Thursday, September 30, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 607

So, back to the cabin again.  I believe I complained about fall having arrived so fast the last time I was here.  Even more so now, not only have the leaves changed their colors up here (there are still some green leaves, maybe 15% of the trees have not yet changed), but more than half of the trees are now completely bare, the leaves having fallen in the week since I was here.  Things look dead, the grass is brown, the water at the lake looks shrunken and sad, and there is a chill in the air that made it difficult to do my run on the dam, much less stand in the spot with a phone signal and check my messages (I had zero text messages, always an unhappy discovery).

It's probably something that I have said before, but summers are very short way up here in the mountains.  There is probably a three week stretch every summer where it gets hot enough up here to open the windows and leave them open at night (and that's still only on days when it's a hundred degrees or so back home), and of course, winter lasts a lot longer up here.  It was cold enough that I put a long sleeved shirt on over my long sleeved shirt once I got here, and didn't take my shoes off for a couple of hours.

I went outside and gathered ten logs for the fire (there are downed trees that my brother cut down earlier this summer, and though he chainsawed them into stove-sized lengths, they hadn't been collected or stacked), and then grabbed a bucket and filled it with kindling--branches and pieces of bark that would easily burn and, hopefully, start a fire that wouldn't just go out in two minutes like mine usually do.

To my surprise, once it started up, it never went out, burning as long as I continued to feed the flames, and I even went out and filled the bucket with more kindling right before it got dark.  It took a long while to get the temperature in here up, though (I think it had gone from 49 to 55 an hour after I got the fire going), but once the logs started to burn, it warmed right up so well that, when the fire burned out sometime in the dark of night, it only dropped a few degrees by the morning.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 3185

I've been reading a really thick biography on Walt Disney the last few weeks, and it has been kind of thrilling, but also very, very frustrating.  The author clearly puts you on the side of Disney (and his studio)*, and you root for him, want him to succeed, want the cash to come pouring in.  But the man was apparently so terrible with money, so unconcerned with the bottom line and budgets, and such an irresponsible perfectionist, that after the first three or four times that something ends up costing way more than it was supposed to (sometimes more than double) or doesn't come out when it was planned to (sometimes by more than a year, and in the case of BAMBI, more than three years), you start to shake your head and see the same crazy pattern repeating.

The worst, in my mind, was Walt's obsession with an animated concert feature film about classical music, which he put all his focus on, despite having other projects much further along and closer to completion.  The weeks he works and reworks and imagines and reimagines what will be called FANTASIA are so frustrating, that it starts to feel like one of those mad scientist pictures where the creation no longer can be considered noble or an understandable scientific endeavor, but is the textbook definition of a monster.  

When FANTASIA was finally completed, it clocked in at two hours and five minutes long, and that's completed hand-drawn animation with effects (they ended up cutting out a half hour or so of that footage when it hit wide release).  It's a movie celebrating classical music with no real story, an active effort to get away from narrative and be more artsy, and Roy Disney (the financial half of the company) keeps having to borrow more and more money to get it finished.  Walt's studio keeps teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, only staying alive due to bank loans and Mickey Mouse merchandise . . . and he then puts all his eggs in the FANTASIA basket.  Because of stuff like that, the book reads like a horror novel.**


Sorry to keep going on about the book, but I don't have Big Anklevich to call and bother, telling him crazy bits of trivia and sharing Walt's triumph with SNOW WHITE with him.  But it's particularly fascinating to see projects that the Disney company spends weeks or months developing (like a Rold Dahl collaboration about gremlins, or a film with Salvador Dali exploring surrealism) that never came out, despite the thousands of manhours dedicated to them.

Push-ups Today: 111
Push-ups In September: 3633

As far as writing goes, sigh.  I've been working on this super quick Will Choner follow-up story (I was considering calling it "The Case of the Grandma's Bracelet" or maybe something more alliterative, like "The Case of the Beauty's Bracelet"), that I could have finished at any time, but instead have only contributed a couple of paragraphs to here and there, at the end of long days.  In the heyday of my daily writing, I'd have completed it in less than a week, but here we are, dipping our foot in October, and it's not quite done.

Even so, I had hoped that hanging out with Will and Beth again might give me the energy to go back to the story I was writing last year (the last time I touched it was November 28th), in which they create a sort of detective agency to find missing items.  While it would be good to finish something I started and abandoned (right, Mister Disney?), I'd love nothing more than to bang out a couple of really short stories based on website prompts or Marshal Latham suggestions, getting them finished in two or three days each.

To make matters worse, I went out and shoveled gravel for a little while, and while doing so, I got this idea for a Dead & Breakfast Christmas story (I tend to write a holiday tale every year, and this should be no exception), where the staff (which ought to include housekeepers, janitors, and the handyman that we've never really met before) get together and tell of the experiences they've had there.  I sat down after my run and jotted down everything that had popped into my head while I was shoveling, but I don't know if I'll end up writing it.***  It's one of those projects where I need one more good idea--like a cool ending or a twist or something big to work toward--and I could jump into it and start writing.

Words Today: 331
Words In September: 19,935

*There is the lengthy section with Walt versus his striking animators who want a union and better pay and working hours, and only in that chapter does the author paint Walt as less than noble, less than sympathetic.

**Of course, I hate FANTASIA.  I have always been baffled and bored by it, so I knew from the outset that it was going to crash and burn.  If you're a big fan, maybe you'd view its development as far less damning, though it's impossible to justify its budget or think it was bound to succeed (where even the excellent PINOCCHIO failed to recoup its budget by almost a million dollars--and this was back when a Disney animated feature was budgeted at $900,000 or so).

***I establish in "Meet the New Clerk, Same As the Old Clerk," that Meeshelle has never worked there at night since being rehired until the last Saturday in December), and I don't want to contradict that.  Can she have attended a holiday party, say, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, a week before, and not have mentioned it in "Last Friday In December?"


Wednesday, September 29, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 606

So, today everything should have returned to normal, but it didn't.  There was so much work (I tried to get some of it done last night, but around 1:30am, decided I had done enough), and Wednesdays are when I usually meet my cousin for lunch and then drive to the cabin.  But it was cold, I was busy, and ultimately decided to work, meet him for lunch, then go work some more.  Maybe I'll go to the cabin tomorrow, if I can.*

I set as goals for September the publishing of two short stories, and dammit, I haven't gotten even one.  

I COULD have published one, at least, tonight, even with a preliminary cover using a mock-up.  But I didn't.

Even worse, I COULD have finished my short story today (what, a week later than I shoud have?), but I started to fall asleep and just gave into it.  I'll finish it tomorrow, okay?

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 3085

Push-ups Today: 100
Push-ups In September: 3522

Words Today: 284
Words In September: 19,604

*I mentioned the other day that my mom says that we won't be able to go there much more this year, and I thought I had until mid-November or so, but my brother went up there on Saturday and emptied the water heater, and drained the upstairs bathroom in preparation for winter.  I guess it's better safe than sorry, but it bums me out to think that it's going to be winter up there a literal few days after the official start of fall.


Tuesday, September 28, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 605

So darn tired.  There was lots of driving today, not the least of which was due to me taking a wrong turn (my brother saw me take it and assumed I knew a shortcut, so didn't call or text to warn me) and driving out to the middle of the Nevada desert.*

At one point, my niece took over the car's radio, mocking me for about the fiftieth time this trip, this time that I actually listen to terrestrial radio rather than Spotify or my phone's playlist.  The majority of her songs were good, and she insisted on listening through to the end of every song, even if her boyfriend really wanted to hear something else.

Both my niece and I had had our voices screwed up by our summer colds (or whatever it was), but we still tried to sing along, and maybe we would've done it anyway, but we felt like that was a tribute to our Uncle Len, who loved singing and karaoke machines, and played songs for me he thought I'd like when I was eight or nine years old (Don't Pay The Ferryman by Chris DeBurg will always remind me of him).

Sit-ups Today: 50
Sit-ups In September: 2985

Push-ups Today: 50
Push-ups In September: 3422

Words Today: 344
Words In September: 19,320

*Well, that was where I was located anyway, but I drove in the wrong direction in the middle of the Nevada desert.


Monday, September 27, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 604

The funeral for my Uncle Len is today.  

My brother complained to my mom that he didn't have any "church clothes," but he'd have to go buy some, and she impressed me by saying that he could wear what he wanted, that the only thing Len would care about was that he'd come to the funeral, not what he was wearing.  

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2935

They had set up a table with a ton of Len's favorite things (I only got about half of it in this photo), and it was kind of delightful: little cars, motorcycle paraphernalia, a lucha libre mask, cans of his favorite toxic energy drink, hats, hot sauce, a karaoke microphone, and photos of Len with his kids, and from his wedding thirty years ago.

They had the viewing (which was really awful*), then the funeral, then a sort of informal, open-mic wake type thing.  That was filled with stories and photos and shared experiences, and except for one small fit (thrown by another of my uncles), it went without a hitch.

Push-ups Today: 100
Push-ups In September: 3372

The post-funeral segment was the best part.  It was a real lovefest (and yes, I'm aware that they all are), with tons of positivity, happy memories, reminders of jokes he'd made, the kind of funeral you'd throw a hero or a celebrity or I dunno, somebody not at all like me.

And while my Uncle Len died WAY too young (nineteen years younger than my father, who probably should've made it to 83 or so, like his parents did), it was neat to see how many lives he touched, and the passion with which the various people spoke about him.

Words Today: 242
Words In September: 18,976

*When I go, hey, there's no need for an open casket funeral, okay?  I have enough problems with my face as it is, let alone after weeks in a hospital and almost no recognizable features.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 603

Staying at a stranger's house has always been uncomfortable for me.  I don't even know the names of the owners of this place, even though they've been very welcoming and friendly.  

The desert around Vegas has always seemed like a mystical place of mystery for me, and I get a minute thrill every time I see a palm tree (I can see some through the window, so I took a photo--sure to be a terrible, low-res one).


Las Vegas can be terribly hot and miserable, but it's been in the nineties during the day and in the eighties at night.  The eighties seem pretty wonderful to me, but as always, your kilometridge may vary.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2835

A new experience for me was going to a convenience store to buy a soda for me and my sister, and be told I had to leave because I wasn't wearing a mask.  There had been times when I noticed signs (or noticed other people wearing masks) and turned right around to run grab one, but this was the first time someone actively told me I needed to leave if I didn't have one on.

I'm not bitching about it--I did go out to my sister's car and grab a mask, and it made me super self-conscious about it for the rest of the trip--but I come from one of those areas where people would be more likely to mock me for having a mask on than criticize me for not wearing one.  Interesting.

I saw this sign in a gas station, and found it to be both simple and eloquent.

Push-ups Today: 100
Push-ups In September: 3272

I kind of feel like my time isn't my own on a trip like this.  Right now, people are showering and eating breakfast and such, so I can sit and fire up the old laptop and blog and write, but other times, it's sort of dependent on when I can be alone, find quiet, and the family isn't doing some activity.  I guess I should be pleased I have an hour right now to get some words in.

Words Today: 990
Words In September: 18,734


Saturday, September 25, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 602


I'm in Las Vegas, feeling about 50% better than I did this morning, and just did my exercises.  Now I can sit down and either blog, write, or read my library book (I'm leaning toward the latter).

My niece got sick (with the exact head cold/summer cold as me, only intensified), and said she wouldn't be able to drive with my sister on Saturday, so my sister asked me if I would go with her on Saturday, instead of riding with my brother and brother-in-law on Sunday (they have a golf tournament they're entered in on Saturday).  I agreed, and tried (I really tried) to get all my work done before I left, but ended up with a little bit left over, and fired off emails to let those people know the situation.  I gave two refunds and one person told me to take as long as I wanted, and that was nice (though truth be told, my sister was so long in being ready to go, that I could have managed at least one of those I had refunded during the wait).

At some point, after we were loaded up in my sister's Kia, my niece and her boyfriend decided to come along anyway, so that filled the car up way more than we had planned.  We ended up leaving all our food, our cooler, and our funeral clothes at the house, depending on my brother-in-law to get them to Vegas the next day.  We'll see if we have anything to wear for the funeral.

The drive was not that long: I drove half of it and my niece's boyfriend drove the other half.  I hadn't spent an inordinate amount of time with him before, and found that he was smart and funny, and his favorite book is "Ender's Game," which is always a good thing to hear.  I also found out, my niece gossiping and stirring up trouble from the backseat, that he often does impressions of everyone in my family, including me.  I had never heard anybody imitate me before (except for my late uncle, who tormented me from about the age of four on with his grating, demented impersonations of my voice), and it was kind of disconcerting.  But ah well.  If Big Anklevich can tolerate the randy fratboy/surfer way I imitate him, I should be able to take this.

We ended up staying at my brother-in-law's sister's house, which is huge and out in the middle of the western desert outside Vegas.  In just a few years, the city has expanded in every direction, and I imagine there wasn't even a road out here twenty years ago, let alone houses.  That's something kind of romantic about Vegas, in my mind, how it's constantly growing, and there's so much empty, uninhabitable desert land around it that it's bound to get even bigger.

They have a big garden in the back, and my oldest nephew and I looked for tomato worms with a blacklight, and I sat and watched them swim in the backyard pool while I wasted time on Facebook.  Then we went inside, where the family was watching ANT-MAN & THE WASP, so we sat down and joined them, but soon the family headed for bed, leaving only us.  My nephews fell asleep one by one, until it was just me and the four year old, me watching ANT-MAN and him playing with Duplo blocks.  Finally, I got the three boys into the guest bedroom, made my bed on the floor in the living room (they have faux-wood floors here, which is *infinitely* better than carpet).

Then I did push-ups and sit-ups, so I must be feeling better.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2735

Push-ups Today: 100
Push-ups In September: 3172

Words Today: 448
Words In September: 17,744


Friday, September 24, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 601

This was another of those days where I VERY nearly broke my streak.  Even now, after having exercised (a little bit), I could just go to sleep, no words written, and free I would be.

I'm sick today, some kind of gross head cold.  I was sick yesterday too, but less unpleasantly (I even managed to dump two wheelbarrows full of gravel at the cabin), though I did watch two episodes of "Modern Family" and didn't laugh once.  Hmmm.

Tomorrow I am heading to Las Vegas, and I ought to just go to sleep.  But then, I would have not written anything.

I even texted Big Anklevich to ask his permission (to quit), but he must have already gone to sleep himself.  So I cursed and made myself do it.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2635

Push-ups Today: 66
Push-ups In September: 3072

Words Today: 180
Words In September: 17,296

Thursday, September 23, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 600

Six hundred days in a row.  Ugh.

I woke up early, as usual . . . except it was still night this time (earlier than I usually go to sleep out here), so I lurched to the computer and typed up some words--having fallen asleep after only writing a single paragraph.  I wrote on my new "Lost & Found" story, then, satisfied I'd done my part, turned off the light and went back to sleep.

I didn't wake again until the sun was above the treetops, but still before my alarm goes off every day.  And I was fine with that.

The first thing I did was plug in my recorder to delete the two audio files I had edited yesterday, to free up space for recording today.  But first--unfortunately for me--I checked to see how much space was on the recorder's folder (almost zero), then went back to delete the two files.

But when I hit delete . . . the entire folder disappeared.  It was fifty gigs of files, so it took a while to erase, and when I saw what was happening, I hit the X button . . . but the damage was done.  I now had fourteen free gigs of space on the recorder, having deleted everything I had recorded in the past two months.  Everything older was still there, but the irony is, everything older was much more likely to have been backed up than the new files.

Among the deleted was the Outcast episode I recorded last week about finishing my novel and deciding to stop writing, some chapters of "Underdecorated," lines for Marshal's show, Deadbringer audio drama lines, a couple of short stories recorded at the cabin, and the author's note for "Last Friday In December."  Except for the Outcast, all of those are re-doable.  EXCEPT, there's probably something that disappeared that I have forgotten about, and will never occur to me to replace.  Ah well.

So, having botched my productivity for the day, I figure I ought to sit down and re-record about finishing my book and stopping writing (but the results won't be the same, since I finished the novel two weeks ago, and got the idea the next week, and was just kicking it around, rather than in the process of writing on it).

I seem to have caught a cold from my nephew, who complained during the weekend of a stuff head and runny nose, and have gone through enough tissues to build a bonfire (which would be nice on this chilly morning).

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2535

Push-ups Today: 66
Push-ups In September: 3006

I've been reading this huge, exhaustive book about Walt Disney, and I really poured through it today.  Before very long, it was time to pack things up (always the worst part of every visit, even worse than shoveling gravel or checking the traps for dead animals), and I lamented (as I always do) that I have to leave earlier each trip, to avoid driving home in the dark (which I still ended up doing).

Words Today: 503
Words In September: 17,116

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 599

Well, I'm at the cabin today, and the sun is going down, getting dark already, an hour earlier than the last time I noticed.  Everywhere there are changing leaves, and that is a reminder that death comes for us all.  But more on that later.

I had meant to type--briefly--about working on a TV series this morning, and how tired I got after it let out, driving toward the cabin, but what can I say?  I am enamored of the film industry, and even as a lowly extra, I enjoy the lights and excitement and glamour.

A sight no one should have to witness (not just vampires).

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2435

Push-ups Today: 100
Push-ups In September: 2940

But instead, I guess I'll write about my uncle.  You see, I drove home from my cousin's house last night around 1:40, and got home a bit after two, sitting in the car listening to Olivia Rodrigo singing Traitor before I killed the engine and went inside.  My uncle John's truck was in the driveway, but I assumed someone was borrowing it.

I noticed I had a text from my sister, marked 2:06am, telling me my Uncle Len had passed away.

He had been in the hospital for weeks (between five and six, far as I can figure), and it had looked bad for him early on, but then he'd seemed to recover a bit.  He's in Las Vegas, and I didn't speak to him, though my mom would forward the text messages he'd write and give the family reports every couple of days or so.  Then, just yesterday, he took a turn for the worse, went back on the ventilator, and they were saying the recovery would be very slow, if he again managed to come out of it.

And he didn't.  He was only fifty-seven.

My Uncle Len was a big deal to me, a funny guy, a strong guy, a supportive guy, talented and playful and sincere.  I guess I ought to sit down and record a few words about him, rather than struggle with typing some here.  

Talk to you later.

Words Today: 665
Words In September: 16,613



Tuesday, September 21, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 598

Writing and exercise . . . who needs it?

Yeah, yeah, me, apparently.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2335

Push-ups Today: 60
Push-ups In September: 2840

I was supposed to work on a TV show today, and they sent out an email on Monday, saying the shoot had been postponed until Wednesday, and for those of us who were booked to tell them whether we could work on Wednesday instead.  And I really debated it in my mind.  My mom, on Sunday, had told me that we wouldn't be able to stay at the cabin much longer, so I should take advantage (it's only September, and usually, we're there until November), and I hadn't been there since the day I buried the badger, and left that hill of gravel I was supposed to wheelbarrow onto the trail onto our property.

So, I didn't want to skip another week, just because of a little extra work paycheck.  But at the same time, I really like working on TV shows, and I could use the money (who couldn't?), so I decided to sign up for Wednesday and hope it got finished early enough I could still drive down to the cabin, even if it was dark when I went there.

Words Today: 430
Words In September: 15,948

Monday, September 20, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 597

I haven't been getting to the library much lately, and today was almost no exception.  But I had an overdue book, so I drove over a little before it closed, and once there, decided to "rent" one of their computers, like I used to do--just sit and type until they told me I had to go.

It wasn't a lot of writing, but it was writing, and that spends just the same.

Sit-ups Today: 150
Sit-ups In September: 2235

Push-ups Today: 221
Push-ups In September: 2780

Words Today: 868
Words In September: 15,518

Sunday, September 19, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 596

We had a big meal at my mom's house today, with multiple people attending, because it was my nephew's eleventh birthday.  Eleven seems like a pretty good age.

I'm quite fond of my middle nephew (even though he doesn't like to go places with my like his older brother does), and he seems atypically innocent for the 2010s (or whatever we're in now).  I suppose that will go away soon, though I'm sure my sister fears the day when he's no longer affectionate, or emotional, or holds your hand when you cross the street.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 2085

I hadn't seen Cathexis (my niece) in a little while, and she complained about being bored, and I said, "You know what would fix that?  Sitting down and watching a dozen Twilight Zone episodes and doing podcasts about them."  To my surprise, she said, "You know, I was thinking that just the other day."  So, that would please me greatly, if we could start doing that again.

Push-ups Today: 60
Push-ups In September: 2559

I am keeping up the daily writing, though I sure don't want to.  Last night, I jotted down some notes for a new Will Choner ("Lost & Found") story, about a case Will and Beth take on, where the client doesn't want them to succeed.  Then I went ahead and started the story, when what I should have done was unearth the unfinished story from last year, and see if I couldn't complete it, or better yet, combine this idea into that one, and hope it gave me the drive to finish it.

But I'm already more than halfway through it now (it'll be a short one), and maybe finishing it will give me the energy to finish the one that comes before.  Who knows?

Words Today: 565
Words In September: 14,650

Marshal and I Review THE INNOCENTS (1961)

The previous episode of The Outfield Excursions was discussing THE TURNING, a 2020 adaptation of Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw."  This episode is its evil twin, as we discuss a 1961 adaptation called THE INNOCENTS.  It's quite a bit more faithful to the 1898 source material, but will that save the children?

Check it out HERE . . . unless you're not that innocent.


Saturday, September 18, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 595

This weekend was the first comic convention I've attended since the pandemic.  Masks were required, but they were kind of unpleasant.  I ought to blog about it, but boy, it does make you tired, walking around so much, eating so much crap food, and being around that many people (those related to you and those not).

My oldest nephew, thirteen, had it in his head to take a backpack full of toys with him, instead of an empty backpack to fill with toys.  It made no sense to me, but within ten minutes of getting there, he broke off from our group to wander around by himself, and I guess what he did was, he went up to vendors and asked them what they'd give him for the toys in his bag.  On a couple of more worthless items, he asked what they would trade for them, then took that new item around to see what the vendors would give him (or trade him for it).  He claimed to have made hundreds of dollars this way, and while I initially didn't believe him, he brought two bags full of toys the next day to do the same.

Two great tastes that taste great together!

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 1985

About a third of the attendees were in costume, and about a hundred of those were dressed as Loki (in one of several iterations, from President Loki to 2012 Loki to Lady Loki).  My cousin's three kids all dressed up, for all three days (though I can't imagine you'd ever get those costumes clean for another year, and they'll have to be burned).

I didn't take a lot of pictures (I've gone to probably twenty of these in the last fifteen years), but I did take a picture of my ten year old nephew at the Ghostbusters booth, petting a Terror Dog.  The problem was, it was electronic, and when he got close enough to pet it, its eyes turned red and it roared.

Pants crapping in 3...2...

I went to a few panels, but except for one with low-level cast members of "The Mandalorian," none of them thrilled me like the old ones used to do. 

I bought very, very little at this convention, less so than I can ever remember buying before.  There's always all sorts of amusing or neat-looking junk for sale at these cons, such as a butterfly knife with a spoon on the end.



Besides crazy amounts of food, I bought an action figure the first day, a comic book the second day, and three Miles Morales figures the third day.  And I think that was it.  Of course, the comic I bought (Savage She-Hulk 1) was the most I'd ever spent on a comic book before.  But it was a book I'd always wanted to own, and who can say, after the Disney+ series premieres, maybe the comic will shoot way up in value.  You never know.


Push-ups Today: 220
Push-ups In September: 2499

My nephew, though, spent insane amounts of money, especially on the last day.  There was a booth selling an X-Box Series S, and he got it into his head to buy it.  I figured he plays enough video games as it is (they have an X-box 360 and a Nintendo Switch), and told him he couldn't, but he called his dad who said that if he had the money, to go ahead.



If you can believe it, my nephew DID have enough money, but he had bought a bunch of sports and Pokemon cards, and just fell short of the total.  I hoped he would understand that when you blow your money like that (on stuff you sort of want), you might not have enough to buy what you really want.  But the lesson was lost on him.

I COULD have given him/lent him the money to buy it (he also wanted to buy games to go with it too, as well as an extra controller), but I honestly did not want him to buy it.  No matter what his dad said.
And when the boy went off to try and sell some of the cards he had picked up (nobody wanted them because he had opened them as soon as he bought them), somebody else bought the X-box, and his day was ruined.

He complained about it for the rest of the day, and during the next day as well, even going as far as to claim that he was going to SELL the X-box, not play it (which was never even a consideration).

Words Today: 1978
Words In September: 14,085

Friday, September 17, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 594

I'm sorry, I'm very very tired.

I got up early today, trying to get stuff done before I headed out of town for a convention with my cousin.  But I've been falling asleep for a half hour now, and I managed nearly no words at all, which is sad, but it's what I've chosen to accept for the day.

I'll try to write about the con tomorrow.

Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In September: 1885

Push-ups Today: 66
Push-ups In September: 2279

Words Today: 120
Words In September: 12,107

Rish Outcast 206: August To August


Sorry about being a month late on this one.  

We've got something of an experiment here. Rish from 2020 interviews Rish from 2021 in this--their admittedly most indulgent episode ever.

Go ahead and download the episode by Right-Clicking HERE.

Go even further ahead and support me on Patreon by clicking HERE.

Logo by Gino "Oddest To Oddest" Moretto.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 593

A note to you Karens out there.  I took my nephew to Burger King for lunch, and ordered him french fries and a burger, but he wanted ice cream.  I told him no, but he stomped off, throwing enough of a fit that the nice lady behind the counter made him an ice cream cone and brought it to him.  Only difference between him and you is--he's four.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 1774

I wrote the first section/intro to that "Lara and the Witch" story yesterday, and I really don't want to continue it today.  Maybe it could be like the first scene I wrote for the third "Calling" story last year--just enough to get the ball rolling, but half-assed enough I never have to go back and finish it.

You could learn a lot from a dummy.

Push-ups Today: 220
Push-ups In September: 2213


Words Today: 896
Words In September: 11,987

September Sweeps - Day 592

This is the first time I've come back to the library since I finished my novel, and I have nothing to write.  I came up with (yet) another story idea yesterday, and I absolutely REFUSE to start writing it, even though when it came to me, I thought, "Holy guacamole, I can't wait to start on that!"  What I need to do is finish up one of my (many) unfinished stories, then sit down and work out the logistics on this new project, which could work as (yet) another Lara Demming story, but I really don't want it to.

Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In September: 1674

Oh, I'm reminded, though, of a post I saw on another writer's Facebook yesterday.  She was complaining about how men write women in books, and was trying to show us what it would be like if women writers did the same thing, describing a man coming into a room with swinging, hairy, knotted, elongated testicles on full display.  It was crude and heavy-handed, and it made its point: men and women really have not a damn thing in common.

Okay, no, I see what she was doing, and I couldn't help but think of my recent vow to ALWAYS mention boobs in everything that write, at least until this inequality in our society has been truly brought to light.*  I felt a bit embarrassed by my promise--though because I made it on the grave of my parents, I feel obliged to still fulfill it--but not as embarrassed as I did by the idea of a dude entering a place of business with his scrotum hanging out.

Push-ups Today: 70
Push-ups In September: 1993

I ended up spending a few minutes writing up my synopsis of the maybe Lara Demming story, and when I realized that none of that counted toward my word count, I shouted "Boogers!" loudly enough that absolutely no one looked over at me on the second floor of the library.

So, I just started writing the opening scene of the story, setting it early in Lara's Junior year of high school.  Sadly, when I checked the timeline I've been keeping on the series, that would put this story in between the prologue and first chapter of "Bundling Made Easy," which I wrote last year, and haven't even considered publishing.  That means Lara has had one real boyfriend in her life, and he was a douchebag**, so I think it could work that she has an almost relationship with this new boy before she meets her major heartthrob Scotty later in her Junior year.  Heck, I could have her have a class with Scott in this story, and think he's super dreamy.

But I didn't intend to start another "Lara and the Witch" story.  I just wanted to get some words written, and not lose this (pretty good) idea that came to me yesterday.  Hmm.

Words Today: 896
Words In September: 11,091

*Okay, that's just me trying--and failing--to be funny.  I write about boobs a lot, I realize, and after another writer (not the same outraged one referenced above) vowed to ALWAYS include gay, lesbian, transgendered, or queer characters in everything she wrote from this point on (regardless of the subject matter), I decided to make darn sure there were boobs in everything I wrote too, even if it was a children's story about talking magical rabbits.  After all, "juggs" does rhyme with "Bugs," kids.

**I based him off of you.  But to your credit, you'd never refer to breasts in any of your writing.  Never.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

15 Goals For 2021 - September Update


1.  Go on one hike a month.
I'm going to say yes (even though the answer is no).

2.  Finally write the "Bossk PD" sketch.
I started it, but never came close to finishing it.

3.  Collaborate on a story with Big Anklevich.
This seems highly unlikely.

4.  Put out Christmas collection I was supposed to put out in 2020.
Gosh, this does too.

5.  Put out Audio collection I was supposed to put out in 2019.
Boy, I'm starting to sound like a broken record here.

6.  Go to the Salt Flats in central (northern?) Utah.
This happened!

7.  Finish "Only Have Eyes For You."
Holy Haley Joel Osment, this happened too!

8.  Publish "Hatchling." 
I honestly considered sitting down to start recording this tonight . . . but did this blog instead.

9.  Publish "Underdecorated" AND "podcatcher" AND "A Sidekick's Errand."
I know "podcatcher" is out there(now lowercase), as well as "Sidekick's Errand."  Getting closer.

10.  Record "Know When To Walk Away" With Big.
We planned to do this, but it didn't happen.

11.  Put out two "Tales of eBay Horror" episodes.
I did record one of these in 2021, but I won't get to publishing it.

12.  Finally finish "Balms & Sears."
Never gonna happen.

13.  Put out lost TGMG Thanos episode.
Oh, this one got done too!

14.  Continue to exercise.  Why not?
So far, so good.  I've missed one day of push-ups, I believe, but have done sit-ups every day, and gone running whenever I could.


15.  Maintain a positive outlook on life.
Time will tell.

These are my completed writing projects in 2021:
1.  Only Have Eyes For You (D&B . . . novel-length)
2.  Jake From State Farm commercial (sketch)
3.  Heads Up (Horror, longer version and short version)
4.  Testing Anxiety (flash)
5.  The Bad Man In Room 2 (D&B)
6.  The Company You Keep (Lara & the Witch)
7.  Untitled Lara Valentine's Day Story (Lara & the Witch--gotta title it soon)
8.  Rookie Mistake (sketch)
9.  Twin Novella (Unidentical Twins?)
10. When You Need It Most (Lara & the Witch . . . novel)

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 591

One of my most enjoyable gigs while doing Extra work in Los Angeles was appearing on the sitcom "Norm."  I don't talk about it all the time, but it's in my top three, I'd say (the others being FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, and either SPIDER-MAN or the hillbilly cultists episode of "X-Files").  "Norm" was a sitcom with SNL alum Norm MacDonald, Laurie Metcalf, and Artie Lange about troublemaking social workers.

It was one of those shows shot before a live studio audience, and while we rehearsed it before the actual shoot, I was unprepared for just how funny the dialogue was that we, the background, were supposed to ignore.  If I recall, we did the scene multiple times (even with the live spectators) because of crack-ups, and people trying alternate lines, and then . . . it was over, people were applauding, and we got to go home.  I only worked on four or five sit-coms the whole time I was an extra (and "Frasier" didn't count because it was a taped remote at the Staples Center), but that was my favorite.

And now, Norm MacDonald has died at the age of 61.  Cancer again, even in the midst of a pandemic.  

I knew him from his work on "Saturday Night Live," where he anchored the Weekend Update desk, and would often throw the same joke into multiple episodes (about David Hasselhoff or Frank Stallone) to reward people who were paying attention.  He was pretty great, until he was abruptly fired for making a few too many O.J. Simpson jokes, and replaced by the staggeringly unfunny Colin Quinn.

After SNL, he starred in multiple Adam Sandler productions, got his own movie (DIRTY WORK) that my roommates and I saw on opening day, did some television work (he had his own talk show, apparently), but mostly did stand-up and guest appearances on talk shows, where his talent was best displayed.  He had a unique delivery and a rambling, seemingly-lost style, and I'll never forget his appearance on the last week of Letterman, where he ended his set with a tearful goodbye, despite admitting that "Mister Letterman is not for the mawkish, and has no truck for the sentimental," which are words of such Shakespearean poetry I've never forgotten them.


As usual, it has been nice to hear people who knew him go on about the man, and share funny stories or clips that make me laugh just as hard if I'd seen them before.

Sit-ups Today: 125
Sit-ups In September: 1563

Push-ups Today: 219
Push-ups In September: 1923

Words Today: 683
Words In September: 10,195

Monday, September 13, 2021

September Sweeps - Day 590

I didn't make it to the library today, but I might get a couple of days in this week.  Thing is, I'm not working on anything, story-wise, and that's pretty daunting.

I did sit down--twice to work on "Undecorated," and while I'd like to say it went well, sigh.

Doesn't matter, though.  All I can do is put them out, knowing it was the best work I was capable of.  Art is subjective anyway.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In September: 1438

Push-ups Today: 135 
Push-ups In September: 1704

Words Today: 611
Words In September: 9512