Change

Something is different.

Timer

"...ticking away the moments that make up a dull day..."

So said Pink Floyd, once upon a time.

Yes, a countdown has begun, and detonation (for lack of a better word) is not far off. Yes, coming closer all the time. You could call it Zero Hour. I prefer to think of it as Another Beginning.

When? I won't say.

Where? Here.

What? Precisely what, I can only imagine...

On the breeze

Yes, there's a scent...take a whiff, you'll catch it, too...there's trouble on the air. Trouble, I say.

All Good Things

I'll leave it at that. {wicked grin}

Anticipation

Sometimes, the anticipation of something is more exciting and more interesting than the thing itself. Look at any of the movies that came out last summer, you'll know what I mean. This year, there's much to look forward to, and much opportunity for disappointment. But I don't think that's what's going to happen. Not this time. I'm an optimist. And, while there were blatant problems and it wasn't exactly what I expected (and why did they feel the need for a 'white' lead when they had Jackie Chan and Jet Li?), Forbidden Kingdom was fun and mindless and, I think, a fine start to the summer movie season.

April showers

It was supposed to rain pretty badly today, with thunder and lightning and all that fun stuff. Instead, there were a few scattered sprinkles and some wind.

Will we see our May flowers?

Fear

I've always believed there were two options in the realm of fear:

1 - "There is nothing to fear but fear itself."

2 - "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Your personal and individual characteristics probably have a lot to do with which side of that equation you tend to fall; however, I think circumstances exist in which anyone can flip sides, either permanently or temporarily, a kind of paradigm shift in the way they see and interact with the world. But mostly, I think everyone's got a little bit of both, with a tendency toward one.

Phobias and biases and past experiences as well as 'intellectual constructs' (either figure that out on your own or not; I couldn't well explain what I think I mean in a short time here) could give certain events a spin in one direction or another. If, for example, you have a fear of conspiracies, and men in black trucks and black uniforms come breaking in your door pointing shiny black weapons at you, you'll probably accept that as confirmation of your fears (and therefore probably fall along option 1). However, if you've never once given any thought to the men in black, you might very well panic (falling straight into option 2).

Perhaps it's time to break the mold, and dive into option 3.

another day

another day
another circus

Weekend Away

This weekend is overfilled with plans. There's places to go, places to look at, meetings to attend, and even a circus to enjoy.

But next weekend, far as I can tell, is the exact opposite: only one place, and it's on a beach (inarguably one of the most famous beaches in the western world), and then it's lounging, swimming, body surfing, and probably a quantity of good wine.

Oh, and next weekend starts early.

That's what I call a weekend.

haiku

Amber eyes, beauty
unknown, unmatched, only dreamt
at the dawn's first kiss.

Psuedo Infrared

I took this:



and made this:

putting it to bed

In the near future, I'll be redesigning my main website into something slightly different from what it is, and I'll probably be incorporating all the things I say here into all the things I'll be saying there, and it'll probably be from someplace other than Blogger.

That's all for now.

In other secret answers:
1 - The answer is still 42, yes, stop asking.
2 - His name was Steve.
3 - It takes three licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop. You knew that.
4 - No.
5- No.
6 - Yes.
7 - Definitely maybe.
8 - Lasagna, and it came out quite nicely, I thought.
9 - It'll be in tomorrow's mail.
10 - Not yet, but I'm working on.
Updates as warranted.

No cheque in the mail

For the record, no one ever came through and delivered that $9,000 to me. I can't quite say I'm surprised, but I was hopeful. {wicked grin}

Random Necropolis Quote

“One million souls,” Anna said. “A whole city.”

“A lot of people,” Darren said. “What are we doing here again?”

“Testing a legend.”

“Do we have to say somebody’s name backwards in a mirror after dark?”

She shot him a look that was as much amusement as exasperation. “Do you really think people do things like that?”

“Some people, sure,” Darren said. “Not the smart ones.”

Anna shrugged. It caused her hair to swirl, and therefore Darren’s gut, but he didn’t betray it. “That’s not how magic works,” she said.

Origami

Today, I made my first crane out of paper.

999 more to go, and I'm good. {wicked grin}

Fear

There are two lines of thought:

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

and

"Be afraid. Be very afraid."

new blank book

Every so often, one journal is filled to the last page and retired, at which point a new, entirely blank, you might even say virgin journal, emerges into the spotlight. Ready for scribbles, whether they be inane musings (a la this blog) or deep philosophical crap (a la this blog), the beginnings or middles or endings of as-yet untold tales. Snippets of conversations, overheard lyrics, eavesdroppings and scandals and secrets and promises. Stray thoughts, and thoughts reigned-in. The past, present, and future, sometimes mixed so blatantly as to be unrecognizable. Lies, too, don't forget the lies. White lies, tall tales, slips of the tongue (or pen). Strangeness and oddities and curiosities (a la the Museum of Curiosities, which you'll first see in Midnight), and the occasional misplaced belief. It's all in there, as yet undiscovered, unseen, and unknown. But not unknowable. Join me on this journey of discovery...

Don't Tell Me How It Ends

Because I hate that.

I read a film review on CNN once. They gave away the ending. Not directly; they made a comparison to another film which gave it away. I was very, very upset, and so now I try never to read a review of anything I already intend to read and/or watch. Of course, in a lingering state of anticipation, I've proven to be less than capable.

So, a note to all reviewers out there: don't give it away. Don't give me just a rehash of the plot. Tell me if things work, it things don't work. Give me something critical. It's not a high school book report. Make it matter. Don't tell me to see the movie or read the book, and don't tell me to skip it. Give me enough information to make an informed decision (though, ultimately, since my bad CNN experience, I rarely go to reviews for this purpose anymore). But whatever you do, do not give away the ending.

(And also, don't spoil any surprises, okay? Thanks!)

Supplies are Limited

So order now!

Tax Day Tomorrow

Which means I shan't be visiting the post office.

Random Midnight Quote

“Secrets,” the Reverend said, “are strange birds. They fly from one mouth through another, often circling the very people who are their subjects. People have used them to hurt, and to protect, sometimes both together. In the Bible, Cain tried to keep secret from his God the blood on his hands, and lied instead. Schoolgirls have secret crushes. Powerful businessmen have business secrets. Politicians, like spiders, weave an intricate and delicate web of secrets around them. Family secrets, skeletons you might call them, are often forgotten. Cities keep secrets, Tommy, bury and build over them, until not the slightest trace of truth remains.” He gestured toward the computer. “On that machine, Tommy, you’ll find one secret, about this city and about the person whose name it bears. Before you look, however, I need to remind you of one of the characteristics of secrets. Once revealed, they cannot be unrevealed, and the changes they bring cannot be undone.”

kitty

She's come to sit on my desk and be adored. Isn't that sweet?

Luck

Luck is something you make, not a whim of fate to which you are helplessly bound. There's an equation somewhere, involving opportunity and preparedness, I believe. It's not just being in the right place at the right time, but being the right person, with the right tools and experiences and knowledge. Don't you think? Good luck!

Homesickness

When I feel homesick, I'm not thinking of New York, or Long Island. I'm not remembering the water company park behind my house, or the woods behind my friend Keith's house. I'm not recalling days of working at PathMark and Burger King and watching movies at the multiplex that used to be a drive thru. I'm not wishing I could get a chicken parm hero from Roma's (though sometimes, I admit, I do wish just such a thing). I'm definitely not thinking of high school, as I seem to have so few strong memories of that time--I wasn't yet myself, I don't think, and I neither made an impact nor was greatly impacted.

I'm also not thinking of college, or the snow, or the parties, or the football games between the radio and television crews (who were quite interchangeable, in fact). I'm not longing for the days of classrooms and papers and school projects and grades and all the awkward missteps that made up such an integral part of my personal growth.

And I'm certainly not missing Orlando, though some of my greatest and closest friends are from that time. After all, most of them have gone away, scattered to the winds, to at least three corners of this country and, in at least one case, on a continuous journey because of the nature of her career.

No, when I say I'm homesick, I'm thinking of a place I didn't grow up, a country of which I am not a citizen, a city I didn't set foot in until after my thirty-third birthday. I have no idea how, or even if, I'll be able to return long-term, though that's my intention. For the moment, though, that's in the distant future. Presently, it's enough to say, when I'm feeling homesick (and M agrees), it's for Sydney.

Days That Never Were

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the day that didn't happen.

Seriously. Check your calendars if you wish, but you'll see you can't recall doing anything specific on that particular day, can you? I thought not.

The second anniversary of the longest day ever is still a few months away. Clocked in at some forty-four hours.

Two Random Midnight Quotes

"If there's no sunlight," Thomas said, "how do the trees grow? What about photosynthesis?"

"Magic."

"Magic makes the trees grow?"

The Reverend nodded.

"I suppose magic also runs the fountains," Thomas said.

No, pumps."

~~~

"I'm not following you," Thomas said.

"Always over my shoulder," the woman said. "You and your damn eyes, and that poor, poor girl. Is he hurting you, dearie?"

"What? Me? No."

"He's a mean and nasty man," the woman said. "He's been following me day and night, and I warned him. I did. Don't want trouble." She'd slipped her free hand into her purse, drew it out slowly; it didn't take a genius to figure out what she had hidden there.

library discoveries

Today, I go to a university library, in which I've never found myself before, with no specific intentions or goals. I'll bring a journal. I'll wander aimlessly. I'll find whatever I'm supposed to find, I'm sure, and see what's meant to be seen. Maybe I'll discover something, or something will discover me.

dinner tonight

I'm making chicken parmesean. Or is it parmesan? Or something else. All I know it, yum.

graveyard photography

I almost took pictures at a graveyard today. Seriously. I had the camera, I drove around the entire thing twice. I passed the gates, and a whole lot of empty parking spots.

The problem? The parking spots were all metered, and only took quarters. I had no quarters.

City Planning

A lot of work goes into the creation of a city. Especially when it's a fictional city, and that creation must include not just the geography and topography and demography, the street names and neighborhood names and locations of places like City Hall and the Asylum and the Sanctuary, but a complete past, complete with inaccuracies, legends, misunderstands, and untruths, and even a future.

Yes, I'm planning it all. Beginning to end.

I'm going through all the stories, told and untold (i.e., published and awaiting), including the upcoming novel (you might find information on the Delirium website, if you look hard enough; I'm just saying), novellas like Beneath Midnight and the as-yet-unwritten ones.

And I need a map.

A good, solid, layered map.

I have a lot of work ahead of me, don't I?

Happy April Fool's Day!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Go. Be foolish. It's okay.

getting closer

It's getting closer. You can feel it in the air. In the anticipation of the clouds before the thunder. In the long stretch of the cat. In the static. In the ether. It's coming, it's closer, and it's entirely inevitable. No power on earth can compete with Time, which rolls ever forward, ever closer.

Yes, tomorrow is April Fool's Eve, and the day after that...

I hope you're ready.

Friday

It's Friday. It's the weekend. Go somewhere, do something. I'll be staying home, and/or working, or something not exciting like that. Report back, please. I live through you. {wicked grin}

Film at 11

I'm waiting for the film. Really. Why would I read the thing? (I mean, of course, the films of my own books, which I actually manage to read numerous times, and in numerous stages of existence, during the course of their writing.) I, at this time, have no scheduled films due, at 11 or otherwise, but when such good and happy news occurs, I'll be sure to let people know.

I just probably won't do it here.

That's right, this is the nonsense blog, and it's all about having fun.

So, with that in mind:

1. I'd love to go skydiving. Not sure I'll do it twice.

2. I want to visit Antarctica. And Prague. Also a few cities I cannot spell, much less pronounce. I'd like to see ancient Mayan ruins, and perhaps have a full-on, 10 hour dinner in Italy.

3. I want to play more with my photography. Really.

4. I'd love to take pictures as I'm skydiving over someplace like Antarctica. I'm not sure how to work out the logistics...

What would you like to do?

drama

Sometimes, it seems like drama fuels the world.

I shall not fuel it here, says I. Unless I mean the tragic kind. Or the comic kind. Yeah, the dramas of comedy and tragedy are perfectly welcome, and I shall do my best to avoid the sensationalistic, and far less enjoyable, dramas so many people seem to have convinced themselves are now a part of "every day life".

Babies everywhere!

Congrats to all of you new parents! Thanks for not requiring me to follow suit. I can be a good uncle, or godfather, or pseudo-uncle, or family friend, whatever.

And again, congrats!

speaking on writing

I gave a speech yesterday on how to be a successful writer. I said it required money, and I gave all sorts of reasons. My props included:

a cigar box
a bag of Tantrix tiles
(look it up)
a can of racquetballs
a blank journal
a deck of cards
an atlas from 1985 (one Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, two Germanys)
a dagger
a crystal skull
a traveling ink well
a gold-colored backpack
a stuffed kitten
(vastly different from a taxidermist's kitten)

See if you can figure out what I said. {wicked grin}

Random Necropolis Quote

“I suppose there’s a ghost in the chapel?” Darren asked. He didn’t believe in ghosts. He didn’t believe in aliens or telepathy or anything the president said, either; but if Anna said phantoms gave midnight mass in St. John’s, then the phantoms were real.

“Not that I know of,” Anna said. “But this is a cemetery. One million souls.”

“So you said.”

“I’m sure one or two of them might be...restless.”

“So we’re not going to the chapel, then?” Darren asked.

from the journal

14JUL07

"I understand a tiger guards this gate."

She snarled. "A tigress."

advice

"Strike while the other guy is looking the other way."

(Not a philosophy, by the way; just a bit of advice to be used under certain circumstances.)

Utah

I am not going to Utah this year.

(There are, in fact, a number of places I shall not be going; Utah, however, is definitely one of them.)

the cat and the water glass

The cat likes water. Especially fresh water. Especially fresh water direct from my glass. On the table, or on the desk, when I'm not looking she strikes. If the water's high, she just laps it up until I realize she's there. If, however, the water is low, she does not admit defeat. Rather, she'll stick her head in as far as she can. This is, of course, never far enough, so she'll tip the glass over until she can get at the water. Unfortunately, she always tips it too far, and it spills. No more water for her, no more water for me, and now I have a wet table and/or carpet and/or tablecloth, and sometimes wet papers on my desk.

Regardless, I love my cat.

Pi Day, the Ides of March

Busy little weekend we're having ourselves, isn't it?

And remember: barely more than two weeks away from the Day of the Fool!

my desk is a mess

which is not new
so there's nothing to see here
move along
move along

random bit from my journal

22JUL07:

The world is held together by wax and glue and tape, and in some places string, and in a very few places mortar. Every heart's single beat, every breath, every step, vibrates through the whole, threatens to tear it all apart even as it struggles to hold it all together.

odd sounds

Sometimes, you hear the strangest things, even when there shouldn't be anything to hear.

For instance, this moment, other than my fingers dancing across the keyboard, I hear the dishwasher. I hear my cat's little breaths. And that's about it. Room's quiet, whole place is quiet, there's not all that much going on, and the windows are closed.

Yet, for some reason, I seriously thought I heard a cow moo. Really. And it makes me want to get some chocolate milk.

But I only get chocolate milk on Saturdays.

Bets on the Bench

Place your bets. How long before this bench gets swept out to sea?

For the record: I took these pictures this week, during a thunderstorm, on the gulf coast of Florida. Technically, it was a bay off the gulf. There was only one picnic bench to be seen.

I like old maps

I'm just saying.

Boomers and Crashers

Thunderstorms meant no cable when I awoke, which meant no Internet this morning and no weather channel, and me with lots of driving planned.

Almost immediately after my shower this morning, the lights went out. Which is substantially better than them going out whilst I was in the shower. Apparently, some 10,000 people were out for a short while today. Thanks to the storms.

During my driving, I took a moment to stop at the beach. By then, the thunder had mostly passed, and I saw no signs of lightning, but the waves were crashing onto the shore pretty nicely, the water was all gray, there was no one else visible in any direction whatsoever, and a single picnic table and benches (a one-piece thing) braved the waters by sitting on the very edge of the beach (which, admittedly, was all of about 1 meter from parking to water, and a stretch of maybe 2 meters at the picnic table), the water lapping its edges.

If I'd had lunch with me, I might've been tempted to sit at that picnic bench, in the rain, and stare out at the bay as I ate.

What should I do this weekend?

To reinvigorate myself?
To educate me?
To enlighten?

What should I do to expand my horizons, push past my personal limits, grow, learn, live?

I'm open to suggestions.

I have zero budget. {wicked grin}

Listening Right Now

My i-pod is playing all sorts of Kate Bush today, just as it did yesterday and the day before, and as it likely will tomorrow and into the weekend.

Yep, I'm on a Kate Bush kick.

{shrug} Hey, it happens.


(The i-pod is my stereo in my office; the day job has no music, and the car has an assortment of stuff that's not Kate Bush.)

To Win

What would it take for me to win in Texas and Ohio?

I've never been to Texas, but I've got an uncle near Dallas/Ft. Worth.

The one time I drove to Ohio (from Long Island), it snowed, and it snowed heavily, closing bits of highway and ultimately driving me off the road (little red Ferenza doing a 360 on US 80 is not an ideal situation). I got a speeding ticket. I locked my keys in my car at a stop in Pennsylvania some 30 miles from the border. And then, at about 70mph, the right rear tire blew out.

(The drive back from Ohio was uneventful, and I stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch.)

Hunt and Gather

A method of writing, or more precisely, the bits of writing between actual writing. Hunt. Gather.

Random House of Shadow and Ash quote

She opened the door onto another room.

Skeletons hung suspended from the ceiling, birds with huge wingspans. Others were propped against the walls, some human looking, carrying additional bones in their hands like axes. An elephant, a horse, a snake twined around a bare branch, it reminded Philip of museums he’d seen as a child--and, more recently, alchemical laboratories and workrooms. This was huge, long, stretching further than he could see.

Raul led the way, passing Cool-Eyes in the doorway, scanning both sides and the ceiling with his rifle as he walked.

“The Chamber of Bones,” Cool-Eyes said, running her fingers along the edge of the snake--which looked like one tremendously long spine and rib cage and a flat head. Dust rose in the wake of her touch, and the skeleton trembled.

April Fools

We made it past Leap Day. What does the rest of the year have in store?

A U.S. Presidential election.
Olympics in Beijing.
A new John Urbancik novella from Bad Moon Books, Necropolis.
(Also, from some other publisher, a novel, Midnight, details of which are yet to be revealed.)
Another Daylight Savings-related time shift. (Two, in fact.)
Politics as usual.
A new Batman movie, as well as Iron Man and Indiana Jones and a slew of other geek-happy titles. (I love me some geek-happy titles.)
Oh, and Wall-E. Go Pixar!
Did you know 2008 is the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue? Get on the phone and call your cross-pond buddies!
China's Year of the Rat.
A total solar eclipse (better seen from Western China than from America's southeast).

This is the year Issac Assimov's "Franchise" said a computer program would select the US President by finding the "most representative citizen."

And, in a mere month, we'll once again celebrate Fools, during which we may change the value of pi to its Biblical 3.0, grow spaghetti in trees, change to the metric way of telling time, or attend any of the numerous free concerts throughout the world. Don't forget, twice on this day, in the past, classic rock radio stations to which I listened permanently (not just for the celebration) changed their formats to country music.

How will you celebrate the Fool? How will we celebrate the Fool here? All will be revealed... (and I can't wait to find out myself!)

Leap Day

There’s a dance they do, on the extra day.

They, of course, being the fairies, or the elves, or the aliens, whatever you think best to call them. It’s fine by me. I don’t care, and they don’t seem to mind.

They dance this dance every fourth year, starting at that extra twilight. The younglings learn it during the day, whilst the songstresses soothe their voices with cocoa and tea and soup. Herbs are added to the logs on the hearth to sweeten the smell of the wintry air. Snow, if necessary, is cleared. And they do that dance they do.

Dollar is still there

Just in case you were wondering.

I have a dollar on my desk

I have dollar on my desk. It's folded quite neatly. It's next to the cigar box. (I don't smoke cigars, but the box holds various potentially important notes and scribblings.) The dollar does not accomplish much sitting there like that. For instance, there's a lotto drawing tonight, and had I purchased a ticket, that dollar could've been a chance to deliver some millions of dollars into my bank account. But, as I said, I have no ticket, I have only the dollar. It doesn't even stare at me. The George Washington, half visible, stares instead at the cigar box.

However, the cigar box taunts me.

On the Offensive

Just for the record, the new offensive has begun. This involves multiple mail-outs and submissions on multiple projects, all at a time. It's an exciting time to be the local post office, if you cared about things like that, but they probably don't so I'll claim that excitement for myself and persist.

numbers I can see from where I sit

1.75 (a price, in Canadian dollars)
400 (an appointment, not today's)
2003 (the year on a quarter)
8-5-8 (on the side of a cigar box; I don't smoke cigars, I have no idea what it means)
74.9 (a temperature)
25 (a percentage)
65 (pounds on a ream of paper)

Now, twist those numbers, make them mean what you wish, and I'll go back to work. Thanks!

Weather

It looks nice outside. A little chilly, but nothing like what they've got up north. Blue, blue skies. No discernible breeze. A far cry from the rain and thunder of the past few days.

And I'm trapped inside, congested, sniffly, headachy, getting rid of the dregs of some little tiny short-lived bug that crept in whilst I was looking the other way.

According to my clock/thermometer, it's 69.3 degrees Fahrenheit in here.

It's currently 20 degrees Centigrade in Sydney, Australia, with thunderstorms expected Tuesday and/or Wednesday, and even more likely on Thursday.

For tonight's Oscars, expect "cool and rainy" in L.A.

And if you missed the lunar eclipse this past week, you'll have to wait.

Keyboards

The keyboard on my computer is in rather sad shape.

The A, S, and L are illegible. C, V, N, and M are close behind, as is the ENTER and TAB.

The A and L have begun to degrade, in fact. The once-smooth keys now have indentations where the repeated tappings (and restings) of my fingertips have broken through the upper layers of plastic.

You can see, through the same type of erosion, exactly where my thumb hits the SPACE bar.

In the past, I've had keyboards lose control of certain letters. (The O, in particular, led a rather aggressive mutiny some years back.) I remember a friend's father thinking I hit the keys on his Timex-Sinclair too heavily.

The latter, I admit, and is probably due in part to the fact that I learned to type on an actual typewriter.

To this day, I am unkind to the keys on a keyboard, and I sometimes think I feel bad for them. On the other hand, they live very fulfilled lives, living up to their full potential, doing the very thing that gives meaning to their lives.

Random Midnight Quote

“Don’t mind them,” the girl said. “Ain’t a single one of them that matters much. Well, maybe the one.” She shrugged, not indicating whom she might mean. “I’ll be back to check on you, give you another chance to impress me.”

It's raining it's pouring

the old man is snoring.

Billy Joel at Shea

Apparently, this summer, Billy Joel will play the final ever concert at Shea Stadium. And the Mets are moving. This is news to me, as I live far from Shea Stadium these days. But, in the realm of coincidence, I happened to be listening to a Billy Joel CD in my car whilst working this afternoon.

Having grown up on Long Island, I of course own almost every Billy Joel CD ever, and am only missing a few because they were stolen and I haven't gotten around to replacing them all yet.

That's besides the point.

Last ever concert at Shea. Billy Joel. Somehow, that seems fitting.

Wish I could go.

Research

Today, I researched me.
More specifically, I researched the people that came before me. Genealogically, I can't go all that far back--into the 1800s--as far as 4-5 generations, depending on the branch.

I'm the Fourth. I wanted to know the name of the First's father. Today, thanks to the 1910 Census, I know.

However, there's still a lot more left unknown.

The thing that made the difference: the library. Yes, I started my day (after leaving the day job early due to lack of work) with the Mormons, who were helpful, and knew things I didn't, though I admit I expected more resources there. Still, they pointed me in lots of right directions, and gave me tons of help, and sent me to the library to access ancestry.com, where it's available free. And that's where I found the name.

Nothing to See Here

Move along.

Mad Poetics

What better way to recapture errant words than to set the Mad Poet upon them?

Nero Wolfe

Have you ever seen the Nero Wolfe series on A&E? It was years back, but they're all available on DVD now. And of course, they were based on stories and books--I think 78 books in all--by Rex Stout. Fantastic fun.

Over the years, I've managed to collect all but 10 of them. See, some are not currently in print. And I've been very nonchalant in my collection efforts. Yet, today, I went to the library and picked up copies of 2 of those missing books, so we can read them.

(Yes, we.)

One's in large print. Very large. A few, at least in my local library, are only available in that format. Still, I've got them to be read.

The borrowed books: The League of Frightened Gentlemen, which I believe might've been the second, and The Father Hunt, which came some 30 years later.

speeches on peaches

For the record, I have never got up in front of an audience with the intention of speaking about peaches. To the best of my knowledge, I've never spoken about peaches in front of an audience. I'm not eating a peach today; I did not eat a peach yesterday, either. I remember a brilliant peach cobbler in Virginia, but that was eons ago. I do not now have any plans, intentions, or leanings toward espousing the virtues of peaches to anyone. However, I am not so very far from Georgia.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Knights Templar

According to legend, the day they were arrested (Friday the 13th, no less), a number of ships left a French port, and half that number arrived in--Scotland, I believe.

Where did the others go?

Where is their treasure?

I do not pose these questions with the intention of revealing answers (the answers I have will go with me, I'm afraid, to the grave). I'm posting them because I have a bit of research ahead of me tonight.

Fireworks

Fireworks are cool.

Crash boom rah rah rah. All those bright lights, and I'm always hearing the Fourth of July music in my head. Except that they're not exclusively for the Fourth.

They set off fireworks all the time in Sydney. Sometimes on the Harbour Bridge. Sometimes in Darling Harbour. Once, it was some sort of McDonalds convention, and they even had a big M thing in the water. I'm not making this up. Or maybe I made it up then, in my mind, in some weird and distorted dream from which there can be no escape.

New Year's Eve on the Harbour Bridge is spectacular.

The Chinese do fireworks all the time, too. I believe they invented them. When we were young, all the firecrakers and M-80s had Chinese writing on 'em, though that's not really evidence of much, is it?

When I was younger, on Long Island, there was a fireworks warehouse (I want to remember the name as Gucci, but don't they make purses?) that burned to the ground. I imagine that would've been a spectacle all in itself, though probably not fun for the fireworks workers or the firemen who came to tame the flames.

Tides

Are all our nation's financial woes the results of unbridled greed? Possibly, possibly not. I know my personal financial woes are the results of unbridled stupidity.

Dollar Coins

Why don't people in the U.S. use their dollar coins? In Australia, they don't even have a $1 note, but they've got $1 and $2 coins, so when you gather spare change in a cup by your desk the end result is often something like $23.45. In the U.S., the end result is often $2.93. Perhaps it's time we got rid of the $1 bill.

Pennies, too. It's about time we get rid of them. Round everything to the nearest nickel. Same us the time and trouble of counting the pennies, of pinching the pennies, of offering pennies for thoughts and putting our two cents in.

That's all for now.

Random Necropolis Quote

“He’s right,” the first boy said, jumping off the marble slab. “The music will lead you astray.”

“She’s already astray,” the girl said.

“So are we,” the boy reminded her. “And Ronnie’s right, she shouldn’t go after him. Haven’t you ever heard of Hamelin?”

“The place with the rats?” Kelli asked.

“I thought it was snakes,” the second boy, Ronnie, said.

“Children,” the girl said.

“Wasn’t St. Patrick the Pied Piper?” Ronnie asked.

“Shush,” the girl said.

Claustrophobia?

I avoid wearing long-sleeved shirts whenever I can.

If I'm not careful, in a few years I'll be reduced to wearing wife beaters. (The sleeveless tees, not the ignorant, arrogant scum-suckers who beat wives. This is not a political and/or message-y post, and is really just a comment on sleeve length.)

6 Months to Live

Whenever I visit the doctor, I'm always afraid she'll tell me I only have 6 months to live, and I haven't got enough credit available to me to enjoy it. {sigh}

Paperboy

My first "day job" was newspaper delivery. I was all of 14. Prior to that, in fact, I'd helped deliver Pennysavers and such. Not quite the same. Not quite all that different.

I went on to bigger and better things.

But I don't think I've ever had a day job again that allowed me to ride by bike, not just to and from work, but while at work. Indeed, I wasn't just allowed--it was required. Otherwise, the papers just wouldn't get delivered.

That was me, once upon a time: paperboy.

dying tee shirt

One of my favorite tee shirts is so old, I can only wear it at home anymore. It doesn't fit properly, and it'd faded, and it's not long for this earth.

It's a purple-haired anime girl in front of a noir sedan, alongside the Eiffel Tower, with the word PARIS (the city, in fact, in which I found the shirt) and the rising rays of the Japanese flag. It's all black and white and gray, except the girl.

I'd love to replace it. I doubt I can. My Internet searches have led me nowhere pleasant.

Creativity

I once wrote out a formula for creativity. It involved knowledge and prejudices and inspiration, and its calculations included multiplication and subtraction and square roots. It was rather silly, actually.

Happy Chinese New Years!

In a very short while, parts of the world will start entering the Year of the Rat. Enjoy the celebrations! May your year be prosperous and exciting and fun!

Random Necropolis Quote

“You’ve contradicted yourself,” the man said. “Wishing for one thing, wishing for another. There was a king once, in some medieval land, a boy king who ascended at far too early an age. He built his kingdom upon wishes. Whims. Fancy. He erected palaces unsurpassed in the history of imagination. He amassed treasures and wonders from every corner of the earth. There are more than four, you know. From every corner, he gathered jewels and sculptures and musical instruments some say were enchanted. An entire kingdom, built upon the wishes of a boy king.”

The man paused. Jill wanted nothing more than to get out, back into the open air, away from this stranger who was obviously mad, but her curiosity bested her. “What happened?”

Almost never

I almost never drive my own car. I drive the other car, because I need it for the day job. But my car, the one I bought when I got here, the one I make payments on, the one I see from my office window--I can't remember the last time I was in it.

From my journals

11 Jul 07
The mad poet walks a road
the rest of us have seen
but never experienced.

Not an Infinite Supply

The day will come when the last Knock Knock joke is told. And that, friends, will be the final portent of Apocalypse.

Museum of Curiosities

In my personal museum of curiosities, there's a chunk of Times Square, a statue of Chinese general, and a small jar depicting Prague.

But I still want the clock.

Elements

4: earth, wind, water, fire

5: wind, water, fire, metal, wood

117: hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc...

It's even the name of a Honda. {sigh}

How many elements are in your world? (Ultimately, I have four, but they're not all listed above...)

Random Necropolis Quote

“The legend,” she said, “since you weren’t listening last night...”

“We finished three bottles of wine last night,” Darren reminded her. “You weren’t listening any more than I was.”

She stopped, faced him, and met his eyes with a steady, frightening gaze. “I’m always listening.”

Life is Unfair

Sometimes, it's unfair in your advantage.

Today, life's unfairness worked neither for nor against me, and in fact seems to have entirely missed the fact that I exist.

Wonder what tomorrow may bring...

Playing Cards

For reasons unknown, numerous decks of playing cards occupy various drawers and cubbyholes in my office and home. A blue and a red Bicycle deck, a special Svengali deck, one from Sea World, one from Sydney, two from Hawaii, a fancy red and a fancy blue deck in a fancy wooden box. There's a deck for use specifically with a Chess set, and another deck that's got five suits instead of four.

Apparently, I keep intending to write a story involving one of the cards. Maybe two, but certainly not the whole deck--at least, not right away. Must be gestating, that one, awaiting its perfect opportunity. That's how it happens, you realize: the random thoughts and ideas bounce around (and collide) within the head until they manage to funnel out through the fingertips, and voila! Instant Novel! Only 10+ years in the making.

(In fact, I think it's safe to say that all novels, whatever your age when you write them, are that many years, plus the +, in the making.)

Philosophy

I follow several philosophies in life.

One of my favorites is: It's all fun and games until someone gets eaten alive by a tiger shark.

Another good one: Be Bold.

And this, I think is rather interesting: Everybody is the center of their own universe.

Random Breath of the Moon quote

“A glass of champagne, sir?” The tuxedoed man bent toward Steve, offering a tray of glasses. Absently, Steve accepted one and took a sip.

He glanced around the room. Thick, dark woods dominated the walls, bar, and stage area. The plush chair in which Steve sat was framed with the same color wood; it had a deep, red tone to it, like mahogany--and, very possibly, that’s what it was.

A chandelier hung in the center of the room, supporting a thousand crystals that sparkled in the light of a dozen or more white pillar candles so that it glowed like a giant star suspended over the dance floor.

The bar, appearing well-stocked, ran along one wall, displaying only top shelf names. Opposite it, a stage was raised one step over the rest of the room. Its burgundy carpet glistened in its newness.

Great parties might have been held here: wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs, old-fashioned balls. Other than Steve’s chair, the room was completely unfurnished. No one besides the butler, with his tray of drinks, was in the room with Steve. Except that the butler was gone. Steve was alone.

Fiftieth Anniversay Post

This is the 50th post. Woohoo! You'd think I'd say something more exciting, wouldn't you?

I have a picture

I have a picture of Sydney.
It was created by a guy named Nik Markovina, and I picked it up (and briefly met the artist) at Paddington Markets.

Here's his website.

Find Ghost Trains, and check out picture number 5. That's the one I got on my wall. I always thought of it as "Sydney on Acid."

House of Shadow and Ash

I have copies of the book. In my hands. After all these years. With all the art. All the words. (Well, all the words but the never-seen x-rated epilogue; ask me about it sometime, maybe over drinks.) Me is happy. Me is very happy. Me is so happy, me is happily happy. Me is. Really.

Now I need to get more copies.

my house

As a child, I lived in a house, and apparently I now compare all houses to this house (in which I lived from the age of 7 to 17+/-). Oddly enough, the main things I remember from then, and want in my next, are the cathedral ceilings (in this part of the world, they're called vaulted ceilings). Other houses, the ceiling's just too close.

Shooting Pool

Today, it almost looked like I knew what I was doing.

For the record: I don't.

Languages

In college, I took a semester of French, which turned out to be quite helpful those few weeks I spent in Paris.

In high school, I took three years of German, which turned out to be quite helpful when, a few short years later, it turned out that one of my best friends in the whole world hailed from Germany.

(Note: I speak neither French nor Germany with any fluency.)

If I were to take a language today, I think I'd try Mandarin (Chinese). I wonder how, in the future, that would be helpful.

Guilty Pleasures

I have a Kylie Minogue CD. I like it, and I listen to it sometimes whilst writing.

Random Necropolis Quote

The sky: a stark, yellowish white, not bright but disconcerting, streaked with bleak clouds like gashes in its face, sick with them, and lending every granite and marble stone a flat but wicked tint, sharpening the shadows, with neither moon nor sun, and not a single visible star.

In the great city of the dead, twilight lingers.

Quoth the Raven

Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.

violins and pianos

That's what music needs more of: pianos and violins. And maybe harpsichords. And perhaps one xylophone.

Yeah. Then we'd be good.

Don't ask me

I don't know.

speaking of...

This past Saturday, I spoke about kung fu, and I won a ribbon. I also spoke about "You Are My Sunshine", and won a ribbon for that, too.

This coming Saturday, I won't know until I get there what I'll speak about in the contest for the Sunshine ribbon. But I'll also be speaking about, quite possibly, the non-creating parts of creativity.

Just so you know.

Random Midnight quote

“I killed some people,” the prisoner said. “Back in, oh, I don’t remember. Was a long time ago. When’s it now?”

Thomas said nothing.

“Doesn’t matter.” The prisoner grinned, revealing yellowed and rotten teeth. “They feed me here, and leave me to my thoughts. That’s really all I want.”

“What do you think about?” Thomas asked.

“A little of this, a little of...well, mainly I consider things like quantum mechanics, string theory, the grand unification theory. Oh, and gravity, I’ve been thinking about the dynamic theory of gravity a lot since I’ve been up here. You know, no one really believes that, Tesla didn’t publish any research, but ever since Einstein’s relativity, no one pays attention. But I think he was on to something. It’s the magnets.”

Cleaning out the closet

For the past 14ish months, the closet has been the catch-all for all those things I didn't want to deal with at the time.

Now, I've decided I need to organize it all and, well, deal with some of it.

Read: Mistake.

Suggestion: If you have the same thought, don't do it! Run! Save yourself!

A whole day into it, and thus far everything has left the closet, and nothing has yet managed to return. Except the cat. Though she prefers the stuff waiting to find its way back into that closet.

Prague

One of the cities I most want to visit is Prague. I want to see the clock. More than that, I want a working, miniature replica of Prague's Astronomical Clock. Anyone stopping anywhere near the Czech Republic, assuming you're there before I get to do it myself, please do me the small favor of picking one of these up for me. I've got a special place reserved on my brag shelf for it.

Thank you.

Q & A

Q: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

A: A woodchuck would chuck all he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

The Act of Observation

I don't know who said it, or when, or what scientific principal--if any--it's attached to, but I know I've heard it said:

The act of observation changes that which is being observed.

And today, I listen to the newspeople and pundits and pollsters asking how they could've all been so wrong, and they're offering a dozen possible explanations and theories, but not a single one of them seems to have stumbled upon this theory:

Might the polls themselves have spurred some people to say, "Oh, my candidate needs me!" or "I'm feeling lazy today, and my guy's a cinch anyhow, so no big deal." Or any other variation of being somehow galvanized to act because of the polls.

Thereby, the polls themselves, and not just the actions of the candidates in the days beforehand, may have had some impact.


(I say this having picked no horse yet for any race.)

No Map, No Destination

Where, then, do you end up, eh?

short days

Some days seem much shorter than they should be, don't you think?

Some days are much shorter, in certain respects, than they ought to be.

Some days drag on forever.

Time is not a constant. It's all a matter of perception.

Money

Talking with a friend who works the same day job but in a different market, she said something about some people not bothering to put in any effort when the sales price was below a certain level (say, $300,000), because the meager 3% commission on that wouldn't be worth it. To which I responded: "$9,000 today would solve quite a few of my most immediate problems."

So, if there's anyone out there with an extra $9,000 they're willing to see go to solving the immediate problems of a virtual stranger, who will likely manage (albeit, more slowly) on their own, feel free to send it my way.

Thanks.

decisions

Would you watch Key Largo or The Sting?

Mysteries of the Unknown and Secret Societies

I have the complete set. Coincidence? You decide.

I also have other books on mysterious and unknown (and unknowable) things. I have books on history, lost history, creatures that never existed, places that never existed, and places that exist but have mysterious and/or mystical things about them. I have a book on secret societies.

You know you've made it as a secret society if the book doesn't mention you.

I have books by authors who never existed, and by authors who never admitted to being the author. I know who really wrote some books the rest of the world thinks were written by someone else.

Yet, in the grand scheme of things, I know nothing.

Random Quicksilver Quote

Like anything else, a mirror can be broken.

Like anything else broken, there are consequences.

ow

I just bit my lip.
It hurt.
I'll recover.

some philisophy for you

I stole this from my own response to a comment at my LiveJournal:

However, despite all the things I miss, I need to remember that there are plenty of things I'm missing if I spend all my time missing things.

Through the Looking Glass

Just for the record, I thought Alice was a brat.