kayray.org

Adapted from the recipe on Serious Eats:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/07/creamy-cole-slaw.html

This was my first try and I used what I had handy. Next time I’ll add some
shredded carrots.

Toss 10 oz bag of shredded cabbage (Trader Joe’s) with 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Let it sit for five minutes or so while you make the
dressing.

Whisk:
1 tablespoon of vinegar (I used the last of my rice wine vinegar. Next time I’ll use balsamic ’cause that’s what I always have)
3 tablespoons mayo (next time I’ll cut back the mayo to 2 or 2.5 tablespoons)
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
Pepper

Ok now the cabbage should look all wilty and wet; the salt and sugar have been breaking down its cells and drawing out moisture. Rinse thoroughly and spin dry. Toss cabbage in dressing. Done.

I made my coleslaw just before I came down with this horrible virus so it sat in the fridge for a couple of days before I remembered to try it. It’s REALLY good — just a tiny bit too mayonnaisy for my taste. The texture is excellent: tender from its salt/sugar treatment, but still with lots of crunch.

Sick again. Bad cough, congested, phlegmy. I won’t be able to do any recording for a while, I’m afraid. I don’t have a sore throat, though, so that’s something to be thankful for.

Here are some photos of things that I’ve been making:

Crocheted snowflakes. I’m going to sell them on Etsy once I get some good photos.

Two pairs of little socks for Emma Rose:
http://ravel.me/kayray/hls

http://ravel.me/kayray/rbs

Well, I guess I’ll have some more juice and close my eyes for a while.

And another chapter of Spiderweb for Two! This is a really good one, and it made me think that around Christmas I should put all the random Christmas chapters out of all the books I’ve recorded into my podcast feed.

Spiderweb for Two 07 The Joyous Season

How perfect is the author’s depiction of that cold, crisp, snowy, winter weather? I’ve experienced that kind of weather just a few times and this chapter brought it all back so vividly.

Here’s another chapter of Spiderweb for Two :)

Spiderweb for Two 06 Peace is the Jewel

Enjoy!

I really like the new Rage Industries song, “Miami in 89”.

Thanks, Henry!

Hey guess what? My latest LibriVox audiobook, Just William by Richmal Crompton, is finished and ready to download!

Just William is the first book of hilarious short stories about 11-year-old William Brown — eternally scruffy and frowning. William’s family, his elder sister Ethel and brother Robert, placid mother and stern father, and never-ending supply of elderly aunts, cannot understand him. William just likes DOING things, that’s all! It’s not his fault he likes DOING things, is it?

http://librivox.org/just-william-version-2-by-richmal-crompton/

Thank you, Elli, for proof-listening and cataloging and cheering me on :) :) :)

Here you go, Melendy fans! Fresh from my microphone. :)

Spiderweb for Two: 05 A Pocketful of Gold

Oliver’s explorations remind me very much of when I was a little kid growing up on a mountain in the foothills of California. Different wildlife, but the same sense of wandering around and noticing all the life in the forest, and watching the birds and the insects, and foraging for edible wild plants. We sucked the nectar from manzanita blossoms, nibbled Miner’s Lettuce, and chewed the tart juice out of the stalk of a yellow flower that we called “sourgrass”. Fun.

Dearest readers,

I have just discovered that, months ago, my WordPress software stopped notifying me when y’all leave comments, which means that, since comments from readers who haven’t commented before need my approval before being posted, an awful lot of you have left comments that I never read and that never showed up here.

I’m so sorry!

Yesterday I went through a huge backlog of comments and OK’d all the non-spam ones. Except for the one from the guy who was complaining about content in one of the history books I narrated. Dude… I’m just the narrator, I didn’t write the thing. You’ll have to take your complaint about content up with the (dead) author.

And a BIG thank you to all of you who left so many kind and encouraging remarks. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you enjoy my recordings and look forward to them! When life gets difficult those friendly comments not only cheer me up but inspire me to keep recording my audiobooks.

I’ll try to record more of Randy and Oliver’s treasure-hunt adventures tomorrow :)

And I’l try to remember to sort through the unposted comments frequently!

Hey Melendy Fans,

There are two more chapters of Spiderweb for Two up on archive.org:

03 The Resting Place
04 The Emperor’s Abode (Don’t you just love Mr. Titus?)

I’ll put links to the whole book on my “Kayray Reads to You” page when the book is finished, and of course I’ll add all the chapters to my podcast feed.

Finished! I did a good job matching up the stripes, eh? That’s not so easy with a multicolored yarn.

All details on my Ravelry page (no log-in required):
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kayray/little-prince-socks

To avoid that little gap, hole, or loose stitch at the top of the heel flap when picking up the gusset stitches:

http://wisehilda.blogspot.com/2010/01/on-picking-up-gusset-stitches-avoiding.html

WOW. Why did I never think of this? In case that link breaks — all you do is, while picking up stitches along the edge of the heel flap, pick up one more along the same column after you reach the top (bottom?) of the heel flap. On the other side of the heel flap, just start picking up stitches one stitch below the corner where the flap meets the leg, in the same column that becomes the edge of the heel flap. (It takes a lot of words to describe this trick, but just try it; it’s as simple as can be.)

Presto. No gap, no hole, no need to twist anything.

More details about these socks on Ravelry: http://ravel.me/kayray/lps

Look, no gaps, no holes:

Good job, little nephew! :)

Well I haven’t written a blog post in a very long time. So I just thought I’d write a quick one here and try to get back in the habit. I know no one reads blogs anymore but I like being able to read old entries and see what I was doing.

Today I went to my board game meetup and we played three games that were new to me — Boss Monster, Modern Art (an auction game — nothing to do with actual art. Pity.) and Race for the Galaxy. I had lots of fun! I find it so very pleasurable to learn new board games. I don’t know… there’s just something so satisfying about knowing nothing at all about the components or how to play, and having it slowly come into focus. Race for the Galaxy, in particular, has millions of seemingly indecipherable little symbols on millions of unique cards, but then BAM — one at a time the little symbols take on meaning, and it becomes a game instead of a mystery. Still not super-clear about the “consume” phase… but I’m sure on the next play I’ll master it.

Look what Elli sent me for my birthday (the package just arrived)! Books and yarn and a Zelda game for my gameboy!

And look at my handsome 18-yr-old boy. He’s the best, I tell you, the best.

On the librivox.org forums we have a thread where people can post general thank-you notes for the whole team (there’s a different thread for thank-you notes to individual readers).

This recent note warms my heart:

I teach in a maximum security prison. Most of my students had never read a book before. I have been using librivox audio readings with them to help them read the book as a class. It has made a tremendous difference for these men. Every time we finish a book they are anxious to start the next one. Thank you to all those who have put forth the time and energy to do the readings. You have made a great impact on these men’s lives.

Wow :)

‘Thank you’ messages for Librivox in general

Hey Melendy fans,

I just recorded the second chapter of Spiderweb for Two. It’s the one where Cuffy tells a wonderful story about her childhood on a farm in Wisconsin and her adventures with a boy named Francis.

Both chapters are already up on my Archive page. To make it easy for you, here are links:

Spiderweb for Two 01 The Shadow’s Peak
Spiderweb for Two 02 A Loving Heart

(I’ll put links to the whole book on my “Kayray Reads to You” page when the book is finished)

P.S. The book that is mentioned, Little Lord Fauntleroy, is a real book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I haven’t recorded it yet, but there are a couple of versions on librivox:

Burnett, Frances Hodgson. “Little Lord Fauntleroy” (group version; I read six chapters.)
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. “Little Lord Fauntleroy (version 2)” (solo version)

Back in May I went to the bookstore to buy a gift for my soon-to-be-born niece. While I was there I spotted a charming picture book, Water in the Park, about a park in the big city and all the water-related things that happen there on a hot summer day. It was so well-written and had such lovely illustrations, the kind that have lots of interesting details to examine, that I just had to buy it for someone!

I have a couple of little cousins who live in NYC, and I thought the book would be perfect for them. I planned to send it to the older one for her 4th birthday in July, but time got away from me, what with all the crazy things happening in my life…

I finally mailed it off a couple of days ago, but first I recorded it so that little Ginny and Jo can listen to me read it to them at any time :)

It’s probably not super-interesting without the pictures to look at while you listen, but maybe you have a copy of your own, or can buy it or get it from the library, so here’s my recording:

Water in the Park: A Book About Water and the Times of the Day

Enjoy :)

UPDATE! (June 17, 2014) A commenter has just let me know that you can now purchase an ebook of “Poo-Poo and the Dragons” with the original illustrations! So if you enjoyed my recording, please support this publisher and buy your own copy of this wonderful classic.

http://enetpress.com/books/Poo_Poo_and_the_Dragons.html
**********************************************************************

I just recorded and uploaded the last chapter of Poo-Poo and the Dragons! I’ll be podcasting about 2 chapters a week, but you can download the whole book right now if you’re impatient. Visit my “Kayray Reads to You” page.

I wish you could see all of the illustrations, but here are two:

And yes, NOW I will get back to work on Spiderweb for Two :)

I’ve been getting a lot of email asking, very politely, when I will record the last book in the Melendy Quartet, “Spiderweb for Two” :)

I’m so glad you guys are eager to hear it! I recorded the first chapter a while back, and then real life happened for a while, and then I got distracted by Poo-Poo and the Dragons, which I had to check out from the library because it is too expensive to purchase my own copy. So now I need to finish the last few chapters of Poo-Poo, and then I’ll go back to recording Spiderweb so you can hear about the interesting things that happened to Randy and Oliver while Mark, Mona, and Rush were away at boarding school…

UPDATE! (June 17, 2014) A commenter has just let me know that you can now purchase an ebook of “Poo-Poo and the Dragons” with the original illustrations! So if you enjoyed my recording, please support this publisher and buy your own copy of this wonderful classic.

http://enetpress.com/books/Poo_Poo_and_the_Dragons.html
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Have I got a treat for you! Chapter 1 of “Poo-Poo and the Dragons” by C. S. Forester (yes, the guy who wrote the Horatio Hornblower books).

Poo-Poo and the Dragons Chapter 1

I’ve recorded 11 of 17 chapters but I have added the finished chapters to my podcast feed already. I’ll get the whole book done soon because I have to get it finished before the library wants it back. I don’t have my own copy because it’s out of print and used copies are rare and expensive. If you have a copy, hang on to it! The illustrations are by Robert Lawson. You would recognize his style — he illustrated Ferdinand!

I hope you like the adventures of Harold Heavyside Brown (a.k.a. Poo-Poo) and his dragons!

P.S. A big thank-you to the Lindsay kids for donating to my birthday Charity: Water campaign! :)

My 44th birthday is a month away! Happy birthday to me! :)

Instead of gifts for me, I am asking my friends, family, and audiobook fans to donate to Charity: Water.

Millions of kids around the world don’t live to see their fifth birthday because they don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. We can help change that.

I’m asking for my age (or half my age, or whatever you can spare) in dollars from everyone I know. Every penny of the money raised will directly fund clean water projects in developing countries. Even better, charity: water will show us exactly which projects we funded once they’ve been fully completed (which takes about 18 months). That means we’ll know the locations and names of the communities we helped.

Help me reach my goal. Please donate to my birthday campaign! Thank you so much :)

http://my.charitywater.org/karas-birthday