Bake Off! or, I Offer to Throw My Dignity Away to Make Up for My Lack of Skillz

We’re in the midst of a competitive bake-off at work this week, endeavoring to raise money in support of International Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. QWC staff have diligently unearthed the most impressive cakes they can, pitched their merits via facebook, and asked people to donate and vote for their favourite baked treat. Funds raised will go towards supporting the ongoing work of the Garvan Institute and the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative.

That’s the serious bit.

The not so serious bit is that the staff member who raises the most money will be required to wear the Hat of Awesome, which I’ve been assured is an actual hat, and therefore MUST BE MINE. ‘Cause, you know, hat…awesome. I can spend an entire day pretending to be a Jäger, speaking in a German accent and generally befuddling my colleagues with random Girl Genius references.

I may also declare myself LORD OF THE CAKES, simply because I can.

Now I suffer a disadvantage in this contest ’cause I’m pretty much limited to a two-cake arsenal – I make a pretty good chili-carrot cake and a mean Sri Lankan Love Cake with Honey-Ginger Cream – and neither of these cakes photographs well ’cause I aim for damn fuckin’ tasty rather than pretty when it comes to food.

Meanwhile some of my co-workers have brought out the big guns, such as the dreaded Cherpumple (think Turducken, but made with cake and pie), in order to ensure the hat is theirs. There’s no beating the Cherpumple in a fair bake-off – it’s a culinary monster that requires that combination of l33t skillz and foodie ambition that I don’t posses.

Which is why I plan on cheating and using this-here blog to ask…nay, I verily BEG… for your money and your vote. If you – yes YOU – head on over to our Bake-Off page, throw a handful of coins into the pot, and put “Peter’s Mighty Sri-Lankan Love Cake FTW” in the comments along with your, the hat of awesome can still be mine.

‘Course, I’m not just going to ask for your money and your vote while giving you nothing in return. We all know that the internet runs on three things – cats, food porn, and other people’s humiliation – so I hereby offer to do the following things if I win:

1) Post the recipe I use for said Love-Cake/Honey Cream combination here on the blog, for all to partake of the  (traditionally I hold this recipe hostage and taunt people with it, for he who holds the secrets of the cake holds power in his hands)

2) Post a photograph of me wearing the HAT OF AWESOME once its in my possession (This promises to be somewhat amusing for you all, and if it’s not, I’ll go find some other moderately embarrassing hats to be photographed in)

3) If I win the Hat and we succeed in raising our $1000 goal as an organisation, I will actually declare myself LORD OF THE CAKES and video tape myself doing a DANCE OF VICTORY while wearing the HAT OF AWESOME (I’d offer to hold a cat while doing this, for the added laughs, but I’m kinda…allergic). As a bonus, I’ll even let the person who donates the highest amount in my name pick the song.

So, to sum up: Cancer Bad, Cakes Good, We Need Your Money, PETER’S ABJECT HUMILIATION DISPLAYED FOR ALL TO SEE ON THE INTERNET. What more do you want?

On Getting My Groove Back & The Clarion South Donation Drive

I’ve sent off three four submissions in the past 48 hours. I’ve done a rewrite of an old story that I’ve kinda figured out how to finish. I’ve cooked meals. I’ve washed up. I’ve forced myself to query some submissions where responses have obviously gone awry (I hate querying; it makes me feel needlessly pushy). I’ve done pro-active things on a bunch of little projects. I’ve cleaned out my e-mail backlog until there’s only a handful of things left to answer. There are the beginnings of new stories. Tomorrow, if the small change in my bag blesses me with enough space to hit the laundromat, there will even be wishing.

There is a groove, and I’ve almost got it back. Let’s see how I’m doing by this time tomorrow.

Of course, in cleaning out the backlog I was reminded, yet again, that I hadn’t posted this all public-like. With that in mind:

Due to a run of really bad luck, Clarion South Writers Workshop has hit
some rocky financial times (not unlike the rest of the world!) For the
month of March, we are running a fundraising appeal to help set us
straight again and ensure future workshops continue. We hope to get to
$4000by 31 March 2009.

There are a few ways you can help…

1. Donate to our Fundraising Appeal
Simply go to http://www.clarionsouth.org/donate.htm to make a PayPal
donation directly to Clarion South.

We really do appreciate even tiny donations, and if you are not in a
position to give, that is perfectly okay. We know it’s grim out there
for everyone right now.

2. Spread the word
Even if you can’t donate to the Appeal we would love your support to
spread the word about our fundraising drive. By the end of March we are
hoping to raise $4,000 for Clarion South. If you know any friends who
are sympathetic to the aims and activities of Clarion South, please let
them know – via Facebook, MySpace, your blog or any other means. We’ll
have a Facebook group up shortly, but in the meantime, please feel
free to direct people to our website at http://www.clarionsouth.org

And if you’re just wondering what the heck Clarion South even is,
meander on over to our website at http://www.clarionsouth.org

Thank you in advance for your love and support. We’re incredibly
passionate about Clarion South and would like to see it thrive and
continue into the future. Your contribution can help make this a
reality.

At time of posting I’d heard that they were a third of the way to their goal, which is good new to the future spec-fic writers of Australia (and the world, as my American peeps who flew south for Clarion continue to prove).