that's great, it starts with an earthquake

as you all know the world is ending in six weeks or so.

And what makes an apocalypse deal-able? Music.

So. I now turn to the internet - what songs would you include on your End of the World mix tape? (ha ha. "mix tape")

Here's what I'd go with:
The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M. [have to start it off with the classic, of course]
Hey Hey Hey (We're All Gonna Die) - Jack's Mannequin
Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
The Very Last Day - The Hollies
Arma-goddam-motherfucking-geddon - Marilyn Manson
Present For the End of the World - Good Old War
Doomsday Jesus - Black Label Society
Eve of Destruction -  Barry McGuire
Tiny Apocalypse - David Byrne
40 Years - Paul Hardcastle
The Last Day on Earth - Marilyn Manson
I'm Destroying the World - Guttermouth
The Doom Song - GIR
She's Not the End of the World - Reel Big Fish
Big Brown Eyes - Old 97s
Astonishing Panorama of the End Times - Marilyn Manson
1999 - Prince
World Destruction - Time Zone
Zero Sum - Nine Inch Nails
End of the World - Great Big Sea

I realize that there's a good deal of Manson in there, but what can I say - he does doom pretty well.
Also, I'm not sure about the order, exactly, of the songs. Except the 1st and last.
And I know there are a good dozen or so tunes I'm forgetting right now (or just simply don't know about) so, give me your input!

don't know much about government

Was talking with some coworkers today, and (re)realized that I'm woefully ignorant when it comes to, well, a LOT of things, but, in this case, about civics and the innerworkings of our government. I'm certain that I *used* to know it all, but now...

the good (?) part is that my fellow employees were just as in the dark. None of us really quite had a grasp on the difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives, or why the electoral college is in place, or what the people we just elected to those positions stand for.

America! Fuck yeah!

who ya gonna vote for?

Kinda bummed that after today, that song will effectively become an anachronism.

Anyway. Yeah, cast my vote this morning.

The polls opened at 7am, I got in line (with about 10 people in front of me) around 6:30. Was in and out in 8 minutes. (And left seeing that the line had grown to a good fifty or sixty deep at that point)

While in line, I was reminded, as I often am when I have to venture into the 'real world', that there are a LOT of truly truly ignorant and annoying people out there. (And sometimes they're both! How pleasant!)

While inside the polling center, I was struck by how unorganized the entire thing was. Although it was organized, but there were just little things that *should* have been set up better. For example, after signing in, everyone would then have to proceed to get their electronic voter card...which required crossing thru the lines of other people going to sign in.

And having an exit other than the main entrance would have been helpful too.

But, whatever. It was really a pretty painless ordeal, and the political ad season is DONE, which is a huge relief. It would be great, though, if I could get Mitt Romney's home phone number so I could robo-call him daily for the next three months.

Hey, Grimey, how's it going?

If it were up to me, ultimately, it would be revealed that Rick Grimes has some sort of connection to the zombie uprising, and that when he dies, so, too would all the undead. That way, he'd have to sacrifice himself in order for the world to return to a sense of normalcy.

I HIGHLY doubt that either the comics or the television show will go that direction, but, if they ever do, remember that you heard it here first.

What's This?

Despite that it's only 78 minutes long, and I've "watched" it probably a dozen or more times, I've actually never stayed awake thru the entirety of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

time restrictions and writing

so, day 3 of November, and I've done absolutley no more writing on my nanovel, BUT! after speaking with Saren yesterday, my brain came up with a pretty elegant solution to the ending that was plaguing me. So, the story is more fully developed ...in my mind. It's just getting it OUT of there that is the problem.

And my latest excuse is that I don't feel like I have enough time in the day to do it.

Ironically, we went to the library today, and I picked up at least three more books (and I'm currently about 100 pages into another), and I also feel like I won't have enough time to read those. To be honest, I probably don't have enough time to read all the books AND work on my own, so there is some merit to that complaint.  Of course, we are turning the clocks back an hour tonight, so that puts a relatively small chink in the "not enough time"armor. But really it all boils down to time management and laziness, doesn't it? Need to be better at one and ...less better at the other.

I mean, I'm finding time (sort of) to blog (again, sort of) every day, so ...it IS possible. And, again, now that the plot is mapped out (once more, sort of), I really do think that once I get past the laziness factor, I'll start making some real progress.

philosopher ants

About a week ago I watched a documentary on Fire Ants on netflix. Pretty interesting stuff.
But it got me thinking about the meaning of life.

These ants all have jobs - build tunnels, get food, serve the queen - and they just DO them. Do any of the ants ever stop and question what the point of it is? WHY do they build these massive tunnels? Why do they seek out food for the colony? Why is it vital that the queen and the eggs survive?

Probably not. They just, you know, work.

But...perhaps they're onto something. They just live the life that they live, not questioning the whys and wherefores, just doing ant-things because, well, they're ants.

I'm not entirely sure what point I'm trying to make - if any - and I'm certainly not coming up with any new insights into the mysteries of life. I'm just over tired and kinda rambling. So, I'll just wrap it up with good ol' Vonnegut:

Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, "Why, why, why?"
Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.

Breaking the law

A few days ago, I decided that I would attempt to complete the nanowrimo challenge this year. As the end of October advanced, the ideas and excitement about writing grew.

So, November 1st rolls around, and naturally, all I'm feeling is dread.

I *did* write today, though. I managed to open up a Word Document at work, and composed a remarkable thirteen words.

Work may not be the most ideal place to write...

Tonight, when we were having dinner, I began to feel antsy, and mentioned to Steph that I hadn't written anything yet, and it was getting late... she told me to calm down, because "there is no law that I have to do nano."

Later on, she said she was going to blog every day this month. That idea sounded pretty good to me, and so I've decided that every day in November I will either blog OR work on my nanovel. And, hey, technically, today I did both.

Marcus. Last name...Salmon, maybe?

Had a dream a few nights back involving a  Russian killer. He most definitely wanted to kill me, at any rate. (I never found out why. Dreams are like that.)  The killer was a good 6 feet tall (6'2", to be precise), and he was bald, and had a bit of a long face...but it was....distinctive. Like, I *knew* him somehow...

Anyway, a few near-death instances happened, and I managed to escape, and things seemed great, because I woke up. (Thanks, cats!)

However, after feeding our furry alarm clocks, I went back to sleep....only to reenter my dream.

The killer was in a hotel, and now he'd put on a black wig. Of course, that disguise wasn't enough to conceal his identity. ...or was it? I was walking past him, and decided to act like I didn't recognize him. He grabbed my elbow as we passed each other, and he said, "I am Marcus. Don't you know me?"

And my brain, ever helpful organ that it is, decided to fill in rapid-flashback-style, all the murder attempts from the EARLIER dream. And I was like, "Oh yeah!" I *do* know you! (And seriously, I did. He was a "Hey, it's that guy!"...whose name was seriously escaping me....)

So, I freaked out, and threw Marcus down a flight of nearby stairs.

At which point, he dove INTO the fall, and kind of ...jumped like a salmon might while swimming upstream. He landed at the bottom of the stairs, unharmed, and told me that he used to be a salmon.

Which is the end of the dream - or all that I can recall, at any rate.

But it was still bugging me (in real life) WHO the actor was that "played" Marcus.

I knew if I saw the actor in something, I'd definitely recognize his face, so, today, just a few hours ago, I decided to google "Hey, it's that guy".

I went to the  third site that google turned up and ...ho.lee.... The VERY FIRST FACE WAS MARCUS!!

Mr. Ed Lauter was the Russian assassin who used to be a fish.

I am a cracked machine

take UTP@, add in P@ that hasn't eaten nearly enough in hte pasat 24 hours, and you get a Cracked machine.



Yeah, we just got back )about 15 mintues ago) from the party, waaaay on the other side of the planet. (Or valley, if you want ot be a little more specific and accurate)

I'm pretty cracked. about an hour back, i was at that starge where EVERTYHING is funny, even when it really isn't. YOu know the one. Now, I've moved on (just barely) to the "everythign is irritating" stage. And my eyeelids are super heavy.

I reallly do like the everything is funny stage, because, it seems like my brain does activate (not the word I'm looking for, but I can't think of the right one) at a higher ...something. But, unfortunately, I can't be in that phase ALL the time. Pity.

Okay. Off to bed with me.

miss the rain

we had thunderstorms the past two days (it *is* monsoon season, after all) but today's been a typical bright and sunny (and hot) day. I want my rain back.

Blah blah blah. Weather posts are boring.

Fiction writing coming in the next day or two. Tomorrow is Friday, which are usually pretty draining for me at work, PLUS we have a birthday party to attend tomorrow night, so it might have to wait until Saturday before I begin writing anything not relating to real life. Heh.

Know your audience

hm. i feel I may have used that particular title previously. Eh. Whatchya gonna do?

Anyway.

I had this thought that I would attempt to blog daily again, at least for this month. And I was thinking that I would actually write fiction this time.
I also thought, should I even bother? And I also also thought, should I just write it and not publish it on my blog?

I have a lot of thoughts.

None of them ever seem to be conclusive, which is irritating.

Tonight will not be fiction, because a) I'm quite tired and it's already nearly 10:45pm.
b) I excel at finding excuses for not writing.

So, instead. Today's blog post will simply be a gauge of whether there are people still stopping by, and also a quick opinion poll: Which of these stories should I work on, based on the title?
Stupid Monsters
Wolflow*
Still Life
Hunger Strike
Fast Food of the Gods
Evil Under the Sun

*astute readers of the P@rix will note that, yes, this would be the latest version of the ever elusive Wolf story.

yeah, yeah, that's [not] the ticket!

The last three times (or possibly four) that I've interacted with the police, I've wound up NOT receiving citations. I don't know if it's a super power I have developed, or I've got a guardian angel looking over me (the patron saint of tickets??) or if it's just all a big coincidence, but I'm not looking this gift horse in the mouth (and I'm certainly not going to push it, in an attempt to find out how often I can get pulled over and not get cited).

But, the first time was back in 2007 when we were on our trip to one of the unschooling conferences, and we got pulled over for speeding while in Tonopah. The officer simply let us go with a warning.

Then, about 3 years ago, in the middle of winter right after we had moved into this house, I had gone out to the grocery store early in the morning pre-work, and I ran a stop sign. It was freezing outside, I KNEW that the intersection was clear [well, except for the cop car sitting off to the side that I didn't see], and I just wanted to get home because our heater also wasn't working, so coming to a complete stop seemed a waste of my time.
I was completely in the wrong on this, and I probably WOULD have gotten a ticket - the officer had already taken my license and registration back to his car and was therefore going to cite me...but as he was talking to me, a car SPED by, probably doing 60 - when the speed limit on that road is 35. Another police car (his partner??) quickly followed with it's sirens blaring, and the officer that had pulled me over hastily said, "Be more careful in the future.", then ran to his own vehicle, turned on the siren, and joined the pursuit of the other speeder.

The 3rd time sorta doesn't count, since we weren't exactly pulled over. It was when we had the accident back on 2/29... but still. Interacted with the cops, and WE didn't get cited.

And, today. I was out and about, and turned right at an intersection that (apparently) has a sign above it that says "NO RIGHT ON RED". The officer told me about it, I expressed (genuine) shock and apologized, and then he simply drove off. So. Again...not sure if it's a superpower I have or what, but I am extremely thankful that I did not end up with the extra burden of having to go to court and/or pay a fine. We most certainly do NOT need that in our lives right now.

in honor of National Poetry Month (that was April), here's a poem for ya'll:

what do clouds worship

is it the sun

no it is not

as that is only some star

how about the moon

no not a loveless rock

and it is not

music

death

a breeze

the blue sky

or earth

what they worship

are our dreams

And, just for old times sake, here's April's wordle word cloud (including this post):

a real cut up

Was randomly searching thru TVTropes.org in an attempt to find something to blog about, and discovered the following video, which is certainly not for the squeamish.

It's a collection of "cut slices" from various movies. The 'diagonal cut' trope is when someone is cut by a wire or a sword or a laser beam or whatever, but don't fall apart right away.  (Trust me, when you start to see them, you'll recognize the trope)

The video itself is nearly four minutes long. And, oddly, makes we want to track down some of these movies to figure out where they came from. (But, then, I am a sucker for stuff that is kinda bad)

Anyway. Here be the video:

Cut Slide Movie Montage - Watch More Funny Videos

today did have good moments.

Free hot dogs (woooo!)
Playing Coin Battle with Harper
discussing story ideas and writing with Harper
walking down to the corner market and getting a pepsi
reading more of my book (Nocturnal by Scott Sigler)
watching Puss in Boots, and having popcorn

however, I have had a headache for the past 6 hours, and I have been a less than ideal father to the littlest ones, in particular, plus, I'm just not happy with the writing sitch and I just got an email from work about missing commercials for Monday (3 of which I KNOW should be there, but will have to wait until I get in to take care of - unless I actually go down to the station and fix it on Sunday)...  my point is that I hope tomorrow is, overall, a better day than today was, and really, the only person in charge of that is myself.

not Death Eaterist

Was a reason ever given in the Harry Potter universe as to why wizards keep their society a secret from muggles?

If the world at large knew about magic...then it would probably end up regulated and watched over (as much as it could be, at any rate. I mean, the wizarding world attempted to do so, with varying degrees of success). But, it would probably be helpful to have EVERYONE on the lookout for someone like Voldemort, rather than just the Order of the Phoenix, no?

On the other hand, Voldy could've very easily taken Harry Potter out of the equation if he had simply gone to the United States Army (or the UK's equivalent, I suppose) and said, "This Harry Potter person is a very powerful terrorist. He lives right here at Number Four Privet Drive." Maybe brought along a video showing him performing some spells as proof.

Just sayin', that if the secret society wasn't so secret, it may have solved a few problems. (Same could be said of any story that has a 'hidden secret society'. Exposing it to the world at large opens up a whole other can of worms, and I guess ultimately makes it a different story.

worka worka work

Today was pretty typical, so it was nice that Harper and Irina got a chance to witness a taste of what I go thru 5 days a week.

Oddly, even though I didn't even work a full day (we went in at 8, took an hour lunch, and left at 330) I am WAY more tired than normal. Of course, I did do a lot more driving than I typically do, because after we got home, we drove out to Henderson (and back home) but I was feeling the exhaustion before then.

Harper helped with some of the filing and putting together of the logs, and I did do some explaining of the actual aspects of my job, so I think she has a better grasp on what it is I do each day (and probably has a little more sympathy for when I come home completely drained). That being said, I'd be kinda surprised if she decided to attend TYCTWD next year.I think she probably feels that she "gets" it enough. Although maybe she'd want to because she'd get a chance to spend more time with me.
It really was cool to have her there, even if she was bored for at least a portion of the day. If I could plan it out better, to make sure that she had tasks for the entire day...

Anyway.  For now, I am going to wrap this up and see if everyone is ready for bed. (Most likely no, since everyone [but me and Steph] had naps in the van during the drive. But, holy majolie, am I tired.)
All in all, an enjoyable day.

8 months til Xmas

Just sayin'.

I have absolutely nothing to blog about, but I'm blogging anyway. Because that always ends so well.

Earlier, there was a kernel of an idea of a story bubbling around in my head (since, yeah, I need ANOTHER story idea to focus on), but it didn't pop. It was something about aliens landing, and offering to trade something we have a lot of for something else, that we don't have at all. For example, they would take the world's population of kittens, and exchange them for unicorns.

I do want to do some fiction writing this month, because, as I stated, that was the whole point of blogging daily, so hopefully this weekend I'll get motivated enough to do so. I also need to figure out which story I'm gonna go with. Which means I should wrangle up a random number generator. (Or, if any readers out there wanna throw out a number between one and ten, that'll work just as well, I suppose)

At least I [should] have something to blog about for tomorrow. It's Take Your Child To Work Day, and the plan is for Harper and Irina to attend the day at the office with me. I should ste...borrow Steph's camera for the day so I could take photos to accompany the blog entry. Hmm.

ache, head variety

Yeah, I ve got a pretty bad headache right now, and I suspect that a lot of it is stress related, and I feel like I should just ....stp bitching, try to relax, and enjoy my time with my family.

And maybe if I did that, I'd relax enough that my headache might disappear (or dissipate, somewhat) but...

This month has been simultaenously way too long, and way too short. How's that possible?? I think blogging every day has [ugh, i can't think of the word i want to use. accredited? accrewed? submitted? accomplished? participated? anticipated? helped? ...for the love of Bon Jovi, it is none of those words, but it's like i'm dancing right around it] to that.

I was going to end this entry with a youtube video, but, amazingly the song I was going to link to does not have a video. So, I just recommend you go to grooveshark.com (or whatever music listening to website you prefer) and load up "Political Statement" by Barnes and Barnes.