The Ciel Show

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Thursday, September 16, 2010

My son called this morning

to inform me a certificate, small and modest, arrived in the mail today, acknowledging his residency in the State of Colorado. There is something about that, that brings home in finer distinction, the reality that my youngest is duly embarked on his own life. It also means that his tuition at the U of Colorado, has dropped from about $8000 to--with in-state student grants and scholarships--approximately nothing. Both causes to celebrate! Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:14 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, September 13, 2010

Dreams and revelations

Waking early here, after four hours of sleep, mind busy going through its baggage locker. Anxiety, low key and persistant... I need to get up to see if Charlie made it in last night, after going out with his pals for a late movie. We need to be out of here by 9 am latest to be sure he makes the flight back to Denver, a more fun drive to the airport for me if he is not passed out the whole way. Can't grudge him his time with his old friends, though, either. That is not the issue, really. I find... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 7:20 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, August 29, 2010

September

When I was a kid, it made no sense to me that the change of years was marked in January, when so clearly, beginnings came in September. New clothes, new notebooks and pencils, new teacher and classroom, everything fresh and new and unspoiled. New leaves turned, new resolutions affirmed... Even now, September has that feel for me, that appeal of new opportunities, of taking that first fresh breath of cool air after the season of heat... The sense of getting things in order after a free-wheeling... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:40 PM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

itsy bitsy teeny weenie

One difficulty with this new laptop: It is set to produce the very finest, as in smallest size of print. I have gone to the % in the lower right and upped it to 150% and that helps for some things. I have looked in the 'appearance' settings and wandered around in the forest of settings and options generally, and I can't find a way to change this default. Anyone have any suggestions? Before I take it back to the professional geeks and ask them? Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:05 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Like the first days of school

I am working with a proper laptop again, the hp professional I mentioned before, with 2 g cpu, 250 gb ram... Windows XP so I dont' have to learn a new system... and a slightly wider screen though the whole thing is slimmer and not heavier than the one sitting over there by the old PowerBook, my first laptop. Very pleased! It is like moving to a new house, uncluttered, fresh and dust-free... It is like a return, the deja vu of so many autumns, Septembers with fresh notebooks full of blank pages... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 12:30 PM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

It's official...

The laptop is defunct. Not the battery, not the switch--the motherboard is flatline. I guess it is about 3 years old. That doesn't seem old. But to fix it is more expensive that to replace it, so I am told. So... got my eye on a refurbished hp business class laptop with more oomph to it anyway... and all its keys, and no cat hair in it... (Mine lost several keys one time when I opened it at home, sitting on my bed and the happy little puppy leaped up and pawed it...) It will cost about half what... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 1:27 AM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, August 21, 2010

get pickled!

There is a jar in the fridge with one last pickle in it. It is a great pickle, a really tasty pickle... and soon it will be gone and the jar will sit there half-full with the pickle jiuce of that really tasty pickle. Throw it down the sink? No way! Maybe I will slice some little pickling cukes into it... or slice some sweet onion in big fat rings... or maybe dump in a bag of cabbage shredded for cole slaw... And then set it back in the fridge for a few days... and then use those tasty wonderful... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 8:45 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Waffle!

I love a good waffle! I used to love em for how much buttery and real maple syrup they could carry to my mouth, but now... health is a larger issue, and flavor beyond the buttery mapley goodness, as well. So now... to the regular scratch recipe using whole grain flour, try adding half a cup of almond meal--easy to make if you have a blender-- to the cup of flour. Or try pecan meal... or walnut... whatever you like! It is perfect for flavor without adding 'interruptions' as my kids always... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 12:37 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, August 16, 2010

cooking again...

Literally and figuratively! Dinner tonight started as frozen chicken 'tenders' seared with onions and peppers, green and orange, with a bit of olive oil, then some Newman's Light Lime dressing poured over the top, and a long low simmer... a dash of pink wine (too sweet to drink) and some soy sauce, into the marinade now flavor-enhanced with the cooking chicken, onions and peppers, then thickened up a little with cornstarch. I threw in some prepped veggies that were going to go rotten or... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 5:36 PM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Where have I been?

Well... no where in particular... in a kind of doldrums here on the Blogit sea, drifting off on faint currents, looking up and seeing, oh, I've gone invisible... I still come by and read here and there... sometimes invisibly, when I find nothing to put into words. I've been writing a lot of dialog and character writing, immersed in character personalities in other worlds. I've been taking my mental/emotional machete to this house and all that's in it, knowing the day is coming I must, MUST leave... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 12:20 PM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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About this Blog

I'm doubtful the events of my life will be of great general interest, but I'd like to share a little more of me to the several of you on Blogit I've come to feel are real friends, and the many I imagine are potentially real friends. We'll see how it works out. ______________________ all my words and images posted on Blogit are copyright 2005-present, all rights reserved.

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