#mojomonkey

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Doodle time. New post will be uploaded today #monkeyillustrations #mojomonkey #monkeysketch #angrymonkey #indianartist https://www.instagram.com/p/B3t2_pclso9/?igshid=a7wn0pmnedt2

[girleatscitymn]

Let's Eat: Mojo Monkey Handcrafted Donuts

The weekend is almost here! Tomorrow, why not sleep in and instead of making dishes, stay in your jammie’s and take a drive over to Mojo Monkey on Saint Paul’s West 7th Street. On this side of the river, we don’t have many gourmet donut shops like our sister city Minneapolis has; nonetheless, when you’re hungry you gotta eat! Mojo Monkey is not only the home of $1 Buck Cup of Coffee but they also have become a fierce competitor of the local Donut Shops. The nice thing about Mojo is that they maintain a set Donut Rotation (which I’ve included below) so you can plan ahead & choose when you want to go! Everyday they offer a variety of cake donuts: (plain, cinnamon sugar, honey vanilla iced, chocolate ganache, sprinkled, iced or sugared. Don’t forget the Raised Donuts: Glazed, Ganache,Iced with Sprinkled, Root beer Iced with Oreos, Mango Glazed with organic coconut flakes and even a Monkey bread donut! Not a donut aficionado, that’s ok! Mojo has Apple and Banana Fritters, Buns and man oh man did they have me at Beer Battered Bacon Bar Twists and Cinnamon Bars. If cake and raised donuts aren’t your thang… don’t worry because Mojo goes back to the good days with a variety of Old Fashioned goodies! So, basically what I’m trying to tell you is that the mix & match possibilities are endless. These are JUST the everyday sweet treats. Don’t forget that depending on day you go you’ll have even MORE selections! Mojo Monkey has it down when it comes to Bismarck’s I cannot believe the incredibly delicious combinations they’ve created: Arnie Palmer, Cherry Almond, Key Lime Crème Brulee, PB & J, S’more, Vanilla Cream, Strawberry, Coconut Curry, Mocha Mousse are just some of the delicious flavors you can enjoy! When it comes to donuts, Mojo doesn’t hesitate to color outside of the lines either: Berry Red Velvet, Turtle Fleur de Sel, German chocolate, Double Chocolate, even flippin AppleDumpling and Blueberry Pancake donuts?! Can this be true? I supposed we’ll have to take a trip back to see! Are you ready to hear what Mojo does that sets them apart from some of the other local Donuteria’s (yes, I just made that up)?Well, every Sunday you can stop in to get made to order, yes, made to order Beignets (Before 1pm)!! If that’s not enough reason to sleep in and check it out then you’ll be missing out! If you’ve gotten this far and you’re hungry put on your shoes or stay in your slippers and revive your Mojo! Happy Eating! -Angela Mojo Monkey 1169 W 7th Street STP 55102 Mojomonkey.biz

[brittanaconauthors]

MojoMonkey’s Author Interview

Today we bring you MojoMonkey’s Author Interview.  Although slightly shorter than our previous ones, we still thank her for taking the time to answer our questions and we thank those who submitted questions. Enjoy! 

It's been awhile since you've updated or written. Are you planning on getting back into it? Additionally, if you were to write another Brittana what would it be about and how do you imagine it to be different from your current stories? (Submitted by JJLives)

Although I initially had several ideas for expanding my one-shots, I believe it is best that they remain singular vignettes. I was very disappointed with myself for not having completed the multichapter fic ‘Bold As Love.’ In the middle of writing it there were several obstacles, roadblocks and priorities in my personal life that took precedent and became very time consuming. It got to a point where I spent so much time away from the story that if I tried to continue writing it, it would most likely turn out incredibly disjointed and inconsistent. Being a perfectionist and considering the already inconsistent and disjointed storylines on Glee, I was not willing to take that chance, haha.

At one point I had an idea to write a rather fluffy AU Brittana fic with Santana and Brittany as camp counselors, meeting and falling in love over the course of a summer. As for now, my writing interests have shifted away from Brittana, so I don’t plan on updating or publishing anything further on FF. However, I still think the Camp!Brittana story would be fun and I may develop it in the future.

What drew you to write for Heya and not just Brittana? You've said you were debating continuing your one Heya one shot 'The Morning After', are you still planning to? (Submitted by JJLives)

Unfortunately I am not planning to continue ‘The Morning After.’ That story came to me in a very singular and isolated burst of inspiration and I think it will only exist in that moment.

There were several reasons why I wrote for Heya and not just Brittana, and I believe all those reasons were very much out of my control. First of all, the Heya multichapter fic ‘Bold As Love’ hit me in one fell swoop like a lightning bolt, fully formed and demanding to be expressed. When I decided to write it I was very wary and nervous because of the understandable stigma some corners of the fandom have against reading Heya fics. But the thrust of energy and inspiration born in the conception of stories can be very stubborn sometimes, and truth be told, ‘Bold As Love’ would be a completely different story if I tried to manipulate it in any way to make it a Brittana fic. So I gave it the respect it deserved to just let it be the story that it is.

I think there are several reasons why that particular story came to me. I’ve spent a great deal of time on TV & Film sets. I’m certain that my environment effected my imagination in this respect. The chaotic, volatile and complicated nature of working in the industry fuels a great deal of the conflict in that story. ‘Bold As Love’ simply could not have existed in a setting outside the inner workings of the entertainment industry. Personally I don’t think Santana or Brittany would ever become actresses, let alone be in a television series about a high school glee club if they had already lived it, so it was natural that the main characters would be Heather and Naya, not Brittany and Santana.

Secondly, Santana and Brittany have incredibly distinct character traits, which stem from a very particular brand of experiences. Though I love both Brittany and Santana dearly, once it became clear this had to exist as a Heya story it gave me the opportunity to explore characters who may have similar traits but ones that stem from a totally different brand of experiences. While writing ‘Bold As Love’ I tended to view it as more of an AU rather than an RPF, which segues us into grappling with the fact that ‘Bold As Love’ is categorized as an RPF.

Obviously I don’t know Heather or Naya personally. I did not write ‘Bold As Love’ in an attempt to fantasize or speculate on their actual lives. One of the essential functions of an actor is to serve as a vessel for the storyteller and audience’s imagination. For all intents and purposes, that’s exactly what happened in the case of ‘Bold As Love.’ Every character’s name and likeness serves as a placeholder of sorts within the visual scope of the reader.

Lastly, ‘Bold As Love’ was a perfect breeding ground for me to explore issues of immense interest to me. I think the general public tends to view Hollywood as a very liberal environment, but when you get down to it Hollywood is run by people with deep pockets. In the interest of protecting their finances, the power players of Tinseltown tend to be incredibly conservative and don’t like to take risks or invest in something or someone that might be unfavorable to the vast majority of audiences. In short, though there are a lot of LGBT advocates in Hollywood, the people with the most financial leverage can be incredibly homophobic and this permeates every facet of the industry, especially its actors. It’s a common thread for LBGT stories to deal with keeping a relationship a secret. Add power, money, and reputation on a global scale to the mix and the ante for conflict goes from a single flame to a full-blown forest fire.

Another issue that interested me was that of the artistic and creative nature of actors. I think there is a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the lives of celebrities these days, but people rarely know the actual nature of what they do when they go to work and how that permeates other facets of their lives. I’ve always maintained that Acting is one of the most misunderstood art forms, and this story gave me a small platform to discuss and possibly clarify some of those misunderstandings. I was also able to play with and explore the blurred lines that exist between Actor and Character, attempting to answer the questions, “Where does the Actor end and the Character begin, and vice versa? What aspects of the actor’s emotional life could contribute to the fictional characters we see on the screen? How does the actor’s emotional life manifest and express itself within a character?”

You're imagery is completely captivating, how and where did you learn to use it? (Submitted by JJLives)

Would it be too vague of me to answer this by saying, that’s just how my mind works? Haha.

Outside of required high school and college English courses, I’ve had absolutely no formal education in creative writing. I honestly don’t think I learned it anywhere other than by reading, journaling, and trying to be completely present as much as possible throughout my life. I imagine that for many creative people the easiest and fastest way to express a feeling is through simile or metaphor, which provides a wealth of sensations and images to draw from because almost nothing is off limits. If you feel it, experience it, or even vaguely understand it, you can use it as a means of expression. After years of journaling, I guess I just got used to thinking and viewing the world through a lens of similes and metaphors in an attempt to make sense out of how I feel at any given moment.

Trying to express exactly how you feel, with precision and accuracy, is an incredibly challenging feat. Feelings are, by nature, irrational and uncontrollable. You feel before you think, oftentimes without understanding why or where the feeling comes from. I believe one of the main reasons anyone chooses to write creatively is to attempt to make sense out of the irrational happenings of the world and human existence. The great thing about creativity though, is when the rational and irrational collide in order to make what we call Art. It’s the nebulous and ethereal space where unbound imagination meets disciplined skill. So with enough practice, much like capturing a photo of the first ray of sunlight over the horizon, a metaphor for a feeling can be seamlessly woven into the emotional fabric of a story, both heightening and focusing the moment while seeming like a completely natural occurrence, and thus making the narrative that much more effective.