NaNoWriMo 2.0

So, we have officially reached the half-way point of NaNoWriMo, year two. And at this point in the day I am slightly ahead of schedule with 25,547 words on paper. You may recall that last year I posted bits and pieces of my novel as I went along. Why no previews this year? Well... I like this novel better. I respect it more. I want to take it on a few dates first.

Putting any part of the novel up before it's edited feels, for whatever reason, a little bit like counting your dinosaur eggs before they've hatched.

I want to have a whole herd of living, breathing dinosaurs before I start splashing poorly edited bits of story all over the place.  The truth is, I'm over 25,000(!) words into this project and feel as though I've just begun. I've written approximately seventeen chapters and we haven't even reached anything that's anything yet.

But before anyone starts quoting Tolkien here, it's highly possible that all this is because what I'm writing now is long-winded garbage... but it's my long-winded garbage. I'd rather have my own long-winded garbage than have to envy someone else's. Stick with me over the next few weeks. We'll see where this goes (maybe nowhere, maybe somewhere, probably not into the depths of Mordor).

P.S. I may be spending an unhealthy amount of time alone in the hinterlands of my own imagination.

Wreck-It Ralph FTW

John Lassater is a man after my own heart.

For ages, Disney has really excelled at princess stories, which, despite all my feminist indoctrination, I still love deeply and cry over with embarrassing frequency. (Even when the princesses aren't really princesses, ahem, Pocahontas.)

But, starting with Toy Story, John Lasseter did something really amazing for children's films. Instead of recycling old fairy tales and fables that were told to keep children in line (be good or your step mother will try to murder you and no one will ever marry you!!) he decided that movies for children should be about children, or at very least about things that matter to children. Why are so many children's movies about trying to find a husband!?! It's not something you really want your 8 year-old to be obsessed with.

John Lasseter doesn't seem to really have all that much to do with Wreck-It Ralph, Disney's new film which just came out this week. He's only listed as an associate producer. But I think he must be credited with a sea change in the culture of children's films, a definite change for the better.

Dreamworks, Pixar's computer-animated-kids-movie-rival, does one thing well: all their jokes are double entendres. The jokes in Dreamworks' films sound silly to children, and dirty to adults, which seems to be the Dreamworks MO for keeping parents entertained. (Shrek was surely the beginning of this seemingly endless progression of fart-joke movies.)

Pixar operates differently and doesn't have to resort to pratfalls to carry the story. Their films are funny, but they are also charming and heart-felt. The humor works for most people because it's universal. They explore the ways that children and adults relate to one another, and how children find their place in the world. Most importantly, I think they also remind adults what it felt like to a child.

The true center of each Pixar film is a family who need each other, even if they're not really related to one another: Nemo, Marlin, and Dory; Andy, Woody and Buzz; Russel, Carl and Dug; Boo, Sully and Mike, the Incredibles; Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater (my least favorite); Remy and Linguini, Wall-E, Eve and all those awesome fat people on that space station.... etc., etc., forever and ever amen.

Enter Wreck-It Ralph. After all I've just said, this isn't actually a Pixar production, but the unmistakable feeling is there. There was a moment, before I saw the film, that I worried it wouldn't live up to the trailer and that it might be an empty promise, or at very least that the plot would fall apart in favor of show-off animation. However, it's impossible not to enjoy this movie. The beauty of this film is in the little, almost imperceivable details that make it feel like a real labor of love. Forget for an instant that the music is perfect, the animation is the best I've ever seen, the storyline is original, and the voice actors are fantastic. Forget that I'm biased by my nerdly love of video games, and my feeling that maybe John C. Reilly is one of the most under-appreciated actors out there today.

There's a sense that this film was created by passionate, creative people who believe entertainment can be both funny and meaningful. It's easy for me to get overly rhapsodic about movies I enjoy (The Goonies, y'all, made me who I am today), but I've seen enough totally crappy films to appreciate the ones that have that extra spark that makes them special. Wreck-It Ralph sort of gets to the core of what a children's movie should be, which is entertaining (also, ADHD-proof) and very smart.

High-fat foods for happy people.

Today is the first day of Nanowrimo and also my first day as an officially unemployed person. Before I start writing like a mad bastard though, I thought I'd share this recipe.

Fully-Loaded Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

• About 1lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, washed, and thinly sliced.
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 ham steak, cubed
• 2 cups broccoli (fresh or frozen, no big deal)
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream, half and half, or milk (or some combination; I use half milk, half cream)
• 1-2 cups grated Parmesan (not the kind in the can, the refrigerated kind in the bag)
• salt
• pepper
• thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut all your vegetables and ham first. If you're using frozen broccoli, microwave it for about 1 minute to thaw it some, and chop it up a little if the pieces are large. Just a rough chop, nothing too neat.

In a deep frying pan or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add sliced onions and sprinkle with salt. Stir these around every minute or so until they begin to deeply caramelize. Throw in the cubed ham and cook for another minute or so to brown it up a bit.

Stir in milk/cream and heat until it's warm, but not boiling.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and begin to assemble the layers. Add one layer of potatoes, then broccoli. Ladle some of the liquid mixture over the layer, being sure to distribute the onions and ham evenly. Sprinkle each layer with Parmesan, salt, pepper, and thyme. This should yield about three layers depending on the size of your pan.

When you've used up all the ingredients (make sure you end with cheese on top!) bake for 45-55 minutes.

Tim and I gorged ourselves on this during the storm. It's the perfect meal for a rainy day and it's ridiculously indulgent.

PS. Technically this is not scalloped potatoes but actually a gratin, because of the cheese, but I do what I want.