Tuesday, October 25, 2011

TEETH BITE. The Mestizo Vein - Part 3

Now on SMASHWORDS! TEETH BITE. The Mestizo Vein - Part 3!
Part 3 - Luna continues sharing her vampire history as secrets that will forever change her relationship with Monette reveal themselves. Meanwhile, Rodriguez continues trying to unravel the mystery behind Alejandro’s death and the connection she suspects involves Luna. Experience power, passion, and obsession. The unholy trinity that is Teeth Bite: The Mestizo Vein Part 3.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

TEETH BITE - The Mestizo Vein - Part 2

Part 2 of TEETH BITE. The Mestizo Vein is now available on SMASHWORDS

TEETH BITE - the Mestizo Vein - Pt. 1 by Jaguiler & Blue Sleighty


FREE until 10/28 with this code at SMASHWORDS: JJ34J

Ebook Short Description
Betrayal gave her birth. Sin gave her life. Fate gave her power. Blood gave her destiny.

Extended Description
She sat in her room, the world spinning all around in one dark mass, the voices of memory encompassing every thought. Where could she go to quiet them?

"No where," they answered, "We are you, and you are us."

Tossing and turning, she raged in her sleep, blankets and pillows thrown all over the floor. She finally awoke when her hand hit the corner of the headboard. "Damn," she yelled as she sat up, turned on the light, and examined the gash on her right hand. The blood ran thickly down her knuckle and over her wrist. For a moment, she sat motionless and watched it.... (Read more) She sat in her room, the world spinning all around in one dark mass, the voices of memory encompassing every thought. Where could she go to quiet them?

"No where," they answered, "We are you, and you are us."

Tossing and turning, she raged in her sleep, blankets and pillows thrown all over the floor. She finally awoke when her hand hit the corner of the headboard. "Damn," she yelled as she sat up, turned on the light, and examined the gash on her right hand. The blood ran thickly down her knuckle and over her wrist. For a moment, she sat motionless and watched it.

As the creek of blood began to clot, she released herself from her fascination and licked her hand. Her saliva stung the wound pleasantly, and at once, the congealing trickle stopped. She looked at the clock – 3:37 a.m. She'd almost made it through another night.

Getting up and going to the bathroom, she rinsed the wound and poured peroxide on it. Bubbles pushed their way in and around the cut, playing with the still open wound. Small drops of blood fought their way back to the surface. As they appeared, the peroxide engulfed them.

Looks like pink champagne, she thought, smiling to herself and knowing full well that she didn’t have to allow this to go on. Still, the peroxide's sting gave her that familiar feeling, the feeling that just the right amount of pain can give to one's desires.

A couple hours hung in the balance before daylight, the remaining cover of darkness providing so much temptation, but what would be out there at this time of the morning, she thought. She gave the clock another glance – 4:03 a.m.

Rather than leave the safety of her home, she picked up the phone and dialed. The voice answered and obeyed. Within a half-hour, the doorbell rang. It was time.
(Less)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Spirit Day!

Spirit Day!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers - Blue's Famous Recipe!

You should read first and then cook. NOT as you go along with this recipe. There is a lot to be said about how to roast and skin peppers. http://inspiredbites.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-to-roast-and-peel-poblano-peppers.html This website is a pretty good resource. After the peppers are roasted, however, most people let them steam a bit. Not just COOL like on this website. But- the website has visuals and it is very helpful up to the point of taking them out of the oven. In Texas and Mexico- we take them from the oven after roasting and put them in a large bowl and put a plate on top to catch the steam. A big zip lock will work just as well. You can place them in the bag and let them cool and continue steaming.

After the peppers are steamed and feel cool enough to handle, we take the seeds out. You should wear food prep gloves so you don't get the capsaicin in your skin. The seeds are SPICY!

So when they are cool enough to handle peel them (just pull off the skin with your fingers- may need a knife to coax) - then, take a knife and cut a slit in the pepper lengthwise from bottom to the top (remember they are going to be stuffed- so they should be like a pouch or a boat, kind of). Then with gloved fingers, gently remove all of the inside stuff until you have just the walls of the pepper and the stem still attached.

You can freeze these- so you might want to keep that in mind if you end up loving the recipe. :)

I recommend buying 6 peppers in case of malfunction. More if you're entertaining. lol

It will take at least 1/2 of a cup of stuffing per pepper.

For the stuffing- the possibilities are endless. You can use shredded chicken, ground beef, sauteed veggies, or a combination.

For instance:

3 medium yellow squash
3 medium zucchinis
1 medium onion (any kind that you like)
1 chopped medium to large tomato (any color or variety)
2 -3 cloves of garlic (smashed and chopped)
3/4 tsp Cumin
3/4 tsp Chili Powder
3/4 tsp Oregano   You can substitute taco seasoning if you would prefer for these spices.
salt to to your liking
2 - 3 TBSP of olive oil

Any of these options should be sauteed with the above ingredients:
optional: 1 jalapeno pepper (HOT)
optional: 1 red bell pepper
optional: 1 green bell pepper
optional: chopped spinach or kale
optional: 1/2 cup bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs- whatever you have)

These options do not need to be sauteed:
optional: any kind of cooked shredded or ground meat or poultry (should be warmed)
optional: chopped walnuts or pecans

NOT AN OPTION (must have) - 1 - 2 cups of cooked rice (any kind), lots of cheese (your favorite), sour cream, picante sauce or salsa

1. Sautee all that needs to be sauteed until it is as soft as you like it with recommended spices. Transfer to mixing bowl when cooked.
2. Add cooked rice and cooked meat (if you are using it) to the bowl. It should be warmed already for time's sake.
3. Mix thoroughly (add nuts if you are using them)
4. Spoon mixture into prepared poblano peppers until filled
5. Cook in 325f degree oven until meat thermometer reads 175. Or- do the best u can. 20 to 30 minutes.

When temp is right turn off oven. Top with cheese and let the cheese melt.
Mix sour cream with salsa or picante sauce in a 50/50 mix

It's ready when the cheese is melted! Drink beer, tequila, sangria, margaritas, or all  . . . have fun!

Tortilla chips are good with them, too!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

'Go purple' Thursday for LGBT youth - CBS 3 Springfield - WSHM

'Go purple' Thursday for LGBT youth - CBS 3 Springfield - WSHM (click for entire article)
(RNN) - What will Cher, Julianne Moore, Ricky Martin, TV talk show hosts, social media users and the Jersey Shore's Pauley D. all be doing Thursday?
They are all-in on a movement that will take America by storm, and it has nothing to do with Occupy Wall Street.
MTV, Facebook and even local landmarks will also join in on the pledge to "go purple" in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth. 
"With their support, millions of Americans will help remind countless young people that it's OK to be who you are," said Seth Adam, communications and publications manager for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
Thursday marks the second-annual Spirit Day, which teenager Brittany McMillan started as a response to several LGBT youths who took their own lives during the past few years because of bullying.
"At the end of the day, I want Spirit Day to make just one person feel a little bit better about his or her self, to feel safe enough in their own skin to be proud of who they are," McMillan said in an interview with GLAAD. "And even if it only stops one person from ending their life, that will be enough."

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Our Responsibility to Lesbian Role Models In the Global Lesbian Community

October 13, 2011

Our Responsibility to Lesbian Role Models In the Global Lesbian Community
By Blue Sleighty

The lack of lesbian role models available for the youth of the global lesbian community is worrisome. Lesbians are mostly invisible even though there are hundreds of talented, intelligent and noteworthy women in the world who happen to also be lesbians. Most of the heterosexual community is not the slightest bit interested in noteworthy lesbians, the lesbian community, lesbian youth, or their need for positive role models to identify with. It is, therefore, up to our global community to take the responsibility of providing information to our youth.

Were you to ask the average person to name all of the living lesbians that they could think of who would make good role models for lesbian youth, you would get roughly the same answer from everyone that you asked. They would name some of these women:
Ellen De Generes, Rosie O’Donnell, Wanda Sykes, Queen Latifa, Melissa Etheridge, Sara Gilbert, Meredith Baxter, Margaret Cho, Alicia Hailey, Martina Navratilova, Billy Jean King, and . . . well- that’s about all that would come to the average person’s mind.

Why do we not know about other great women who are lesbians? It’s really all about marketing, or, more correctly NOT marketing. Lesbians do not market themselves well enough. The women listed in the above paragraph are marketed to you with a vengeance. These women have big money behind them, and some have OPRAH behind them which is instant success.

If we do not take it upon ourselves to make information available to our youth in an appropriate manner, they will never have role models to look up to, aspire to, or emulate. We must make it our responsibility to educate LGBT youth.

In this age of the power of the internet it is possible to market availability of information to huge numbers of youth groups on the many social networking communities, YouTube, blogs, websites and more. However, if we are not creating content and getting the information out there- nothing will ever change.

The trick to successful marketing is to reach an interested audience. It’s a man’s world and men only like women that fit their ideal, whether that woman is straight or lesbian. It takes a long time to get past that wall. Men initially feel that if there is no possibility of sex with a woman then there is no point for further conversation. Men prefer women who do not mind being objectified. It takes marketing a very talented, powerful woman or an interesting and non offensive gay man to get a heterosexual male’s attention. It is a waste of money to market lesbians to people who are not interested. Most women who refuse to be objectified (most lesbians prefer not to be objectified) are met with irritation from men and from objectified women and are ultimately rejected. It rocks the boat. It’s a long hard road to acceptance. So why bother? Why leave our need for exposure up to the media powers that be who market to the wrong target audience and create public outrage instead of acceptance and interest? With the internet and all of the interest in independent artists, writers, film makers, musicians and all media produced by indies, women can market themselves and choose their target audience.

Although there have been gay men on television for a much longer time than we have had lesbian television characters- were any of these characters taken seriously? I think they were treated like a dirty joke. Actually- I think they are still treated like they are ridiculous, dirty jokes. Like something that straight men can use to measure their masculinity by or worse.

How many out and proud male talk show hosts do we have? Not many. Only one comes to mind. Anderson Cooper. Cooper, a Vanderbilt, comes from a family of influence and historic notoriety. Anderson Cooper graduated from Yale and has led a wonderfully fascinating life and has had an enviable career. He appeals to a very broad audience and certainly has the credentials to win the respect of most. But he is uniquely unique. We have some gay radio talk show hosts. Anderson Cooper is the only gay television talk show host in the United States and maybe the world that can compete on any level with Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres.

Thanks largely to Oprah (at least in the U.S. for creating interest in the first place), Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell- a few lesbians are becoming more visible and more acceptable. As these women and their presence on television allow the world to see that they are strong, intelligent women with a lot to offer and that their lives are pretty normal except for ‘that one little thing’, the general population is now learning that there is more to a lesbian than her sexual orientation.

Still, in the heterosexual world lesbians that were not on a porn video titillating the sexual fantasies of mainstream male society have largely been considered to be bitches, women’s libbers, ugly, or in some way physically defective women who could never get a man and had to settle for women. How do we change these perceptions? Visibility takes marketing and marketing takes hard work, time and money. And I can tell you this we will have to do it ourselves.

This is an important time in history. For the first time in the history of the U.S. we can have widely loved and accepted out and proud gay and lesbian role models. Our children  can now have gay men and lesbians that they can look up to and be proud of as soon as we take it upon ourselves to put the information out there.

Why is it that Rosie O’Donnell is very visible while other lesbians remain invisible? She is MARKETED to you. Of course- if she were a bad product it wouldn’t make much difference- but Rosie is a quality human. Rosie has many things going for her. She is a genuinely talented woman who has worked very hard. She is smart. She gives her all. She gives big to philanthropic causes. She has great connections (which she EARNED). She is able to be confrontational about controversial issues and still come across as nice. Women- both lesbian and straight- are behind her. She is a mom. She says things that many women think but would never actually say and does things that women wish they could do (like taking her children to work and allowing her employees to do the same). Because Rosie has women behind her, she does not have to look like a super model. Women are happy with her best. And she definitely gives us her best. Rosie is a wonderful role model. And- she has Oprah!

Ellen DeGeneres who is also extremely talented and massively appealing in her own right has also been touched by the finger of Oprah, which if one is blessed with it- can’t be denied as a contributing factor to anyone’s success. DeGeneres, too, is worthy. She is talented, intelligent, hard working, and marketed to you in big doses. The world loves Ellen and even accepts her occasional negative publicity with a grain of salt. Another very good role model who is a lesbian.

While the world is now sitting poised for wide acceptance of lesbians and will not only tolerate but welcome and enjoy the talents of many noteworthy lesbians, and possibly celebrate them as role models and great talents and / or influential people, it is up to the individual to market themselves. Remind us that you are out there. And it is up to ALL OF US to spread the word to the world.

We do not have to look for Rosie O’Donnell or Ellen DeGeneres. They are in front of our faces every day. And we love them! We love Wanda Sykes, Jodie Foster, Queen Latifa, Melissa Etheridge, Meredith Baxter, Sara Gilbert and the few others that are in the news and always marketed to us.

Now is definitely the time for homosexual people to show the world what they can do. Because for the first time- we are being judged differently. Most people will look at our work first and our sexual orientation as an added note of interest instead of a reason to shut us out in disgust.

My Secret Obsession

Monday, October 3, 2011

Fwd: Fw: TEXAS miracle



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thomas Dardar <bdgumbo@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:13 PM
Subject: Fw: TEXAS miracle
To:







 

 
 

 




Johnny Schell




CON - part 5 - Yet to be named

It was dark out. The sun had long since set with no display of the brilliantly colorful bounty of natural beauty that is a normal Texas sunset. The clouds in the sky had been varying shades of gray with muddy reds and oranges outlining their flat undersides and uninteresting rolls of formations resembling a mud puddle. It was a bad night in Texas. Cold, damp, humid and rife with perilous possibilities.

One hour earlier I had a smile on my face and love swelling in my heart. Two hours earlier I was fucking my girlfriend. Three hours earlier I was dancing with Joie and overflowing with happiness and planning the mischievous deed that led to memorable hot sex in a public place. The chilly draft up my skirt reminded me that Joie had just ripped the crotch out of my tights with her pocket knife and fucked me exquisitely with the dildo she was packing when she met me at our favorite neighborhood lesbian bar. Just a couple of hours ago.

Isn’t it funny how everything can change in the blink of an eye?

A half an hour ago I watched the police take Joie away in handcuffs.

And now my room mate Dee, a police officer, was sitting with me in a café, about to explain to me all that had just happened.

***

The waitress brought two heavy ceramic cups and a steaming copper and black pot of coffee and set them down on the long narrow table that separated Dee and me at the booth where we now sat, then reached into a pocket on her apron and fished out some individual servings of cream. It was evening, but the café still smelled like breakfast.

I was speechless. I waited for Dee to talk.

“I’m so sorry, Blue.” Dee looked at me sympathetically. “I know you love her.”

I waited for the speech I was about to get.

“But, Blue, you were taking a huge chance getting involved with someone so quickly. You did not even know her and with your ‘love at first site’ you brought her into our house. Anything could have happened.” I wondered how much of what she said was in self defense on Dee’s part. She knew that she had involved herself with the investigation that had just led to the arrest of the woman I was in love with weeks before.

And she knew that I knew.

I was beginning to wish I had something a little stronger than coffee. I knew that Dee was right, but I really didn’t feel that I deserved a sermon.

“Don’t you even want to know what happened here?” Dee stirred three packets of sugar into her coffee. I shuddered and took a sip of my own. Just coffee and a little cream.

I didn’t answer.

“Blue? She stole my father’s credit card.” Dee waited for a reaction.

I looked up and met Dee’s eyes. I tried to think. When could that have happened? I guess if she was really good at it- she could have done it at any time without us noticing. My stomach felt queasy. Why? Why would she do that? I trusted her. I loved her. I could tell she loved me. My mind revisited every detail of the last few months like life passing before the eyes of a person faced with death. I strained to understand.

Dee continued. “My father got his credit card statement and there were charges for all kinds of things. Gas, a computer, car repairs, a television. Random things. He leaves that credit card with me in case of emergencies. It was pretty obvious that I didn’t purchase the items on the card. So- I started this little investigation. We got surveillance tapes from the stores where the purchases were made- and there was Joie.
Signing on the dotted line.”

“Why would she do that, Dee?”

“That’s not all, Blue. Joie has been to jail for credit card fraud twice before this. Joie has been to prison twice before, Blue. She didn’t tell you any of this? She spent an eighteen month sentence in the county jail, got out for a few months and then spent five years in prison. She got out just a few months before you met her.”

I shook my head “No”. I didn’t know what to say. I was in shock.

“According to her records, Joie has a drug problem. She trades the things that she buys with stolen credit cards for drugs.”

What kind of drugs? Coke? Meth? Crack? What? Wouldn’t we have noticed that she was speed demon?”

“She’s a heroin addict. According to the records she has been fighting heroin addiction for fifteen years. In and out of rehab, Methadone clinics, but always back to the same old same old eventually. The success rate for getting off of opiates is not very reassuring.”

I felt ashamed for being so stupid. If she was addicted to opiates she was really being careful because I didn’t notice a thing. Her eyes were so dark I couldn’t see her pupils, so I never noticed if her pupils were constricted. When we were in bed together I never noticed any needle tracks, but it was usually dark and I wasn’t looking at her arms. And when we were together she never appeared to nod out or anything maybe because we usually had wine and spent most of our time in bed. I wanted to talk to Joie. I needed some answers.

“We have a three strikes law here in Texas. Joie could get a lengthy sentence for this crime. The detectives are still gathering evidence against her, and they have positively identified Joie as the user of two other stolen credit cards other than my father’s.”

My heart sank further as I listened to Dee’s words.

“The detectives will probably want to talk to you, too, Blue.”
“Me? Why would they want to talk to me? I didn’t do anything. I hardly even know Joie.”

I sickened myself. How could I disassociate myself from someone so quickly and conveniently when I supposedly loved her? I still loved her. I needed to talk to her. I needed to hear her side of this story.

“I know that and you know that, but the detectives don’t know that. As far as they know you could be an accomplice. Or you could be her confidant and be aware of all of the crimes she has ever committed. When you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas, Blue.”

I sipped my coffee and looked past Dee out the window. It was too soon for me to know what to do.