The True Lies of Heathyre Perara

1) Any models &/or MUA's in Philly tomorrow? I've a hankerin' to take a photo worthy of a Malice Mizer album cover. Drop me a line.

2) I've compiled all the Roswell/Cherie Priest stories together into a .pdf so y'all can read them without having to scroll around. They're quite wonderful.





Clickenzee to download the exciting .pdf compilation!


3) exciting things on the way. Rabbit Named Swine is at the printers. I'll put orders up maybe on the 4th or so.

4) While everyone was out seeing Avatar and Sherlock Holmes, trillian_stars and I journeyed to an empty theatre to see Me and Orson Welles which was fantastic. Beautiful performances, heart wrenching story. Two thumbs up.

5) There's wonderful news in the "85mm 1.8 Giveaway" front. More on that in a week or so.

Rock on.





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http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/27/new-hogsmeade-sign-cautions-please-respect-the-spell-limits

A fun, new sign has been added to the Hogsmeade section of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Orlando as construction on the park continues.  Available to view right here via OrlandoThemeParkNews, the iron sign features "Hogsmeade" above a skyline, and the words "Please Respect the Spell Limits" across the bottom.  Additional images of the theme park construction may be...

Using an interactive display at ACMI's Screen World's exhibition Rosie and I created a five-second film featuring a fast-moving lemon, which we then converted into a fifty-page flipbook. In it, a lemon shoots in from the left, then moves back from the right, then hurtles spookily towards the camera.

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year.

* January - Wolf moon only
* February - Ice moon
* March - Storm moon
* April - Growing moon
* May - Hare moon
* June - Mead moon
* July - Hay moon
* August - Corn moon
* September - Harvest moon
* October - Hunter's moon
* November - Snow moon
* December - Winter moon

Sick, plus dental infection is back. On antibiotics, hope they knock both out, but not so sure. Also, day-job is closed for the holidays but smart little me has a freelance job with an insane deadline!! So, I will be here shivering, hacking, owching in pain over my mac until the 31st. Then I may pass out and die. Steve is also sick which means there is no one at all to make tea and soup for me as I am still doing that for him. 

Found this scan while cleaning files to make room on my hard drive for the massive freelance gig: 


Reya sketch by *angeldevilland on deviantART

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/27/happy-birthday-melissa-5

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone.. but it's a pretty big day today. She may not
want to make a big fuss and hope everyone's still distracted with their
relatives and after Christmas sales to notice... But today is a day
worth smiling about, as it is now only two weeks until droves of Harry
Potter migrate to New York City - and not for a premiere or a ploy to
free another house elf..



In lieu of the t...

To say I had... issues... with the recipe I chose to use (Y's Scandinavian one) would be a huge understatement.



( Continue.... )

• 09:03 Its always a good thing when real estate investors comment on how easy my cell# is to remember. #
• 09:18 Printing some MLS Sheets to take with me for these showings, Gotta be in Port Charlotte by 10. Guess I should log off the computer! *LOL* #
• 11:14 Showing is a success, we will write up the offer Monday :) #
• 11:51 I find it slightly unsettling on Son's of Anarchy "Gemma" is played by "Peggy Bundy" *lol* #
• 11:52 Only thing more unsettling is that "Clay" is played by the same guy who played "Vincent" on Beauty and the Beast....LMAO #
• 11:58 @wendyclear86 Congrats on winning the Macbook Pro! :) #
• 13:00 @MsLuz *heehee* she's such a bitch in SOA...I love it! #
• 14:30 Patio and Mt Prospect are getting a ton of showings today, I think it'll be sold by next week. :) #
• 14:43 Tweeting from my iPod Touch :) Thank You @HippyBrian! #
• 15:02 twitpic.com/vcgjy - *lol* #
• 15:06 @MsLuz LMAO #
• 15:25 @MsLuz I like Halloween more however I saw the counter on double-goose egg so I couldn't help but change it to that #

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More at my food blog HERE

I guess this is a mean way to make my first post...seafood off my grill while half the country is buried in snow...



Lobster tail & white shrimp marinated in 100% Florida Orange Juice (but of course!), soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic and then grilled on a marble stone that's been seasoned with olive oil.

Snow peas and broccoli stir fried in a wok on the side burner.

And since we're experiencing frigid 54 degree weather tonight, a glass of Tower of London Mead with Scotch Whiskey.

And yeah...it was good.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/12/26/harry-potter-series-best-of-the-year-list-roundup

As newspapers continue to take stock of this past decade, the books and films of the Harry Potter series make an appearance on a number of new end of the year lists.  First, the Globe and Mail names the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, their Book of the Decade.  The Canadian newspaper writes that the book was not only "...the single most awaited, debated and anticipated volum...

Forgot to post this yesterday. I got distracted by my new Lens Baby!

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.




"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

After going to a couple of grocery stores in the area and not being able to buy a duck this year, we decided to give Turducken a go... I've always heard such nice things about it.

It was... alright. As with most processed and boxed foods, the seasoned skin was a little on the salty side to us, but not completely out of control. I think my husband summed it up thusly... "Well, I wouldn't not do it again, but your roasted ducks are better. Maybe if we got an unseasoned one and you had more to do with that." All in all, that's high praise from my husband for both me and the Turducken.

I'd give it 7 or 8 out of 10 forks.

But the Farnum Hills Cider was amazing.

Made these today for Christmas and used the book Hello, Cupcake! by Alan Richardson for the idea! I love this book, a lot of cute and easy ideas!



( More pictures )

My husband and I have four children and are on a somewhat tight budget, so "date night" doesn't happen very often. I was driving with him this evening and decided that on New Year's Eve, I'd like to try to get the kids to bed on time and ring in the new year with my husband. I've got one remaining bottle of bubbly mead that I brewed for my sister's wedding nearly five years ago. I'm trying to think of some relatively low effort, not too expensive vegetarian treats to go alongside. I had been thinking of making baked brie, but he asked me to make that to bring to his parents' house on Friday, so I'd rather not eat that twice in one week. The only reason I mention it is that this sort of thing -- gooey, rich and hot -- is the sort of thing I think he'd enjoy. Advance preparation would be a BIG bonus since I had back surgery this month and tend to be in more pain at night.

While I think of it, here's a photo of the baked brie that I will be making for his parents:




The original recipe, posted on Crockpot 365, calls for a 13 ounce piece of brie in a small ceramic dish to be placed at the bottom of a crock pot. I made some modifications in the photo, using dried cranberries instead of apricots, dropping the sugar altogether, and quadrupling the cheese without scaling the topping up. I used the crock pot without a ceramic dish, so the cheese cooked more quickly than the original recipe despite being a much larger amount.

This Friday, however, I'm considering working fresh cranberries into the topping also, since it was still sweeter than I prefer and unsweetened dried cranberries are impossible to find. I'm concerned that they might not be fully cooked before the cheese is done, though, so I might precook the dried and fresh berries together on the stove before assembling the dish. Has anybody done anything like that?

I pushed a peach seed into a lemon and covered the breach with peel. Then I planted the hybrid fruit in a Footscray front garden, and watered it.

I used the wooden golf club I'd found on the street to strike lemons along a laneway. Almost all of them exploded on impact, decorating the bluestone with streaks of yellow.

Games at my staff Christmas party included frisbee, football and lemon frisbee, which lasted until the slice broke up, perfuming our hands.