Beer for My Horses: A Review

I grew up in the era of great movies like Smoky and the Bandit and Canon Ball Run. Even though Smoky and the Bandit was about bootlegging, it was still a fun film. I rank Toby Keith's Beer for My Horses right up there with those classic comedies.

Deputy Sherrif "Rack" Rackman (Toby Keith} and his goofy partner Lonnie (Rodney Carrington) find themselves in deep after they arrest a Mexican drug cartel's younger brother. When Rack's girlfriend is kidnapped and held for ransom, it's up to Rack and Lonnie to save the day. In a souped up pick-up truck, the partners hit to the road to Mexico with the silent and mysterious "Skunk" (Ted Nugent}. The group manages to get themselves into some hilarious situations, including broken down amidst a family of wandering circus performers headed up by Willie Nelson.

I probably would not have picked up this film if I wasn't such a big Toby Keith fan, but I'm glad I did. It was laugh out loud funny, romantic and had some great action scenes. Keith's sense of humor never fails in his music videos, and that same playful bad boy transfers well to the big screen. While there were definitely a couple of potty humor jokes, they definitely tended to be slightly more wholesome than many of the supposed comedies that pour into the box office these days. Ted Nugent's character was a fantastic addition to the Keith and Carrington comedy duo. The film also featured Tom Skarret, Barry Corbin, David Allan Coe and the beautiful Claire Forlani.

The film did a short stint in theatres before debuting on the Country Music Television channel (CMT) and then releasing onto video November 11. If you've got CMT, definitely check it out when it comes on, but I'd be willing to bet it's a lot funnier on DVD!

You can find out more about the film on the Official Site.

Cooking With Beans: Vegetarian Bean Wraps

I am not a vegetarian, but I definitely embrace the goodness of a healthy vegetarian meal from time to time. One of our family favorites is vegetarian bean wraps. These zesty wraps have a southwestern flare you can taste, but are mild enough not to upset spice sensitive tummies.

You Will Need:

1 1/2 cups prepared black beans
1 1/2 cups prepared pinto beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/4 cup diced onion
1 diced green bell pepper
1 diced
1 can of diced, stewed tomatoes
1 cup corn
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Whole wheat tortillas
Spices: fresh cilantro, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add in garlic, cilantro, onions and green pepper. Saute until onions and pepper begin to soften. Add in corn and stir. Allow everything to cook together for about two minutes, then stir in your tomatoes, cumin and chili powder. Let everything simmer for about 5 minutes. If you are using canned beans, drain off all of the liquid before adding them. Slowly add in the beans and stir in salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat for ten to fifteen minutes.

Remove from heat and spoon into warmed tortillas. Wrap and eat!

You can garnish these with sour cream, cheese and a little picante sauces adds a some zing. This colorful, vegetarian dish is a good source of fiber and very filling. Enjoy!

When Your Mother's Curses Come True...

I am the mother of an almost fourteen year old girl. To date, I have been incredibly proud of the young woman she is growing into. She's an individual. She's artistic. She loves to write poetry. She isn't afraid of what anyone says about her or the choices she makes. Overall, she's a pretty good kid.

Why am I complaining? I'm not, but I will tell you this: she has the worst taste in friends. I blame myself. We sheltered her when she was small. We didn't do play dates. She was the firstborn and only grandchild on both sides of the family until she was ten. She didn't go to daycare until she was four. She had very little interaction with other kids until she headed into school.

Right about that same time she started to play with some of the neighborhood kids. All of them were girls. All were within two years of each other's ages. Now my daughter is a Capricorn, and anyone who either is a Capricorn, or knows a lot of Capricorns can tell you that they are headstrong, powerful, influential and even a bit bossy. No offense. Bossiness can be a great asset. Maybe one day she'll be a world leader. THe thing is, when she would play with other kids that side of her always got overpowered. She felt insecure and unsure of herself around them, so a lot of the time she got bullied.

In first grade she asked to invite her first friend over. This girl was the epitome of nasty. She refused to talk to my daughter for an hour while she was at our home because my daughter didn't want to swing on the swingset anymore. They quickly became BFFs All through elementary school my daughter and this little nightmare were friends. Then we bought a house and moved away the summer before sixth grade. That limited how much time they could spend together and my daughter started to hang out with another girl that was friends with both her and the evil girl.

For her twelfth birthday party my daughter decided to have a big slumber party since she had a much bigger room than in our apartment. She invited 9 girls to the party and 6 of them spent he night afterwards. At three o'clock in the morning I woke up because my daughter was in her bedroom crying over something the evil girl said.

That ended their friendship. This gave her more time to focus on the other girl. For the most part she seemed nice. She was a little shy, but she and my daughter had a lot of musical favorites in common and they both liked to stand out in a crowd. The thing is, this girl was really needy. She liked to try and control my daughter so her focus was always on them. Typical teenage friendship, but this girl has taken a turn for the worse in recent days. She's actually 8 months younger than my daughter and just turned thirteen. She's got a boyfriend that she's been talking about having sex with. She's been smoking pot. Today she was expelled from school for having cigarettes in her backpack.

My daughter wouldn't tell me why the girl was suspended because, and I quote, "You won't let me hang out with her anymore."

Well duh. Seriously, the last thing I want is for her to get involved with a group of people who are making bad choices. She says that she knows about peer pressure and we should trust her, but statistics show what happens to kids who run with bad crowds. Maybe she won't drink and smoke pot herself, but what happens when she gets into a car with one of those morons and they kill her?

Call me paranoid, but this is exactly like one of those curses my mom laid on me when I was sixteen. "You're going to grow up and have a daughter just like you!"

I wasn't an angel, and my daughter is an angel compared to my behavior all those years ago. That is why her dad and I both worked very hard to teach her about life firsthand. On one hand, I don't want to deny her the freedom of learning and making her own mistakes, but on the other, I don't want her to make the same mistakes her friends are making. I don't want her to make the ones we made either.

Kids. I swear.

The NaNoWriMo Blues

I have not worked on my NaNoWriMo story since last Thursday. Friday I had my three year old niece overnight and Saturday I opted to finish a short story I'd been working on. I don't regret Saturday's choice because I finished the story and I'm very happy with the first draft! Sunday night I wound up falling asleep at 7:30, and by the time I woke up again, it was time to go to bed.

So here I am on Monday night, ten days into NaNoWriMo, with my word count still idling at 8560. I'm having issues with my main character. He started out vibrantly. His personality was coming across nicely, and then the action started. It was like the first sign of insanity kicked in and he clammed up. Sure, he made it through the action really well, but his personality fell flat. We can't have that.

I will be returning to the early half of the chapter to the place where the action started to see if I can give Ryan mouth to mouth. Hopefully he doesn't deflate, because his lackadaisical response to zombies is really pushing me toward either starting a new project, or just going back to the edits on my nearly completed summer novel.

I hope that all of my NaNoWriMo friends are having better luck. I know now that it's not that I don't want to write. I just don't know if I can keep on trying to breathe life into characters that don't want to live. In all seriousness, he's not even a zombie, and the zombies have more life right now than my main character. That can't be good.

I do have another idea, one that I am almost positive I can whip out 20,000 words in a week over if I actually start it. Tempting, tempting.

The Spell Has Been Broken

For a few months I had been feeling like I had cursed myself. No matter how much effort I put into a story, finishing it seemed like an impossibility. Maybe I was psyching myself out too much. I had even taken on the challenge of not writing another story until I finished my last novel. Well, I finished it all right, but was so unhappy with how quickly it all ran together when it was done, that it has been placed on the backburner until further notice.

In July, I started writing my first zombie horror story, but it was slow going at first. I worried that the idea that compelled it in the first place was just a whim, and once the novelty wore off the story would wind up in limbo.

Last night the self-inflicted curse was broken. We were driving our daughter to the skating rink and talking about Eckhart Tolle. I had spent most of the evening writing and mentioned that I really wanted to finish the story. I knew where it was going, how I wanted it to end, and had known that information since mid-September. Why wasn't I finishing it? My husband said it was excuses. No matter what I said, I was just continually making up excuses for why I hadn't finished it. We came home and I updated my status message on AIM and Facebook with what I was doing in the story.

Then it hit me.

I was putting off what needed to be done because I liked the characters too much. I jumped up like a light bulb had just gone on over my head and explained to my husband why I was making up excuses. I didn't want to hurt the characters. Even though I know you have to to make good story in many cases, their situations already seemed dire. What I was about to do seemed downright awful. I imagined myself in that world, in their position and cursed whatever gods put me through that hideous horror.

It occurred to me that the reason my last novel is still sitting on the backburner was based on similar inhibitions. The situation wasn't as "dire" as it is in the short story, but it still involved causing two of my characters a great amount of discomfort and pain. The difference is, they got to have a happy ending. So instead of pushing the pain on them, I muddled through it and gave them the ending, but I know now that it is my job as their creator to wreak havoc in their lives.

Philosophically, I can't help but wonder if that is how our creator feels as it wreaks havocs great and small in our lives. "Oh man... I just really did a number on the Sones's. Maybe I should hold off on killing their Grandpa right now."

Either way, it was an eye opener that allowed me to go through with what needed to be done, and the first draft of the story was completed. I felt great. And while I know I need to go back in and do some serious editing, add more to a couple of scenes that I felt were lacking, I don't feel like I skimped out on my duty as the great havoc stirrer in my characters lives. Sure, they're cursing me in their world, but that's life.

TAPS, Ghost Hunters & Honesty

Apparently there have been a recent string of criticisms circulating the net, even some supposed video garbage claiming that the guys in TAPS faked evidence in their recent live Halloween show. I don't know why it bothers me so much that there are skeptics out there. As someone who has experienced paranormal phenomenon first hand, Ghost Hunters is the type of show I have been longing for as long as I can remember. The chance to sit back and feel somewhat assured by the experiences of others who have seen things similar.

While I don't claim to know the guys in TAPS personally, I can tell you that they have a reputation for the thorough work they do and have found more ways to disprove hauntings and so-called paranormal activity than any of the other wanna-be shows. As much as I love a good psychic, they don't rely on intuitives to declare a place as haunted and gather information from the other side.

Researching the paranormal is a risky business, and sharing the evidence one uncovers is always going to be open to criticism from skeptics and nonbelievers. I'm sure that TAPS has faced their fair share during their time together, and while it hasn't killed any of them, it has served to make them stronger. Anyone who has ever watched the series, or read the book Jason Hawes put out last year, can tell you that Jason Hawes himself has an incredible time declaring a property haunted. He and Grant Wilson both have trained their team members to look for alternative explanations, every day causes for what might be considered paranormal activity. They have long argued against the accreditation of things like spirit orbs as actual evidence of paranormal activity.

TAPS have changed the face of paranormal research for the better. They have provided well documented evidence time and again, called in experts for second and third opinions on cases and evidence both and they put their reputations on the line every time their show airs on the Sci Fi Channel.

They have done amazing work for years, and I hope this skirmish of boo-hissers and nay-sayers washes down the drain where it belongs. Yes, we're all entitled to our own opinions, even the fools who aren't happy unless they're crushing other people's excitement and happiness, but those on the second half of that spectrum can laugh now. It's the people who aren't afraid to believe that there's something more to all of "this" who'll be laughing later. That's a guarantee.

Cooking With Beans: Chicken and Rice

As the weather starts to grow colder and the days shorter, we spend a lot more time indoors where it's cozy and warm. This also means a lot of friends dropping by, sometimes unexpected. My family and I tend to eat a lot of slow cooked, savory meals that stick to the bone this time of year, and one of our favorites is a chicken and rice recipe that I inherited from my mother. The great thing about this dish is that it makes enough to feed a small army well, and the ingredients can be easily multiplied if your kids bring in a few extra friends at dinner time.

You will need:
3 cups of chicken stock
4 Chicken leg w/thigh
2 bell peppers cut into strips
1 small onion coarsely chopped
15-20 button mushrooms, whole
2 lbs. coarsely chopped turnips
15-20 cherry or grape tomatoes
2 cups of rice
1/2 lb. of sliced bacon

Spices: Tarragon, parsley, 2 bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper

Start by spreading the bacon strips out on the bottom of a stock pot. Begin cooking bacon on medium heat and layer the chicken on top. Add turnips, peppers, onion and turnips. Allow the bacon on the bottom to sizzle for about ten minutes so that it forms a nice layer of fat. Add chicken stock and spices, cover and simmer on medium until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove the chicken from the broth and take out the bay leaves. Drain chicken and allow to cool. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once the chicken has cooled, pick it from the bone and toss pieces back into the broth. After all of the chicken has been added pour in the 2 cups of rice. Return the lid to the pot and pop the whole thing in the oven for about thirty minutes. Pull it out and dump in the tomatoes. Return to the oven covered for another ten minutes.

This is one of the most delicious dishes I have in my recipe box. I hope you'll try it out, and don't be afraid to experiment. No one in my family likes onions, so they are often omitted, or chopped into large enough pieces that I cook with them for flavor, then remove the evidence before deboning the chicken. I have also used turkey bacon and chicken breast when making this for a lower fat solution.

If you do make this dish, definitely let me know how it turned out. Enjoy!

Limbs, Blood & Gray Matter Everywhere

Well, despite the fact that I spent most of my day procrastinating, I did manage to add 2537 words to my NaNoWriMo total today. That brings the overall total to 8560. I'm currently on chapter three. The body count is rising. There are six dead so far, one of them a suicide who had been bitten by a zombie.

Chapter two was pretty gory. It was where most of the violence and vomiting took place so far, and I am feeling a little disconnected from the characters right now. I feel like Ryan has fallen a little flat because all of it has been the interaction with really limited emotional response. I may need to go back in and connect emotionally or I don't know if I'll be able to go on. It's very rough.

In my procrastination today, I did manage to have great conversation with some friends I went for a nice walk and did a lot of thinking. All in all, I feel it was a good day. On to the next.

Dylan and Brenda vs Kelly and Dylan

During the 1990's, I did not watch Beverly Hills 90210. My friends and I were nothing like the characters on that show, and the drama we faced often seemed much more intensive than the things that go on on that show. Recently, I've taken to religiously watching all the old episodes on SoapNet.

Yes, SoapNet is the devil. Soap operas in general are very nasty things to get involved in because they are a stretch out there from real life. The glamorous characters make us feel empty and small. Every woman on these shows is incredibly beautiful (okay, Donna Martin didn't get attractive until after graduation. She had the most poofy and hideous hair in the world, but I digress...) The men are all either perfect and gorgeous or beautiful, exotic and dangerous. Let's face it people, Brandon Walsh was the perfect boyfriend every teenage girl wishes she had. He was intelligent, kind, thoughtful, encouraging and between him and Dylan McKay it's hard to tell which one of them is more like James Dean half the time.

We had a friend once who watched Little House on the Prairie every night while watching dinner because he said it was like his daily dose of religion. So, as my obsession with this show of my youth grew into monumental proportions, my wonderful husband made a joke that Beverly Hills 90210 was like my daily dose of religion.

From the church of Peach Pit, the big question that continually baffles me is what on earth would possess Dylan McKay to choose Kelly Taylor over Brenda Walsh? Yeah, sure, we all know Kelly puts out. She was the bit slut of West Beverly High before she met Brenda. Maybe Kelly changed her ways, but let's face facts people. Kelly Taylor is a bitch. Okay, so Brenda Walsh isn't perfect. She certainly has her own bitchy edge about her, but she was much more suited to Dylan's tastes academically. All he and Kelly ever seemed to do was fight and have sex. He and Brenda shared a love for poetry, drama, great literature and the passion for life itself.

I understand the need for excessive drama in a soap opera. And teenagers, having been one once myself and now being the mother of one, I can tell you that they really do trade off boyfriends and girlfriends and toss around the words, "I love you" as casually as they might say, "Can I have ketchup, please?" The point being that I can see where a high school Kelly and Dylan fling could carry off into the first few months of college, but after that break up when Dylan thought they should see other people I really think they should have called it a day and moved on with their lives.

How in the hell can Kelly Taylor be Dylan McKay's soul mate? I don't care if they do have some random child together in the new series. Dylan and Brenda belong together.

I hate to say it, but I think that Kelly was more suitable for Brandon. She balanced out his goody-two-shoes air with her sleazy past.

So to the writers of Beverly Hills 90210 and the new series rekindled, grow a brain. Dylan McKay is too complicated a character to be worthy of Kelly Taylor.

See all the wonderful distractions one can come up with when procrastinating? I'm going to end this rant here, and really start writing now, but I know it won't solve the travesty that is Dylan and Kelly! The only way to solve it is to kill Kelly off. I hope the writers get the hint. Kill Kelly Taylor's character. Dylan and Brenda or bust. :p

And then his secretary ate his face...

There was a part of me that worried it would take me too long to get into the action in my NaNoZombie novel, but tonight I got right to it. Of course, the zombie attack had to take place right in the middle of a boring executive meeting. What better way to get out of a meeting? Though after watching the zombie secretary quickly devour two suits, I'm thinking maybe I might have actually enjoyed the meeting better. My poor protagonist is currently vomiting into a hallway radiator and trying to figure out how to help the people still trapped in the conference room.

Four days in and I'm about 2000 words behind. My four day NaNoWriMo total is at 6023 words, but I will kick that totals butt tomorrow.

For now, it's late. It's been a long day filled with zombie secretaries and of course, new presidents. Apparently the results are in. Barack Obama will be the new president of the United States. I'm excited. This is the first time that I felt good about my vote, that it wasn't just choosing the lesser of two really icky evils. Our country is ready for change, and I look forward to where the future will take us!

The Most Important Election in History

So, I just got home from doing a bit of holiday shopping, and of course, while I was out I stopped and voted in what journalists are calling most important election of our time. If you haven't gotten out to vote yet, what are you waiting for? No matter who you are planning to vote for *COUGHOBAMACOUGH* the results of this election are going to alter the face of politics forever. So, while you're out and about, or on your way home today, don't forget to stop and vote.

By the way, a great way to keep track of election results is to check in with Mahalo's real time coverage of the 2008 Election Exit Polls and Election Results.

A Bad Place to be When Zombies Attack...

So, day two in NaNoWriMo and my current word total is at 3141. I'm not done for the day, but definitely taking a break to do some reading, eat dinner and maybe catch an hour or so of television.

I'm at the early stage of chapter two and things are coming together rather nicely. While the story is written in third-person omniscient, I am mostly focusing on the character of Ryan Greene. Ryan used to be a travel writer, who spent his twenties making a living exploring remote, exotic countries. The more removed from urbanism, the better for Ryan. He's something of a survivalist, and has a degree in cultural anthropology and archeology. He is now the co-host of a television travel show that balances between the remote wonders of the world and their neighboring night life. His co-host is a nightmare. I've only known her for two days and I already hate her guts myself.

It occurred to me as I was writing the introductory scene of chapter two that Ryan hates the city. He's on his way to a network meeting in New York City's Time Square, which is where he'll be when the zombie outbreak takes place. What more awful place could you possibly be when zombies attack than a place that makes you want to break out in hives?

So, as the scene comes together, I keep asking myself if I'm going to be able to hold poor Ryan together. After all, he's going to be the one that has to lead everyone to safety in the end...

I am also intrigued by a secondary character that has sort of stepped into the spotlight. I'm anxious to see how the two characters come together, and can't wait to get them to that point. It should be fun.

NaNoWriMo Kickoff!

I did everything in my power to stay up last night to start my NaNo novel after midnight. I started out watching the Ghost Hunters Live seven hour Halloween investigation hosted by Josh Gates, and though I was completely engrossed, I did manage to get out the first 100 words between commercials. Then, I passed out just fifteen minutes before the end of the investigation.

So, after spending most of my afternoon procrastinating with everything from cleaning, bathing and working to cooking, napping and chatting on twitter, MySpace and the phone, I finally managed to glue my behind to the chair so I could squeeze out 1903 words.

The zombies have yet to appear, as I am trying to establish characters and their current relationship and situation before the big apocalypse, I did manage to sprinkle mysterious sickness in through a phone call. Yay for mystery Solanum virus.

Now, I didn't do a lot of pre-plotting. I have no outline I'm working from, except for the basic plot outline that started in my head. I did start out with two main characters, but about halfway through the introductory chapter a third character emerged that proved to be equally important, so now I have the three main characters already introduced along with their relationship to each other and their current situation.

I'm off to watch an inspirational zombie flick, but hope to get more written before I drop off to bed tonight. I'd like to get to at least 3300 so I have a nice buffer.

Good luck to all of my NaNoWriMo friends. May the word force be with you today!