"English Bill & Ted, right?"

firstly, to my favorite Whovian, my lovely niece Taylor, happy birthday!  i didn't like 15 one bit, except for driver's ed and not being expected to get a job yet, but you're turning out to be a much more chipper gal than me.  keep it up!  don't become a whiny sack of misdirection for the next ten years like i did. :) [big birthday hugs from us 3!]
one gene we apparently share is a tendency at this age to love a sci-fi show.  i went through a pretty heavy Trekkie phase in my teens, so i get Taylor's geekness and the cult following a particular fantasy story line can gather.  ("so Who is her Trek?" i asked her dad, my brother.  "Yup.")  except she gets to play in a much more mature internet so she can feast her eyes on all things Who, while i had to go to a bookstore. (uphill barefoot in the snow!)  then Grandma found Dr. Who cookie cutters, and i was directed to make some for Taylor.  looking up the art was delightfully informative.  the many versions of sonic screwdrivers reminded me of the array of Ferengi ear cleaning tools in The Art of Star Trek. 
and while i'm pleased with the results, they're horribly late.  this is due to a confluence of the greater Chicagoland area's monsoon season, the properties of cookie and icing, and allotted home baking time--long drying time exceeded cookie work time, and shortened cookie shelf life.  summer cookies really require a pro kitchen, extra time in ITNs larger location requires babysitter time...  you see the hole it all digs.  so, it stopped raining, and i actually had 2 straight days, and they are sent.  (i also know it should be white text on black across the top, but some divergence was required, i don't have a white edible ink marker!) on the plus side, Tay's birthday fun is extended into the summer.  haha...
if you're wondering if i'm a fan and how my sci-and/or-fi fandom continues to influence my baking, here's the essay portion of the blog post.
Dr. Who was on in my youth, except you had to be watching PBS at some weird time like 1:15am.  i knew it was a sci-fi classic, i knew i liked time travel stories, i knew i liked British tv shows, and yet i would see the title on the menu, turn to channel 11, and i'd be in the middle of the show, with some guy with a perm and a striped scarf running through tunnels.  without seeing it from the beginning, there was no context.  so i didn't pursue it.  i apologize.  but when i saw it again on the menu, and popping up online among the fans, i went, "oh, i'll have to look into that," but it was already 3 seasons in.  no perm guy, instead a hyper guy with a bow tie, and a panicky redhead that likes to draw little lines on herself? (shrug) if you ask me about time travelers in a phone booth, i could only reply with Bill and Ted. (shameful head-hang)  i look forward to my cable provider including all past seasons during it's next watch-a-thon week, or to having my [stuff] together enough to have something as this-century as a Netflix subscription. i'm certain if i saw it from the beginning, and didn't have the kiddo jumping on my head wanting a 26th popsicle, then i'd get it, and have a big nerd-glow about it too.  time-traveling Brits--c'mon!
if anything is truly as good as they say, i prefer to start at the beginning and give my full attention, and that isn't easy with other people.  when everyone went nuts about "The Lord of the Rings," no one seemed to be able to play the dvd for me on a decent system, and also be quiet while we were watching.  it was a 9 hour story about some people walking and fighting monsters.  with the dishwasher running in the background.
but when i absorb a story properly, i can easily fall in love with it, and i likely get really into how it's created.  the hubby finally sat me down for a Frodo-fest, and even though my dork-side favors a techie future more than sword-fighting long-ago, i understood it's appeal, and though i still can't list all the guys in LOTR, i've watched the making-of special-addition dvds 3 times--the miniscule detail they achieved blows my mind.  in my Trek days, i fantasized about an art major that would take me into film make-up.  i read and adored so many books, i majored in fiction writing probably more to learn how they did it, creating magic in my head, than to get any magic out of my own head and into text.  [and i've read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series 3 (maybe 4? i forget) times, so how's that for liking British sci-fi?]  and i mentioned that i didn't play with my Barbies as much as just arranging them, their furniture, and items from around the house serving as interesting art pieces.  i've always been better at scene than plot.  the actors can do the acting, the writers can do the writing, i've always loved knowing what the story was all about, and making the illustrations, storyboards, sets, props, costumes, make-up, etc.  layer that illustrator-directive over catering, and i want to make cookies for the once-upon-a-time (meh, timey-wimey...?) story your event is presenting.  your rodeo wedding, your turnip farmer retirement party.   it can all have a fun little just-right picture. and then you get to eat my art.  boom.
i should add, i don't have anything Trek-specific in my around 800 cookie cutters.  crazy!
coming soon, more work stuff, silver wedding stuff, and likely a Where the Wild Things Are reprise at the library.  stay tuned... or hop in a TARDIS and see them now, i guess ;)