“Healthfully Air-Conditioned!” When they filmed “The Blob” at our local movie theater in the 1950s, there was a banner on the cinema proclaiming it to be “Healthfully Air-Conditioned”. Every year for Blobfest they put up a replica banner (among other things. You really ought to come for Blobfest some year) and it takes me right… Continue reading Hot Now, Hot Then
Author: JulieD
98 Degrees
It’s 98 degrees out there, and humid. I tell this to people who have never experienced this kind of heat and they say things like, “Well, that certainly sounds hot.” and “What’s that in Centigrade?” and “I have no idea what that feels like.” To address these points, allow me to take them in reverse.… Continue reading 98 Degrees
Best Chocolate Buttercream Icing EVER
(as defined by my seven year-old son, so you know it’s good!) This is a delicious, rich dark chocolate butter-cream frosting recipe, with hints of orange. Perfect for icing an 9×13 cake or 8″ or 9″ round layer cake. Rich and chocolatey. No eggs in the mixture, but firm enough to spread. Substitute vanilla essence… Continue reading Best Chocolate Buttercream Icing EVER
How To Become A Best-Selling Novelist on Kindle
While the big publishing houses seem to be missing the point with Kindle, authors are not.
A whole host of authors – from traditionally published to newbies – are self-publishing their books on Kindle, climbing the best-seller charts and writing about how they’re doing it.
Well Done, SpaceX and Falcon 9!
That’s a beautiful sight. There’s a video of the launch too: (stay tuned for the 3:00 – 3:20 min mark when you can see the edge of space and the stage separation. Very cool.
Hey, Yarn is Yarn, right?
When I was about 11 I took a notion to try tapestry, even though I knew nothing about it. They had taught us some rudimentary needle skills at primary school (the girls were whisked off once a week to do needlework while the boys mucked about with paints. I have always been grateful for that,… Continue reading Hey, Yarn is Yarn, right?
Chopped Salad Will Save My Life
I’ve never been a fan of salads. It could have something to do with growing up in a country where a salad consisted of a few limp lettuce leaves, a slice of tomato and spoonful of Salad Cream. Salads were only ever served in the summers (which were notoriously short. Sort of regarded as a… Continue reading Chopped Salad Will Save My Life
Angel Eyes
I’m on a mission. I’m on a mission to save the soul of my friend Jill Brown. I’m just not sure how to do that. With her average height and average build and, yes I’ll say it, average face, you might overlook my friend Jill but for three things: She’s 22 years old. You have… Continue reading Angel Eyes
Learning To Fly
The girls at this school were full of new games that left Sonia clumsy and frustrated: skipping rhymes, hand-clapping, elastics, kick the can, hares and hounds.
“What’s kites,” she shouted into the wind, dreading the answer.
Paula grinned.
“It’s magic!” The words raced past Sonia on a gust of salty air and were gone.
The Piano Man
They found him, dinner suit dripping, by the river.
He was not able to tell them his name — or perhaps it was there, amongst the screams and panic.
Back at the station they brought in linguists and translators who narrowed it down to some Russian dialect…