Writtenwyrdd

Close your eyes for the train wreck...

"Two and a half men's "uncle Charlie" should not be replaced or even killed off like they do in daytime TV. He should be kept around as a public service announcement..." commenter on TMZ

I hate to watch celebrity melt downs.  It's far too easy to hate them or scorn them for the things they do that the 'little people' like me couldn't even dream of trying, much less get away with.  So I try to avoid even considering them and their self-involved and -created plights.  (Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Robert Downey Jr., etc.)  I do, however, like to see them fix themselves a la Drew Barrymore. 

On the home front, we are presently experiencing more snow, and it might turn to freezing rain, which everyone adores...not.  Besides that, I am back to work after two whole days off in a row during which I accomplished nothing except to snooze on the sofa with my puppies.  They are both close to 40 pounds now, I think.  It's hard to get a true reading when you are holding a rather large, squirming dog and standing on a regular household bathroom scale.  I find them to be better about not chasing the kitties, and about listening when I tell them too...but I confess to resorting to my military dog handler voice, which is rather loud.  That does get their attention, but it also scares Chance, so I try to resist.  But when it comes to mobbing and pouncing on the cats, I smack butts and holler.  It is not to be borne and they need to learn that that is the one thing with dire consequences.

I can't wait for it to warm up so I can get the yard fenced.  Then I can let them run the silliness out of their systems. 

The properties of silver

A while back (February 2010) I had an article linking to Patricia Briggs' web page and her article on silver bullets.  It's great.  It's actually 15 articles.  And it's here.  Knock yourselves out. 

Firefly: the best little science-fiction-space-opera-western-wish-fulfillment-shoot-'em-up-you-wish-hadn't-been-cancelled

Firefly fans, have you heard this one?  Another internet upswelling that is apparently working to pledge money to get the rights to Firefly and put it back into production. 

They acknowledged that the odds that Fillion was serious about buying the show's rights are "pretty low," but hope the community's willingness to support some sort of revamped "Firefly" will encourage creator Joss Whedon or someone else with the proper clout to make a move.

Science Channel will be showing the existing shows in syndication.  (Yahoo!)  But, if you haven't heard of nor seen this little gem of a series, it's available on DVD.  I have it and the movie.  Gotta say, they are both the same story line, but the tv show is a sight better because it's longer. 

The Science Channel will be airing all of “Firefly’s” episodes starting on Sunday, March 6 at 8pm ET. The network will premiere the original two hour pilot of the series, which will be followed by episode one at 10 PM. After the big debut, the next 14 episodes, will air every Friday in the 10 PM timeslot.

Can I just scream here in annoyance at spam commenters? Especially ones who apparently want to sound provocative and say mean things to commenters in my blog? Srsly, you guys are assholes. And I promptly delete you.

Violence in your writing: where do you draw the line?

I ran across a CNN article that made me stop and think about the plethora of violence in the current crop of speculative fiction.  Basically, the article was talking about the increasing presence of violence against children in video games, and asked the question: are we less sensitive to the issue of violence against children because of the medium, or are we as a society becoming less sensitive to such violence?  Or are we just becoming insensitive to violence, period?  And he speaks about the quandry of deciding how or if to use these plot devices.

Here's what the article has to say.

...But, increasingly, I'm getting uncomfortable with how comfortable game developers have become with putting children in peril and, often, allowing them to be gruesomely killed.

If you watch local TV news, read the newspaper or skim through CNN's headlines, there's not a day that goes by when you don't hear about some unthinkable violence or long-term abuse against a child. The video game industry, which has strived since the 1980s to have the same cultural cachet as TV and movies, has found a taboo that can make gamers feel like they're consuming more mature, provocative entertainment.

When such depictions are presented in an artful, entertaining way, video game advocates are put in a position of defending content that might be less palatable in other mediums. Would the "Dead Island" trailer work as a live-action preview of a movie or would it have provoked outrage?

I wonder if our tolerance for virtual gore and bloodshed in games has numbed us to the mutilation and torture of children because they're virtual characters, no more real than the barrel-chested Nazis in "Wolfenstein 3D" or the turtles in "Super Mario Bros."

Or, more disturbingly, maybe we've become so used to hearing about violence directed at kids that its depiction in video games is just another reflection of our culture. Perhaps developers, many of whom have kids of their own, are exploring their own fears as they build complex, dark game narratives, fully aware that once there's an "M for Mature" label on the package, there'll be little outcry.

It's a tough question.  I have no problem with sex, violence, horror, or general nastiness in a story...if it is useful to the story.  The old "if it serves the story" line we all have seen trotted out.  It's true...but it's also an excuse for anything you envision, to greater or lesser degree.  Let me be clear, though: Obvious, beat-me-over-the-head-with-a-stick agendas are not what I am talking about.  In my not-so-humble opinion, agenda novels are obnoxious bits of proselytization better used as doorstops.  But for the 'real' novels, the question remains: what is too much in terms of violence--particularly crimes against children, women, racial hatred, etc.?  These topics are touchy to address and have a coherent, unemotional discussion about...especially in this country, where we all pretend we aren't prejudiced and to even bring up the topic for discussion implies you are in favor of prejudice.  And where should we writers draw the line? Where should we consider what we owe society or our culture or humanity as a whole?  Or do we have a responsibility in those arenas?  We are writing for money, after all.

Yet, as is traditional in spec fic, our genre usually touches on squicky topics that readers are more comfortable addressing in a setting that isn't too close to the real world.  Brave New World, Animal Farm, 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Frankenstein, etc. are all prime examples of this sort of examination that basically created the sf genre.  In recent decades, though,there's a lot of what could be termed gratuitous violence.  For example, my current favorite genre, urban fantasy, is pretty much defined by the dark and violent world of the paranormal.  Not only do we expect the violence, we are waiting for it.  Likewise, cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic tales are also violent by definition.  And these sorts of stories generally have violence not just as stuff that sets the scene or provides plot complications or a crime for our characters to solve...those genres also have a stylistic sense that is all about the violence.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  It's what we are reading the genre for, at least in part.  (I mean, what are the kick-butt heroines going to be kicking if not the butt of some presumably-violent baddy?). 

But I suggest that, as writers, it is worth considering our choices regarding the use of violence in our stories--particularly violence that involves subjugation of the weak, racism or other 'taboo' evils.  So ask yourself this:  why did you choose to put that particular bit of violence there in your story?  And do you know what, exactly, you are saying in the subtext formed by that particular choice?  Are you pointing up the foibles of racism, or portraying the extreme vileness that a particular political or social program may ultimately lead to?  Or are you just going for the titillation factor, or trying to push squick buttons in your audience? 

It's okay to do what you want in your own writing.  If you like buckets o' blood and squickiness, more power to ya.  I have my preference and you have yours.  As is usual in the USA, your readers will vote their opinions by buying your work. 

But beyond the pure commercialism or even our sense of artistry in the creation of our stories, I suggest we writers need to at minimum consider that subtext. If nothing else, it may provide you with a coherent response to haters who slam you for your choices in their reviews.

Photos of the boys

I've posted some photos of the puppies on Facebook here.  No need to be a member, the link is public. 

I am particularly amused by the one of Chance eating a carrot.  (It's good for their teeth and gums.)

More boys

Madre just took this one with her phone, so the quality isn't the best...but you get the idea about their size!

The boys

Well, the boys were 18 weeks last Friday, and 4 months on the fifteenth. As you can see by the picture, they are waaay bigger than they were when I got them 5 weeks+ ago.

We saw the vet today, and the great news is that Chance's heart murmer is a lot harder to hear, implying it's grown smaller!

They are double the size they were when I brought them home. Chance is 32# now and Luger is 34#. No wonder they've gone through over 65# of high grade kibble!

Oh, and for comparison, check out the picture that is here.  It gives the pups in a similar pose.

Brain = mush

Yep, it finally is confirmed: my brain has turned to mush.  Probably something to do with lack of sleep due to puppies who are determined that 3am is the proper time to wake me for a potty break (this despite being, ahem, purged at 9:30 and I know they can hold it 8 hours) and my apparent incipient senility.  I mean, who else do you know cannot remember she received a 40# bag of dog food from FedEx and calls to complain...only to find out from their relatives that the package not only arrived, it was you who unpacked the silly thing?  And you don't remember doing it?  (I still don't, as a matter of fact, but the bag of dog food is unquestionably in my laundry room, smirking.)

I suspect it might be that I've doubled one of my migraine preventatives, but since I've been on the new dose for better than 3 months, you'd think it would have been obvious before now.  But I'll ask the doc when I see him in a few weeks.

As far as puppies go, I got them Rogz collars that have a chain loop inset into the nylon collar, which allows you to have the benefit of a choke chain without having a chain all around the pup's neck.  It works very well to stop the lunging, although it isn't as good as a choker with Chance.  He still leans into the collar and I have to tug on it.  But it's better than one of those nose doohickeys that you have to use all the time.  I prefer suffering through the training process so that my dog (eventually) gets it that he shouldn't act like an idiot on the end of a leash.  (Or at least not act like the idiot at the other end of the leash, viz my confession above. :) )  At any rate, they are doing well, but as they are puppies they are little idiots with zero self control and the sense of, well, puppies.  But they are picking things up, slowly but surely. 

Chance's ultrasound results came in the mail just in time for me to present them to the vet next Monday.  The report is very hard to read, but I got that he had "good function" but there is an approximately .5 cm hole.  Couldn't make out the location due to doctor gibberish writing and it being a light copy, but the vet will understand it when she sees it, no doubt.  But a half a centimeter is about a 1/4 of an inch!  And that's a HUGE hole in a 12-week-old puppy heart!  Chance doesn't seem to be suffering, and he's keeping up with his brother just fine.  We did put him on a diuretic because he seemed to be a bit stressed, but they are growing rapidly.  I gather that it is during the growth that the dog's heart is going to be stressed the most.  We'll see Monday if it's sounding better, worse, or the same.  The worst prognosis involves the hole being situated so that blood that's pumped sort of gets sucked back into the other side of the heart, reducing the oxygen flow and causing the dog to become weak and grey due to lack of oxygen.  That's a situation where I gather you euthanize, as heart surgery is vastly more likely to kill the animal than help.  And if the dog is able to function without surgery, you leave the hole and just see what happens.  It might just get smaller or close. 

In any case, the boys are getting much bigger very fast.  Chance and Luger are 18 weeks today.  And they are at least 7 inches longer in the back than when I brought them home 5 weeks ago.  (Has it only been 5 weeks?  Lordy, it seems like forever.)  They are also 5 or so inches taller.  The jackets I made several days after I got them home?  They were an inch past the base of their tails, and are now short enough the bottom hem is ahead of their kidneys.  I think they are about twice the weight now, too: 30+ pounds, or darn close.  And their spots are still coming in.  I think they might look like their mama when the spots have all comein, especially Chancey.  He's getting the blue belton streaks all over his head and back! (See this delightful page for examples.  The dogs here are a very good example of the smeared dots that are called beltons...and these dogs are very much what mine will look like when older...except my boys are tri-colors, e.g. have both black and brown spots.)

In any case, so long as the boys will still fit on the sofa with me for a nap after they get their business done, I can survive on the five hours sack time.  It's nice snuggling with them, but they are getting a bit large now and I'm discovering that the bony frames of English Setters mean elbows and knees jabbing me when they sack out with me. 

I'll post pictures soon.  I actually have a couple of days off, Sunday and Monday and plan to do that as well as a few things like cleaning my room and office.  I have spent all my time doing dog minding since I got the boys.  Not that I particularly mind, but zero writing or cleaning.  C'est la vie!

Puppy update

They are making sad faces because I told them it's time for bed. We are learning leash manners and that you are supposed to potty outside. They are paper trained well now, though. But we are starting to transition. And the boys are growing FAST. They are a bit over 25# I think. Chance is doing very well, but he's on a diuretic due to his heart, and we are avoiding sodium. All in all, they are both fantastic dogs, but they are puppies and squirrely as all get out.

Guest Post: Allison Pang

I've got to apologize to you all, as I have been so busy with puppy mommyhood that I forgot to get the intro to this post done.  And apologies to our guest poster, Allison Pang, author of the awesome new release, A Brush of Darkness, an urban fantasy.  Allison will graciously show up here and there to answer questions posed in the comment trail.  No telling when, so stop back and check.  :)

Q:  One of the best things about your worldbuilding in the novel is the premise of Touchstones as anchors to the fey, and the sacred Contracts that make the system work like a form of currency.  Can you share a bit about your thought process in coming up with that paradigm that is the basis for the story? 

 A: It was mostly just to keep the immortals from getting a little too powerful in the “real” world. I’m a big believer in that things should have a price, but I also liked the idea of there being a bit of “buyer beware” when it comes to the humans who make these deals. Some of them are simple transactions, but others can definitely seem a bit too good to be true.

 Q:  Is this your very first novel, or do you have a trunk novel(s) stashed away?  If you have a trunk novel, what do you think that experience taught you, and how did you approach the creation of "A Brush of Darkness" differently? 

 A: This was my first solo novel. I have a trunk novel that was co-written with someone else before that that will never see the light of day. The mechanics of writing with someone else are different than solo writing, but I guess the biggest difference is that I could pretty much take the story (BoD) in whatever direction I wanted. 

 Q:  What did you learn from the process of this first published novel?

 A: The world of publishing can be very slow at times. Writers have to be patient and try to remain as professional as possible.  There’s an excellent saying out there about being nice to the people you meet on the way up…because you’re going to meet them on the way down. I firmly believe this.

Q:  Do you have any embarrassing, excuse me, amusing tales to share? 

A: Not really. Maybe pitching my book a little earlier than it should have been pitched, but overall I’d say things have been pretty normal.

Q:  Any advice to those who are shopping for agents or publishers?

A: Make sure your book is really ready – get feedback from people you can trust to be honest. Lip service is a nice ego stroke, but it’s not going to help you in the long run. Keep things professional between you and the agent/publisher (make sure you follow query guidelines, etc.) If you get a rejection, don’t take it personally. File it away, learn what you can from it and move on to the next on.

 Q:  How much of Allison Pang is portrayed in Abby Sinclair?  I know from my own writing that it's fun to take something that's part of me (or anyone else for that matter) and take that trait to extremes for humor or pathos.  Did you find yourself doing that with Abby or any of the other characters?   

A: Heh. Probably more than there should be. All the characters have some facet of me, but Abby has quite a bit of my personality. I didn’t intend for it to come out that way, but there it is.

Q:  Phineas is an hilarious take on unicorns.  I was spitting beverage when we are introduced to his un-unicornlike behavior.  It was amusing and refreshing to see a bawdy take on the creatures, but what made you pick this particular flavor of sidekick? 

A: Because I could? LOL. I don’t know. I ran a variation of him in an online game for a little while, but he was a bit more obnoxious (and larger) there than he was in the book. When it came to BoD I knew I wanted to give Abby some sort of little sidekick, so I shrunk him down. He wasn’t even supposed to talk in the book, but about half way through he opened his mouth and that was that – he went from being comic relief to actually having a real part in the series. J

Q:  Allison, I notice a lot of bacon mentions in your novel, including in your acknowledgement.  How much does bacon enter your real world life?  And (thinking of John Scalzi's Canonical Bacon Page) have you ever had some of the more outré bacon items out there, such as bacon chewing gum, bacon vodka, or a bacon ice cream?  Any recommendations or warnings for the rest of us?

A: Honestly – I just like plain bacon the best. I’ve had some of the bacon chocolate and it’s okay. I don’t eat it as much as I might indicate, but I don’t ever turn it down if I come across it either. LOL.

Q:  Hello Kitty is obviously something you love, given the mentions in the book and in the header of your blog.  So...does your real world underwear drawer have nothing but Hello Kitty in it?  And is there a miniature unicorn?

A: LOL. I actually don’t have any HK underwear at the moment – but my daughter does. Her entire room is pretty much done up in HK, actually. And we both have stuffed unicorns of different sizes. (I have a few from when I was her age still kicking around…)

Q:  Anything you'd like to share about the submission, editing or publishing process?  How were you pleasantly surprised or disappointed on your journey to publication?

A: Overall it’s been pretty good. I’ve been very fortunate at the way things have turned out. I’d say the only thing I’ve been a little sad about is losing a few friendships over the process. Of course, I’ve gained some too, but there’s always a bit of regret there.

John Scalzi's Canonical Bacon Page:  http://whatever.scalzi.com/about/the-canonical-bacon-page/
Allison's blog:  http://mynfel.blogspot.com/ 
Allison's Website:  http://www.heartofthedreaming.com

 

 

News and stuff

Not much going on in my life except for puppies and work.  But I would like to announce that Allison Pang will be guest posting on Friday.  She will be by here and there to answer questions in the comments.

Contest Winner!

I have read the fine entries to the contest and declare Phoenix the winner.  Thanks for participating everyone!  Phoenix, please contact me with your mailing address and I'll ship your copy of Patricia Briggs' Silver Borne as soon as I can.

CONTEST ENTRIES DUE TODAY!!!

Enter them in the comments of the announcement post by this afternoon. I'll select a winner this evening. (Times are fluid with puppies in the house. Act soon or you'll be too late.)

Nutrition stuff (for dogs and people)

Okay, still educating myself on canine and feline nutrition.  But I am pretty convinced already that most commercial food isn't comprised of entirely 'safe' ingredients for your pets.  And, if you have time and money, fresh food is a good way to go...if you educate yourself and are very careful (and can afford it.) A great article on why you should consider a corn free diet for your pets is here.

A few facts:

Reading the label.  The first 5 ingredients are the ones that are most important.  If you check, most of the cheap grocery store brands have corn or wheat as the first or second ingredient, and sometimes 4 of the 5 first ingredients are some flavor of grain.  They will often have chicken or other meat byproducts as the first ingredient, though--which looks like there is more of that first ingredient than the corn.  But that's misleading  (see below).  The listing is from the weight before processing...and unprocessed meat is full of water that is then removed when making kibble.  So you may have five times the corn content as the yummy meaty stuff.

Additionally, the pet food of good quality should have a Nutritional Adequacy Statement or AAFCO statement and a statement regarding the crude protein, fat, fiber and moisture content of the food.  This is really the place that you should pay attention to after the first five ingredients.  You need to consider your pet and his protein, carb and fat needs to know if you have too much or too little nutrition.  (see my previous post.) 

Understanding the common terms.  The USDA has a listing of common terms on human food labels here and terms defined for pet food here (in very intricate and confusing detail, too). But there are a number of terms that are very important to understand which you generally don't find on human foods, such as

• "Byproduct."  "When a label reads byproducts, you can be virtually assured there is no measurable meat value in the ingredient."  It can contain the bloody sweepings and sawdust from a slaughter house floor, or uncleaned viscera full of fecal matter, hair, hide, horns, bones, meat that is unfit for human consumption, or sick animals that die at the slaughterhouse and cannot be used for human consumption!
• Meat.  The term "meat" by itself means there could be anything in that ingredient that basically comes from an animal--from intestines, brains, dead cats, dogs, lab animals and any sweepings from off a slaughter house floor or byproducts from other processing.  And that can include unhealthy, diseased or experimented upon animals!  So look for a specific meat types on your label. (There is apparently even enough wiggle room that byproducts can also be called "meat."  Pet food regulations are vague and full of loop holes.)
• "Mill Run."  The vegetable equivalent of meat byproducts.  The hulls and stems and what all else that are left over from a manufacturing process. 
• "Meal."  Which is the condensed version of the named ingredient.  From what I've read, you remove about 80% of the original weight in water and fat from the meat, which means pound for pound there is vastly more protein in chicken meal versus chicken meat.  And "chicken byproduct meal" has more protein than the regular chicken byproduct...and may also have hair or other protein sources that are not digestible.
• "Natural."  Gah.  A useless word, but it sounds nice. "Natural" has not really been legally defined, but AAFCO requires a products labeled "Natural" to consist of only natural ingredients without chemical alterations, except for vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients.
• "Organic" has been legally defined for human foods by the USDA. Pet food companies can currently use the term "organic" if they follow the same rules as applied to human foods. Note that natural and organic are not interchangeable terms.
• "Holistic" has no legal definition and is unregulated with regard to pet food. Any pet food could use the term "holistic" in marketing their product. The term currently has no meaning in pet food.
• "Human grade" is not an allowed term on a pet food label, unless the food is made in a plant approved for manufacturing human food. Because of this, there are very few pet foods that are labeled "human grade." However, this regulation doesn't apply to advertising and websites, so some pet food companies will tout "human grade" ingredients in their products.
• "Clinically proven" on a package or pet food label means the claim must be supported by two clinical studies. All Science Diet dry pet foods contain clinically proven antioxidants.

Oils, fats and preservatives.  Well, the truth is, if you don't have a good grade of oil or some preservatives, you are going to have rancid pet food if it's sat for a while.  And if you don't have a good grade of oil listed by name, you very likely have by-product oil or oil considered unfit for human consumption.  It can consist of processing oil that's gone rancid, or old restaurant oil!  Oils that are low in saturated fat and high in Omegas are good.  Oils high in saturated or hydrogenated fat are not good, except apparently some argue that coconut oil and lard (aka pork fat) contain nutrition that is good for dogs.  Flax seed oil or Omega 3 oils help with skin and coats.  (Too much can cause diahhrea.)  Fat soluable vitamins need fat to be ingested so that they can be properly metabolised. 

Grain, while not evil, can be low in nutritional value or cause food allergies or digestive upset.  Especially in puppies.  Corn is the main ingredient in many foods AND it's the worst offender.  Not good.  Wheat appears to be better but is still not a really great source of food value for canids.  Proteins are graded based on a value of the best biologically absorbable protein, which is eggs.  On that scale, eggs are 100.  Here's a list I found here that shows a list of values. 

Grains that appear to be 'good.'  From my reading, I see that unpolished or brown rice, flax meal, sweet potato, pea, chickpea/garbanzo, peanuts and a few other grains and nuts are considered good additions to doggie diets.  Not best for cats, though, I suspect (yet many foods have corn meal second to chicken or other meat byproducts, meaning corn might be the primary ingredient in the little carnivores' diet!) Some sites say that feeding your dogs commercially prepared bread is good for them because the bread is usually fortified. Others are proponents of considering your breed's origins and using only grains or vegetables which were readily available to them back in the mists of history.  (A not necessarily good example being potatoes for North American canids or white African yams for African canids.)

Veggies and fruits or not?  Dogs are basically carnivores, although they are slightly omniverous.  Some proponents of natural diet say that in the wild dogs absorb all the grains and fruits they need by eating the predigested grains and such in the alimentary tracts of their prey.  But most sites that are not flogging commercial foods say that dogs can digest some veggies but not all the ones that humans can.  Some veggies and fruits are high in fiber but low in absorbable nutrition, making them mere filler.  (Thus the argument against corn, which is a fruit and not readily digested by dogs.)  Others (such as beets) are so high in sugar that unless the sugar is reduced they aren't as valuable as they are harmful despite the high nutritive value. 

Minerals and vitamins.  If you decide to give mineral or vitamin supplements, you need to be cautious.  For one thing, if you give a human dosage to a dog that weighs 20% of your weight (that would be a medium sized  20-40# dog, most likely) you might overdose the poor critter.  Secondly, if you give an excess, you can make your pet sick.  Third, if you create an imbalance such as with sodium/potassium, you can make your pet very sick or even kill them because you supplemented in the wrong amounts. So be judicious and do your research or ask a vet for her advice.  Above all (and this should be common sense) do NOT use people vitamins!  Certain supplements would be fine if you can measure them accurately via powdered form rather than in pills...but you need to use caution.  I take powdered Glucosamine as well as Hyaluronic Acid for my joints.  If I had an arthritic dog, I'd find out the dosage and try supplementing with the same stuff to see if it helps them, as these products are sold for dogs, horses, cats and other critters and are safe in the correct amounts.   But not everything is, and the literature is apparently conflicting in some regards.

Meat is best?  Well, it depends.  For one thing, dogs and cats need their nutrition in different configurations, particularly fats and protein.  If your dog has ever gorged on cat food and suffered severe diahhrea as a result, you will know what I mean!  So learn to read the labels and know what the terms mean.  The word "meat" with no descriptive can be anything--including by products.    Meat meal is concentrated protein because the ingredient is weighed after much of the water is removed.  Meal contains something like 20% of the original water content, so if "chicken" is listed as first ingredient, but "chicken meal" is the fifth, the chances are that your two ingredients are close to the same value or the meal actually has more protein/nutritional value in it!  The Biological Value of the protein in a particular foodstuff is how the benefit of the product can be generally determined.  First you have to know the type of protein and whether it's condensed into meal, is raw or is cooked.  These factors affect the relative protein in the product.  Then you have to consider whether the recipient can actually digest it.  And third you have to see where it lies on the label. 

The list below, from this site, gives some common foods and their Biological Value.

Protein Ratings

FOOD	PROTEIN RATING
Eggs (whole)	100
Eggs (whites)	88
Chicken / Turkey	79
Fish	70
Lean Beef	69
Cow's Milk	60
Unpolished Rice	59
Brown Rice	57
White Rice	56
Peanuts	55
Peas	55
Whole Wheat	49
Soy beans	47
Whole-grain Wheat	44
Peanuts	43
Corn	36
Dry Beans	34
White Potato	34

As far as sources of protein created in the lab are concerned, here is a short list of some protein sources you can find in supplements common today. See how they compare to the natural sources listed above:

Protein Ratings

PROTEIN SUPPLEMENT	PROTEIN RATING
Whey Protein Isolate	159
Whey Protein Concentrate	104
Casein	77
Soy	74

You can see that many of the common (read: cheap) ingredients in commercial foods are on the lower end or not on this list at all.  That said, the high priced grain free foods have issues, too.  A lot of the grain free foods have beets or potatoes, have objectionable preservatives, have a short shelf life, must be frozen, are difficult to find, or cost the moon. 

That all being said (and if you are still with me here) the cost of the food that is grain free (which seems to be anywhere from $1.50 a pound to $4+ a pound) is better metabolised with less weight.  Read that to mean that the dogs poop less because they use more of the food you have given them.  You can feed them less kibble, so it will last longer, making the cost differential less...but NOT exactly cheap.

You can extrapolate for yourself how this knowledge of USDA label requirements can apply to your human diet as well.

I'm on the side of getting the best foods for my doggies and cats I can afford.  When I saw that three of the top 5 ingredients in my Iams cat food are CORN I about choked.  They are getting a trial batch of grain free food as well, because Mikey has been vomiting on a frequent basis for the past couple of years, and no food seemed to make a difference.  Methinks I know why, now. 

 

Opportunity - The Midnight Diner

For many reasons which are both personal* and embarrassingly hypocritical, I have some anti-christian biases.  Not of the I hate you because you are christian variety, but the I'm so sick of being prosyletized** to, thank you for your interest yet again, but do leave me out of it and don't expect me to BE it variety.  

But, after reading their submissions page,  I think I like these guys at The Midnight Diner, a self-proclaimed rag of "Christian writing on the fringe," might be a good read.  Because their religious slant doesn't appear to be stuffy or rigid.  I like that about anyone of any flavor.  Anyone who is secure enough in their beliefs that they don't have to take themselves too seriously around 'hot button' issues is my kind of person.  Because, without open and honest dialog (read: racial issues in the United States) the problem festers and prejudice and hatred and misunderstanding thrive.  (Off my soapbox now, I promise.)

Getting back to the topic, The Midnight Diner particularly wants stories set in diners, but there appears to be room for other locations.  Also, namby-pamby stories need not apply:

"The Diner is not for children, or the faint of heart. Jesus dressed up as Thor, a whore who moonlights as an exorcist, a bouncer at a strip club, and more offbeat characters were regulars in the first edition of The Diner. This is not Guideposts or your Sunday School quarterly. Pansy sanitized work will be unceremoniously dismissed. Do not send me work where gangbangers say things like, “Golly gee, Beav, what ever are we going to do with this swell crack?”

They are presently closed for submissions, but check in at their web site or blog for when they open up.  But definitely read the submissions page for their list of things they do and don't want.  Funny.

*Isn't it always about the relatives?
**Hey, I'm pagan and a Unitarian***.  We don't do proselytizing. 
***Did you hear the one about the proselytizing Unitarian Universalist?  She went to answer the door and couldn't remember why she'd knocked.  (If you don't get it, email me.)

Contest reminder

I let me enthusiasm cause me to post a second time yesterday and perhaps you didn't see the announcement of a contest here.  You have until next Sunday, February 6, to submit to me a one sentence to approximately 200 word storylike compilation of verbiage based on the prompt of "I saw that it mattered to her that Samuel didn't belong to me," which is a randomly selected line from Patricia Briggs' newest Mercy Thompson release, Silver Borne.

Amaze or amuse me.  Prize to be a copy of Silver Borne.  Details here.

PS ANYONE CAN ENTER.  I originally stated that only US or Canadian residents, but decided that I should continue with the free for all.  It's more fun that way.  Some of my favorite people are overseas, after all.

An excellent debut novel - Allison Pang's "A Brush of Darkness"

 

Just finished Allison Pang's first novel, A Brush of Darkness...WOWZA! She'll have a guest post here (Q&A) soon, date to be be announced.  But this is a great new urban fantasy start with a sequel in the works. 

I've been reading her blog for a while, and we share a common bond via Hello Kitty--her love of the stuff and my bemusement and tendency to point out amusing Hello Kitty items.  I'm almost even tempted to get some sometimes.

You can find her at her blog Borrowing Heaven, Subletting Hell (where she goes by mynfel) or at her website.

CONTEST!!!

Okay, due to Amazon's amazing ability to fuck me over, I have received duplicate copies of some books, basically because they told me that I wouldn't be receiving them from the old hacked account, so I reordered and--oops!--received them twice.

So...in honor of my receiving a duplicate copy of the newly released paperback of Silver Borne, book 5 of the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, I'm holding a giveaway. 

TO WIN a copy of Silver Borne:
I want you to write a short bit of fiction, one sentence to 200 or so words, based on a randomly picked line from the book, as follows.  Entries in the comment trail. 

"I saw that it mattered to her that Samuel didn't belong to me."  p237

This entry can have no apparent tie to the line.  In fact, it would be better without any apparent tie to the line.  Just let it inspire you somehow.  And points for funny.  :)

Please pass this on.  The more the merrier.

I'LL SELECT A WINNER ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH.

Happy writing!