World Champions

 

I was lucky enough to be at game 6 of the World Series. Congrats to the Yankees. The Phills were tough and I  had to listen to delusional Philly fans for a week but in the end we crushed them.

Glad we won. For me this tittle was the sweetest since ‘96.

What luck I’ve had this year in regards to baseball.  My last four games were:

• Yankees clinch AL East, best record in baseball, and homefield advantage
• Phillies clinch NL East
• Game 6 ALCS Yanks clinch the pennant
• Game 6 World Series, World Champs

I was also in St. Louis for work in 2006 when the Cards won it all.  Being in the streets when a city wins it all is a surreal experience.

A New Hope

Is it rejections you dream of?

My first 2 stories for class have a shot at being published after I clean them up.

The first is a children’s story that has the Sandman, Easter Bunny, and Santa himself among other characters. I am excited for this one and hope to get it out into the world this weekend.

The next one has to do with a man’s journey across the desert in a burning world as he searches for his daughter. I have a lot of hope for this one too.

Only time will tell but I am getting better at the very least.

More Inspiration – Going to California by Led Zeppelin

Can’t say why this one does it for me either. I find the song haunting and I love some of the lines:

“Made up my mind to make a new start,
Going to california with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me theres a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.”

I particularly like:

The sea was red and the sky was grey,
“Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
As the children of the sun began to awake.”

One day I’ll use these images in a story.

Inspiration

There a few songs that get my creative juices flowing EVERY time I them. The one song that never fails me is “Street Fighting Man’ by the Rolling Stones.

The words create such vibrant images, my brain just lights up.

“Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy,
‘Cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy”

and

“Hey, said my name is called Disturbance;
I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the King, I’ll rail at all his servants”

Can’t quite explain it. Is it the way Jagger wails “street fighting maaaaaaan?

Or maybe its the haunting sitar that lurks in the background?

This is one song that just does it for me.

Back to Class

Back to Brookdale for another round of Creative Fiction Workshop. I just finished a childrens/young adult dark story that I am excited about.

I also have have another idea rattling around in my head that I cant wait to get on paper. It involves a prison and zombies. This one ain’t for kids.

Tattoo Artists Are Not The Most Organized Of The Business Community

Our dog ate your design. Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?

I have a Yankee tattoo.  No, I’m not a bandwagoner I got it in 1997 after I went my adult life with one or two Yankee playoff appearances.

Anyway, I have been toying w/ getting another one since then and ultimately decided I would et one once I got one of my stories published.  Well, Infestation was published on Pseudopod.org on June 5th so now I was ready.

I have a symbol that I created for my “novel” that I hope to one day publish.  So, all I need is an artist.  Easy right?

The first guy was a whackjob.  I coudn’t get him to send me his rendition of my design.  He had every excuse in the book including the “I needed to go on a journey to Florida to pick up my wife and kid then drive all the way back unexpectedly” story.    A friend of mine who knew his boss said something after my trying to get in touch with him for 2 months and the artist makes a startling revelation.  Apparently he visited me in an alternate reality where he told me that water, from out of nowhere, decided to pour itself all over my design turning it to mush.  Let call this reality the “Bull Shit” reality.  In Bull Shit reality he has repeatedly asked me for another copy and I keep telling him that I will e-mail it to him but, sadly never do.  Bull Shit reality me seems to be a it of an asshole.  I decided to leave this artist to wallow without me in Bull Shit reality.

Next I hit it off with a woman who quickly whips me up a design.  I love what I see but would like to see  variation or two since it will be inked permanently on my flesh.  My apt. is in 2 days and she has apparently dropped off the face of the earth for the last month.  Now I will be forced to go into my apt. and request that she whip another design or two prior to taking needle to my skin.

Should it be this hard to pay someone for a service?

If I won the lottery.

I would love to go to the UK in 2010 and hit the World Horror Convention. It’s a long way from South Jersey.  Maybe if I start a car wash?

Video me and the kids are addicted to: Godzilla Drop the Dodongo

Loser

Heeyyy! I'm a douche!

What did Big Papi say when A-Rod got busted as a member of the infamous cheater list:

“If I test positive using any kind of banned substance I’m going to disrespect the game, my family, my fans and everybody. And I don’t want to face the situation so I won’t use it.”

Oh, and don’t forget: “I test you, you test positive, you’re going to be out. Period.”

What does he say now that he is busted as well? “No comment.”

Way to go!  Not only are you a big, fat, .230 hitting loser, you are a hypocrite!  Good for you! (as said in my best Christian Bale going crazy voice)

Argh!

I guess part of getting your work published is learning to deal with public criticism.  I was used to having my stories dissected and criticized in the closed environment of my fiction writing workshops but for some reason this felt different.  When I read 2 bad reviews in a row of “Infestation” I must admit I was steamed.  I cooled off quite quickly as I realized that only 2 comments of 48 were unfavorable and reality set in that you can’t please everybody.  Plus, you never can tell what somebody’s true motivation for being negative is.

Anyway, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?  One thing that kept me smiling was a comical response to a not so great review that came to mind.  Jeffrey Ford once posted a review of “The Shadow Year” on his blog that was unflattering.  He proclaimed something to the like of “Hey, look at this guy take a big stinking deuce on my endeavor!” like some badge of courage. Of course “The Shadow Year” has just recently won the Shirley Jackson Award.  So hey, maybe I’ve arrived!  (That’s how I’ll take it anyway!)