hodgepodge

This post is going to be a bit of a hodgepodge of different things.  First an update on me.  I'm still doing physical therapy for the pain in my neck and shoulders.  It's going slow but I think I'm making a little bit of progress.  One thing that sucks is the way the insurance works for all of this.  It is my understanding in Pennsylvania when you're in a car accident at first your own car insurance pays the medical bills, up to whatever you policy limit is.  This is regardless of who is at fault.  Once the car insurance money is exhausted, then your medical insurance takes over.  The issue with this is that my insurance plan with Aetna only covers 30 PT visits a year.  After that you are on your own.  My understanding is that next year the provision of Obamacare will kick in that will eliminate that insurance companies ability to enact treatment limits.  I hope so; I have a lot wrong with me that I will need physical therapy to treat.

As you might have guessed I'm about to hit that limit. Friday visit will be the last one that will be covered, after that it will all come out of pocket.  The insurance company of the person who hit me has accept liability and will be reimbursing me but that will only be after my treatment is completed.  I hope I only need a few more weeks of treatment. 

On happier news, The National released their new album, Trouble Will Find Me, on Tuesday.  I'm a huge fan of The National.  They are the only band I can really be all hipsters about and say how I knew about them before almost anyone else.  I first discover them a little bit after they released their Cherry Tree ep back in 2004 and I have been hooked ever since

Their new album fits well into the familiar deep melancholy sound that they have cultivated over the years.  Matt Berninger vocals are particularly strong and this album does a good job of showcasing them.  The rest of the band is also on the top of their game creating a lush and deceptively complex sound.  The tracks Demons and Sea of Love are particular stand outs.  Lyrically while not having the sign along quality of their previous offering, is still quite strong.  I will warn you if you are going through a rough patch, The National is both the best and worst thing to listen to.  They speak directly to a heart that is broken.  Overall Trouble Will Find Me is a fine album that I highly recommend.  If you have never heard any of The National's music before I would recommend starting with Boxer, their 2007 album before diving right into Trouble Will Find Me.

I have been working on a fantasy mini-comic lately and I think the script is just about to the point where I can bring in an artist.  I'm going to post an ad on digital webbing and see what sort of artist I can get for my budget.  Below is a copy of my ad.  If you know anyone who you think would be interested please send them my way.

HI,

I'm yet another writer who can't draw in need of an illustrator to bring his vision to life.  Oh and guess what, I can't afford to pay much either.  Now, now, don't everyone volunteer at once.

What I have is an 8 pages story in the fantasy genre.  I'm looking for someone to do the cover and interior, full color would be preferable but if you work in only B&W that will work too.  If you can letter as well that would be great, if not I can take care of that.  While I can't pay as much as the art is worth, what I can do is offer you $50($5 a page + $10) plus 100 copies of the book.  Also I will be putting it online, so hopefully that will give both of us tons of exposure.

I'm looking for someone who can draw realistic looking man and woman.  The girls should look fit without looking like a Barbie doll with a boob job. 

If you are interested please email me a sample page of your work.  I want to see both how you do panel layout as well as your art style.  My email address is yommer16@gmail.com, please put Danger Road in the subject.

I'm hoping this will be a fun and rewarding project for you.

Thank you for your time

T. Perran Mitchell

Also if you know of any artist looking for a writer to work with please let me know.  Right now I'm not looking to make money so much as work on my craft and build up my writing resume.  I can write in style or genre the needed.  I can also format the script in whatever style works best for the artist.

Speaking of comics, I thought it would be fun to post the last time I made a mini-comic.  I was really into writing about five years ago.  I took a little break to focus on my day job/career.  Now I'm trying to get my writing mojo back.  Below is character study mini-comic I did inspired by a night out at the bar with a friend.  That night we play a game where you pick someone out of the crowed and makeup a little story about their life.  This story stuck with me so much that I need to see it as a comic.  The comic is not for the faint of heart and if you have any self-harm triggers, best to skip this one.

Enjoy Getting By with Art by Mandy "kitty" Swain

Till next time, get the hell out of my Kitchen

Working for Beakfast

I meant to post last week, but I ended up getting cause up in some other writing projects.  On that note I'm putting the finish touches on script for an 8 page mini comic.  If you know an artist who is looking to break into comics and wants a nice sample piece to show off, please send them my way.  I'm not really in the position to pay them anything right now, but what I can do is pay for all the printing cost.  Basically I would get 500 copies made and give the artiest 250 along a digital copy so they can print up as many as they would like.  Once the comic is done, I'll be posting it here. Now on to the food.

We have thing at work call Breakfast Club.  On the second Friday of the month a pair of people make breakfast for everyone in the club.  This past Friday was me and my dad's turn.  Some people just bring bagels and juices or maybe get a bunch of breakfast sandwiches from the buildings café.  My Dad and I go all out.  He makes a fantastic French toast, where he lets the bread marinate in the mike/egg mixture overnight forming a sort of custard.

This breakfast club I tried something new and made my variation of the Holiday Strata from Maryana Vollstedt's “The Big Book ofBreakfast.”

Because of the number of people we had coming I doubled this receipt.

Here what you need:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and some extra butter for use
• 8 to 10 slices of sourdough bread
• 1.5 pounds of maple flavor breakfast sausage (you can use regular sausages, but I like Wegman's maple sausage)
• 1 cup of aged cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of sweat cheddar cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups of whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/8 of fresh ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
• Cast iron skillet
• Disposable lasagna pan (9in by 13in)
• Mixing bowls
• Small dishes
• Cheese grater

Steps:

• Butter the bread then cut into small pieces
• Grate then half each type of cheese
• Separate the cheese so that you have two dishes with a half cup of each cheese type in each dish
• Cook the sausage in the cast iron skillet
• Chop the sausage into small pieces
• Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl
• Melt the butter
• Mix the melted butter, milk, salt, pepper and mustard with the eggs
• Grease the Lasagna pan
• Layer the bottom of the pan with half the bread
• Add the sausage to the pan
• Cover the bread and sausage with one of the dishes of cheese
• Add the rest of the bread
• Pour the liquid mixture into the pan
• Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.  Grate on more cheese to taste
• Cover the pan and place in the refrigerator over night
• The next day preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Put the pan into the oven uncovered for 45-50 minutes

This dish was a big hit with everyone.  The maple sausage added a nice sweetness without being over powering.  Next time I make this I'm going to try replacing the aged cheddar with a nice Asiago cheese.  The good thing about this dish is that it will work well with all sorts of different cheese and meats. Leave a comment with your variation.

On the knitting front, I'm finished up with the part of the project that can do without.  The next step is learning how to put half of this on waste yarn. 

That pretty much brings you up to speed on all my projects

Till next time, get the hell out of my kitchen.