Fifteen Minutes of Delusion

Thanks to everyone who played my 500th post liar's game. I'm pleased with the turnout we had this time, and amazed at how wrong everybody was. Let's discuss. By far, the most popular answer is number 3, which I suppose proves that my skill rests not in lying, but in telling the truth in such a was that nobody believes me. This answer was cited because people didn't believe: I got (almost) all A's and A minuses is college (which I did - I was a bit of a nerd that way) I wasn't flaky enough to miss a test (ha!) missing one test wouldn't pull my grade down to a B (it did) I would have been able to make up the test (which I probably could have, but my flaky 19-year old self didn't believe it could be done) The Salutatorian traditionally gives a speech, not a prayer (this is true at most schools, but I really gave the prayer - I have witnesses) In short, answer number 3 is not the lie. The second most popular guess was the story with Danny DeVito. It's t...

Here it is - the 500th post here at Fifteen Minutes of Delusion. To celebrate, I'm having a contest. You can find the rules here . Post your guesses on this post. And now, on to the game. 1. My lunch with Michael Dorn. For several years, I was the Utah Wing Leader for Angel Flight West, a charity flying organization that donates flights in private aircraft for people who need medical attention. Each October, the Wing Leaders would get together with the board of directors in Long Beach, California, for a Wing Leader Planning Day. The first year I attended, actor and pilot Michael Dorn was on the board. I didn't recognize him at first, but as soon as he spoke, there was no doubt who he was. Kara and I were big Star Trek fans at the time. Although we didn't have any direct interaction, we sat at the same table during lunch. I was pleased to note that he took the onions off of his sandwich, just like me. 2. My flight with Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. One Christmas Kara and...

OK - we're almost at post 500, so it's time to set the stage for the contest. Here's the deal: For this contest, I'm going to play the Liar's Game. That's where I write four experiences from my past, but one of them is not true. Your job is to figure out which one is a lie. If you want some practice, you can look at the last time I did this game. The practice session answer is here . Now, last time I did this, I got a total of 4 guesses, while other players got dozens. Not good enough! Granted, I've made a few more blogger buddies since then, but just to make sure I get a good response, I'm gonna give something away. That's right - a real, genuine prize! Here at our house, one of our favorite things is our Mr. Coffee Cafe Motion hot cocoa maker. We use it almost daily. Perfect cocoa every time! Well, dear readers, I have an extra , and I'm going to give it away to YOU! That's right - one lucky reader in the US or Canada will get their very ...

Tragedy struck our family budget yesterday. Not the financial part of it - thank goodness. No, it was the clerical part that got pulverized. You see, we have this system where we divide our income into different categories on paper, keeping different accounts for things like food, gas, medical, etc. Then as we spend money, we record the transactions in the account book so we always know where the money has gone. It's a good system, but unfortunately what often happens is the receipts tend to collect for a week or two or three at a time before they are actually entered into the book. Life happens - what can I say? This is the situation we found ourselves in this week. Kara had a pile of receipts in her purse, and I had a wad in my left hip pocket. Unfortunately, it was in the left hip pocket of a pair of pants that went into the washing machine. Yup - the receipts got washed, and that flimsy paper the stores use didn't hold up the way a five dollar bill can. So now there's a...

Oh, my aching back! And neck, and shoulder, and legs, and butt. This getting older thing is for the birds. Actually, it's not the aches I mind so much - I earned my latest batch by biking to Alyssa's school to play on the playground, and toasting Anna's cookies at Wii baseball and bowling. Yeah, that was fun. The growing crop of gray hairs isn't really so bad, either. No, what's making me crazy are the hairs growing in my ears. Double yuck! I'm bearing down on 41 with great rapidity, and it's showing. But I still have a month before hitting that milestone. There's another, happier milestone coming up even sooner than my birthday. (I remember when birthdays used to be the happiest day of the year. Hah!) That milestone is the 500th entry on this blog! Isn't that exciting? (Nod your head, please.) I'm still a few posts away, but I wanted to give you a heads up because to celebrate, I'm going to have a contest! That's right - a real contest w...

And that means the winner is Gloria! Congratulations, Gloria! You have just won an Advance Reader Copy of J. Scott Savage's Far World Water Keep. Just send me an email at dcarey68 (at) prism (dot) net with your physical address, and I'll get my people to send it to you right away. I'd like to thank everyone who participated. The competition was fierce, as shown in the chart below depicting relative closeness of the guesses. (J. Scott absolutely loves charts, so I did this just for him...)

In honor of back to school time, it's book blog tour week at Fifteen Minutes of Delusion. Tomorrow (Monday, August 25) I host Surprise Packages by the Crusty Old Broads. On Wednesday, August 27, I talk about Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys by Janet Kay Jensen. Then on Friday, I will host Far World Water Keep , by J. Scott Savage. As an added bonus, I will be running a contest August 26-28, where you can win your very own copy of this exciting new book, which is not even in stores yet. So stay tuned. I will also try and keep you up to date on the many happenings as the girls start back to school tomorrow. In less than 12 hours. Not that I'm counting or anything.

And the winners are: Howard H , Candace E. Salima , berlinwritergirl , and stephanie humphreys . To claim your prize, 1) send an email to dcarey68 (at) prism (dot) net telling me where you want the Guavalicious sent and 2) include in your email wording that lets me know you understand this is a gift which was made in my home kitchen without the blessing of the Health Department. Thanks to everyone who played. Watch for these ideas in my novel, hopefully coming to bookstores before the 2012 Presidential Elections. p.s. For ababe28 - Haole is the Hawaiian word for foreigner, but today generally means "white person."

As many of you know, I grew up in Hawaii, in the quaint little village of Laie . Many of you also know that I have been working away at my version of the Great American Novel for the last little while. Due to a bout of homesickness brought on by a cruel Utah winter, my story is set in (surprise) Laie. It was also in Laie that I learned to love the great taste of guava - the same taste I am about to share with a few lucky people in the form of my Guavalicious apple butter. To enter the contest, simply add a comment to this post that completes the following sentence: "A story set in Hawaii simply has to include _____." There are no right or wrong answers. I'm just curious to see what everyone has to say, both "insiders and outsiders". I also think it could be fun to try and use as many of these suggestions as possible. You can make as many as you want, but your name only goes in the hat once. I will add a jar of Guavalicious to the prize pool for every four entr...

After hours and hours of continuous stirring , the Guavalicious is done. I deem the interest shown sufficient to hold a contest, so watch this space! Contest rules will be posted tomorrow. You could be a winner!

Yesterday we made homemade caramel. Today, I turned that caramel into Caramel Bliss Apple Butter. Thanks to my handy dandy self-stirring crock pot (and a little help from C. S. Lewis) my most anticipated culinary creation was, after simmering for over 14 hours, ladled piping hot into half-pint jars and sealed to lock in flavor and freshness. In keeping with the aforementioned weight loss program, I have calculated that Caramel Bliss has a mere 24 calories per tablespoon. That's less than most jams and jellies, and no jam has ever tasted like this! Alas, Caramel Bliss is not available in stores. Any stores. Anywhere. (Stupid health codes!) But it is available here , at Fifteen Minutes of Delusion. I have ten (10) jars of this most amazing and healthy concoction, available to give away for free, to YOU! (Because I can't legally sell you one - stupid health codes...) All you have to do to get a jar is be one of the first ten (10) people to 1) post a comment to THIS BLOG ENTRY say...