?) by Donna George Storey and Kirsten Monroe, this looks to be quite the affair to keep us all warm on these chilly days.

It reminded me of a wonderful meal that my husband and I shared oh, some 26 years ago - I remember the "amuse bouche" (though it wasn't called that) more than anything else about the evening. It was the 5th Anniversary dinner at Cafe Beaujolais - 1982 (almost 27 years ago - it was the restaurant's anniversary not ours). Fire-dried walnuts and not-quite-ripe champagne served by the winemaker himself - John Scharffenberger  (yes, of both champagne & chocolate fame) - an evening that etched itself in my epicurean & sensual memory. 

I think it would be fun to present an entire meal composed of various amuse bouches. Just little things. A veritable orgy of brief bites. One of Craig's more amusing recipes (pun intended) is a Bay Leaf Fritter. I cannot wait to try these! 

Here's the full schedule:

Sunday January 25  Amuse-Bouche    Host: Craig Sorensen

Monday January 26   Appetizer    Host: Shanna Germain

Wednesday January 28   Soup   Hosts: Helia Brookes and Jeremy Edwards

Thursday January 29   Fish   Host: Neve Black

Friday January 30  Meat Entree   Host: Kirsten Monroe

Saturday January 31  Vegetarian Entree   Host: Donna George Storey

Monday February 2   Salad   Host: Emerald

Tuesday February 3   Dessert    Host: Sommer Marsden

Wednesday February 4   Petit Fours & Truffles   Host: Nikki Magennis