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Author: Patrick Rhone

Dime Store Thriller

There was a time, in a distant past, when books filled the void for many that phones fill today — on the go escape. Many titles were offered in these dime store editions. Action, adventure, romance! Small, thin, portable, and cheap. Easy to slip into a jacket pocket, briefcase, or purse. Text and spacing reduced to the bare minimum in order to pack a lot of reading into as small a footprint as possible.

Perhaps, we should get back to this. Penguin has tried something bold, releasing a series of books by author John Green and a handful of others as “Penguin Minis” — a line designed to be pocket-ish (if not a bit too thick). That said, I’m not sure YA is the best genre or audience for such a thing. But, I give them a a for effort.

Bottom line is I’d love to see more publishers take a stab at resurrecting this idea. Not sure it will make it into my rotation soon but I’ll be taking this along with me to read again and will be on the lookout for others like this in the little free libraries around town.

Homemade Mayo

I made homemade mayonnaise for the first time today. So delicious and easy! As a mayo lover I’m blown away and more than a bit ashamed it took me this long.

Seriously, forget the store bought stuff.

Into a food processor or blender:

  • 2 tbs Cider Vinegar
  • 2 tbs Lemon Juice
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1/4 tsp of salt

Start the processor and very slowly pour in:

1 and 1/4 cup of Veggie or Olive Oil.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing.

The difference from anything you can get in a store is night and day.

“Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

— Sylvia Plath

Much of my daily work in compassion for others comes from being married to the smartest person in every room she enters. I dwell in empathy of any who dare to debate her.

If you lament how divisive our national discourse has become, changing that begins with not being one of the dividers.