We Are All the Same

I know everyone loves that Thrift Shop song, and I'm not gonna hate, because that beat makes for quite the jam, but I'm here to school y'all to the fact that Macklemore also spits conscious rhymes:



And I would also like to officially announce that I am an ally of all human beings. Happy Friday, have a great weekend, friends!

P.S. I recently had my third blogiversary, AND my 700th post, but I was too busy to announce them. Oh well.

Simply for the Love

Inspired by my dear friend Bryan's series, here's some music for your Friday. Enjoy!

Celebrate a Life

I saw this on Facebook yesterday, and while I already re-shared it there, I wanted to put it up here for you guys as well. I've experienced a lot of loss in my life, and it hurts, but I still subscribe to the school of thought that it is better to celebrate a life well lived than it is to wallow grief beyond the normal mourning.

Anyway, I didn't put this up to spark any philosophical discussions, just to say: have a great weekend!

The Love Movement

This video doesn't really have anything to do with anything, but I enjoy this song: Find a Way, by A Tribe Called Quest, from their final album, The Love Movement.

You don't have to listen to it if you don't want to.

Last week, my friend, Renae Mercado, asked her readers how they deal with rejection.

Here's what I had to say:

Now I realize that's a bit idyllic, I mean rejection will always hurt, always sting a bit like freezing air biting against the mucus membrane of your nostrils in the morning, but I'm a Pisces. I can dream.

I vote we should start a movement. We should start calling rejection subjection instead. I just got subjectively subjected to a subjection.

Word.

In other news: my follower project experiment worked. Since last Tuesday I've gained 49 new followers. Alex and I are planning a blog fest to help it work for all of you as well. Elana may also get involved. We haven't figured out anything official yet, but I will keep you posted.

In further other news: I'll be critiquing two interesting queries on the blog the rest of the week. So be sure to come back. You might learn something. Or, even better, you might teach me something.

In final news: please visit my friend Michael Gettel-Gilmartin's Middle Grade Mafioso blog this morning. He's got a great interview up.

Things I Love: Part Five

I couldn't decide if I wanted to do books or friends today, but I'm swamped for time again, so I'm going to go with friends who like books.

Since I started blogging a little over a year ago, I've made a lot of friends. Most of you are writers, readers, or publishing professionals. Almost all of you love books as much as I do.

There is nothing better than being able to discuss books with people you respect, who care about books and stories as much as you do.

Leigh T. Moore and I don't always agree on whether or not we like the books we read, but we always have the best discussions about them, and we always have a ton of fun debating books.

Steve Abernathy is one of those guys who has read so many great books that I haven't really been alive long enough to be familiar with. I love learning about modern classics from him that I probably wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

Bryan Russell is a bit like Steve, in that he's read so well and so widely that I could probably never keep up. He breaks down books on his blog in interesting ways that I have never seen before. Being a former bookstore owner, he also knows about a lot of books.

Nathan Bransford is obviously a publishing superstar, but he's also a friend of mine, as far as online friendships go, and he has some very interesting tastes in books, and reads a lot of things that I haven't. I remember well the day he brought it up that he had never read The Lord of the Rings, and then a wonderful discussion ensued in the forums, in which he shared his experience with all of us.

What do you like better, books? Or people?

Things I Love: Part Four

This is the best turntable money can buy, in my humble opinion.

Today's post is going to have to be quick, because I was late to work this morning, but this is a Technics SL1200 Mk3 direct drive turntable, and it is the best way to listen to music, other than live, in the world, hands down.

There is just something about analog, and the warm sound it produces, that can't be matched by mp3, compact disc, or even audio DVD with Dolby 5.1 surround.

I love the hisses, pops and clicks that come from vinyl records, even with a brand new diamond elliptical needle. The sound of a record just can't be matched.

There are a lot of other things about this turntable that are awesome, but I don't have time to go into it. I'm training some new people today.

What's you favorite way to listen to music?

Things I Love: Part Three

42 Below is a premium vodka produced in New Zealand Middle Earth.

The company that produces it, 42 BELOW Limited, is a drink manufacturing company based in Auckland. They produce the premium vodka 42 Below, and the gin, South Gin, as well as 420 spring water, which is used to create the vodka.

The 42nd parallel, which is a line of latitude, runs through the middle of New Zealand, and inspires this vodka's name. The water used to make the vodka comes from under an extinct volcano and gets the highest purity rating available.

There are several things which make this vodka awesome. One, it's a little stronger than your average liquor. Coming in at 84 proof, which of course is equal to 42% alcohol, it packs a slightly harder punch. Two, it's made with genetic engineering free wheat, so if you care about that kind of thing, you're safe with 42 Below vodka.

But the very best thing about 42 Below? This vodka is produced using methods of purity and quality that rank it as a premium vodka, very nearly super-premium. If you know your vodkas as well as my friend Simon C. Larter, you'd know that places it slightly below vodkas like Chopin, Belvedere or Stolichnaya, but above mass market brands like Absolut and Skyy. Why is this important? Because with a recent buyout by Bacardi Ltd. 42 Below is now being remarketed in the United States. It wasn't selling well at $40.00/liter so they marked it down.

I don't know how long this is going to last, but you can currently get a 1.75 liter bottle of 42 Below, the Vodka of the Valar, for $21.99 at my local liquor store. That means you're getting Grey Goose quality for Smirnoff prices. Quite a deal if you ask me.

So what about you guys? Do you drink? Can you stand vodka?

Have you ever been to Middle Earth?

Things I Love: Part Two

Grolsch is my favorite beer. Probably my very favorite beverage.

Technically, my favorite beer is Grolsch Premium Lager, which strangely enough, is actually a Pilsner, but is marketed as a Lager in the United States, probably because most Americans know shite about beer. Grolsch is a Dutch brewery which crafts several other types of beer, but the one that comes in the big green beugel is my favorite.

Bottles of this type use a swing-top cap, eliminating the need for an opener. It can also be resealed, for times when you're busy playing Wii, driving a tractor, breakdancing, or floating down the lazy river in an inner tube.

Grolsch is the second largest brewery in the Netherlands, after Heineken, and annually produces over 3.2 million hectoliters, which is a lot of beer. Apparently the Vegetarian Society named Grolsch Blond, Grolsch Premium Lager and Grolsch Premium Weizen as suitable for vegetarians. Grolsch won in the "Best Vegetarian Wine or Beer" category in the 2003 Vegetarian Society Awards.

I had no idea that other beers used meat, or other animal byproducts, and I just learned that this morning, which really grosses me out, and makes me like Grolsch even more.

What do you guys think? Do you like meat in your beer? Or just with it? I happen to love chicken wings with a beer, but I don't dip the meat in the beer.

Otherwise, what's your favorite beverage?

Things I Love: Part One

Tuong ot Siracha hot chili sauce is the best hot sauce in the world.

Some people like Tabasco, some people like Texas Pete's, some people like Cholula, but I love Siracha sauce! Most hot sauces are 90% vinegar, or more. There is nothing wrong with vinegar, it has its uses, but I prefer a sauce whose ingredients are full of flavor, and work less as filler. Siracha sauce does still have vinegar, but the majority of it is made up of chili paste, garlic, sugar and salt.

The name comes from Si Racha, a town in Chonburi Province, Thailand. That makes sense since I love Thai food, too. Apparently, the version you can buy in Thailand is thicker, tangier, and sweeter. I would love to try it, but I also like the American version just fine.

I have no idea what the significance of the Rooster is, but the Huy Fong Foods version featuring it on the label is often known as Rooster Sauce, or Cock Sauce, which are both kind of gross.

Bon Appetit featured Siracha Sauce as on of the best ingredients of the year in 2010.

Do you have a favorite condiment?