Saturday, November 18, 2006

We must move on...

It's been a while since my last post. I moved through the stages of grief very slowly. You know: Denial, Anger, Sadness, Waking up wearing a wasp costume and begging for change on the street corner...all the usual steps in grief. Now I think I can move on. I have accepted that my little red warrior is dead, but I know he's in a better place...spiritually. Physically he's in the city dump.
Anyway, off of the saddness and on to the happiness. I've written more of Clairvoyant, but I haven't typed it out yet, which is why the WIP bar hasn't moved any. Don't worry, I will get on that shortly. And also, because stress is lifting a little--a little, I'm still stressed, but as much--I've begun copying down the religion for Zhivtor again. I didn't get finished because all writing accept Clairvoyant, which was my escape from the stress, took a backseat to real life. Next in Zhivtor is character design. You can't have a novel without characters. Well you could, but it would be 500 pages of grass growing and animals eating eachother, and you can watch that without paying 20 bucks for the hardcover on the Discovery Channel.
I updated my Story Information page, with a little info on Jerucia.
And finally, I've added a new page: The Writing on the Wall. Episode One of my new podcast series. Whoo!! It was fun to make, especially after I got a new microphone. The first draft was recorded with a pair of headphones. Not a headset, headPHONES. That was bad quality. I sounded like Mushmouth with a stuffy nose. Mushmouth, for you who are normal teenagers and not nerds like me, is a character from the 70's cartoon Fat Albert. Yes, there was a movie made about them, and it was good. If you watched it, I am proud. You earn a gold star. Please write your name under the "I'm A Good Student" heading on the board.
Anyway, I've also added to my Special Page.
The Writer's Talks with Aurelen and Annie are awesome, and are breaking up writer's block like a red-hot hammer to a glacier.
So anyway, that's it! Enjoy the podcast, and I've added a feature for you to send me questions in the Suggestions form. You can skip everything and just fill that out if you want, but remember to send me feedback, because hearing from fans of my blog is great. It lets me know I'm not talking to myself all the time.
'Til next time,
Jason

Friday, November 10, 2006

An Emotional Eulogy

Today I would like to express my remorse. I have killed, and I am posting this to express my sorrow for what I have done.
Today at 4:29 PM in my kitchen, I encountered a true warrior. This warrior was clad in crimson, and fought valiantly. When he finally fell from my wall and encountered the bottom of my shoe, I immediately felt that something great had just passed from this world.
Vespula rufa is the scientific name given to all red warriors of the sky, but we more commonly know them as red wasps. It brings me sadness to say that one of those fierce brave spirits has perished doing his duty.
He was a good wasp, a brave wasp. I named him Timothy Millhouse Merryweather Thompson VII. His body was extracted from the bottom of my shoe with a flyswatter and placed ceremoniously in the trash.
Hopefully he ascended into Valhalla where he will face off with his fellow warriors for eternity in the day and feast from the pig of eternity all night for all time.
I request that each and every one of you take a moment to remember this brave soul.
Jason

The stress has to lift soon.

Hey, guys! Long time no post, huh? It's been a heck of a week.
At work, I'm having trouble. I'm scheduled all the time, and it seems like I'm the only one that knows how to do the job. It's really stressful. I've had to cover for people twice so far and I'm tired of it.
I've thought about writing "I quit!" on the walls with an artistic blend of ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce from the squirt bottles, but I'd probably get arrested, then they'd find the warrants of my arrest from Halloween, and then a whole new can of worms would be opened...
So I just drudge drearily through the day, and allow myself wonderful day dreams of beating them all in the head with fry baskets.
On the positive front, I got 2000 words on my Medium story, and it feels great! It's moving along well, it's entertaining, it's funny, and it's a nice break from the monotonous, wanna-beat-my-head-against-the-wall-until-I'm-a-twitching-pathetic-mass-of-a-person feeling that I get from work.
So there you have it, stress is catching up with me, but writer's talks with Aurelen and Anne have been very helpful to deal as well. Thanks guys.
Well, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm gonna go to bed.
Jason

Friday, November 3, 2006

Medium of the way

I was watching this show called Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead today. It's a really interesting show about a lady who's supposed to be a medium--someone who can communicate with the dead--from Britain. The show is great, and it makes you wonder whether she really does have this power or not.
I knew someone who could communicate with the dead. He had a room full of stuffed animals that he'd made. He'd walk around petting them and whispering in their ears. One day these guys with white coats showed up...I wonder where he went.
But watching that show, I observed what she commented on and stuff, I began to wonder if mediums could have different degrees of...well, for lack of a better word: power. Maybe some could fully see the dead and some could just sense colors or emotions. And with that, came an idea for a really good story. It's different from all the other projects I've got going, and that's why I like it. It's going to be a funny story.
Here's the first sentence, which came to me soon after I had the idea for the story:
"On Wednesday morning, at 6:30 AM, I rolled over to turn off my alarm and saw the naked man."

I'll try to post more when I know more, but for now, that's all I know.
Meanwhile, I'm still hand copying notes. It's not that there's a whole lot, but the work is a little tedious. A little tedious. That's like saying Mother Teresa is a pretty nice lady. Also, I have school and work...neither of which I like, and both of which seem to want to rule my life.
Well, that's all for now. Now, I'm off to kick the fires and light the tires.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Halloween Adventures

Halloween has finally gone, and I've got a ton of candy. I met my friends and we cruised the town, trick or treating here or there, but mostly just messing around and being stupid. I went as a pirate, one of my friends went as a belly dancer, and one as his own creation we dubbed "pimpin' stein."
Eventually we went to a haunted house. They probably wished that I hadn't come now. At first, when we walked up, I told my friends, the belly dancer, if she'd catch me if I got scared. I'm like a foot taller than her. She was like, "Yeah, sure." So we finally went in. We were led into the first room and shown two jars, one with a hand, and one with assorted body parts--eyes, tongues, noses, finger, etc. Then, this dude in a Leatherface mask came up and asked us for our eyes. I offered mine, stating they weren't working well for me anyway.
The next room was a wedding. The bride and groom were long dead, and there were things crawling around. I hummed the wedding march.
In the next room, there was an impressivly creepy clown standing there. I spun around and shouted BOOO!! He didn't flinch. I was disappointed. Then, he attacked the bellydancer. She screamed, I laughed. Hard. She kicked me. I still have the bruise. No matter what anyone tells you, silver, sparkly shoes can leave marks.
Then we were lead down a pitch black hallway and put in this tiny, claustrophobia inducing room with a door to the left. I was told to use the handle. Being as I'm more suspicious than the U.S. government during the 50's, I pulled my sword out and slapped the door open. My friend pointed out that the handle turned out to be a hand. And the doctors say I'm paranoid.
Then, we were led into a room where a headless man sat on a bench. I passed by. He petted his weird little Igor pet and scared the belly dancer.
Then we were led into a room with a man who had plates of blood and bugs on the table. He raised on of those silvery platter things and revealed a human head. I sat down at the table and tried to eat the bugs. They wouldn't let me. Then I asked the head, "If I stick my fingers up your nose, would you be mad." She glared at me.
Then we were led into a graveyard, the only way out of the haunted house...of course. Along the way, we saw a little zombie eating a man's head. It looked like they were making out. I said, "Aww, they're in love" and started singing 'Love is in the Air.' She looked up and started after me. I offered to sword fight with her. We kept walking and she started following us. My other friend threatened her with his pimp cane.
I bet they were glad to be rid of us.
We got a lot of candy and I was wired when I came home. Although, my beard was badly smeared because at one point, I got a runny nose and kept forgetting that I was wearing makeup.
We had a blast. And when I came home and saw the monster crawling out from under my bed, we shared the candy and started singing "Halloween Carols", such as "Hark how the Howls (to the tune of Hark how the Bells)," "The Little Monster Boy (to the tune of the Little Drummer Boy)," "Slimy the Goo-man (to the tune of Frosty the Snowman)," and lots more. Then, when he got a stomach ache from too much candy, I offered him some Pepto Bismol and did the dance from the commercials for his entertainment. He went back under the bed, burping in peppermint scent. Then I went to sleep.
I hope your Halloween was as good as mine.