Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Oh, and my hands smelled really good today. I'm not sure why, they just did.

I'm up there's no more time, to try to mess with this design...

Take Me As I Am is one of my new favorite songs. I've been listening to it on repeat all night. I also really like "My Freedom" by Krystal Meyers. Woot.

So I got my new laptop. A wonderful Toshiba Satellite. I love it, and I named it Roxane, after Dustfinger's wife in Inkspell. I decided to skip the Mute Math package though, it was a little too expensive and complicated. All I really wanted were the bonus tracks. Hopefully they will be made available someplace else...

I'm about to post the rough draft of chapter 3. I still haven't had time to do much editing, but I'm gonna run it anyways. If you don't like it, let me know!! I'm sure it needs some work...

Monday, June 29, 2009

Set it on fire!

News lately:

-My parents bought another jeep. A 2006 grand cherokee. It sort of reminds me of a tank. It's like a luxury battletank with leather seats and pop out cupholders.

-I am getting a new laptop computer. This is entirely unrelated, and only happening because the computer I have now is driving me CRAZY. And because I can sell my old one and my portable dvd player, and not spend too much money.

-While we're talking about spending money, I am considering a VIP package presell for the band Mute Math. You get their new cd plus bonus tracks, a t-shirt, and a ticket to one of their shows. All I need is someone to go with. Although I've never been to a concert by myself before, it could be exciting. Maybe I will meet some new people and come back with some kind of crazy skill, like belly dancing. Ok, maybe not belly dancing, that would be gross. Maybe juggling flaming ipod clock radios. My coworker and I were talking about the many uses we would have for twelve ipod clock radios and chief among them was setting them on fire and juggling them.

-I also fell randomly on the stairs a few minutes ago, but I didn't hurt myself.

-My hands smell a little bit like raw potatoes. I can't figure out why. They smelled like balloons yesterday, possibly because I blew up lots of balloons.

-I just realized I'm rambling pointlessly and should probably stop. I'll post links for you to drool over in angst that you don't have my life.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9368169&type=product&id=1218092959299


There's a cheaper model for 329.99 but I felt like I was being a cheapskate, skimping on the processor for a measly twenty bucks. I don't want another piece of junk I'll have to replace in a few years. This laptop upon which my fingers doth fly is only four years old, so it's a bit sad to have to replace it so soon.

http://mutemath.com/mmlp/

Yeah.

I still have green speckles in my hair. I had to explain to a bunch of people want LGD is. I'm pretty sure everyone at work things I'm crazy now. Ah well, I'm pretty sure they already thought I was crazy anyways. I make odd noises sometimes when I'm bored, and I'm bored at Best Buy a lot.

Yeah.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Happy Lemon Guaca Day!!

Our fourth party, hard to believe it's been four years. I love it so though, always a good time and lots of people I don't see too often.

So...what did we do this year?!

There were three games.

I...am drawing a blank on the first. Isn't that weird?? Oh duh, Guaca Idol of course! We did a remake of "Wheels on the bus". It actually came together pretty well, I thought we were a synch to win until we all fell apart during the actual performance...it was all deeply amusing though. Some of us were having a difficult time controlling our laughter...

The second was a picture scavenger hunt, we were given pictures of things, and we had to find them throughout a neighborhood. And that's...that. It was a lot of fun, but it felt a little more like filler. I have a different idea for next year's scavenger hunt. *rubs hands together and laughs fiendishly* Muahahahahaha.

And then...pizza making. There were a lot of nasty pizzas with stuff like skittles and peanut butter. Ours supposedly was really good (guacamole, lemons, pineapple, and peppers, I know what you're thinking that man should be a chef) but some people on my team insisted on putting DIRT on it, which made NO SENSE to me whatsover, I was like "omg what is wrong with y'all" but people are people... no use getting upset over silly things...

And that...was Guaca Day 09. I dyed my hair yellow and green as per tradition of course...I wanted to make sure to record everything for posterity's sake...earlier today I realized I couldn't remember what all we did two years ago.

For LGD #5 I'm hoping to judge for the first time. Playing games is fun but I'm a terrible song maker (although I did write our song for the first Guaca Idol I guess) and...it just seems more fun to judge, and since I'm one of the original Guaca people, I'm pretty sure I get dibs...

And that is all. In other, boring news I finished chapter 3 and will post it soon. I'm excited because the plot is picking up a little. I want the first four chapters to be exciting but there's a lot of setting up I have to do at the same time...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hi. Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I'm still working on chapter 3...it has been slow in coming but I'm making progress!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Coffee I wuv you!!

Coffee. I need coffee. And then I'm getting to work typing. I just neeeeeeed coffeeeeeee.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Hi.

Dashing off to work. I...totally forgot what I was going to say. Chapter 2 should be up tomorrow sometime! I'm beginning work today on the early sketch for chapter 3...

What was I going to say?? That's going to drive me CRAZY.

Oh! I'm not sick! I feel great! Weird, isn't it??

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Come on and get sick with me

Sad day. I think I have a cold. Sore throats are not fun...I can't even remember the last time I got sick. I am seeing green tea and emergen-c in my future...

Meditation

Some of my notes from New Attitude past on how to meditate on God's Word.

1. Choose passage, read slowly three times.
2. Rewrite it in your own words.
3. Go sentence by sentence and pray through.
4. Application:
A. What does this text reveal about God?
B. What does this text reveal about why
you should trust in God?
C. What does this text reveal about His Word?
D. What attitude or mindset about God or his
word does this text reveal in your heart?
E. What actions does God want you to change
or do more of?
F. Does this text reveal something I should do
for the sake of Christ or others?

Obviously, every step is not necessarily practical for all reading, but it can be very helpful, and you can be surprised how much you can get out of just a few verses. That's what's so incredible about the Bible, there is so much richness to dig into, you can't exhaust it...

Wolves

Here's a third from last Friday. It was actually born out of a few lines I pulled from the last two poems. This actually all started as one giant superpoem

I kind of like this one. It's a little more meaningful than the last two...

"Wolves (Slightly Incoherent #3)"

There are wolves at the door,
they howl in the yard.
While the sheep lay and wait,
all pretty white and dressed in garlands,
ready for the slaughter.

We will go willingly,
we aren't even smart enough,
to be afraid.
I won't shout when I feel the teeth,
biting into my neck.
I don't mind,
because I barely feel it.
Apathy, you are devouring me.
And the whole world can suffer,
and I might not feel it.

Why aren't we screaming?
Why don't I care about the hurting?
this world is reeling under the weight,
of all this pain,
but I've got happiness buried
like a seed,
buried in my heart.
And my head,
why aren't I screaming?
About You, why aren't I screaming Your name?

Jesus give me the strength,
to go where people are dying,
among the living dead,
and leave behind not a graveyard,
nor a tomb full of cobwebs,
but a garden beautiful,
and blooming bright.

Incoherency

Two short poems. I wrote them while I was waiting on Borders to open last Friday. They're not very good at all, but I felt sorry for them so I decided to post them anyways.

"Slightly Incoherent #1"

What have we come to?
My eyes are heavy,
my legs worn and weary,
the hills watch as I wander,
aimlessly through these asphalt seas
down the tired tire treads,
of ten thousand worker bees,
lonely and lonelier still,
my heart aches this morning
but like the sun on my face,
joy is alive in me.

"Slightly Incoherent #2"

What have we come to?
Only the clouds are free,
to float unhindered
but they wither,
unhindered.
Crying their tears upon us,
as they give up their lives
to make the world grow greener,
as they weep from the sky,

while the stars watch and wait,
for Summer's change to shine again,
we dance in the rain,
joy born of death,
joy comes from dying every time,
I'd gladly give my life for this,
I'd gladly give my life for you.

Oh inconsistent me, crying out for consistency...

Hi llamas.

I just got home from work. Going to get moving on some typings now. Otherwise life has been pretty boring lately. I've gotten so used to working so much that now that my hours are cut, it's like I absorbed some of the boringness of work and it's carrying over to the rest of my life.

But anyways!!!!!!!!

To work, to work, to work I go. On WRITING that is. And I will try to do something exciting soon, so that I can be like "yeah I totally went skydiving without a parachute yesterday!!!" Or "just got back from cliff diving in Costa Rica, brought back a suntan and a trained monkey pickpocket."

But for now, just work, looking for a new job, going into the lawn mowing business, and writing. That's all I got. And possibly training for a triathalon.

Bye llamas.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Garden Ninja Bros.

Hi.

I am entering the lawn mowing business. I thought this newsworthy. I bought a weed whacker with my friend Derrick tonight. Very little else to report as of late, still hard at work on Chapter 2...not that anyone has even read chapter one yet, but I feel like the story is coming together so I'm excited anyways. I'm probably not going to have time tonight, but I will post a great many things soon.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Sleepy

Hi.

I am very sleepy.

I have been listening to a lot of Mae, Muse and Emery lately...very interesting music. I really like "Summertime" by Mae...

Hi.

Um.

I have a handful of new poetry, like two or three I might post soon, might not. I also am working on chapter 2...it's going a little longer than chapter one though, so I'm not sure how fast it'll come along, we shall see. Any comments on chapter one as far as likes or dislikes would be hott. Bye llamas!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Chapter One!

The Unstoppable

Chapter 1: The Inescapable

“Adam look out!”

Tires squealed as I mashed my foot into the brake pedal, the sound soon followed by a metallic clang as we bumped lightly into the guardrail with our right fender. My fiancé Kate and I were both flung against our seatbelts as we came to a stop, breathless but unharmed.

We glanced at each other, a quick look that told us everything we needed to know, etched across the other’s face. She could see the panic in my eyes, the slight tremble overtaking my body. And I could see, even through the scattered strands of brown hair obscuring her face, a sympathetic smile and patient concern.

I broke stares and looked away. Outside the car windows, Chesapeake Bay soared to the horizon. Its blue expanse filling our open car windows with rich sea air, air that made my chest seize up, my stomach turn.

For a moment all was quiet save for the sound of waves lapping beneath us, till a honking truck suddenly roared past, swerving into the other lane for a moment. Two or three more cars I’d apparently been holding up followed suite.

It had happened the moment we’d left dry land. I wasn’t sure if it was just seeing all the water, or perhaps it was the nauseating sea air, but suddenly I’d been lost in memory. The silence returned once more, but my heart was still pounding, my nerves still frazzled, panicky. After a little time to regain composure, Kate reached for my hand, which was gripping the gearshift with white knuckles.

“Are…you okay, Adam?” she asked tentatively, her voice soft and low, as if she were afraid to break the stillness. Instead of answering, I reached with a shaky hand to turn on the air conditioner.

“Adam?”

“I’m fine…I just…” I let my voice trail off, a little unsure.

“You know we don’t have to do this, it’s not like she’s coming to the wedding,” Kate declared. I knew she was trying to be helpful, and it was almost certainly true, but it made the pain a little raw.

For a moment I didn’t speak. It’d been almost ten years since I’d seen my mother. We’d been the only survivors of a terrible car wreck that had killed all three of my sisters after our van flew off a bridge, into a lake. We’d grown apart quickly and completely following the accident.

Both of us had developed a terrible fear of water following that awful night, and had escaped in our own ways. My mother had grown distant, left my father, and moved to an island in Chesapeake Bay, surrounded by the sea on all sides, surrounded by constant reminders of that awful day.

While she’d lived haunted by the past, I moved to the Texas desert, toiling under the sun for an education. It was where I’d met Kate, and where I planned to spend the rest of my life.

Finally after a long pause, I spoke, prompted by an oncoming car in my rearview mirror. “We didn’t fly all the way out here just to turn around and leave now.” She gently pried my hand up off the clutch and squeezed it, smiling. Immediately I felt my raw nerves begin to settle. That was why I loved Kate, she could make me feel better without even speaking.

“I can do this,” I said, returning a hand to the steering wheel. I was eager to get through it and move on with my life. Everything I’d ever wanted to say, I would say, and then we would never come back here again.

“You can do this. But I should drive,” she declared, her brown eyes crinkling into a cheerful smile. She began to unbuckle her seatbelt without another word. At first I was tempted to resist, but I knew she was right.

Before I could reach for my belt, I heard a honking behind me, and suddenly my head was flung back by an airbag, the world spinning so fast all the colors blended together, the sky and the sea and the clouds merged, and then as our tiny little rental car smashed through the guardrail and hit the water, all went dark.

---

At first I thought I was losing my mind. It all seemed so much like that night long ago, water flooding at my feet, panic heavy in my chest with every heartbeat.

As I came back from the black space behind my eyelids, I knew I had to get out of the car, but my first concern was for Kate. I turned to her seat to reach for her only to find it empty.

The panic deepened, till I thought my heart would stop.


This can't be.


I fumbled with my seatbelt until I could free myself, then slithered out the open window. I climbed to the top of my sinking car on unsteady legs, my head spinning. The glare of the setting sun hit my eyes as I looked back towards the bridge. At first I saw nothing, and then there she was, lying unconscious on the road.

Her seatbelt, I realized. She'd been knocked flying. I saw where we'd busted the guardrail up, but there didn't seem to be any cars along the span of the bridge I could see.

A hit and run.

She was an easy thirty feet away and much too high to reach. I glanced towards the shore, feeling sick. It was about a hundred yards off, a marsh thick with reeds and littered with garbage. I would have to swim for it. Fear flooded my chest and seemed to beat in my veins but I knew it had to be done. I couldn't let the fear control me, not this time. I looked to the sky. The sun was just beginning to set. Soon we would become too dark to see. Not a moment of precious time to be lost.

Without another thought I threw myself into the water and began to swim, the waters icy despite the warmth of the air. The entire time I felt certain my life was over, every time I dipped my head under, the water would keep me, or my muscles would freeze, and I would sink to the bottom.

But I made it. By the time I staggered my way onto shore, twilight had grown even deeper. I pushed my way through the overgrown weeds as fast as I could, slapping through cattails and plodding through the bog in bare feet, my flip-flops being long gone.

The road was strangely quiet. I could hardly believe I still hadn't seen or heard a car since the accident. However, as my wet feet slapped onto the asphalt I noted in the distance a pair of headlights in our lane, leaving me short on time.

I sprinted for where Kate lay prone on the street and immediately felt for a pulse, slipping two fingers against her slender neck. I soon found a faint beating. She appeared a little beat up but I found nothing broken.

I didn't want to move her, but I was afraid I had no choice, with darkness settling on the ocean like a thick black blanket. I gathered her limp body in my arms and stood. The vehicle approaching was big, I saw. A semi. I was about to move into the other lane to move out of the way when I realized a whole line of cars was suddenly zooming in.

Trapped.

I would have to throw us at the mercy of the trucker. I started hollering and screaming so loud Kate began to stir. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a few cars slow down, but none stopped.

Nor did the trucker.

I waited and waited, beginning to panic again, and still he didn't stop, didn't seem to see us at all despite the fact that his headlights now clearly illuminated us.

Out of options, I looked down to the water, terrified again.

I steadied myself, tightened my grip on Kate and leapt for the water through the twisted gap in the guardrail. I think we would have made. I really think everything would have been fine, but for the fact that the grill of the semi clipped my ankle, shattering it instantly and cutting my jump short, sending both of us flying headlong into my car.

My head smashed into the roof of it hard enough to drive every thought from my head. I saw a flash, a mere second's glimpse of Kate lying next to me, eyes wide open. And then the darkness devoured me, as sudden, deep, and terrifying as a riptide sucking me under the waves.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Maybe this is home...

I'm back. Hopefully this will be the LAST time I move...I'm fairly tired of it...but I'm also fairly picky...Not much you need to know if you haven't been reading lately. I'm working on the first few chapters of a new book...should have something up soon...