Haus of Rhi Monthly Newsletter for August 2023

No, This Isn't A Cooking Blog, But...! Look at that chocolate babka with butterscotch chips. Sourdough. ON A PIZZA TRAY. I shit you not, I cooked it on a parchment lined pizza tray and it was almost too big. Next time I'll remember to split the dough in half and make it a reasonable size. As it was, I had to cut it in pizza wedges and store half of it in the freezer so it wouldn't go bad before I could eat it.  Alas, my pre-existing condition of carb addiction aside, the brain needs sugar to sustain it. Sugars are the only thing capable of moving through the brain's barrier or whatever. *waves hand* Science things. So I try not to judge myself too harshly, and I cook most of my carb craving satisfaction in my own kitchen (using sourdough) to keep it as healthy and preservative-free as possible. I tend to use almond milk and kefir a lot as well. (Hang the recipes, they're more like guidelines anyways.) Side Projects Are Great This lovely dragon-eye pillow has been brought to my attention multiple times by various sources. I figured I'd better give in finally. For my own health & well-being. For Procrastinating Plotting But it can't just be ANY dragon, it's gotta be Falkor. There will be hair. And maybe even some sequins for scales. Or his ear, even. Once again, hang the recipe LOL. I'm batting 0-2 for following directions. So it's easy to understand that I struggle with plots and plotting because for many years when I've sat down to write, I just let the character muses roam about like they exist in an open world video game, and do whatever they wanted. I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't really work well for me anymore, and never has. I get to a certain point in the story (roughly 65k words) and then I hit a brick wall because I skipped past the important pieces like a flat stone over a calm lake, at just the right angle and velocity. So I've been trying to go back to the drawing board with Malin and Arjun and the fight for Khorrado, but my attention span is superseded by that of a squirrel, and it's slow going. I'm rewinding all the way back before the existing opening scene, because I'm not sure that it should begin there. Arjun's story arc is pushing me. Having some level of college education in English makes the process of writing a great deal less daunting, I think. I've had to teach myself (via Google) a good bit, and it made me wonder just what the hell my primary and secondary level English instructors were teaching me, exactly. Send some positive energy my way if you would, should you have a bit to spare. This takes guts and bravery and mental energy like I've never flexed before. Hope all is well in your comfy corner of the world. You can find me on Discord as Rhi.E, drop me a line if you'd like to chat or watch me work. Til next month, Rhi