Posts
10/31/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) Went for a long walk in the park this morning with the wife and sister-in-law. About seven miles round trip. It was very nice to be outside on this holy day for me. We chatted about the previously mentioned project that I am going to work on in the very near future having to do with liquor. When I get closer to completion on this project I will be letting you all know what it is all about. I am too paranoid at the moment to share. The idea is so simple that I can't believe it hasn't been done yet. And there is a lot of research that needs to be done with it still. It is something that has me VERY excited though. I got a few more good ideas for it today as well.
2) NaNoWriMo starts in just a few short hours. This means that the blog is going to be a lower priority than it has been for the last month. I will continue to check in daily if I can. But the focus for my writing is going to be offline on the novel completion in one month. Cheer me on everyone.
The Bad
November is going to be HELL for me. I am going to be so busy, that I am not going to have time to scratch my own ass. Does anyone want to volunteer to do that for me?
The Writing
Prepping for NaNoWriMo.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Day 31: Sports, Ideas, Lack of writing,
10/30/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
So, I've had a pretty darn good last 32 hours. Starting at about 3pm yesterday afternoon. I cut out of work early (which I will make up the hours tomorrow) and went with the wife to a bar in the Doubletree Hotel. We were visiting with a friend who bartends there. I was intending to discuss the liquor blog with him. Well it turned out to be not very productive as far as that avenue went, but other brainsparks were ignited while we were discussing it. And we sat there for about four and a half hours. I had four great cocktails during that time and it turns out that three other folks I know also work there. One was the Exec chef, another the Dir of F&B, and a third worked in the bar/dining room. So, not only did this buddy of mine and I come up with a great potential money making idea. I am going to keep it a secret until it comes to fruition, but if we can make it work out, I may be able to say goodbye to accounting for good and write full time by the end of next year. In addition to this very productive brainstorming session I was potentially offered a job a couple nights a week as a bartender. I am excited and have butterflies about this prospect. Not as much excitement as I have for this other project though.
Then this morning, I got up and went for a nice long walk with my wife. Then I helped a friend of a friend move. It was the easiest move I have ever experienced. And I have experienced a TON of moves. Then I had a GREAT lunch from Freebirds Burritos! Then on to my son's football game. That was somewhat of an anticlimax, as the other team only had three players show up. So they asked for volunteers from our team to switch sides and my son volunteered. And his team for the week wound up winning a scrimmage.
Then we went to the AT&T Center to watch the Spurs game. While we were there we had a few cocktails and listened to the Rangers-Giants game while we watched the Spurs. It was fun! My wife and I would stand up and cheer at all the wrong times reacting to the baseball game. The Rangers wound up winning 4-2, to get back in the Series. While they were finishing up with the Giants for tonight, the spurs were digging themselves a hole of 18 points early in the fourth quarter. Well they came charging back. If only they had only let them get 14 or 15 points ahead. I think the outcome of the game might have been different. They came back and had the lead shaved down to 3 with two minutes to go. Oh well. Can't have a perfect day right? Tomorrow (14 minutes from now) is Halloween and I can't wait. I have a VERY busy day ahead of me tomorrow:
Workout
Work work
work on this new project
Happy Halloween all!
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
534
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
So, I've had a pretty darn good last 32 hours. Starting at about 3pm yesterday afternoon. I cut out of work early (which I will make up the hours tomorrow) and went with the wife to a bar in the Doubletree Hotel. We were visiting with a friend who bartends there. I was intending to discuss the liquor blog with him. Well it turned out to be not very productive as far as that avenue went, but other brainsparks were ignited while we were discussing it. And we sat there for about four and a half hours. I had four great cocktails during that time and it turns out that three other folks I know also work there. One was the Exec chef, another the Dir of F&B, and a third worked in the bar/dining room. So, not only did this buddy of mine and I come up with a great potential money making idea. I am going to keep it a secret until it comes to fruition, but if we can make it work out, I may be able to say goodbye to accounting for good and write full time by the end of next year. In addition to this very productive brainstorming session I was potentially offered a job a couple nights a week as a bartender. I am excited and have butterflies about this prospect. Not as much excitement as I have for this other project though.
Then this morning, I got up and went for a nice long walk with my wife. Then I helped a friend of a friend move. It was the easiest move I have ever experienced. And I have experienced a TON of moves. Then I had a GREAT lunch from Freebirds Burritos! Then on to my son's football game. That was somewhat of an anticlimax, as the other team only had three players show up. So they asked for volunteers from our team to switch sides and my son volunteered. And his team for the week wound up winning a scrimmage.
Then we went to the AT&T Center to watch the Spurs game. While we were there we had a few cocktails and listened to the Rangers-Giants game while we watched the Spurs. It was fun! My wife and I would stand up and cheer at all the wrong times reacting to the baseball game. The Rangers wound up winning 4-2, to get back in the Series. While they were finishing up with the Giants for tonight, the spurs were digging themselves a hole of 18 points early in the fourth quarter. Well they came charging back. If only they had only let them get 14 or 15 points ahead. I think the outcome of the game might have been different. They came back and had the lead shaved down to 3 with two minutes to go. Oh well. Can't have a perfect day right? Tomorrow (14 minutes from now) is Halloween and I can't wait. I have a VERY busy day ahead of me tomorrow:
Workout
Work work
work on this new project
Happy Halloween all!
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
534
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Day 29: HorrorFatale, Cocktail Blog, New Opportunities, and Freddy gets really uncomfortable.
10/28/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) Tonight I am going to give a shout out to someone I have never met and probably never will. If you are like me, then you need to check this chic's site out. www.horrorfatale.com She reviews horror movies and is pretty much my source for new horror coming out. Check out her site and follow her on FB and Twitter. Her insights are pretty similar to mine, but she is able to put the reviewing process into words where I haven't been able to yet. It is obvious that she knows what she is talking about and is entertaining in the process.
2) I will be rolling out the cocktail blog next week. I am trying to finalize the format today and tomorrow. I have so many ideas that I want to incorporate into it, that I think I need to narrow it down and focus it.
3) Today I got some news that I could have put into the good or the bad. I decided to take the good route tonight. And anyone who knows me, knows that is a big deal. As you may know, I work from home as an accountant. I work for a company that does accounting and accounting system implementations for government contractors. The company I work for is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We were on the verge of signing an implementation contract today with a company here in San Antonio. This would make me the lead on the contract. I am extremely excited about this. Of course I have butterflies, but that will cease as soon as I get into the thick of things. I have been through implementations like this half a dozen times, and been lead on most of them. The difference here is that I am representing another company on this one. That is the reason for the butterflies.
The only drawback to this is that It will be ramping up right about the time I am trying to complete the NaNoWriMo in November. An implementation requires a lot of hours. Well above and beyond the normal 40 hours a week that most people are accustomed to working. Could the extra hours derail my attempt to write? Maybe. I am choosing to count it as an opportunity to test my resolve that I want to be a writer. I am ready for the challenge. I don't think I will be getting much sleep in the month of November. I am committed to finally getting my writing going. I am going to write a novel in the month of November. At least the first draft of one. I am also equally committed to my current career and will make this implementation a success for my company as well.
The Bad
Starting tomorrow, I am going to exclude this section unless something really pisses me off. I don't like leaving a blank or underused section in my work. And this section seems to be the most underused section of my blog. So, those of you that look forward to my rantings, will have to read the good stuff to find out if I went off on anything each day. Neener neener neener.
The Writing
"Hi Freddy. Why don't you move a little closer. It would make conversation so much easier, don't you think?" She stared at him as she spoke. Freddy noticed that her eyes were emerald green and she never blinked.
Freddy was at the disadvantage in this situation. He would be the first to admit that he is never able to make the first move, but this amount of forwardness by a woman so early in the evening was really making him off balance. "I didn't know if you were here with anyone," he blurted as he stood up.
She looked around and said, "Not until you sit here next to me."
"Ok, well then, prepare to be bored." He winced inwardly at this comment. His insecurity just wouldn't depart. "I mean, I was unprepared for conversation tonight. It's been a rough week at work and I just came in here..."
"To unwind?" She just kept looking at him.
"Well, yes." Freddy was now quite off balance as he sat in the stool. "What's your name?"
"You can call me Jane. I am here to blow," she enunciated that word with big red round lips, "off a little steam as well."
"I haven't seen you in here before. And I am pretty much a regular." And almost to put an exclamation on his point. John the bartender set a napkin and glass filled with a brown liquid with a couple cubes of ice floating in it on the bar in front of Freddy. "Thank you, John. Can you get Jane here a drink on me please?"
"What can I get you hun?" John looked into the green eyes across the bar from him.
"Scotch on the rocks like my new friend Freddy here."
"Coming right up." John said and turned to pour her drink.
"How did you know I am drinking scotch?" Freddy asked her quietly with eyebrows raised.
She gave him a demure smile and said, "Lucky guess, I suppose."
Freddy looked at his glass, then at Jane's smile, then back at his glass. He grabbed it and tilted it back and swallowed it as if it were a shot. "John, can you make me another one as well please?"
John turned and looked quizzically at Freddy, but only briefly before grabbing another glass and pouring him a second drink.
John returned and set the drinks down in front of the unlikely pair. Then he moved down the bar to help a young woman with large breasts very nearly exposed that had just sat at the other end of the bar.
"So, Freddy, tell me what do you like to do besides work way too much? And come in here to drink your four scotches and go home alone to your house that is far too big for a successful single guy like you?"
Ok, I am still trying to decide where I am going with this one. That is all I am going to put out there tonight. What is "Jane's" deal? I'll be honest with you. I don't know either. This one is just flowing. I just can't type fast enough to keep up with the dialogue I want these two to say. And by the time I get one line written, I have lost the next line I wanted to write. So I am going to sleep on this. And try to pick it back up tomorrow.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
1,121
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) Tonight I am going to give a shout out to someone I have never met and probably never will. If you are like me, then you need to check this chic's site out. www.horrorfatale.com She reviews horror movies and is pretty much my source for new horror coming out. Check out her site and follow her on FB and Twitter. Her insights are pretty similar to mine, but she is able to put the reviewing process into words where I haven't been able to yet. It is obvious that she knows what she is talking about and is entertaining in the process.
2) I will be rolling out the cocktail blog next week. I am trying to finalize the format today and tomorrow. I have so many ideas that I want to incorporate into it, that I think I need to narrow it down and focus it.
3) Today I got some news that I could have put into the good or the bad. I decided to take the good route tonight. And anyone who knows me, knows that is a big deal. As you may know, I work from home as an accountant. I work for a company that does accounting and accounting system implementations for government contractors. The company I work for is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We were on the verge of signing an implementation contract today with a company here in San Antonio. This would make me the lead on the contract. I am extremely excited about this. Of course I have butterflies, but that will cease as soon as I get into the thick of things. I have been through implementations like this half a dozen times, and been lead on most of them. The difference here is that I am representing another company on this one. That is the reason for the butterflies.
The only drawback to this is that It will be ramping up right about the time I am trying to complete the NaNoWriMo in November. An implementation requires a lot of hours. Well above and beyond the normal 40 hours a week that most people are accustomed to working. Could the extra hours derail my attempt to write? Maybe. I am choosing to count it as an opportunity to test my resolve that I want to be a writer. I am ready for the challenge. I don't think I will be getting much sleep in the month of November. I am committed to finally getting my writing going. I am going to write a novel in the month of November. At least the first draft of one. I am also equally committed to my current career and will make this implementation a success for my company as well.
The Bad
Starting tomorrow, I am going to exclude this section unless something really pisses me off. I don't like leaving a blank or underused section in my work. And this section seems to be the most underused section of my blog. So, those of you that look forward to my rantings, will have to read the good stuff to find out if I went off on anything each day. Neener neener neener.
The Writing
"Hi Freddy. Why don't you move a little closer. It would make conversation so much easier, don't you think?" She stared at him as she spoke. Freddy noticed that her eyes were emerald green and she never blinked.
Freddy was at the disadvantage in this situation. He would be the first to admit that he is never able to make the first move, but this amount of forwardness by a woman so early in the evening was really making him off balance. "I didn't know if you were here with anyone," he blurted as he stood up.
She looked around and said, "Not until you sit here next to me."
"Ok, well then, prepare to be bored." He winced inwardly at this comment. His insecurity just wouldn't depart. "I mean, I was unprepared for conversation tonight. It's been a rough week at work and I just came in here..."
"To unwind?" She just kept looking at him.
"Well, yes." Freddy was now quite off balance as he sat in the stool. "What's your name?"
"You can call me Jane. I am here to blow," she enunciated that word with big red round lips, "off a little steam as well."
"I haven't seen you in here before. And I am pretty much a regular." And almost to put an exclamation on his point. John the bartender set a napkin and glass filled with a brown liquid with a couple cubes of ice floating in it on the bar in front of Freddy. "Thank you, John. Can you get Jane here a drink on me please?"
"What can I get you hun?" John looked into the green eyes across the bar from him.
"Scotch on the rocks like my new friend Freddy here."
"Coming right up." John said and turned to pour her drink.
"How did you know I am drinking scotch?" Freddy asked her quietly with eyebrows raised.
She gave him a demure smile and said, "Lucky guess, I suppose."
Freddy looked at his glass, then at Jane's smile, then back at his glass. He grabbed it and tilted it back and swallowed it as if it were a shot. "John, can you make me another one as well please?"
John turned and looked quizzically at Freddy, but only briefly before grabbing another glass and pouring him a second drink.
John returned and set the drinks down in front of the unlikely pair. Then he moved down the bar to help a young woman with large breasts very nearly exposed that had just sat at the other end of the bar.
"So, Freddy, tell me what do you like to do besides work way too much? And come in here to drink your four scotches and go home alone to your house that is far too big for a successful single guy like you?"
Ok, I am still trying to decide where I am going with this one. That is all I am going to put out there tonight. What is "Jane's" deal? I'll be honest with you. I don't know either. This one is just flowing. I just can't type fast enough to keep up with the dialogue I want these two to say. And by the time I get one line written, I have lost the next line I wanted to write. So I am going to sleep on this. And try to pick it back up tomorrow.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
1,121
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Day 28: The Weather, Church, The Giants (BOO!), and A man walks into a bar!
10/27/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) The Weather is finally changing for a bit. It is starting to get down into the 50's at night (sometimes), and Thursday and Friday night it is supposed to dip down to 40 degrees. Woohoo, fall is finally here! The wheel of the year keeps turning. But here in San Antonio it seems to be not quite a round wheel. The summer side is a little over inflated and the fall and spring are under inflated. Winter seems to be the only season that lasts about as long as it should. Well, I am going to count my blessings that the heat is over for about five months. I am going to revel in the cooler temps this year, now that I know they are going to be short lived indeed.
2) I can't tell you how excited I am for Halloween to finally be here.I don't have a more favorite holiday. Though it has been slow to hit me this year. I am finally starting to feel happy about it. I only wish I had a Samhain ritual to perform. Or a backyard to perform it in. But shhh, no one tell my in-laws that I am a witch.
3) My wife wants me to start going to church with her. Sorry honey, but I need to think this through on screen. What I am hearing from her is that I need it to feel a sense of goodness in other people. To understand that people are there for each other. In short a sense of community and everything that entails. I am going to acquiesce this Saturday and go with her. I will not however share any of my views or opinions with anyone there. I know how her family feels about people like me. And I have met enough people who have expressed very negative opinions about people like me. I have been against organized religion my entire life. I am not an Atheist. I would classify myself as an agnostic. I believe in a god (perhaps goddess, perhaps plurals of either or each). I do not know. I also refuse to allow a priest or a Rabi or my neighbor or snoopy dictate the relationship I have with deity. Whatever gave me a mind, obviously wanted me to use it. And I intend to do just that. I do not believe in Jesus Christ. (WOW, I can hear my readership dwindle as I type). Let me clarify. I do not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God(Judeo/Christian). I believe that he may have been an actual historical figure. I do not believe that the miracles attributed to him actually happen. I think they are propaganda. As they are not humanly possible. And since I believe that he was human if he existed, then he was only able to perform human deeds. I do not agree with religion's techniques of blindly following and believing or get out attitude.
I will go to church with my wife. With a completely open mind to the sense of community and goodness that is in people. I know she has been wanting to start going to church since before we moved back to San Antonio. I have never once attempted to stop her or commented negatively about her going. I guess she has just been waiting for me to go too. Well, bring it on! I will just keep to myself, because I don't want to cause a scene if anyone asks me about my personal beliefs. She is touting "time to reflect and pray" as the benefit for going to church. Well, I have no one to pray to, so it will be a time of quiet introspection for me. And I must say I am looking forward to bringing my wife a little joy in the process.
The Bad
Well, anyone who knows me, knows i am going to write about the Giants. Well, I have three words to say. Eff the Giants. Try harder tomorrow Rangers!
The Writing
A man walks into a bar. He sees a gorgeous redhead sitting alone at the end of the bar. So he walks down and sits with a seat in between them. He doesn't want to make her uncomfortable. Creepy decreases your chances of getting lucky right? He orders his drink and waits for his opportunity to strike up a conversation. He isn't really great at creating opportunities. He is horrible at making first impressions. He is the type of guy that has to grow on you to like. But he never seems to give up. Rejection doesn't bother him anymore. His Facebook account has twenty-six friends. And half of those are his family. He has phone numbers in his phone that he has never called. The 2am, the bar's closing, quick exchange of numbers.
Tonight, he decides, is going to be different. No rejection tonight for him. And boy was he right.
"Why did you sit there? You wanted to sit next to me. So why the game?"
He stammers for a bit before blurting out, "Hi, I'm Freddy." He stands, but when he gets back to his feet he is at a complete loss as to what to do. He stands there blinking at the redhead and the seat next to her.
She puts her hand on the seat he is contemplating and lightly taps it with her fingers, never taking her eyes off of his.
I've never been to bars to pick up women. But I can imagine them taking on a tone like what you just read. I would be very uncomfortable and indecisive and it would take a woman like the one Freddy just met to allow me to get into a conversation. Poor Freddy is in for quite the surprise as the night goes on though. More tomorrow. Maybe even enough to find out what type of woman this very forward redhead is.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) The Weather is finally changing for a bit. It is starting to get down into the 50's at night (sometimes), and Thursday and Friday night it is supposed to dip down to 40 degrees. Woohoo, fall is finally here! The wheel of the year keeps turning. But here in San Antonio it seems to be not quite a round wheel. The summer side is a little over inflated and the fall and spring are under inflated. Winter seems to be the only season that lasts about as long as it should. Well, I am going to count my blessings that the heat is over for about five months. I am going to revel in the cooler temps this year, now that I know they are going to be short lived indeed.
2) I can't tell you how excited I am for Halloween to finally be here.I don't have a more favorite holiday. Though it has been slow to hit me this year. I am finally starting to feel happy about it. I only wish I had a Samhain ritual to perform. Or a backyard to perform it in. But shhh, no one tell my in-laws that I am a witch.
3) My wife wants me to start going to church with her. Sorry honey, but I need to think this through on screen. What I am hearing from her is that I need it to feel a sense of goodness in other people. To understand that people are there for each other. In short a sense of community and everything that entails. I am going to acquiesce this Saturday and go with her. I will not however share any of my views or opinions with anyone there. I know how her family feels about people like me. And I have met enough people who have expressed very negative opinions about people like me. I have been against organized religion my entire life. I am not an Atheist. I would classify myself as an agnostic. I believe in a god (perhaps goddess, perhaps plurals of either or each). I do not know. I also refuse to allow a priest or a Rabi or my neighbor or snoopy dictate the relationship I have with deity. Whatever gave me a mind, obviously wanted me to use it. And I intend to do just that. I do not believe in Jesus Christ. (WOW, I can hear my readership dwindle as I type). Let me clarify. I do not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God(Judeo/Christian). I believe that he may have been an actual historical figure. I do not believe that the miracles attributed to him actually happen. I think they are propaganda. As they are not humanly possible. And since I believe that he was human if he existed, then he was only able to perform human deeds. I do not agree with religion's techniques of blindly following and believing or get out attitude.
I will go to church with my wife. With a completely open mind to the sense of community and goodness that is in people. I know she has been wanting to start going to church since before we moved back to San Antonio. I have never once attempted to stop her or commented negatively about her going. I guess she has just been waiting for me to go too. Well, bring it on! I will just keep to myself, because I don't want to cause a scene if anyone asks me about my personal beliefs. She is touting "time to reflect and pray" as the benefit for going to church. Well, I have no one to pray to, so it will be a time of quiet introspection for me. And I must say I am looking forward to bringing my wife a little joy in the process.
The Bad
Well, anyone who knows me, knows i am going to write about the Giants. Well, I have three words to say. Eff the Giants. Try harder tomorrow Rangers!
The Writing
A man walks into a bar. He sees a gorgeous redhead sitting alone at the end of the bar. So he walks down and sits with a seat in between them. He doesn't want to make her uncomfortable. Creepy decreases your chances of getting lucky right? He orders his drink and waits for his opportunity to strike up a conversation. He isn't really great at creating opportunities. He is horrible at making first impressions. He is the type of guy that has to grow on you to like. But he never seems to give up. Rejection doesn't bother him anymore. His Facebook account has twenty-six friends. And half of those are his family. He has phone numbers in his phone that he has never called. The 2am, the bar's closing, quick exchange of numbers.
Tonight, he decides, is going to be different. No rejection tonight for him. And boy was he right.
"Why did you sit there? You wanted to sit next to me. So why the game?"
He stammers for a bit before blurting out, "Hi, I'm Freddy." He stands, but when he gets back to his feet he is at a complete loss as to what to do. He stands there blinking at the redhead and the seat next to her.
She puts her hand on the seat he is contemplating and lightly taps it with her fingers, never taking her eyes off of his.
I've never been to bars to pick up women. But I can imagine them taking on a tone like what you just read. I would be very uncomfortable and indecisive and it would take a woman like the one Freddy just met to allow me to get into a conversation. Poor Freddy is in for quite the surprise as the night goes on though. More tomorrow. Maybe even enough to find out what type of woman this very forward redhead is.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Day 27: Maker's Mark Cocktail Experience, Cheesy Zombie Haiku
10/26/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I just got home from a nice cocktail event with a friend. Maker's Mark is celebrating it's newest product, "46". As a Maker's Mark Ambassador - a title that really only means I enjoy the spirit and took the time to fill out the form online, I was invited to the event. There was no free tasting, which was a shame, although, truth be told, I have already consumed two bottles of the heavenly nectar. As I said, they were not having free tastings of the new product, however if you were so inclined to stand in line they were giving away hand dipped in the Maker's Wax (on the spot) glassware, and when they ran out of the glasses (because there were probably about 150-200 local "ambassadors" present) they dipped horseshoes. I can only surmise the horseshoes were because Maker's is made near Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby. And they were dipping pretty much anything that you asked them to. I saw people dipping their baseball caps, flasks (wish I had taken one of mine), the bar was having Adam Harris (the Maker's Brand Diplomat - I need that gig) dip all of their wine carafes. I can't figure that out, but they looked very cool when done. A friend of mine, a local bar GM had her high heals dipped. And honestly, I don't know why this woman wears high heals. She is about 6 feet tall without them. And she is exactly what you would expect to see if you found a tribe of Amazon woman deep in the jungle. We were joking with her that she should dip her boob in the wax, but then I commented that there was not enough wax. Everyone got a good laugh out of that. Oops I got a little off point, there.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I ran into the bar owner of the bar I used to work at. He was sober, so it was a good conversation. It was ironic in a way that that we ran into him, because my friend and I had already discussed going to that bar when we were done with the event. So after just two rounds and some great free food at Redland Roadhouse we left for the Green Lantern.
At the Green Lantern I had a Sazerac. My all time favorite cocktail. If you can find a bartender that knows how to make it properly and actually has the right ingredients (I'd say you are at only 1% of the bars in America), I would HIGHLY recommend drinking one. There is so much going on in those three ounces of liquid, that you will love it. If not made right it is a horrible experience, but made right, It is heaven in a glass. there are very few bartenders that I will allow to make this drink for me. I am one of those. I tried his newest experimental infusion. Irish Whiskey, infused with sweet potato and cinnamon. Oh my golly! That was fan-freakin-tastic. A perfect holiday after a big thanksgiving dinner drink! And it needs no mixers whatsoever. you can't tell that it has much alcohol in it much less whiskey. If you are in the San Antonio area, I highly recommend checking out the Green Lantern on Stone Oak, about a half mile from highway 281. The manager is Don Marsh, and if you go in there on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday, tell him that Vegas sent you. That was the name I went by when I worked there (not a name I gave myself mind you).
I am really inspired now to write a blog dedicated to cocktails and spirit education. The trick is going to be differentiating myself from the million and one other similar blogs out there. Any ideas anyone? I would really love to perpetuate the fine cocktail culture. I would like to educate drinkers about the different spirits they are ingesting. Help them understand why a bourbon is a bourbon. Or what is the difference between cognac and brandy. Or why great marketing doesn't make a great spirit (I'm talking to you Patron and Grey Goose among others). I would really love to help people appreciate and understand why some scotches smell like they were roasted over a beach campfire and why some spirits are sweeter than others. Obviously a lot of it is going to be biased and slanted toward my own opinions, but I will back up my opinions with reasons. I'm thinking Thursday nights? Make recommendations for the weekend?
The Bad
Nothing new really today.
The Writing
How about a little zombie Haiku
Wandering aimless
Until living flesh is spied
Then the hunt begins
I must have some brains
Brains make the death pain hurt less
So give me your brains
Zombies hunting me
Relentless bastards out there
This cabin, my tomb?
Must get to the north
Will the snow freeze the shamblors?
Must test out theory
Why am I obsessed
Mankind needs a good purging
Will I survive purge?
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I just got home from a nice cocktail event with a friend. Maker's Mark is celebrating it's newest product, "46". As a Maker's Mark Ambassador - a title that really only means I enjoy the spirit and took the time to fill out the form online, I was invited to the event. There was no free tasting, which was a shame, although, truth be told, I have already consumed two bottles of the heavenly nectar. As I said, they were not having free tastings of the new product, however if you were so inclined to stand in line they were giving away hand dipped in the Maker's Wax (on the spot) glassware, and when they ran out of the glasses (because there were probably about 150-200 local "ambassadors" present) they dipped horseshoes. I can only surmise the horseshoes were because Maker's is made near Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby. And they were dipping pretty much anything that you asked them to. I saw people dipping their baseball caps, flasks (wish I had taken one of mine), the bar was having Adam Harris (the Maker's Brand Diplomat - I need that gig) dip all of their wine carafes. I can't figure that out, but they looked very cool when done. A friend of mine, a local bar GM had her high heals dipped. And honestly, I don't know why this woman wears high heals. She is about 6 feet tall without them. And she is exactly what you would expect to see if you found a tribe of Amazon woman deep in the jungle. We were joking with her that she should dip her boob in the wax, but then I commented that there was not enough wax. Everyone got a good laugh out of that. Oops I got a little off point, there.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I ran into the bar owner of the bar I used to work at. He was sober, so it was a good conversation. It was ironic in a way that that we ran into him, because my friend and I had already discussed going to that bar when we were done with the event. So after just two rounds and some great free food at Redland Roadhouse we left for the Green Lantern.
At the Green Lantern I had a Sazerac. My all time favorite cocktail. If you can find a bartender that knows how to make it properly and actually has the right ingredients (I'd say you are at only 1% of the bars in America), I would HIGHLY recommend drinking one. There is so much going on in those three ounces of liquid, that you will love it. If not made right it is a horrible experience, but made right, It is heaven in a glass. there are very few bartenders that I will allow to make this drink for me. I am one of those. I tried his newest experimental infusion. Irish Whiskey, infused with sweet potato and cinnamon. Oh my golly! That was fan-freakin-tastic. A perfect holiday after a big thanksgiving dinner drink! And it needs no mixers whatsoever. you can't tell that it has much alcohol in it much less whiskey. If you are in the San Antonio area, I highly recommend checking out the Green Lantern on Stone Oak, about a half mile from highway 281. The manager is Don Marsh, and if you go in there on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday, tell him that Vegas sent you. That was the name I went by when I worked there (not a name I gave myself mind you).
I am really inspired now to write a blog dedicated to cocktails and spirit education. The trick is going to be differentiating myself from the million and one other similar blogs out there. Any ideas anyone? I would really love to perpetuate the fine cocktail culture. I would like to educate drinkers about the different spirits they are ingesting. Help them understand why a bourbon is a bourbon. Or what is the difference between cognac and brandy. Or why great marketing doesn't make a great spirit (I'm talking to you Patron and Grey Goose among others). I would really love to help people appreciate and understand why some scotches smell like they were roasted over a beach campfire and why some spirits are sweeter than others. Obviously a lot of it is going to be biased and slanted toward my own opinions, but I will back up my opinions with reasons. I'm thinking Thursday nights? Make recommendations for the weekend?
The Bad
Nothing new really today.
The Writing
How about a little zombie Haiku
Wandering aimless
Until living flesh is spied
Then the hunt begins
I must have some brains
Brains make the death pain hurt less
So give me your brains
Zombies hunting me
Relentless bastards out there
This cabin, my tomb?
Must get to the north
Will the snow freeze the shamblors?
Must test out theory
Why am I obsessed
Mankind needs a good purging
Will I survive purge?
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Monday, October 25, 2010
Day 26: NaNoWriMo and the Difficulties of Being a Step-parent
10/25/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) I am back. I was beating myself up this morning when I woke up and realized that I hadn't written last night. I was recovering from my Halloween Movie Marathon. We had a blast! But the good thing about the way i felt this morning is that I am convinced that writing every day is now a habit. I was extremely worried to miss a day. It is so easy to say, "Well, I missed a day, so what's the difference if I miss today as well?" Well, I didn't feel that way. I felt MORE inclined and more desire to write, because I hadn't written yesterday. So I am counting tonight's writing as a victory for myself as a writer. One more baby step to freeing myself from the bonds of accounting. And the freedom of creating entire worlds out of nothing more than the neurons and synapses in my brain.
2) NaNoWriMo - November is National Novel Writing Month. I would recommend anyone who wants to become a writer, or anyone who is a writer that just wants to throw caution to the wind and try something completely new, to check out the website www.nanowrimo.org. I am going to be attempting it this year. I've wanted to since I first heard about it in 2006. I didn't have the courage that first year. In '07 and '08 and '09 I was working two jobs which was a convenient excuse, since I also lacked the courage those years too. This year I am afraid as well, But I am going to go for it anyway. Am I afraid to fail? Yeah. Hell YEAH! But i am tired of my life being all about trying not to fail. Fuck it! I am going to go for it. And if I fail, so effing what? Have I failed anyone? Nope, not even myself. Chances are that even if I fail, I will have a pretty damn good start on a new novel. And really, how can THAT be a failure?
I guess I should give you a little more info. Maybe entice one or two of you over to the website and try your hands at writing an entire novel in one month. How to define a novel and whether you wrote one in the month of November? Well, the coordinators over at event HQ define it in extremely rough terms. Any original piece of writing that is 50,000 or more words in length. This will equate to roughly a 175 to 200 page novel. A short novel, but that is how they are defining it and that is what I am shooting for. I am hoping for more in the range of 300 - 350 pages when the first draft is complete. So, that is about 75,000 - 90,000 words. Do I think I can do that in one month? To be honest, no. Especially in the month that I celebrate my wedding anniversary, and I am hoping to go camping as soon as the damn weather stays cool enough on a weekend. I will be shooting for the 50,000 word goal. I figure if I make it to 175 pages, I can't let it die. I will have to make sure it gets finished. Whether it is just another 10 words, or if it is another 300 pages. I don't even know yet. I have a general idea of the direction the novel is going to take, but mainly, I just make it up as I go along. That is how I have always written. No outline. No thinking ahead. Just letting the story flow out of my brain down through my arms and out my fingertips onto the keyboard where I then magically see my thoughts put into words right before my very eyes.
So, because I am an accountant, I had to break down exactly what 50,000 words meant to me. It meant that I had to write an AVERAGE of 1,667 words PER DAY!!! To put this into perspective, from the end of the previous sentence to the top of this blog is only 671 words and it took me about forty minutes to write it. 671! I am going to have to average almost three times that every day for an entire 30 consecutive days. Ok, so that is about two hours a day every day. That doesn't sound that bad right? I am getting scared again reading this. But I am going to venture out into the deep end of the pool with this one. There are no sharks in the pool right?
This is going to cut down on my blogging time considerably. I will pop on here and try to update you at least every other day. But "The Writing" section is going to be severely lacking from November 1-30. Unless I use it to flesh out some ideas in the NaNoWriMo project, or if I get an idea for another project.
Side note. I've read that after the first draft an edit should take place and an average of 10% should be shed from the piece. That means that if I am shooting for a 300-350 page first draft, then I will end up with a 270-315 page document ready yo be sent to an agent, publisher, editor for more chopping.
The Bad
Being a parent is hard. I know. I have two daughters. One teen and one preteen. Fun right? Cake walk compared to being a step parent. I also have a teenage step son. The boy isn't the greatest student in the world. His attitude can suck at times, especially when you ask him to do something on days that end in "y". I am not the boy's father. I know this. Therefore my hands are tied. I get all the frustration, yet can't really do anything about it. I can't yell at him. Even when he is disrespecting me. I can't ground him. I can't really punish him in any way. If I try, then it becomes WWIII around here and I don't need that. My wife doesn't need that, and the boy could care less. I have come to the conclusion that he honestly doesn't give a flying fig about any sort of punishment.Video games gone? Doesn't care. Doesn't get to play sports. Doesn't care. No TV. Doesn't care. I don't get it. There is nothing I can do. And he already knows that he will win any battle that comes in this house between he and I. The big one last school year had to do with my job. I wanted to leave San Antonio so I didn't have to be cooped up in the house all day long by myself every day? And actually work in an office. This meant moving to Tennessee. It's all the south to me. Except there they are more liberal. Thank GODDESS - get me away from all these conservatives!
I tried to use the fact that the schools here are not nearly as good as they are in Oak Ridge, TN which is int he top 10 in the nation, and if he couldn't get his act together here, we could get him the help he needs in a real school system. Well, I was of course the bad guy in that. Did I continually bring it up. Yes. I was at my wit's end last year trying to find some way to get him to give a crap about his school work. Nope. He was grounded from before Xmas until the last week of school because he couldn't keep all of his grades at or above a C level. He'd bring the 2 he was failing up and let another or two others fall below the "Mendoza Line" So, I was the asshole. I helped him with his studying, yet I was the asshole for trying ANY and EVERYthing I could to motivate. Well, short of laying a hand on him (something I will never do). So this year, I am keeping these thoughts to myself. And a lot of others as well. And guess what? The boy knows he's won. His attitude is in the complete shithouse unless every little thing goes exactly his way. His grades are improved, but he is failing math and tonight told us it's because he "doesn't care". There were about a million things I would have said at that point had it been one of the girls. But I'm just the step dad, and no matter how well intentioned I am, I will be the asshole. I have no idea what to do. I fear that if I don't try something he is going to fail math and science. But I can't really do anything.
Yeah, it's way harder to be a step-parent than a parent.
Enough of this rant. Time for bed now.
The Writing
No original writing tonight. Spent it all on the ranting and raving. But that's ok. I got it out.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
1523
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) I am back. I was beating myself up this morning when I woke up and realized that I hadn't written last night. I was recovering from my Halloween Movie Marathon. We had a blast! But the good thing about the way i felt this morning is that I am convinced that writing every day is now a habit. I was extremely worried to miss a day. It is so easy to say, "Well, I missed a day, so what's the difference if I miss today as well?" Well, I didn't feel that way. I felt MORE inclined and more desire to write, because I hadn't written yesterday. So I am counting tonight's writing as a victory for myself as a writer. One more baby step to freeing myself from the bonds of accounting. And the freedom of creating entire worlds out of nothing more than the neurons and synapses in my brain.
2) NaNoWriMo - November is National Novel Writing Month. I would recommend anyone who wants to become a writer, or anyone who is a writer that just wants to throw caution to the wind and try something completely new, to check out the website www.nanowrimo.org. I am going to be attempting it this year. I've wanted to since I first heard about it in 2006. I didn't have the courage that first year. In '07 and '08 and '09 I was working two jobs which was a convenient excuse, since I also lacked the courage those years too. This year I am afraid as well, But I am going to go for it anyway. Am I afraid to fail? Yeah. Hell YEAH! But i am tired of my life being all about trying not to fail. Fuck it! I am going to go for it. And if I fail, so effing what? Have I failed anyone? Nope, not even myself. Chances are that even if I fail, I will have a pretty damn good start on a new novel. And really, how can THAT be a failure?
I guess I should give you a little more info. Maybe entice one or two of you over to the website and try your hands at writing an entire novel in one month. How to define a novel and whether you wrote one in the month of November? Well, the coordinators over at event HQ define it in extremely rough terms. Any original piece of writing that is 50,000 or more words in length. This will equate to roughly a 175 to 200 page novel. A short novel, but that is how they are defining it and that is what I am shooting for. I am hoping for more in the range of 300 - 350 pages when the first draft is complete. So, that is about 75,000 - 90,000 words. Do I think I can do that in one month? To be honest, no. Especially in the month that I celebrate my wedding anniversary, and I am hoping to go camping as soon as the damn weather stays cool enough on a weekend. I will be shooting for the 50,000 word goal. I figure if I make it to 175 pages, I can't let it die. I will have to make sure it gets finished. Whether it is just another 10 words, or if it is another 300 pages. I don't even know yet. I have a general idea of the direction the novel is going to take, but mainly, I just make it up as I go along. That is how I have always written. No outline. No thinking ahead. Just letting the story flow out of my brain down through my arms and out my fingertips onto the keyboard where I then magically see my thoughts put into words right before my very eyes.
So, because I am an accountant, I had to break down exactly what 50,000 words meant to me. It meant that I had to write an AVERAGE of 1,667 words PER DAY!!! To put this into perspective, from the end of the previous sentence to the top of this blog is only 671 words and it took me about forty minutes to write it. 671! I am going to have to average almost three times that every day for an entire 30 consecutive days. Ok, so that is about two hours a day every day. That doesn't sound that bad right? I am getting scared again reading this. But I am going to venture out into the deep end of the pool with this one. There are no sharks in the pool right?
This is going to cut down on my blogging time considerably. I will pop on here and try to update you at least every other day. But "The Writing" section is going to be severely lacking from November 1-30. Unless I use it to flesh out some ideas in the NaNoWriMo project, or if I get an idea for another project.
Side note. I've read that after the first draft an edit should take place and an average of 10% should be shed from the piece. That means that if I am shooting for a 300-350 page first draft, then I will end up with a 270-315 page document ready yo be sent to an agent, publisher, editor for more chopping.
The Bad
Being a parent is hard. I know. I have two daughters. One teen and one preteen. Fun right? Cake walk compared to being a step parent. I also have a teenage step son. The boy isn't the greatest student in the world. His attitude can suck at times, especially when you ask him to do something on days that end in "y". I am not the boy's father. I know this. Therefore my hands are tied. I get all the frustration, yet can't really do anything about it. I can't yell at him. Even when he is disrespecting me. I can't ground him. I can't really punish him in any way. If I try, then it becomes WWIII around here and I don't need that. My wife doesn't need that, and the boy could care less. I have come to the conclusion that he honestly doesn't give a flying fig about any sort of punishment.Video games gone? Doesn't care. Doesn't get to play sports. Doesn't care. No TV. Doesn't care. I don't get it. There is nothing I can do. And he already knows that he will win any battle that comes in this house between he and I. The big one last school year had to do with my job. I wanted to leave San Antonio so I didn't have to be cooped up in the house all day long by myself every day? And actually work in an office. This meant moving to Tennessee. It's all the south to me. Except there they are more liberal. Thank GODDESS - get me away from all these conservatives!
I tried to use the fact that the schools here are not nearly as good as they are in Oak Ridge, TN which is int he top 10 in the nation, and if he couldn't get his act together here, we could get him the help he needs in a real school system. Well, I was of course the bad guy in that. Did I continually bring it up. Yes. I was at my wit's end last year trying to find some way to get him to give a crap about his school work. Nope. He was grounded from before Xmas until the last week of school because he couldn't keep all of his grades at or above a C level. He'd bring the 2 he was failing up and let another or two others fall below the "Mendoza Line" So, I was the asshole. I helped him with his studying, yet I was the asshole for trying ANY and EVERYthing I could to motivate. Well, short of laying a hand on him (something I will never do). So this year, I am keeping these thoughts to myself. And a lot of others as well. And guess what? The boy knows he's won. His attitude is in the complete shithouse unless every little thing goes exactly his way. His grades are improved, but he is failing math and tonight told us it's because he "doesn't care". There were about a million things I would have said at that point had it been one of the girls. But I'm just the step dad, and no matter how well intentioned I am, I will be the asshole. I have no idea what to do. I fear that if I don't try something he is going to fail math and science. But I can't really do anything.
Yeah, it's way harder to be a step-parent than a parent.
Enough of this rant. Time for bed now.
The Writing
No original writing tonight. Spent it all on the ranting and raving. But that's ok. I got it out.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
1523
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Day 24: HHMM XV
10/23/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
HHMM tonight
We watched The Shining, Night of the Living Dead, A nightmare on Elm Street, I "found" a copy of the first episode of "Walking Dead", and now we are watching the Exorcist. HOLY SHIT! I haven't seen this movie in about 25 years. Wow!!!! I can't believe that 14 year old Linda Blair could do this. Actually what I can't believe is that her parents allowed her to do this. I have a 14 year old daughter and there is NO WAY IN FUCK I WOULD EVER LET HER DO A MOVIE LIKE THIS. I love this genre of film, but I would NEVER let my daughter play a role like this.
Ok, enough for tonight. Wanna concentrate on the movie. OMFG this movie ROCKS!!!
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
HHMM tonight
We watched The Shining, Night of the Living Dead, A nightmare on Elm Street, I "found" a copy of the first episode of "Walking Dead", and now we are watching the Exorcist. HOLY SHIT! I haven't seen this movie in about 25 years. Wow!!!! I can't believe that 14 year old Linda Blair could do this. Actually what I can't believe is that her parents allowed her to do this. I have a 14 year old daughter and there is NO WAY IN FUCK I WOULD EVER LET HER DO A MOVIE LIKE THIS. I love this genre of film, but I would NEVER let my daughter play a role like this.
Ok, enough for tonight. Wanna concentrate on the movie. OMFG this movie ROCKS!!!
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Friday, October 22, 2010
Day 23:My Wife Again, Bad Day and Steve "Comforts" Jess.
10/22/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
This was not a good day for me. I have some serious mental issues that I need to take care of. The silver lining to the day, is that there are people that care for me. My wife is and always will be my savior in this life. I love you honey and I'm sorry I can be such an ass, and that you bare the brunt of it every time. I've got some good friends in Vegas that have ranted all day long about a former boss of mine. It got me grinning every now and then. It came very close to me breaking my rule about saying anything negative about a former employer in print. I never want something like that to come back to haunt me.
Side note - I did write last night, but it was a bit too personal to post. There was no good, bad and writing format. It was just me lamenting my situation. I am not ready to share that. Hopefully I never will be.
The Bad
Like I said, this was a very bad day for me emotionally. I did enough dwelling on it all day long and won't prolong it any more here.
The Writing
Sunday, September 16, 2012 8am
I tried to sit her on the edge of the bed, but she wouldn't let go of me and we almost both fell over. Under any other circumstance, I would have gone with it. But in this case, I wanted her away from the window and to be free from her so I could see the rest of the scene below. I didn't really want to see what was going on. But I felt I needed to know what we were dealing with here in the light of day.
"Shhhhhhh, calm down Jess." I tried to soothe. I need to see what's going on out there. I need to know how bad it is.
"He got her," she shouted into my chest. "Just caught hold of her hair as she tried to run by him and he caught her hair and down she went. Then he started biting her. Steven, how can this be happening? I don't understand!" She began to sob against me.
I stopped trying to push her away from me. Instead I held her tight against me and turned her with her back to the window so i could look out over her shoulder. And boy was it gruesome. I've seen my fair share of zombie movies since my childhood. And what I was looking at could have easily been a scene out of any of those movies. I saw at least seven zombies - men and women - on their knees scrabbling to get their hands into the poor woman's soft flesh. Chunks of flesh hanging out of their mouths as they greedily tried to seize their next bite before they had even finished swallowing what was in their mouth. There were intestines being strung out and gnawed into. When her colon was ripped free and the black feces spilled onto one zombie's chest, I had to force down my gag reflex. There were more coming too. The seven already feeding were about to have the breakfast company of half a dozen more.
I tore my eyes away from the grisliness below in order to survey the visible part of my complex. I was relieved to see that there were only a couple more of them within my sight lines. The bad part about that is that all of them were right out my front door.
"Jess, we are going to stay put for a couple days. Hopefully the national guard or the army or whoever will have this taken care of by then. I've got enough food for a few days. I'm going to need your help now to get everything we're going to need ready. Can you do that for me?" She shook her head violently without looking up at me.
"Come on Jessica. Look at me." I placed my hands on the side of her head and turned her face up to mine. Her eyes were closed so tight that her entire face was squished together. Definitely not attractive.
"Jessica honey, please open your eyes and look at me. I need you. I need you to hear me. I need you to help me. Please." I didn't know what I was going to do if that didn't work, but it did. First I watched her faced relax. Then her eye sockets. Then her eyelids began to flutter and slowly open. She looked up at me with her watery ocean blue-green eyes. I could see the fear and pleading looking intently at me. Into me almost.
"Is this a nightmare?" She asked as the first tears started to stream from those eyes.
"No honey. But we are going to be alright. And this will hopefully be over with in a couple days. Now that the government knows what it is dealing with. And now that we know what we are dealing with we can be prepared. Understand me? I have emergency supplies, but I need your help to get this place prepared. Can you do that for me?" My eyes never once left hers. Willing her to be soothed by my gaze and calm voice. Hey, It's my blog, i can be the suave handsome hero if I want to be.
"Now, I need you to go into the my spare bedroom closet and get my toolbox, please. Bring it here. And try to stay away from the windows." And miracle of miracles, she let go of me and turned and walked from my room.
When she had gone I stole one more quick glance out the window and saw the mess. There wasn't much left of that poor woman. Then I went to work gathering blankets and some other things that I needed.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
This was not a good day for me. I have some serious mental issues that I need to take care of. The silver lining to the day, is that there are people that care for me. My wife is and always will be my savior in this life. I love you honey and I'm sorry I can be such an ass, and that you bare the brunt of it every time. I've got some good friends in Vegas that have ranted all day long about a former boss of mine. It got me grinning every now and then. It came very close to me breaking my rule about saying anything negative about a former employer in print. I never want something like that to come back to haunt me.
Side note - I did write last night, but it was a bit too personal to post. There was no good, bad and writing format. It was just me lamenting my situation. I am not ready to share that. Hopefully I never will be.
The Bad
Like I said, this was a very bad day for me emotionally. I did enough dwelling on it all day long and won't prolong it any more here.
The Writing
Sunday, September 16, 2012 8am
I tried to sit her on the edge of the bed, but she wouldn't let go of me and we almost both fell over. Under any other circumstance, I would have gone with it. But in this case, I wanted her away from the window and to be free from her so I could see the rest of the scene below. I didn't really want to see what was going on. But I felt I needed to know what we were dealing with here in the light of day.
"Shhhhhhh, calm down Jess." I tried to soothe. I need to see what's going on out there. I need to know how bad it is.
"He got her," she shouted into my chest. "Just caught hold of her hair as she tried to run by him and he caught her hair and down she went. Then he started biting her. Steven, how can this be happening? I don't understand!" She began to sob against me.
I stopped trying to push her away from me. Instead I held her tight against me and turned her with her back to the window so i could look out over her shoulder. And boy was it gruesome. I've seen my fair share of zombie movies since my childhood. And what I was looking at could have easily been a scene out of any of those movies. I saw at least seven zombies - men and women - on their knees scrabbling to get their hands into the poor woman's soft flesh. Chunks of flesh hanging out of their mouths as they greedily tried to seize their next bite before they had even finished swallowing what was in their mouth. There were intestines being strung out and gnawed into. When her colon was ripped free and the black feces spilled onto one zombie's chest, I had to force down my gag reflex. There were more coming too. The seven already feeding were about to have the breakfast company of half a dozen more.
I tore my eyes away from the grisliness below in order to survey the visible part of my complex. I was relieved to see that there were only a couple more of them within my sight lines. The bad part about that is that all of them were right out my front door.
"Jess, we are going to stay put for a couple days. Hopefully the national guard or the army or whoever will have this taken care of by then. I've got enough food for a few days. I'm going to need your help now to get everything we're going to need ready. Can you do that for me?" She shook her head violently without looking up at me.
"Come on Jessica. Look at me." I placed my hands on the side of her head and turned her face up to mine. Her eyes were closed so tight that her entire face was squished together. Definitely not attractive.
"Jessica honey, please open your eyes and look at me. I need you. I need you to hear me. I need you to help me. Please." I didn't know what I was going to do if that didn't work, but it did. First I watched her faced relax. Then her eye sockets. Then her eyelids began to flutter and slowly open. She looked up at me with her watery ocean blue-green eyes. I could see the fear and pleading looking intently at me. Into me almost.
"Is this a nightmare?" She asked as the first tears started to stream from those eyes.
"No honey. But we are going to be alright. And this will hopefully be over with in a couple days. Now that the government knows what it is dealing with. And now that we know what we are dealing with we can be prepared. Understand me? I have emergency supplies, but I need your help to get this place prepared. Can you do that for me?" My eyes never once left hers. Willing her to be soothed by my gaze and calm voice. Hey, It's my blog, i can be the suave handsome hero if I want to be.
"Now, I need you to go into the my spare bedroom closet and get my toolbox, please. Bring it here. And try to stay away from the windows." And miracle of miracles, she let go of me and turned and walked from my room.
When she had gone I stole one more quick glance out the window and saw the mess. There wasn't much left of that poor woman. Then I went to work gathering blankets and some other things that I needed.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Day 21: again blah.
10/20/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
Jack Daniels.
The Bad
Both baseball teams that I want to go down in flames won tonight. I can't stand it! Now I have to wait until the weekend to see which of them is going to make it to the World Series.
The Writing
None tonight. Time for bed.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
Jack Daniels.
The Bad
Both baseball teams that I want to go down in flames won tonight. I can't stand it! Now I have to wait until the weekend to see which of them is going to make it to the World Series.
The Writing
None tonight. Time for bed.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Day 20:HHMM XV, Zombie Walk, World Series, and Steven in bed with Jessica
10/19/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) HHMM XV Saturday Night!!! What started 15 years ago as a going away party for a coworker has turned into something I look forward to each year. I haven't been feeling Halloween so far this year, but today I sent out the invitations for the fun event. Now I am excited to get to storage and get out the decorations! I will be watching Army of Darkness while we decorate. And then we have five movies lined up for the marathon. We usually only get through three or four. We'll see how far we get this year. I will probably be playing bartender. Which I admit, I love! I am going to be making some interesting cocktails for the party. I am going to infuse vodka with candy corn for shots. I'll be making zombies and brain hemorrhages. I can't wait.
2) Sunday is the San Antonio Zombie Walk. I have no idea what to expect. We shall see.
The Bad
There is a 50% chance that I won't be watching the World Series. If the Giants and Yankees make it, I will be boycotting the Series. If the Rangers and Phillies make it, I won't watch due to disinterest. If either the Giants OR Yankees make it, I will be watching to root against whichever of them makes it!
The Writing
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Steven opened his eyes. He was still sitting up in bed. His neck was stiff and in pain from laying to the side for... how long? He lifted his head and a sharp pain shot through his neck. He winced and slowly started to roll his head in a full circle to loosen his neck up. His eyes absently taking in the room. His eyes stopped on the alarm clock on his dresser next to his bed. The big red display told him it was 7:43.
Then he started to remember the events of just a few hours before. He finished his head roll looking to the bed next to him. There was a hot, little, blonde bartender sound asleep next to him. Everything hit him at once. The drive to her place. The frantic escape from her place and return here. Calming her down and putting her to bed. Sitting next to her innocently as if she were his sister. Damnit, what the hell was wrong with him? He slid out of bed and went into the bathroom. He splashed water onto his face. Stepped back from the sink and surveyed himself in the mirror.
"Oh God, what is going on?" He didn't expect an answer, nor did he get one. So he went back into his bedroom and grabbed his laptop and slipped into the adjacent living room.
Steven's Blog
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Ok, what the FUCK?! How is this for a fucked up situation? I've got a woman that I have had impure thoughts about for about three years now sleeping in my bed. It is not even 8 in the morning and I am sitting in the living room trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in this town. Or is it all over the state? The country? Fuck. I have never felt so much like an idiot for not having cable. So, here I am writing and trying to find some reliable news on the "net".
Well, that was interesting. CNN is reporting that this is going on all over the US and Europe, with parts of Asia starting to be affected. They are trying not to use the word zombie. I guess it is a word that serious journalists don't use. They can call "them" whatever they want, but the rest of us know what the deal is. Thank you George Romero for preparing us for this. The reports say that the dead are indeed trying to eat the living, but for the most part are not much more than a nuisance. They are mostly too slow moving to pose much of a threat. Which is what I saw last night, though in the middle of the night it was still pretty goddamn scary. The reporters are saying to stay indoors and let the military and police take care of this. Don't venture outside unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. They say that there are a few "of them" that are able to move about more rapidly, but nothing seemingly faster than a brisk walk. We are told to avoid them, and anyone who has recently been ill. That is where this seems to have started. Whatever this is, began with all those sick people. Liz... I hope you are resting in peace.
I've got enough food and water for myself for about five days. Of course, if Jess stays, then that is cut in half. Ok, so I need to figure out a plan. I will keep trying to connect with...
That was when a blood curdling scream came from his bedroom. The laptop tumbled to the floor, landing thankfully on the bottom and not on the monitor. He jumped up and ran into the next room. What he saw was inexplicable. Jess was still in bed and there was another person standing by the window. The sunlight was streaming in behind whoever it was. He jumped to the side of the bed and reached for where Jess was and found only a jumble of sheets and blankets.
He breathed out a "Huh?" and stole a look down. Empty. He looked back up at the figure across the room. This time his eyes had time to adjust to the scene before him. It was Jessica standing at the window looking out. Her hands up to her face and she was trembling from head to toe. And then a whimper escaped her.
The knight in shining armor awoke in Steven again with the whimper. He ran around the bed to her and turned her to face him and embraced her to him. Her head on his chest. He looked outside and saw a horrific scene unfolding below. Apparently, someone had gotten caught by one of the zombies and was struggling to escape as he tore at her flesh. And from just about everywhere he looked there were more of them moving in to share in the kill like a shambling lion pride.
Jessica was murmuring into his chest. He turned her further around and stepped her back the three or so steps to the bed. He guided her to sit on the edge of the bed, but she would not let go of him.
I am going to stop here for tonight, because I am not happy with the way this is coming out. My intention for this story was to have it told completely from Steven's journal/blog. I strayed from that tonight for the sake of getting the story moving again. But I want to leave it alone for now and hopefully pick it back up in the right way tomorrow night. Thanks for reading it anyway.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) HHMM XV Saturday Night!!! What started 15 years ago as a going away party for a coworker has turned into something I look forward to each year. I haven't been feeling Halloween so far this year, but today I sent out the invitations for the fun event. Now I am excited to get to storage and get out the decorations! I will be watching Army of Darkness while we decorate. And then we have five movies lined up for the marathon. We usually only get through three or four. We'll see how far we get this year. I will probably be playing bartender. Which I admit, I love! I am going to be making some interesting cocktails for the party. I am going to infuse vodka with candy corn for shots. I'll be making zombies and brain hemorrhages. I can't wait.
2) Sunday is the San Antonio Zombie Walk. I have no idea what to expect. We shall see.
The Bad
There is a 50% chance that I won't be watching the World Series. If the Giants and Yankees make it, I will be boycotting the Series. If the Rangers and Phillies make it, I won't watch due to disinterest. If either the Giants OR Yankees make it, I will be watching to root against whichever of them makes it!
The Writing
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Steven opened his eyes. He was still sitting up in bed. His neck was stiff and in pain from laying to the side for... how long? He lifted his head and a sharp pain shot through his neck. He winced and slowly started to roll his head in a full circle to loosen his neck up. His eyes absently taking in the room. His eyes stopped on the alarm clock on his dresser next to his bed. The big red display told him it was 7:43.
Then he started to remember the events of just a few hours before. He finished his head roll looking to the bed next to him. There was a hot, little, blonde bartender sound asleep next to him. Everything hit him at once. The drive to her place. The frantic escape from her place and return here. Calming her down and putting her to bed. Sitting next to her innocently as if she were his sister. Damnit, what the hell was wrong with him? He slid out of bed and went into the bathroom. He splashed water onto his face. Stepped back from the sink and surveyed himself in the mirror.
"Oh God, what is going on?" He didn't expect an answer, nor did he get one. So he went back into his bedroom and grabbed his laptop and slipped into the adjacent living room.
Steven's Blog
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Ok, what the FUCK?! How is this for a fucked up situation? I've got a woman that I have had impure thoughts about for about three years now sleeping in my bed. It is not even 8 in the morning and I am sitting in the living room trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in this town. Or is it all over the state? The country? Fuck. I have never felt so much like an idiot for not having cable. So, here I am writing and trying to find some reliable news on the "net".
Well, that was interesting. CNN is reporting that this is going on all over the US and Europe, with parts of Asia starting to be affected. They are trying not to use the word zombie. I guess it is a word that serious journalists don't use. They can call "them" whatever they want, but the rest of us know what the deal is. Thank you George Romero for preparing us for this. The reports say that the dead are indeed trying to eat the living, but for the most part are not much more than a nuisance. They are mostly too slow moving to pose much of a threat. Which is what I saw last night, though in the middle of the night it was still pretty goddamn scary. The reporters are saying to stay indoors and let the military and police take care of this. Don't venture outside unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. They say that there are a few "of them" that are able to move about more rapidly, but nothing seemingly faster than a brisk walk. We are told to avoid them, and anyone who has recently been ill. That is where this seems to have started. Whatever this is, began with all those sick people. Liz... I hope you are resting in peace.
I've got enough food and water for myself for about five days. Of course, if Jess stays, then that is cut in half. Ok, so I need to figure out a plan. I will keep trying to connect with...
That was when a blood curdling scream came from his bedroom. The laptop tumbled to the floor, landing thankfully on the bottom and not on the monitor. He jumped up and ran into the next room. What he saw was inexplicable. Jess was still in bed and there was another person standing by the window. The sunlight was streaming in behind whoever it was. He jumped to the side of the bed and reached for where Jess was and found only a jumble of sheets and blankets.
He breathed out a "Huh?" and stole a look down. Empty. He looked back up at the figure across the room. This time his eyes had time to adjust to the scene before him. It was Jessica standing at the window looking out. Her hands up to her face and she was trembling from head to toe. And then a whimper escaped her.
The knight in shining armor awoke in Steven again with the whimper. He ran around the bed to her and turned her to face him and embraced her to him. Her head on his chest. He looked outside and saw a horrific scene unfolding below. Apparently, someone had gotten caught by one of the zombies and was struggling to escape as he tore at her flesh. And from just about everywhere he looked there were more of them moving in to share in the kill like a shambling lion pride.
Jessica was murmuring into his chest. He turned her further around and stepped her back the three or so steps to the bed. He guided her to sit on the edge of the bed, but she would not let go of him.
I am going to stop here for tonight, because I am not happy with the way this is coming out. My intention for this story was to have it told completely from Steven's journal/blog. I strayed from that tonight for the sake of getting the story moving again. But I want to leave it alone for now and hopefully pick it back up in the right way tomorrow night. Thanks for reading it anyway.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Monday, October 18, 2010
Day 19:Blah
10/18/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I'm still alive.
The Bad
I'm down. I think my biorythms must be at a low point.
The Writing
Because of the bad, there is no creativity for the writing. DAMNIT!
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I'm still alive.
The Bad
I'm down. I think my biorythms must be at a low point.
The Writing
Because of the bad, there is no creativity for the writing. DAMNIT!
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Day 18: Writing, Baseball and Tease
10/17/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I have written the equivalent of about 10 pages so far today. And that is before this post. Although I am about done writing for today. I don't have a lot of creativity left in me tonight.
The Bad
I hate that there are no teams in the playoffs that I have ever liked. I am rooting for the Rangers and Phillies. But I am really not rooting FOR them as much as I am rooting against the Giants and Yankees. If the Giants and Yankees both make the World Series, I will boycott the event. If neither make the World series, I will call the baseball season over and lose interest.
The Writing
Sunday, September 16, 2012 8am
The scream was one that you would definitely be categorized as blood curdling.
That's all I got tonight.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I have written the equivalent of about 10 pages so far today. And that is before this post. Although I am about done writing for today. I don't have a lot of creativity left in me tonight.
The Bad
I hate that there are no teams in the playoffs that I have ever liked. I am rooting for the Rangers and Phillies. But I am really not rooting FOR them as much as I am rooting against the Giants and Yankees. If the Giants and Yankees both make the World Series, I will boycott the event. If neither make the World series, I will call the baseball season over and lose interest.
The Writing
Sunday, September 16, 2012 8am
The scream was one that you would definitely be categorized as blood curdling.
That's all I got tonight.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Day 17: (Late) Rangers Game, Missed Writing and the Rescue Mission
10/17/2010 (for 10/16/10)
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
Woke up at 7am after drinking until... you know, I have no idea what time we left our friends' house Friday night or Saturday morning. No hangover though. I love my metabolism. Oh wait, I know why I had no hangover. I woke up still drunk. So I commenced drinking water. Showered and dressed and out the door we went. We stopped at Chachos for some breakfast tacos. Why do I always order more than I can (or should) actually eat? The world may never know. One ham and egg, one loco (chorizo, egg, beans, cheese), one bacon and egg, and one bean and cheese. I didn't like the Loco this time. It was too bland so I only ate half of it. Saved the bean and cheese for the road as well. Off we went. I sat in the back seat and Mrs. My Little Demon drove. It was teaching time for me. Time to work on math with the boy while we drove to Arlington to watch the Rangers play the Yankees.
Math accomplished, I climbed back into the front seat. Shortly thereafter the Mrs. turns down the radio and says, "I hate to ask this, but did you bring the tickets?" Ever experienced that sinking feeling of dude, how many times am I going to make this same damn mistake? Well, for the third time in my life I had to admit to forgetting the tickets for the event at home on the fridge. And since we were already 242 miles into the road trip we had to come up with an alternate plan. The boy and I both came up with the public library. Since the tickets were e-tickets and sitting in my email, I could access them and print them out from a public computer.
So we found the closest public library to the stadium and did just that. Woohoo. And bonus, now I have an Arlington Public Library card. Why is that a bonus? I have no idea.
Off to the game we go which was literally 1.8 miles from the library. Sweet. The first playoff game I have ever been to. Twas awesome. I loved the sense of importance to the crowd. I've been to well over 200 baseball games and the closest to this that I've ever experienced was during a pennant race. But even this was a step up from that. Needless to say, the Rangers won 7-2. Then it was time for the 5 hour drive back to San Antonio. We didn't get into our bed until 2:45am. almost 20 hours after we got out of it the morning before.
All in all, a great day.
The Bad
No writing because of the long day. I was doubly disappointed in myself for missing two days in a row. But I am attempting to make up for it today.
The Writing
Sunday September 16, 2012 4:30am
If the circumstances weren't so fucked up I would be writing this with quite a bit excitement right now. Jess is asleep in my bed next to me. I told her I wouldn't sleep until she got up in a few hours. This has really turned into a nightmare. We are essentially barricaded in my apartment. And I don't know what the fuck is going on outside. Let me go back a bit.
I passed out around midnight. Jessica called around 1:30am. She was frantic (ha found a new word). It took me a minute to figure out who it was that was screaming at me though the phone. Something about men trying to get in and the police not answering. I told her to calm down and tell me what was happening. She said there were some people trying to get into her apartment. She used the word zombies. That shocked me awake in a hurry. Hundreds dying, and now zombies? I couldn't bring myself to believe it. An event that I had joked about for the better part of my adult life...? There could be no way it was actually happening. I got her to tell me that her place was locked and that she was locked in the back bedroom. I got directions from her and told her that I would stay on the phone the entire way over to get her. Best laid plans right?
Well, it turns out that the word she used was indeed correct. All those that had died? Yeah, they were up and walking around now. They are pretty slow moving. Thank God (or whoever) for that small miracle. I had grabbed my softball bat before leaving the apartment and I went out into the dark. I gotta tell you that when faced with this event, no amount of disaster preparedness is enough. There were "people" walking around inside my apartment complex. Inside the gate. Shrouded in shadows I sensed movement from every direction. Luckily, I parked close to my front door and there were none of the (are they really dead?) between the door and the car (my Pathfinder). Jess was either calmer or she was going into shock. I got into my car and locked all the doors with the push of one button. I turned the key and slammed the gear into reverse without pausing. I hit the gas and back up 15 feet and threw it into drive and sped through the complex avoiding the shambling figures as I went. I got to the exit gate and stopped while the sensor detected me and slowly opened the gate. The other side of the gate was illuminated by my headlights and the way was clear. To my right however, I could see the apartment manager shuffling toward me. At the rate he was moving, I would be out of the gate and it would be closed behind me before he got to where I was.
Thud, went the hand on my window to the left. I about pissed myself. I let out a girlie scream and depressed the gas pedal hard and shot out of the complex. My passenger side mirror clipped the gate on my way through and now it is hanging by a bit of electrical wire.
My scream apparently jarred something in Jess, as she began to barrage me with questions and panicked exclamations again. I spent the entire drive to her apartment trying to calm her down again. Her complex wasn't gated. I had been planning to go in and calm her down and maybe just hang out there for the night until we figured out what the fuck was going on. I immediately changed my mind. Many factors led to this change. First was the gated community issue. I needed to feel safe until I came up with a plan. Bars and a gate seemed like a good start. My apartment was in a suburb and hers was downtown close to the hospital. 2+2 still equals 4 in my book and I don't want to be anywhere near a morgue if in fact this turns out to be Z-Day. This became a rescue and extract mission. I tried to get all of this across to Jessica en route, but she didn't seem all that responsive to the idea of leaving her home.
When I got to her place it was worse than I had feared. They were everywhere. And to top it off I heard breaking glass through the phone followed by Jess screaming that they were getting into her living room. I told her to calm down and try to be quiet until I got to her. The only good thing about this whole scenario was the fact that she lived on the bottom floor at the front of the complex. Good and bad I suppose. Good that I didn't have to spend much time finding it, and bad that it was stop number one for "them".
I pulled into the parking lot and saw where her apartment was and saw about 20 of "them" in front of her window pushing their way in. A couple of them fell over forward because they didn't have the wherewithal to step over the sill. Ok, we had intelligence going for us then. Great. My headlights lit them up and they took notice. Almost as one, they all turned and started shambling toward my SUV. I told Jess to be ready. And when I honked my horn from right outside her living room, to come running. She was frantic, and I had a hard time convincing her to agree to this. In the end, she agreed and I had an idea. I explained it to her and sat in my idling vehicle as the zombies made their slow way toward me. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I'm sure it would have exploded right out if I had another thud on my window. This time I kept an eye out both side windows and in my rear view. Watching the zombies (okay, I fucking said it, they are zombies) shamble closer. I counted down into the phone from ten to one. While doing this I primed my nerves for what was next. When I got to one, I slammed down on the gas and shot forward. The first zombie went down without flinching as I approached and hit it with the front end of my car. And the next did the same. Several glanced off to either side and I hit the curb and bounced up onto the grass. I almost lost control of her then and had to take my foot off the gas. I slowed and bounced over a few more of them and slammed my foot down on the brake and skidded to a halt about two yards from Jess' broken living room window. At the same time I laid on the horn and screamed into the phone for her to get out here NOW!!!
I expected this part to be more difficult. She apparently hadn't waited for the horn. She was out the window and reaching for the passenger handle mere seconds after I stopped. I threw the phone down when i saw her.
"Get IN Jess!!! GET IN!" I screamed at her as she tried the handle and tried to look every direction at once.
"I can't!", she screamed back at me. "IT'S LOCKED!"
"FUCK!", I reached for the button and the door unlocked and flew open at once. She jumped in with one last look behind the vehicle. She screamed and slammed the door shut behind her.
"You asshole! Get us out of here! GO!" and she slapped me in the shoulder.
All of this didn't really register at the time. I was already putting the car in reverse and backing up as fast as I could. A few zombies went under in the process and we got out of there.
There was no one on the road. No vehicles at least. Was I really the only one stupid enough to go out? Probably. Over active sense of chivalry. That was the last time. We got back here quickly and into the gate easily enough. There were more zeds out and about but not nearly as many as at Jess'. I pulled my car all the way up to my front door. Fuck parking places now. I didn't have to use the bat at all. We got in the front door and went up the stairs to the left into my living room. I have never been happier in my life to not live on the bottom floor.
Now, I have a sleeping beauty, pun intended, in bed next to me and an uncertain future ahead of me (us?).
Fuck, best not to think like that. No more chivalry.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
Woke up at 7am after drinking until... you know, I have no idea what time we left our friends' house Friday night or Saturday morning. No hangover though. I love my metabolism. Oh wait, I know why I had no hangover. I woke up still drunk. So I commenced drinking water. Showered and dressed and out the door we went. We stopped at Chachos for some breakfast tacos. Why do I always order more than I can (or should) actually eat? The world may never know. One ham and egg, one loco (chorizo, egg, beans, cheese), one bacon and egg, and one bean and cheese. I didn't like the Loco this time. It was too bland so I only ate half of it. Saved the bean and cheese for the road as well. Off we went. I sat in the back seat and Mrs. My Little Demon drove. It was teaching time for me. Time to work on math with the boy while we drove to Arlington to watch the Rangers play the Yankees.
Math accomplished, I climbed back into the front seat. Shortly thereafter the Mrs. turns down the radio and says, "I hate to ask this, but did you bring the tickets?" Ever experienced that sinking feeling of dude, how many times am I going to make this same damn mistake? Well, for the third time in my life I had to admit to forgetting the tickets for the event at home on the fridge. And since we were already 242 miles into the road trip we had to come up with an alternate plan. The boy and I both came up with the public library. Since the tickets were e-tickets and sitting in my email, I could access them and print them out from a public computer.
So we found the closest public library to the stadium and did just that. Woohoo. And bonus, now I have an Arlington Public Library card. Why is that a bonus? I have no idea.
Off to the game we go which was literally 1.8 miles from the library. Sweet. The first playoff game I have ever been to. Twas awesome. I loved the sense of importance to the crowd. I've been to well over 200 baseball games and the closest to this that I've ever experienced was during a pennant race. But even this was a step up from that. Needless to say, the Rangers won 7-2. Then it was time for the 5 hour drive back to San Antonio. We didn't get into our bed until 2:45am. almost 20 hours after we got out of it the morning before.
All in all, a great day.
The Bad
No writing because of the long day. I was doubly disappointed in myself for missing two days in a row. But I am attempting to make up for it today.
The Writing
Sunday September 16, 2012 4:30am
If the circumstances weren't so fucked up I would be writing this with quite a bit excitement right now. Jess is asleep in my bed next to me. I told her I wouldn't sleep until she got up in a few hours. This has really turned into a nightmare. We are essentially barricaded in my apartment. And I don't know what the fuck is going on outside. Let me go back a bit.
I passed out around midnight. Jessica called around 1:30am. She was frantic (ha found a new word). It took me a minute to figure out who it was that was screaming at me though the phone. Something about men trying to get in and the police not answering. I told her to calm down and tell me what was happening. She said there were some people trying to get into her apartment. She used the word zombies. That shocked me awake in a hurry. Hundreds dying, and now zombies? I couldn't bring myself to believe it. An event that I had joked about for the better part of my adult life...? There could be no way it was actually happening. I got her to tell me that her place was locked and that she was locked in the back bedroom. I got directions from her and told her that I would stay on the phone the entire way over to get her. Best laid plans right?
Well, it turns out that the word she used was indeed correct. All those that had died? Yeah, they were up and walking around now. They are pretty slow moving. Thank God (or whoever) for that small miracle. I had grabbed my softball bat before leaving the apartment and I went out into the dark. I gotta tell you that when faced with this event, no amount of disaster preparedness is enough. There were "people" walking around inside my apartment complex. Inside the gate. Shrouded in shadows I sensed movement from every direction. Luckily, I parked close to my front door and there were none of the (are they really dead?) between the door and the car (my Pathfinder). Jess was either calmer or she was going into shock. I got into my car and locked all the doors with the push of one button. I turned the key and slammed the gear into reverse without pausing. I hit the gas and back up 15 feet and threw it into drive and sped through the complex avoiding the shambling figures as I went. I got to the exit gate and stopped while the sensor detected me and slowly opened the gate. The other side of the gate was illuminated by my headlights and the way was clear. To my right however, I could see the apartment manager shuffling toward me. At the rate he was moving, I would be out of the gate and it would be closed behind me before he got to where I was.
Thud, went the hand on my window to the left. I about pissed myself. I let out a girlie scream and depressed the gas pedal hard and shot out of the complex. My passenger side mirror clipped the gate on my way through and now it is hanging by a bit of electrical wire.
My scream apparently jarred something in Jess, as she began to barrage me with questions and panicked exclamations again. I spent the entire drive to her apartment trying to calm her down again. Her complex wasn't gated. I had been planning to go in and calm her down and maybe just hang out there for the night until we figured out what the fuck was going on. I immediately changed my mind. Many factors led to this change. First was the gated community issue. I needed to feel safe until I came up with a plan. Bars and a gate seemed like a good start. My apartment was in a suburb and hers was downtown close to the hospital. 2+2 still equals 4 in my book and I don't want to be anywhere near a morgue if in fact this turns out to be Z-Day. This became a rescue and extract mission. I tried to get all of this across to Jessica en route, but she didn't seem all that responsive to the idea of leaving her home.
When I got to her place it was worse than I had feared. They were everywhere. And to top it off I heard breaking glass through the phone followed by Jess screaming that they were getting into her living room. I told her to calm down and try to be quiet until I got to her. The only good thing about this whole scenario was the fact that she lived on the bottom floor at the front of the complex. Good and bad I suppose. Good that I didn't have to spend much time finding it, and bad that it was stop number one for "them".
I pulled into the parking lot and saw where her apartment was and saw about 20 of "them" in front of her window pushing their way in. A couple of them fell over forward because they didn't have the wherewithal to step over the sill. Ok, we had intelligence going for us then. Great. My headlights lit them up and they took notice. Almost as one, they all turned and started shambling toward my SUV. I told Jess to be ready. And when I honked my horn from right outside her living room, to come running. She was frantic, and I had a hard time convincing her to agree to this. In the end, she agreed and I had an idea. I explained it to her and sat in my idling vehicle as the zombies made their slow way toward me. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I'm sure it would have exploded right out if I had another thud on my window. This time I kept an eye out both side windows and in my rear view. Watching the zombies (okay, I fucking said it, they are zombies) shamble closer. I counted down into the phone from ten to one. While doing this I primed my nerves for what was next. When I got to one, I slammed down on the gas and shot forward. The first zombie went down without flinching as I approached and hit it with the front end of my car. And the next did the same. Several glanced off to either side and I hit the curb and bounced up onto the grass. I almost lost control of her then and had to take my foot off the gas. I slowed and bounced over a few more of them and slammed my foot down on the brake and skidded to a halt about two yards from Jess' broken living room window. At the same time I laid on the horn and screamed into the phone for her to get out here NOW!!!
I expected this part to be more difficult. She apparently hadn't waited for the horn. She was out the window and reaching for the passenger handle mere seconds after I stopped. I threw the phone down when i saw her.
"Get IN Jess!!! GET IN!" I screamed at her as she tried the handle and tried to look every direction at once.
"I can't!", she screamed back at me. "IT'S LOCKED!"
"FUCK!", I reached for the button and the door unlocked and flew open at once. She jumped in with one last look behind the vehicle. She screamed and slammed the door shut behind her.
"You asshole! Get us out of here! GO!" and she slapped me in the shoulder.
All of this didn't really register at the time. I was already putting the car in reverse and backing up as fast as I could. A few zombies went under in the process and we got out of there.
There was no one on the road. No vehicles at least. Was I really the only one stupid enough to go out? Probably. Over active sense of chivalry. That was the last time. We got back here quickly and into the gate easily enough. There were more zeds out and about but not nearly as many as at Jess'. I pulled my car all the way up to my front door. Fuck parking places now. I didn't have to use the bat at all. We got in the front door and went up the stairs to the left into my living room. I have never been happier in my life to not live on the bottom floor.
Now, I have a sleeping beauty, pun intended, in bed next to me and an uncertain future ahead of me (us?).
Fuck, best not to think like that. No more chivalry.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Day 16: (Late) Friday Night with Good Friends, Missed Writing and Death of a Friend
10/17/2010 (for 10/15/10)
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
As earlier stated I was going to drink Jack and root beer in honor of the good times I had in Vegas with "Surprise! You know the rest..." Well, I wound up getting pretty wasted at friends' house on my old drink of choice. If any of you saw some of my posts on FB you already know this. lol. It was interesting. Drinking Jack was like "Going home". It has been awhile since I had Jack. I've been drinking mostly bourbon lately, and the sweetness of Jack hit me pretty hard. Of course my proportions were like they used to be. Not like they would make in a bar. It started out being a one to one ratio Jack to root beer. But by the third (and last) it was a 2 to 1 ratio. Oh yeah, and I made a couple rounds of Pineapple upside down cake shots as well. Needless to say, I wasn't driving home. I have an awesome wife who takes care of me when I get that wasted. I love you Mr's My Little Demon.
The Bad
The bad part about drinking like that? I didn't write. Not good. So now I am going to make up for it and write Friday's blog today (Sunday).
The Writing
Saturday September 15, 2012 noon
I got up this morning and I felt great. I slept in until 11 and hopped on the treadmill for forty-five minutes. Made myself a three egg omelet with bell peppers, bacon and cheddar cheese. Now I have to run a few errands - grocery store, Lowes for the shelving materials and I'll probably stop by the hospital to check on Liz. More later...
4pm
What the hell? I don't know what to write. Liz is dead. Just like that.She never regained consciousness last night. The doctors haven't even figured out what happened yet. The hospital was in chaos. The entire staff was in a near panic. I heard one nurse say that every room was full and that people were on gurneys in the halls. Again I ask, what the hell? The govt on the TV says that there is a high level of a new strain of flu running wild. And judging by the state of the hospital, I am going to believe it. That does explain why the grocery store was so slow today. If only I had heard the news before going there, I would have stocked up on more essentials. I am going to stay in tonight.
9pm
I just called PJ's and Jess is there. She sounded in a bit of a panic. That seems to be going around lately. (Note to self - find a new word for panic). I'm going to head over there and see if I can help her. I know I can use a drink. And I am not getting anything done here today. I can't get my mind off Liz. I don't understand. I carried her. I don't feel sick. God I hope it stays that way. The news hasn't been good.
11:30pm
I just got back from PJ's. By the time i got there Jess was quite a mess. She has been watching the TV in the empty bar. The reports are not good from all around the nation. People are dying by the hundreds from whatever this flu is. I am starting to get a bit freaked out. I gave Jess my number and told her to call me if she needed to talk. I helped her shut the bar down. She tried to get a hold of the owner before doing so, but she couldn't get him on the phone. She is assuming the worst. I offered to follow her home, but she said she would be ok. And that she was just a bit freaked out being in that bar by herself for so long. I assured her that I would be up for awhile if she needed to talk. I'm not sure that is going to be the truth however. I am emotionally drained now. And I am not afraid to admit, a bit scared. I can't reach anyone on the phone.
Facebook traffic has been insane. Everyone seems to be posting about dying relatives and friends. I am upgrading my question. What the FUCK!? Dare I watch the news? Yeah, I need to know what's going on.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
As earlier stated I was going to drink Jack and root beer in honor of the good times I had in Vegas with "Surprise! You know the rest..." Well, I wound up getting pretty wasted at friends' house on my old drink of choice. If any of you saw some of my posts on FB you already know this. lol. It was interesting. Drinking Jack was like "Going home". It has been awhile since I had Jack. I've been drinking mostly bourbon lately, and the sweetness of Jack hit me pretty hard. Of course my proportions were like they used to be. Not like they would make in a bar. It started out being a one to one ratio Jack to root beer. But by the third (and last) it was a 2 to 1 ratio. Oh yeah, and I made a couple rounds of Pineapple upside down cake shots as well. Needless to say, I wasn't driving home. I have an awesome wife who takes care of me when I get that wasted. I love you Mr's My Little Demon.
The Bad
The bad part about drinking like that? I didn't write. Not good. So now I am going to make up for it and write Friday's blog today (Sunday).
The Writing
Saturday September 15, 2012 noon
I got up this morning and I felt great. I slept in until 11 and hopped on the treadmill for forty-five minutes. Made myself a three egg omelet with bell peppers, bacon and cheddar cheese. Now I have to run a few errands - grocery store, Lowes for the shelving materials and I'll probably stop by the hospital to check on Liz. More later...
4pm
What the hell? I don't know what to write. Liz is dead. Just like that.She never regained consciousness last night. The doctors haven't even figured out what happened yet. The hospital was in chaos. The entire staff was in a near panic. I heard one nurse say that every room was full and that people were on gurneys in the halls. Again I ask, what the hell? The govt on the TV says that there is a high level of a new strain of flu running wild. And judging by the state of the hospital, I am going to believe it. That does explain why the grocery store was so slow today. If only I had heard the news before going there, I would have stocked up on more essentials. I am going to stay in tonight.
9pm
I just called PJ's and Jess is there. She sounded in a bit of a panic. That seems to be going around lately. (Note to self - find a new word for panic). I'm going to head over there and see if I can help her. I know I can use a drink. And I am not getting anything done here today. I can't get my mind off Liz. I don't understand. I carried her. I don't feel sick. God I hope it stays that way. The news hasn't been good.
11:30pm
I just got back from PJ's. By the time i got there Jess was quite a mess. She has been watching the TV in the empty bar. The reports are not good from all around the nation. People are dying by the hundreds from whatever this flu is. I am starting to get a bit freaked out. I gave Jess my number and told her to call me if she needed to talk. I helped her shut the bar down. She tried to get a hold of the owner before doing so, but she couldn't get him on the phone. She is assuming the worst. I offered to follow her home, but she said she would be ok. And that she was just a bit freaked out being in that bar by herself for so long. I assured her that I would be up for awhile if she needed to talk. I'm not sure that is going to be the truth however. I am emotionally drained now. And I am not afraid to admit, a bit scared. I can't reach anyone on the phone.
Facebook traffic has been insane. Everyone seems to be posting about dying relatives and friends. I am upgrading my question. What the FUCK!? Dare I watch the news? Yeah, I need to know what's going on.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Day 15:Phone Calls, Weather, and "Z-Day?"
10/14/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) I has two phone conversations today totaling a little over four hours with one of my best friends. It was nice. And very unlike me. I hate talking on the phone. In fact, I talked on the phone more today than I did in my entire last billing cycle. Last month I only used 189 minutes, and today I used over 240. Hour crap Batman. It was cool to catch up. There are a couple of things that would have made it better. We used to sit on opposite sides of a firepit in Vegas weekend nights (in the winter of course) with Jack and Dr. Peppers just shooting the shit for hours. To be honest I'd say the conversations were 75% my buddy talking and 25% me talking and asking him questions to keep him talking. That is one great thing about my buddy. He is a talker. I'm not at all. I am a listener and interject when I see fit kinda guy. It worked out perfectly. And our wives would be in the house wondering what the hell it was we could possibly be talking about for so damn long. I miss those days. Thanks, for the reminder of those good times "Surprise! you know the rest". I try to use no names here, so check out his blog if you care to. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. And even if he does, tough shit. He's putting himself out on the web just like me for anyone (and I truly mean ANYONE) to see. Cheers my friend. Jack and root beer for me tomorrow night in your honor.
2) The weather today was fan-freaking-tastic! Nice and cool. It feels like fall. Yay, fall. There is a nip (teehee, I said nip) in the air. I love it. The wheel of the year is turning and soon Halloween and then after that Xmas (or Yule for me).
The Bad
I'll save my bitching for another night.
The Writing
September 14, 2012
I woke up today and thought it was going to be a Friday like any other. I'd go into work, pretend to work most of the day and attempt to sneak out a half hour to an hour early and get a head start on drinking for the weekend. Best laid plans and all, right? I made it to work as planned. I walked into the building at 7:58AM. About 5 minutes earlier than usual. That was going to be good for at least fifteen minutes early vacating at the end of the day. Yep, it was going to be a great day.
Hold the phone, my prick of a boss is out sick? Can you say 3:30 escape time? I knew I could. And would, barring something major.
Did I say something major? Yep. I did. Lunch hour came and went. I really enjoyed that 90 minutes. Then there I was, quietly playing Sudoku on my phone when I heard, "Steven?" in a pained choked voice from through (or over if you like even though it seems like it came through) the cubicle wall.
"Liz? Are you alright?" I stood and peaked over the cube wall into my neighbor's "yard". I always feel like Wilson from that TV show Home Improvement when I do that. What I saw when I looked into her space was frightening. Liz (short for Elizabeth) is a fairly dark skinned latina. She is very pretty and to tell you the truth I would like to bang her. But when I looked over the cube wall, she wasn't a chestnut brown, she was pale. And pale on her looked very gray.
She looked up at me and opened her mouth, "I think I got food poisoning, Ste..." and her head crashed down on her keyboard hard enough to dislodge the shift key and send it bouncing a couple inches away.
"Holy shit, Liz!", I leaped out of my cube and ran around to her's. I lifted her head from the keyboard and there was one thin cut above her right eye. The odd thing was there was only one drop of blood dripping down, and it looked to have already begun congealing. "Oh shit." I lifted her arm and checked her wrist for a pulse. It was weak but there. Her breathing was ragged. I was scared. I guess that is how I was able to just act. I lifted her out of her chair and carried her, one of her arms over my shoulder and my arms around her back and behind her knees. I carried her out of the building and to my car. I only stopped long enough to bark at the receptionist, "Call HR and tell them that I am taking Liz to the hospital and have them call her emergency contact."
Well, Michelle listened well and didn't delay me with any asinine questions. Which was probably best because the lack of information probably helped to put her relatives into a panic. They live closer to the hospital than we work, so they were waiting for us in the ER when we got there. Her mom was in a panic. I can't blame her. I got the orderlies to get her out of my car and told them all I knew, and that she thought it was food poisoning. I waited around and answered all the same questions three or four times. Once to the hospital staff, and then again each time another family member showed up. We sat in the ER waiting room and did just that. Waited. As we sat there the seats all slowly began to fill. A lot of individuals looking pale and a couple of them actually passing out just like Liz. At this point I started to get scared and gave Liz' mom my business card with my cell phone # scribbled on the back. I apologized that I couldn't stay, but that I was meeting a Client at 4pm. "Please call me when you find out what is wrong. I'm sure everything will be alright." She thanked me for bringing her Lizzy in and hugged me. Then I bugged the hell out of there.
I went straight to PJ's Pub. I walked through the door at 3:30pm according to the big red digital numbers above the bar. I got my wish and got out of work early. Not exactly how I wanted to accomplish it, but the "work gods" work in mysterious ways indeed.
I looked around the gloomy bar and there was only one other patron sitting at the far end of the bar. A woman of about forty five holding her bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon in both hands and staring off into space behind the bar. Ok, I wonder if she had been here since they opened at noon. And if she had been drinking before she got here. I guessed yes to both questions.
Jessica the little hottie that worked behind the bar came out from the kitchen when she heard me come in. She smiled at me, "How you doin' hun?"
"I'm okay Jess. How 'bout yourself?"
"I'm fantastic. Hoping it picks up in here for happy hour though. This is a tad depressing. What can I get for ya Sweetie? The usual?"
"Yep, make is a double to start off today, if you would please? Rough day." The usual for me is a Maker's on the rocks.
She poured me a nice full tumbler of that golden nectar of the gods and sat down on the beer cooler that was right behind the bar in front of where I was sitting and proceeded to ask me why my day was so bad. So I recounted afternoon, and she really seemed interested (and even called me sweet and awesome at different points in my telling). The telling of that story turned into her telling me about her week since I had last been in there. The next time I looked at the clock it read 5:43pm. I had consumed three Maker's on the rocks (only one of them was the monster double). I laid two twenties on the bar and bid her ado. She didn't even look at the money. She pooched out her bottom lip and came around the bar and gave me a big hug.
"You drive careful, hero. Come back tomorrow night and see me. I work eight to close."
"You know, I might just do that. You be safe tonight beautiful." And I walked out the door and to my car.
I stopped at the liquor store on the way home and bought a bottle of Maker's, intending to have one more and then play on the computer, write my daily blog (which you are reading right now) and maybe watch a movie on Netflix. As I write this, I have accomplished the drink (and a second), surfed the web a bit, the usual, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, pornorama, and now I am writing. I have completely wasted four hours sitting here now, and I am going to finish this sentence and then go to bed.
Me too. Tune in tomorrow to find out how Steve's weekend goes.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) I has two phone conversations today totaling a little over four hours with one of my best friends. It was nice. And very unlike me. I hate talking on the phone. In fact, I talked on the phone more today than I did in my entire last billing cycle. Last month I only used 189 minutes, and today I used over 240. Hour crap Batman. It was cool to catch up. There are a couple of things that would have made it better. We used to sit on opposite sides of a firepit in Vegas weekend nights (in the winter of course) with Jack and Dr. Peppers just shooting the shit for hours. To be honest I'd say the conversations were 75% my buddy talking and 25% me talking and asking him questions to keep him talking. That is one great thing about my buddy. He is a talker. I'm not at all. I am a listener and interject when I see fit kinda guy. It worked out perfectly. And our wives would be in the house wondering what the hell it was we could possibly be talking about for so damn long. I miss those days. Thanks, for the reminder of those good times "Surprise! you know the rest". I try to use no names here, so check out his blog if you care to. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. And even if he does, tough shit. He's putting himself out on the web just like me for anyone (and I truly mean ANYONE) to see. Cheers my friend. Jack and root beer for me tomorrow night in your honor.
2) The weather today was fan-freaking-tastic! Nice and cool. It feels like fall. Yay, fall. There is a nip (teehee, I said nip) in the air. I love it. The wheel of the year is turning and soon Halloween and then after that Xmas (or Yule for me).
The Bad
I'll save my bitching for another night.
The Writing
September 14, 2012
I woke up today and thought it was going to be a Friday like any other. I'd go into work, pretend to work most of the day and attempt to sneak out a half hour to an hour early and get a head start on drinking for the weekend. Best laid plans and all, right? I made it to work as planned. I walked into the building at 7:58AM. About 5 minutes earlier than usual. That was going to be good for at least fifteen minutes early vacating at the end of the day. Yep, it was going to be a great day.
Hold the phone, my prick of a boss is out sick? Can you say 3:30 escape time? I knew I could. And would, barring something major.
Did I say something major? Yep. I did. Lunch hour came and went. I really enjoyed that 90 minutes. Then there I was, quietly playing Sudoku on my phone when I heard, "Steven?" in a pained choked voice from through (or over if you like even though it seems like it came through) the cubicle wall.
"Liz? Are you alright?" I stood and peaked over the cube wall into my neighbor's "yard". I always feel like Wilson from that TV show Home Improvement when I do that. What I saw when I looked into her space was frightening. Liz (short for Elizabeth) is a fairly dark skinned latina. She is very pretty and to tell you the truth I would like to bang her. But when I looked over the cube wall, she wasn't a chestnut brown, she was pale. And pale on her looked very gray.
She looked up at me and opened her mouth, "I think I got food poisoning, Ste..." and her head crashed down on her keyboard hard enough to dislodge the shift key and send it bouncing a couple inches away.
"Holy shit, Liz!", I leaped out of my cube and ran around to her's. I lifted her head from the keyboard and there was one thin cut above her right eye. The odd thing was there was only one drop of blood dripping down, and it looked to have already begun congealing. "Oh shit." I lifted her arm and checked her wrist for a pulse. It was weak but there. Her breathing was ragged. I was scared. I guess that is how I was able to just act. I lifted her out of her chair and carried her, one of her arms over my shoulder and my arms around her back and behind her knees. I carried her out of the building and to my car. I only stopped long enough to bark at the receptionist, "Call HR and tell them that I am taking Liz to the hospital and have them call her emergency contact."
Well, Michelle listened well and didn't delay me with any asinine questions. Which was probably best because the lack of information probably helped to put her relatives into a panic. They live closer to the hospital than we work, so they were waiting for us in the ER when we got there. Her mom was in a panic. I can't blame her. I got the orderlies to get her out of my car and told them all I knew, and that she thought it was food poisoning. I waited around and answered all the same questions three or four times. Once to the hospital staff, and then again each time another family member showed up. We sat in the ER waiting room and did just that. Waited. As we sat there the seats all slowly began to fill. A lot of individuals looking pale and a couple of them actually passing out just like Liz. At this point I started to get scared and gave Liz' mom my business card with my cell phone # scribbled on the back. I apologized that I couldn't stay, but that I was meeting a Client at 4pm. "Please call me when you find out what is wrong. I'm sure everything will be alright." She thanked me for bringing her Lizzy in and hugged me. Then I bugged the hell out of there.
I went straight to PJ's Pub. I walked through the door at 3:30pm according to the big red digital numbers above the bar. I got my wish and got out of work early. Not exactly how I wanted to accomplish it, but the "work gods" work in mysterious ways indeed.
I looked around the gloomy bar and there was only one other patron sitting at the far end of the bar. A woman of about forty five holding her bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon in both hands and staring off into space behind the bar. Ok, I wonder if she had been here since they opened at noon. And if she had been drinking before she got here. I guessed yes to both questions.
Jessica the little hottie that worked behind the bar came out from the kitchen when she heard me come in. She smiled at me, "How you doin' hun?"
"I'm okay Jess. How 'bout yourself?"
"I'm fantastic. Hoping it picks up in here for happy hour though. This is a tad depressing. What can I get for ya Sweetie? The usual?"
"Yep, make is a double to start off today, if you would please? Rough day." The usual for me is a Maker's on the rocks.
She poured me a nice full tumbler of that golden nectar of the gods and sat down on the beer cooler that was right behind the bar in front of where I was sitting and proceeded to ask me why my day was so bad. So I recounted afternoon, and she really seemed interested (and even called me sweet and awesome at different points in my telling). The telling of that story turned into her telling me about her week since I had last been in there. The next time I looked at the clock it read 5:43pm. I had consumed three Maker's on the rocks (only one of them was the monster double). I laid two twenties on the bar and bid her ado. She didn't even look at the money. She pooched out her bottom lip and came around the bar and gave me a big hug.
"You drive careful, hero. Come back tomorrow night and see me. I work eight to close."
"You know, I might just do that. You be safe tonight beautiful." And I walked out the door and to my car.
I stopped at the liquor store on the way home and bought a bottle of Maker's, intending to have one more and then play on the computer, write my daily blog (which you are reading right now) and maybe watch a movie on Netflix. As I write this, I have accomplished the drink (and a second), surfed the web a bit, the usual, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, pornorama, and now I am writing. I have completely wasted four hours sitting here now, and I am going to finish this sentence and then go to bed.
Me too. Tune in tomorrow to find out how Steve's weekend goes.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Day 14: Case 39 Review, my iPhone Luck,
10/13/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
Tonight, the good is going to refer to the movie I watched and not necessarily my review of it. I have never reviewed a movie before so this should be interesting.
If you haven't seen "Case 39" yet, then I hope there aren't too many spoilers in this for you. Alright reviewing cherry - popped.
I saw "Case 39" with my wife and teenage son. I knew nothing about this film walking in. No cable will do that for you. All I knew was that it was about demonic possession. Well, watching this, I wouldn't exactly call it possession, but that is close enough for government work I suppose. I didn't know Renee Zellweger was the main actress. I was pleasantly surprised. I've found her acting to be hit or miss, and I think she played an almost convincing social worker. Her fright in the tense scenes was passable, but I just can't get my head around her being the tough enough type to be able to stand up to a demon. I don't care how far you push her. I just couldn't give it my endorsement.
Ian McShane (Mechanic in "Death Race") played a cop who is a close friend of Emily (Zellweger) and goes through an emotional transformation that wasn't quite in character for a police officer. Usually you would expect a cop to have a hard time buying demonic possession (I don't care how catholic he is), and in a horror movie in particular. However, Detective Barron is swayed by a single phone call that could have easily been faked. I didn't buy that part. But didn't have to suffer him for very long after that (oops sorry).
The real star of this film and by far the best acted part was that of Jodelle Ferland. She was fifteen at the time of filming, but I was convinced she was only ten. I think I need to watch Eclipse to convince myself that maybe she isn't really a demon. She scared the living shit out of me. Creepy little girl (who celebrated her 16th b-day last Saturday). I wouldn't be caught dead alone with her for fear of being caught dead.
The score was perfect and enhanced the tension of just about every scene, as did the cinematography. I looked over a couple times and my son (he will be 14 in about 3 weeks) had both his hands covering his face and his ipod headphones in his ears. And it wasn't the "peeking through his fingers" over his face either. It was full on "I'm not here right now, please take me to my happy place" hands over his face. I actually verbalized a couple time when it made me jump. A very rare event indeed for this horror fanatic.
Acting: 3 out of 5 stars
Script: 4 out of 5 stars
Jump out of your seat factor: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Score and cinematography: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3.875 out of 5 stars
I recommend any horror fan sees this movie. I WILL buy it when it comes out on DVD. Then again I think a horror movie really only needs to get 2 stars for me to want to buy it, and I even own a few sub 2's
The Bad
My iPhone luck is the worst. When i first got my iPhone 3G two Octobers ago, it took me three trips into the Apple store for me to get a phone that worked properly. As any of you know that read yesterday's blog, my iPhone was stolen at the Public Library. Well, it was about time for a new one anyway. That thing was pretty beat to shit. Components were starting to fail on it one by one. It had been about 6 months since the Wi-Fi worked. The Sim card kept going out. It took about 5 minutes (not an exaggeration either) to boot up. The little toggle button that turned off the sound broke off about a year ago. Beat to shit, but still, it contained just about my entire life.
Well, I went into the Apple store last night and got a new iPhone 4G. Awesome upgrade right? Well, if it had worked properly, I would agree with you. It didn't. I couldn't get it to work last night and again this morning. So, I made an appointment at the Apple store to have it looked at. 2 hours later the little nerd herd, or geek squad or genius bar rep or whatever guy comes over and says, nope its a bad phone. DUH. I told you that. "We're going to have to replace it." "Fine, it's not like it matters anyway. I didn't have a backup of the old phone, so this one had nothing on it either." So, that was about two hours wasted of my day. But the phone seems to be working wonderfully now. I just wish I had better luck with phones.
The Writing
None tonight, early morning (gym) tomorrow.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Day 13: Wifey-poo, Asshole Cell Phone Thieves, and The Karma They Will Reap
10/12/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I had a good lunch with my wife and her friends today.
The Bad
Ok, so I am now convinced that common decency is at a premium in this world. I have always wanted to believe the opposite, but no longer. I was working from the Downtown San Antonio Public Library today, and forgot my cell phone in the restroom stall. I went back in there 2 minutes later and the phone was gone. And of course it wasn't turned in. Why do I try to live an honest life when no one else does? Common decency - gone. Sigh. For being such a Catholic city, there is precious few actual Catholic values on display today. My stupidity, I guess. FML My life was in that phone. Fucker!
The Writing
As the thief walked out of the public library and the impending doom cloud descended from above. Oh, it wasn't something that he could see. But it was something he could feel. And would feel until his dying moment. Which for him was not that distant a time away. He would soon learn all about karma and stealing from a witch.
As soon as the theft was discovered by Hank, he went to work preparing the proper spells to either retrieve his property or bring down a wrath upon the man who stole it. It was a quick spell, one that invoked the simple art of focusing karma on an object. Since it was a valuable cell phone it was unlikely that the thief was going to be able to get rid of it very quickly. And maybe, Hank thought, he could make the cocksucker think twice about doing it again.
The cell phone in Jim's pocket began to vibrate. This didn't make sense since he had turned it off. He couldn't have it going off while he was still in the vicinity of the victim. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He was a safe distance away from the library and wasn't going to be seen by anyone who would know the phone. When he looked at the display he almost dropped the phone.
YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS PHONE!
Jim depressed the power button to turn it off. Instead it began to power on. This freaked him out a little bit. But he waited for it to power on and then powered it back down and put it back in his pocket. It immediately began to vibrate again. Jim pulled it back out and looked at the display.
LAST CHANCE ASSHOLE! RETURN IT OR YOU WILL PAY!
Jim put the phone back in his pocket with a chuckle.
He stepped off the curb looking down at his pocket and right in front of the oncoming bus.
Jim's left shoe went flying one way, his brains went another and the cell phone went a third. Hank was right there to pick it up. He did what any good samaritan would. He stayed put and gave a complete report to the ambulance and police when they arrived.
The Moral? None really. Anyone who could learn from this are already beyond my help.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Monday, October 11, 2010
Day 12: My Brother, the Zombie (concluded)
10/11/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
Ok, I am starting this early enough to finish it tonight. I'd like to apologize to my millions of fans for the sporadicness (ha another invented word) and completeness of this blog. It was one hell of a weekend. And the 24 hours awake straight kinda knocked me on my ass and threw off my schedule. But hey, what a ride.
I met a lot of cool people down in southern Texas. I'd list their names, but I don't want to do that without permission. I am going to write this though. I knew them all before they were famous filmmakers, actors and actresses. Maybe I can even sell a script to them someday. I guess the first one could be free. Get em hooked. I am going to start rewriting Deja Mort into screenplay format. I believe it was the producer of My Brother, The Zombie that led me to the Software Celtx. Gonna crack it open tonight and try to write the prologue in it.
Ok, back to the story of Saturday. Where was I when I passed out last night? We got to the location and waited around for the crew to arrive. Which they did one or two at a time. They wanted to start filming at 9am. 11am rolled around and "Action" still hadn't been called. Cindy said to me, "We could have left at 6." That didn't help. Luckily that was the low point of the day for me. It was all uphill from there. As I got more and more comfortable around these new people. I really must find a way to combat this fear of strangers. How am I ever going to get through book signings. I know - drunk.
I was asked if I wanted to be the backup sound guy, because the sound guy was going to have to leave around 6 or 7 that night. Ok, there is the first indication of just how long the day was going to be. So I got a crash course in the sound equipment. Though in all honesty most of it went in one ear and out the other. So I doubt I will be invited back for that job. I decided that I wasn't going to have the opportunity to write when i got home, so i broke out the laptop as they were filming the first scene. I must say I was starting to get into the filming process. And wanted to start writing about it right away. Plus I must say I really wanted an opening that wasn't too obvious to tell the group that I was a writer. Sneaky sneaky little demon. After I got my writing done and talked to a couple of the crew about my writing I put the laptop away and lay down in Xena for a cat nap. And hour later (2:45pm) and we were breaking for lunch. More anxiety for me. At least on the set the focus was on getting the job done. Now we went back to a semi social setting and it was a group of people that I had known for about 5 hours. Those of you that know me, know that I have anxiety in groups of people that I have known for years. That internal agony was over quickly enough and back to the set we went.
I don't recall what time it was when I was asked if I wanted to be a zombie and in a scene. DUH! That was my hope all along. So I began the transformation. I had a gear inserted into my forehead and a wound put on the back of my head. I am glad I had shaved my head the night before. They then filmed a small scene where I walked up and banged on the window of the house. Then we stood around and waited. And watched. And socialized. And waited. And laughed a lot. Then it was dark. And they were ready to film the finale of the film (not filmed in order). I don't want to ruin it, but I ate my first brain in this scene. And mmmm, mmmmm good as the Campbell's commercial used to say. I'll have to try it again some day. I may not even fight so hard when the zombies really come.
9pm. Time to say our goodbyes and hit the road. I decided to leave my zombie makeup on and try to scare the wife and boy when i got home. Well, good thing I did. The border patrol guards were a bit taken aback when we stopped at the checkpoint. But the real up side to the makeup is I think it got me out of a speeding ticket with just a warning. I am pretty sure I freaked out the cop when i leaned over to the glove box and exposed the wound in the back of my head. haha.
1:45am Dropped off Cindy at her house and then drove the rest of the way home. Got through the front door at 2:17am. To an empty house. Demakeup and wait for the fam to get home. Bed around 3am.
The Bad
Not interested in ranting about the little brats at the library today. Lets just say that parents need to have better control of their children.
The Writing
The original writing is going to be done offline tonight. Sorry everyone. But it is time to run with the inspiration and convert Deja Mort to a screenplay.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Day 11: My Brother, the Zombie
10/10/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
I am so grateful that there is no limit to the number of new friends we are allowed to make in one day. Yesterday, I was able to hang out with a new group of people for the entire day and get to know them to varying degrees. And from what I could tell, they all are great people. Any of you that know me, know that I am extremely introverted and have a very hard time opening up and getting comfortable around new people. Well, there was a bit of that. I had a hard time at first. My personal insecurities taking over. We did have quite the adventure getting to the film site. Getting up at 2:30am (after getting to sleep around 1am). Driving 4.5 hours south - damn near the border with Mexico. Getting attacked by dogs. Getting lost a couple times. Driving through creepy ass fog.
When we finally got to where we were supposed to be, we were a half hour late and Cindy was bleeding. We were late, however we were earlier than most of the rest of the crew. Cindy informed me that this was not normal. And I must admit that I was wondering why the hell we had just made the trek south. Though I can't say I was 100% surprised. After all these are a group of college kids. While we waited for the crew to arrive I got to know the Director, and a couple of the others. I was starting to feel a little better about the day. I started to read the script. Not bad.
Then we waited...
And waited...
And waited...
Then filming finally started around 11am. Two hours after scheduled time.///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////w////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Damnit. That was me falling asleep while typing. I guess I will finish this tomorrow.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Day 10: My Brother, the Zombie
10/9/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) On the set of a zombie film short. What an experience this has been. Saw the call for some help on the internet for this project and sent an email to the production manager. It took a couple days to get the details, but we finally got the info last night and left early this morning for the 4.5 hour drive down to Pharr, TX. And when I say early, I mean EARLY! I got home and to bed at about 1am last night/this morning and was up at 2:30 and on the road at 3:30am. Fun. I am now qualified to play a zombie. That is not in the script though. I have been recruited to be the backup sound guy. this is my first time on a film set. It isn't a big Hollywood blockbuster or anything, but it is about as professional as a group of college film students are going to get I suppose.
The premise of the film is somewhat similar to that of George Romero's latest "... of the Dead" series, "Survival of the Dead". A survivor is keeping his zombified brother in the house despite that he is now a flesh eating member of the undead. There seems to be no tension between the two brothers. The conflict of this short is between the living brother and his girlfriend. She doesn't feel that he should be keeping his brother - not an irrational response to his "condition".
This group of kids (for that is what they are compared to myself) have a great camaraderie and have a good time working together. I am having a very enjoyable time being here observing this process. It definitely makes me curious about writing screenplays. One of the guys, Ali the producer gave me the name of a script writing software to download that he says is great. I have now downloaded it and may attempt to use it in the very near future. Obviously after this busy weekend.
2) The drive down here was fraught with peril and adventure. I picked up my wife's cousin at 3:30 and off we went.
I missed the turn off for 281. and had to drive five miles down the freeway to the first exit to turn around at. I swear the Texas Department of Transportation has got to be one of the most retarded government agencies out there. Road signs and intersections were clearly designed by a sadistic sense of humor or someone who had never been behind the wheel of a vehicle. The intersections we had to negotiate in the dark were never right angles. And the road signs actually led us on a route that took us six or so miles in the wrong direction.
We stopped for gas about 5:30 in Premont, TX. How scarily redneck. There were about sixty pick-up trucks full of camouflaged red-necks getting breakfast in said gas station. This caused the stop to take about ten times longer than it needed to be. Full sized Monster Energy drink for the road. Xena refueled, me refueled. Off we go again.
It is now 3am. I woke up yesterday at 2:15am. I had a cat nap of an hour today. So that is a grand total of 2:15 minutes over the last two days. I will finish this wrapup tomorrow and write extra to make up for it.
What a day. I got to be a zombie in a movie. more tomorrow.
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
Friday, October 8, 2010
Day 9: Oak Ridge, Weekend Plans
10/8/2010
The Good, The Bad and The Writing
The Good
1) 1) I had a good week in Oak Ridge. I got a lot accomplished as far as training and giving myself focus in the job for the near future. I really love my coworkers there. Especially the couple that I stayed with the last two times I was in the office.
I guess I should explain a little bit here. I am an accountant by day. I work out of my home and have very little social interaction on a daily basis. It is nice to get into the office (most people feel the opposite). I sometimes (most of the time) feel like I am going stir crazy all alone. I occasionally visit the office for one reason or another. And I really love it. I like Oak Ridge Tennessee. Could I live there? Yup. Some day. For now, the best thing for the family is for me to endure the home office thing and visit the office every so often. This time I was training to take over the accounting for one of our Clients. Now it is up to me to “wow” the Client. She is leery to let me take it from the current accountant. She’ll see it is in her best interest. I may not be as good as the lead on this task, but I am a pretty damn good accountant. I am on a bit of a tangent there.
I will be taking over for this Client, and I have a pretty good sized laundry list of things to do to prepare for that take over. I also am making good progress on another Client of ours that we are trying to turn over the accounting to the Client after an implementation. I left the office with a pretty hefty checklist. I want to work hard this coming week to get it all done. I don’t think I am expected to get more than a couple of the items done, but I really want to be done with these, so I can maybe add more Clients to my daily work to break the monotony.
2) 2) I have one hell of a weekend planned! I am currently writing this at about 30,000 feet above the earth. I am somewhere between Knoxville, TN and Houston, TX. And looking out the window doesn’t really tell me a whole lot. I see a bunch of brown ground, some industrial looking type buildings and quite a few lakes. Too bad the windows aren’t equipped with google map overlays. Ok, too sci-fi huh? Anywho, I will be landing in Houston in about an hour. An hour and a half later I will board the next plane and hop on over to San Antonio.
Once there, I will get my suitcase and call my lovely wife. She will then make the jaunt from the “cell phone parking lot” – one thing San Antonio has on Los Angeles. We are then going to go straight to Graham’s Station (I think) and watch a Tejano band that my wife has been a groupie of for more than 20 years. So, this white boy is gonna get his mexicano groove on until who knows when.
Then home for a few (or a couple depending on how long into the night we party) hours sleep. I am going to be on the set of a Zombie Film Short tomorrow morning. The two problems with that are as follows. 1) The crew call is at 7:30am. FUCK ME! And 2) this is being filmed about 4 hours south of San Antonio near the border with Mexico. FUCK ME SIDEWAYS! So that means I have to be on the road by 3:30am. YOU MIGHT AS WELL FORGET THE LUBE WHILE YOU’RE AT IT! My almost forgotten friend Monster Energy drinks are going to make an appearance in my life this weekend again for the first time in months. So I am going to be either the production assistant (fancy name for gopher to the director and producer) or the Script supervisor (fancy sounding name for someone who reads along with the script and feeds the actors their lines if they forget them. I have no idea what time filming is going to wrap up, but afterwards I have a four hour drive back to San Antonio. So that means that if shooting wraps up at 8pm, then I won’t get home until after midnight.
Enough for me for this weekend? HA! I laugh in the face of that statement. And not only because the grammar sucked. The Texas Rangers have made the playoffs. I don’t remember the last time that took place. They have a player named Josh Hamilton. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you look up his story if you haven’t yet. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to be inspired and awed by this young man. (Flight attendant just announced that electronic devices must be stowed now. Damnit, I was on a roll too.) Well the wife read an article about Mr. Hamilton. Not the first one either, but after reading this one, she decides she wants to see him play. So Sunday (if the Rangers lose tomorrow that is) we are going to make the five hour drive from San Antonio to Dallas for the noon game. That means getting up and being out the door before 7 in the morning. And a five hour drive back around 3 pm.
BRING ON THE WEEKEND!!!
The Bad
None today
The Writing
The muse is not with me tonight sitting in the airport. She probably won’t return until Monday either. Sorry if any of you care.
Stay scared my friends,
My Little Demon
myltldmn@gmail.com
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