Orin Launch Party

I have been having a lovely summer vacation – beginning with the Ornish Launch Party and ending with a weekend at Westercon65.  I’ll talk about the convention next week, as this post is to be dedicated to the Launch Party.


It was a lovely evening.  I really enjoyed the new format of having a series of entertainments including the reading of “The Summer Valley.”


It was a long feast, as each course was a drawn out affair with one of the poems or musical numbers included.  I was particularly pleased with the Leek, Mushroom and Cream Cheese Crapes and the Meyer Lemon Creampuffs.


I spent a lot of time on the decorations for this party, creating banners and flags.  We got a huge number of flowers from the Farmer’s market (where I got most of the produce too!) and also picked them from my P-Patch garden.


Here are few pictures of the evening: decorations, food preparation and the guests in their regalia.

Party Preview

The Ornish Launch Party is fast approaching... Too fast it seems sometimes.  Besides working on decorations I have begun the first food preparations.  Last week I blanched and froze sixteen artichoke bottoms and tomorrow I am going make and freeze a pile of crapes.  I have my menu planned out and so I thought I would post it to whet your appetites.  Get out your tunics and surcotes, ‘cause this is going to be a fine party!


Drinks:
White Grape Juice with Lemon, Honey and Lavender
Blackberry, Basil and Rose Sparkler


Course 1 - Starter:
Herbed Artichoke Bottoms stuffed with Ricotta and Parmesan on Braised Arugula, garnished with Roasted Fennel with Balsamic Vinegar and Pine-nuts


Course 2 - Salad:
Salad of Herbs, Greens, Radishes and Cucumbers with White Wine Vinaigrette, garnished with Deviled Eggs


Course 3 - Palate Cleanser:
Strawberry Black Pepper Sorbet


Course 4 - Main:
Leek, Mushroom and Cream Cheese Crepes,
Asparagus,
9 Onion Braise (red, yellow, pearl, spring, shallots, leeks, green, and chives), 
Roasted Gold or Purple Cauliflower with Lemon, Olive Oil, Parmesan and Garlic


Course 5 - Dessert Round 1:
Meyer Lemon Cream Puffs


Course 6 - Dessert Round 2:
Almond and Orange Cake with Orange Blossom Water and Candied Orange Peel


Then – food coma and story time!

Spring has Sprung and So Have I...

... or is that just the coffee?


I feel like I am on a roll right now.  This week I have started my next country, Hynovia, and its accompanying story.  Hynovia is in the south-east of Idhua and has close ties to Eonia, so there is already some information about it from the work I have done on its neighbor.  The story is just an idea right now, but I am going to explore someone turning down the “great opportunity.”  This came from musing on the way in which our culture has a narrative that if someone has a talent or opportunity that will make them rich, famous or powerful then it should be grabbed with both hands.  Likewise, the story more often told is the young person who wants to leave home and claim their gifts.  While I don’t have a problem with ambition or exploration, I want to acknowledge that there is also value in the person who decides that love of what they have is enough, that they don’t need to do great deeds or have great acclaim.


Besides the new country, I’ve been editing The Summer Valley, which I have decided is pretty good as it is and I just need to get over being neurotic about presenting it to a big launch party in June.  I am also pursuing an idea of asking some of the other guests at the launch party to perform music or poetry and so to make the evening a literary and musical celebration.  To this end I have begun to make arrangements with Dusty Stings to rent a harp for my friend E.  She can’t bring her harp up to Seattle with her, but she and I are both eager for her to play at the party.


I have also been thinking about decorations and the menu, which is a bit early I know, but this is a big one!  I am thinking of a five to seven course feast, leaning heavily on the fresh produce that will be coming into season in June: asparagus, peas, and strawberries.  This week I am going to make and freeze Meyer Lemon Curd so that I can make Meyer Lemon Cream Puffs as one of the desserts.


Besides all the excitement in writing and party planning, Norwescon is coming up next week.  I am going with artist Sara Twitty who will have a display in the art show – so if you’re going to be there, head to the Gallery sometime to check out her work!

Finished Orin

I have finished both the entry and the rough draft of the short story for my next country: Orin.  The short story, titled “The Summer Valley” is being read by my kind and generous beta reader, M, whom I hope will not be quite as despairing about it as I have been feeling.  The reason I am being gloomy about it is that the launch party for Orin is set for June and it is going to be a big one.  My mom, my dear friend E, and my sister’s boyfriend are all going to be up from CA to see my sister graduate and will be here for the party.  In addition, when I sent out a “save this date” invitation I had a lot of positive responses, a number from people who will be coming for the first time.  So it’s not that I don’t like “The Summer Valley” but rather that I have been feeling that it should somehow be extra special for an extra big party with VIPs.


Orin is a country which spans a temperate and Mediterranean climate – in the north above the Idessa Mountains it is cooler and wetter, though it rarely snows, while in the south there are vineyards and orange and lemon orchards.  It was limping along a bit until I decided that they needed a legendary king to focus on with both their history and their legends and folk-lore.  I glanced over the Arthurian and Carolingian cycles, not only for inspiration, but also as an example of how such bodies of literature and legend work on a patriotic consciousness.


Here is the current map of Idhua: It is entirely coincidental that I have been working on the purple countries.  Apparently, I colored a number of the countries which were settled earliest (which is my criteria) purple without planning it.

Endings... and Beginnings

It’s almost the end of the quarter and the beginning of the holiday break.  I am in that state of mind where I would rather be doing almost anything than the things I have put on my to-do list. Of particular interest are stories I am not working on, holiday plans which don’t need to be made quite yet and curling up with books and movies that are not related to either my dissertation or my writing.  Yet, despite the lure of the irrelevant I have been getting things done.  I put together my costume for the Tav’urisk party next week – and promptly misplaced part of it.  I have finished the menu, made shopping lists and have a final list of decretive elements to obtain. 

The writing on the religion, Daletha, is nearing a completed draft and I have finished drafts of the 12 Saints Tales.  Of all the entries I have completed for the Encyclopedia of Idhua I have the most doubts about the religion.  Oddly, as I noted as I began this project, it seems more strange and silly to create an invented religion and try to write about it, than it has to do so with invented countries and history.  Perhaps because I want to maintain the mystery at the center of things within my work and religions often try to explain that mystery – particularly in their written texts.  If I ever write a tale that is dealing heavily with the religion I will have to go back, but I have a slightly fleshed out outline – and an idea of the major historical periods and movements.

I will be glad to return to country building and short story writing in January.  I am going to work on the country of Orin next.  It is the country immediately south of Ariceda and settled early on by the same Seldue tribes that lived in Arcieda and southern Fjallind.  I have already written one short story set in Orin – Catkin – which is the one I submitted several weeks ago; however it is not a world-building or cultural exploration.  Orin was a convenient place for the physical requirements of the story.