Weekly Writing Prompt 2

Hello! So here's the weekly prompt:

The tree had withstood years of storms and droughts. Now it stood in my backyard, tall and thick, a sign of all it had seen. It wouldn't be there for much longer though.

There you go! Comment if it inspired a work of art or at least a few minutes of passionate scribbling! I encourage you to share!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is one I've worked on for a while, but here's the final product. It uses my favorite gluten free flours and the finished result is wheat-lover approved.

• 2 sticks unsalted butter (coconut oil works just as well)
• 2/3 cup white rice flour
• 2/3 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF flour
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 Teaspoon kosher salt (less if you're using sea or Himalayan.) 
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (syrup, honey, or agave work. Use about half of total sugar called for)
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons GF vanilla extract
• 1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
• As many chocolate chips as needed
• Nuts, coconut, etc. are optional 

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. 

Melt butter. Add sugars and mix. A whisk or mixer will work. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined.

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Use a fork or whisk to remove lumps. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into liquids. Add chocolate chips and any optional ingredients. 

Chill the dough for an hour.

Make cookie dough balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Bake 14 minutes. 

Enjoy!

-A Note: These cookies don't respond well to being packaged in ziploc bags. They tend to stick to each other if that happens, especially if they're squished.

Have fun and comment with your creations!

Kudzu Bugs

I don't know about everyone else out there, but there's been something bugging me lately. Literally bugging me.
Last year I met a new bug. It wasn't the first time I had seen it before, but last year I had an experience that made me learn about it.
See this little bug is called a kudzu bug. It has only recently been introduced the United States, and from right here in my home state, Georgia. Seemingly harmless, kudzu bugs float around and devour kudzu. This is good right?
Wrong.
Kudzu bugs don't just eat kudzu, they eat legumes, including soy. This is leading to concerns about crop consumption on large farms. On a more personal level though, these bugs swarm around people, especially if they're wearing light or bright colors. The also emit a smell. I think it smells like a combination of cilantro and parsley, but many find it nauseating. It definitely is if it's strong enough.
Okay, so the bugs smell and swarm, at least they don't sting though.
Unless you squish them.
They technically don't sting, but their bodily fluids seem to be very acidic. Last year I was standing in the front yard, having a simple conversation and minding my own business. I blinked and in that split second, one landed on my eyelid. I wiped it away, thinking nothing of it. Less than thirty seconds later, I was leaning over the kitchen sink, flushing my eye. The bug had excreted some sort of oil that burned like hot peppers. I was able to flush out my eye after a few minutes, but the eyelid kept burning for almost  a full week. I treated it with Burt's Bees Rescue Ointment (wonderful stuff), but by the end of the week, the entire spot peeled off as a flake of dead skin. Gross!
Now I have very little tolerance for these little bugs. I've tried to doing research to find repellants or even bug traps/killers, but to no avail. It seems that there isn't really anything out there that these little creatures don't like. I tried tea tree oil and vinegar. It didn't work and it didn't even kill them. I tried my natural bug spray, which really does work for other bugs. They stayed off the skin where I had sprayed the repellant, but I still brought five back in the house with me.
So my question is, has anyone else had any experience with repelling these insects? They're getting in the house and I'm almost terrified of one landing on my face again. I'm going to continue to experiment, but with my herb garden nonexistent this year, my resources are in short supply.

Here's a link with more information on the kudzu bug. Good luck to others who suffer from the infestation of the kudzu bug!
www.kudzubug.org

-MJ

Weekly Writing Prompt 1

So I'm going to try posting a weekly writing prompt. Forgive me if I get behind... This summer's going to be crazy. I'll try my best though and may have to set up one of those auto-post applications. We'll have to see!
Meanwhile, here's a prompt. Feel free to change the gender:

The cobbled stone was hot under his/her feet, burning with each step. She could feel it coming closer though, so she continued on as fast as she could, ignoring the pain.

Who is he or she? Where is he/she going and why? What's pursuing her? Feel free to comment with any ideas that this prompt may have inspired!

If you liked the prompt, share it on your favorite social media site. Please be sure to tag The Overzealous Wordsmith though!

Writing Is Insanity

What is writing? If I've learned anything over the years, it's that writing is a lifestyle. It captures one up and keeps them caught up in the excitement of spinning stories and weaving words. The act of writing starts an addiction that does not go away. Writers often describe hearing voices in their head or seeing stories play out in their mind like a movie. Last I checked, addiction and seeing and hearing things were all perfectly good reasons to be labeled insane and locked away. Yet writers are accepted in society as perfectly sane. (Little does society know that we're crazier than we seem.) As we continue our writing, we get more hooked into the story than our readers. We know the loves and fears of our characters, but we can't let them go. We cling onto our fictional creations like a child to their imaginary friend. In a way, characters are just like the imaginary friend. We can see them in the mind's eye, and hear them as well and no one else gets them quite like we do.
It gets worse though. As if being addicted weren't enough, writing starts to totally take over life. We progress through the day thinking about plot lines and protagonists. The student scribbles under the desk and the employee taps notes into a phone, when the teacher/boss isn't looking of course. Soon, nights are spent in bed with a laptop or notebook. Upon awakening, the writer finds the imprint of a keyboard in her cheeks or a notebook spine pressed into her forehead. Every waking moment is spent multitasking because the thoughts of stories never leaves the min, yet the day must go on and life must continue. Duties and obligations prevent writing from happening as much as we want, but we never forget it.
Guilt builds though, when we don't write as much as we need to, because it is a need. It is all that keeps us from gaining a level of craziness that even society deems is too much. Yet writing brings in just as much guilt. Time spent writing is time spent not getting other things done, such as chores, work, or school. Every word is a debate, every sentence a battle, as the brain argues over whether time is better spent writing or doing what needs to be done.
Writing is a dualistic in its qualities though. It prevents insanity yet it is insanity. To continue writing and expect something other than the addiction that results, is insanity by definition. However, stopping would lead to the bottling up of ideas and emotions, something that any psychologist would agree leads to insanity. The idea of stopping, is something most writers cannot even fathom. I know I could never stop. Even without the means to write, I would continue to construct characters and plot points in my head. Stopping is nearly impossible, once it's begun.
So I share this meme with you. (I only recently saw LoTR, so I only recently understand the reference.) I think it sums this post up nicely. :)

Welcome to My Workshop!

Hello!
My name's MJ and I welcome you to my workshop. Let me tell you a bit about myself. In short, I'm a crafter - of words, fabric, paint, and foods.
I first started writing when I was eleven years old and from there, it progressed to an addiction. Very rarely can one find me without a pen or paper nearby, or at the very least, my flashdrive. Writing has become a passion for me and I wish to share my writing experiences, but that's for another day.
Now you see, my life has become overrun with crafting as well. Aside from costuming for DragonCon, I also own an Etsy shop that I'm in the process of filling with crafts, some word related, some not. I sew, I paint, I crochet, I knit on a loom (haven't figured out the needle thing yet), I make chain mail, I costume.... Hmm... I didn't realize I had so many hobbies until I read that. Nonetheless, I'm usually doing something fun.
I have a confession. I'm as bad as a mad scientist when it comes to the kitchen. I'm wheat and sugar intolerant and I minimize my dairy intake as well. This causes all sorts of challenges when it comes to food shopping or eating and so I learned how to cook. Well, actually, I learned how to experiment. So on top of my fictional writing, I also write recipes, at least the ones that turn out to be successful. I'll be posting them on here and they'll be easily accessible at the recipes page.

So what are my plans for this blog? Well, mainly I'll be posting about writing related topics, but I'll share my crafts, patterns, and recipes and I'll also be reviewing books I'm reading and the occasional book based movie. I know a handful of authors who are interested in doing live author chats as well, but I'm waiting for at least fifty followers before I bring them in. I want them to have a fair representation of fans. In other words, if you see something you like, share it! Please do provide the original sourcing though. Check out the links to the side and be sure to follow The Overzealous Wordsmith on your favorite social networking site!