the · feral · dance · of · infinity

Outside of life in general, I have been a busy girl, trying to get my novel workable for some semblance of eventual publication.  What I have right now is pretty solid, with a couple of hurried rough patches that I have decide to fix with a sincere edit, rather than gloss over in a rush to the finishline.

Now, before you ask (and if you have not asked already), it's trash.  Total, absolute trash.  Like if Poppy Z. Brite's old fiction met with Chuck Palahniuk in a dark alley and spawned monstrous babies...that is my kind of work.  So if you're the kind of person that enjoys freak shows, kinky sex, and cannibalism - then you totally have my permission to read it.  Otherwise, you may want to avoid it (and possibly me).

That said, Facebook is a wonderful utility, but does shit for polls and really much of anything outside of talking out your ass and playing spam games. Therefore, I will be posting things of a more complex nature over here and linking from the FB, while trying to generate more interest in the FB community.  So if you want to support my work, spread the word and add the Les Fleurs du Mal group on FB.  You can find me at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137782809574220

"What has been the fate of the first lay of Maldoror since his mouth, filled with the leaves of nightshade, gave utterence to it in a moment of meditation and released it throughout the kingdoms of wrath?  what has become of that lay?  We do not know precisely.  Neither the trees nor the wind have preserved it.  And Morality, who happened to be passing by, ignorant of the fact that in its glowing pages she would find an energetic defender, saw it wending its way with a firm and direct tread toward the obscure fastness and secret fibres of human consciousness.  Science has at least acquired something from it: since its materialization, toad faced man no longer recognizes himself and is continually lashing himself into fits of bestial rage.  it is not his fault.  From the dawn of time he had modestly believed that he was filled with goodness mingled with only a minute quantity of evil.  By dragging out his heart and his life thread into day I taught him the rude lesson that, on the contrary, he is made of evil mingled with a minute quantity of goodness which the lawmakes have been hard put to conserve it.  I hope my bitter truths may not overcome him with everlasting shame, for nothing that I teach him is new."

~ from Lay of Moldoror,  Conte de Lautreamont

Like many of those on my flist, I am a foodie. Yes, we all think about it. But who spends time talking about it? Well, a good number of us do and today I am joining that group with a full five item review of some food related goodies that have recently rocked my world. I
I am never any good about keeping up with plans to write regularily. That said, I am thinking this would be a good once-a-week feature for LJland. If I remembered, I could even do one each day, but I doubt that would work. I am tutoring, so killing time is part of my to-do list anyways. Here we go, in no particular order:


1. The French Poodle hot dog at Chicago's Dog House

Yum! I read about this place in the Reader and wanted to try one of their special dogs. We were in the neighborhood, so we stopped in for a quick dinner. The Poodle is brie, pears, and Grey Poupon on a hot dog. Robert had a T-Frank with avocado, cream cheese, and some other stuff I can't recall. Their menu also includes gourmet dogs made out of lamb, alligator, or duck - to name a few. All items are fresh and individually grilled (even the frips - fresh, hot potato chips), so it takes awhile. Well worth it.

2. Terry's Toffees

Robert and I went to the Galleria on Clark and found a booth run by Michael, Terry's partner. The lemon toffee is the most amazing candy I have tasted in ages, and the Chai-cago spice is good, too. I can't say enough good things about this stuff! They have two stores in the city and a catalog online.


3. Adagio Teas

I have to thank Amity for this one. If you have not already gotten your $5 gift certificate, just let me know and I will send you one! Many of their samples make 10 cups of tea and are $2-3. Shipping is super fast and inexpensive - I sampled 4 teas for $4. They also give you a free sample blend of zodiac tea. I have not tried these, as they seem fruity, but hey, free tea! I really love the black apple tea - very hard to find outside of ordering it from Turkish importers. Cheaper than Teavana and just as good.

4. Cinnamon Loaf at the Swedish Bakery

Its like a giant loaf of cinnamon roll and makes a great French toast.  I went in looking for brioche and came out with this.  It also keeps for a long time.  If you are ever in Andersonville, I highly recommend it!


5. Oyster Sauce

This is the key ingredient to homemade fried rice. Here I failed, reading dumb recipes that suggested just soy and cooked rice. The other key is DAY OLD rice. Not fresh. It should require some breaking up when you put it in the pan. No more restaurant rice for me - I make great stuff at home now!

I confess it. I am an English nerd. I admit that this is something I have known for some time, but I never realized it was quite like this. For instance, I actually enjoy teaching grammar. Of course, I have discovered that bad writing goes far beyond not knowing the difference betweeen past and present tense. I also know now that passive sentences are the mind killer.

While tutoring, I discovered this little editing trick. I wish it was par for the course in every high school English class. They call it the "Paramedic" method of editing sentences. Argh. As a tutor, I can't tell you how badly people are in need of this information. Here's how it works:


1a. Circle the Prepositions. Too many prepositions can drain all the action out of a sentence. Get rid of the prepositions, and find a strong active verb to make the sentence direct:
Original: In this passage is an example of the use of the rule of justice in argumentation.
Revised: This passage exemplifies argumentation using the rule of justice.

1b. Circle the "is" forms. Using "is" in a sentence gets it off to a slow start, and makes the sentence weak. Replace as many "to be" verbs with action verbs as you can, and change all passive voice ("is defended by") to an active voice ("defends").

Original: The point I wish to make is that fish sleep with their eyes open.
Revised: Fish sleep with their eyes open.

2. Ask, "Where's the action?" "Who's kicking who?" (using Lanham's own terminology here--to be precise, it would be "Who kicks whom?"). If you get stuck in a passive sentence always ask the question: "Who does what to whom?" If you use that formula you will always write active sentences.

Original: Burning books is considered censorship by some people.
Revised: Some people consider burning books censorship.

3. Put this "kicking" action in a simple active verb.
Original: The theory of relativity isn't demonstrated by this experiment.
Revised: This experiment does not demonstrate the theory of relativity.

4. Start fast--no slow windups. Stick to the action and avoid opening sentences with phrases like these:

My opinion is that....
The point I wish to make is that ...
The fact of the matter is that...