Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the kitchen...

Last weekend I came down with an odd gastric virus that made me slightly unhappy over the weekend, then seemed to disappear, yet came back with a vengeance Tuesday night. Now it's packed up and totally gone.

However, I went out Monday and bought a bunch of bananas. They didn't get eaten and are now all nice and freckly, so I decided to make some banana bread. I'm the only person I know who likes freckly bananas, and I wasn't about to sit there and eat six at one sitting.

If truth be told, I used to cook a lot, especially during my first marriage. My first husband thought I was a wonderful cook, and would even ask me to stock the freezer with steak and kidney pies before I left for an occasional trip back to Texas from wherever we were overseas. And when I first looked at Chez Melina before buying it, one reason I wanted the house is because it had one of these stoves.

Like most people I know, I prefer cooking with gas as I always burn up my pans on electric stoves. And the stove had a nostagic appeal, as I grew up in a home with an identical model. (Its finished products never had a lot of appeal; this was because my mother was, and is, a terrible cook.)

But I digress. Back to the banana bread.

After returning to Chez Melina with all the ingredients, I realized that the preparation time was not going to be the 15 minutes as shown on the recipe card. This is because:

• I had to evict the resident cat and clean the kitchen counters first.
• I decided the floor needed cleaning, too.
• I spent 20 minutes locating the appropriate pans and bowls.
• I spent another 10 minutes washing all pans and bowls because they were dusty.

However, the banana bread is now in the oven and Radar the cat is happily licking the bowl. Watch for updates on the finished product. I have high hopes.

Timewaster, part 2

Of course I couldn't just have one of my writing samples analyzed. So I went back and copied/pasted a more recent blog entry from 2010. It scored David Foster Wallace.

Uh-oh.

Finally ... a timewaster worth sharing

Maurice, one of my few and faithful readers, blogged about a cool site called "I Write Like".  Just copy and paste some of your own immortal prose into a text box, hit Analyze, and see who you sound like.

I went back into my 2006 archives and dug up some paragraphs from the original version of Twilight Express for analysis. This is the opinion I received. I am guessing that's it's mainly because Joyce always wrote in third person, like I did.

(Of course, if it had told me I write like a writer I don't like, I'd be pissed off and not posting this here. But Joyce is one of my all-time favorites.)

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Sleeping with the fishes

Today was rather dull, mainly because I slept through most of it. This was due to being ill most of the night with an odd combination of a prolonged asthma attack and severe nausea. It was as if I couldn't decide how sick I wanted to be.

The day wasn't a total loss, though. During the course of the afternoon, I caught up on my mild Sopranos addiction. After having watched the first two seasons courtesy of Premiere Video, I can safely say that:

• I was never cast in this series as I didn't have the fingernails for it.
• Steven Van Zandt's face and neck are permanently frozen in that weird combined hunch/scowl.
• A lot of hairspray died during the filming; mostly on the men's hairstyles.

But most episodes were reasonably entertaining, especially Tony's dream sequences.

Career cringe

Since being escorted from the Snoopy Borg, I've occasionally wondered if I couldn't do something else for a living. Ideally I'd like to do two things, so I wouldn't risk another burnout situation, but I'm not sure my mortgage lender would like that.

It's not that I think I'm a bad writer, although this blog generally isn't an indicator of that talent. But sitting in front of a computer screen has lost its appeal for several reasons.

The truth of the matter is that I'd like to be a tradesperson of some sort. Carpentry particularly appeals ever since I took the antique restoration course in Australia when I was waiting for a work visa. But I don't think today's mass-produced market has a lot of potential.

The only other career move that appeals to me is a downward shift. I particularly like editing and proofreading, so I wouldn't mind doing that from now on. I even applied for a couple of editing jobs. But unless I fabricate my resume, I think I'll continue to get negative responses, such as being accused of "taking what I can get until something else comes up".

Freelancing full-time has its appeal, but I'm a dreadful networker. I'm too shy and introverted to go out and find the work. But perhaps my freelancing friends can help.