Buy Night Child

Jes's book Night Child comes out today. I urge, ask, beg, push, will hold at gun point all of you to go buy a copy or 5.

Get it from Amazon here

From Chapters here

From Barnes & Noble here


For my Torontoian friends - head over to Bakka Pheonix books on Queen and get a copy

Just get a copy, ok? I've read it... trust me when I say it is worth it. And we all know how little fantasy I actually read...

Vegan Food Porn I

Last night in a fit of "oh my god, comps people are coming for wine tomorrow" and a panicked "I just don't wanna read Chaucer" I decided to make cookies. I made vegan cookies. Here is the recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies (that's a mouthful, and so are the cookies... hahahaha! I kill me!) ... thanks to Vanessa and the Post Punk Kitchen for providing me with this amazing recipe. Perhaps the most chocolate-y cookie I've ever had.

My one alteration was to add a bit more soy milk - as I think it gives the cookies a bit more of a moist texture and really makes the flax seeds work their best in the baking.

Also, if you are a chocolate maniac like I am then add a full cup of chocolate chips along with the half a cup of dried cherries... makes them so chocolate-rific.

Served with a scoop of Soy Delicious Cherry Ice Cream... perfect dessert.

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 10 minutes per batch | makes 3 dozen
These are brownie-like and chewy. Be careful not to overbake them, they may seem like they aren't done after 10 minutes but they are! See the variations for Chewy Chocolate Cherry Cookies and Chocolate Hazelnut (or almond or walnut or whatever) Cookies at the bottom of the directions.

Equipment:
Baking Sheet, Blender, 2 large bowls, mixing spatula, cookie sheets

Ingredients
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups all purp flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:
For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).

"I want to believe."

Mulder: "Scully, I need you on this one."

Scully: "And that's what scares me."

Ok, so who else is as excited about this as I am. Finally, I get to see Mulder and Scully again, and not just in re-runs. I feel like weeping.

I might start watching the series again from the start. One episode a night till it opens... Oh Scully, I've missed you my one true analytic love.

Sometimes you need some color, but sometimes you REALLY don't

As someone who has a dog in their household... I am not sure if I am outraged by this or just find it fucking funny. But take a look at this website. Dogs with Dye Jobs.

Dear lord.

200 pages...

I was going to scribe this post in a homage to the 18th century letter writing tradition, but when I sat down to do so, I realized I am too fucking tired. So instead you'll get my ramblings.

I have officially started the Comps reading - and am 260 pages into the first novel, Frances Burney's Evelina, a epistolary novel. Surprisingly I am finding myself really enjoying it. I managed to do more than 200 pages in the last two days - with yesterday being broken up with a meeting of my comps group. I am not doing too bad - if I can keep this up, I should be able to do my plan of 1 book every 2-3 days. And the poems make it even easier...

Evelina is a good start to it I think. All about a young (stupid) girl coming into society and the troubles she finds herself in. Really, she just keeps getting involved in the most ridiculous situations! Plus it is all about English Nationalism, but manages to paint the Brits as being total fools. But most of all, it is making me thing about how much I miss writing letters! Not just emails, but actual letters. I remember as a kid I had a pen pal in Greece for ages, and we'd write back and forth to each other weekly... sometimes I'd get 2 or 3 letters a week from him. But I remember how excited I was to write a multi page letter talking about my day or week or whatever. Reading this book almost makes me want to start writing letters again... course I'd need to have the time to do so.

The rest of the week is going to be taken up by the remainder of Evelina, some Chaucer poems, and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight... which I am "presenting" on for my group. Then I get to read Nightwood (which I am really excited about!)

Ok, off to dream about letters... while making a pizza perhaps.

I remain, my dear readers, your most honest and humble blogger...

Public Protection Fail

I wanted to make some comment on the ineffectual nature of using military force in policing the public... but instead I'd just like to say that this is how I feel every time I see a clown. I also want to hide.





**Image from failblog.org**

Log Driver Love

This post is inspired by a conversation with Jes that I am having right now.

For all you Canadians out there - remember this?

Somewhat Irritated

Ok, we all know I love me some grey's anatomy... but last week's episode (yes I am a week behind) kinda irritated me. We finally get a gay story line - there have been very few - and what do we see? Gay boy rejects his gay lover because of his military dad, gay boy dies after surgery. I was super impressed that Grey's did show two kisses between the guys - mind you one was AFTER the gay boy was dead... which was kinda creepy.

I was glad that ABC let male on male affection fly on network television and that they did indirectly address the US military policy of don't ask don't tell... but could a show, that has had the rather tumultuous history of queer politics that grey's has, not approach this idea with something more than the stereotypical "Dad rejects son's homosexuality, but kinda embraces his son's lover after the son dies"?

Yeah the kiss was hot and all... but I was hoping for more.

Congrats Ellen and Portia!

Ellen made this announcement on her talk show right after California over-turned a decision to ban gay marriage. Congrats Ellen! I can't wait to see the wedding pictures!!!

Repressed No More.

Many months have passed since I promised a revamp and finally, with a lull in school, I have found time to start revamping the blog. This will be a work in progress... so who knows where the blog will go. Gone are the days of Everyone Say Repressed Homosexuality... an old name for an old blog that reflected an old life. Instead I have started Bloor Street Tears - a blog that reflects me as I am now. Someone living in Toronto, right on Bloor street as I start my PhD comphrensive exams and generally start living life how I really want to.

So, this blog is going to be about me, school, my work, my ideas, my creative outlets... you get the drift. There might be weeks where I will talk about what I am reading (mostly comps stuff) or I might just post pictures, or maybe a Vegan, Indian, Asian, anything... recipe that I created or tried that day, or I will be more affective in my posts and do a more public feelings post. (More on that later... tomorrow perhaps). But mostly this blog is going to be about whatever the fuck I want it to be about! I want this to be as much fun for you to read as it is for me to write.

So, we're stepping out of repression, folks, and we're entering the big bad Torontoian world.

enjoy.

FYI. I was going to follow this with a bunch of pictures of my new apartment... but I can't find my camera cable. (This sentence somehow takes the punch out of my big relaunch announcement.)