Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Musical Nostalgia - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

It was the Christmas of 1994 and I'd just opened my first CD player.  My mind was ablaze with possibilities of what I'd get.  After the influx of Nirvana and Beastie Boys CDs, my neighbor gave me Skacore, The Devil, and More.  From there, I was hooked on the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

I'm not going to pretend they were my favorite band right away.  It took a few months but I eventually picked up Don't Know How to Party, and this album, the subject of today's blog entry.


Yep.  It's Question The Answers.  Most people know them from Let's Face It.  I don't want to be one of those guys who says things like "I liked them before they were famous" or "Their old stuff is better" in a condescending tone.  But I did like them before they were famous and their older stuff is better.

Like I said with The Slackers' album The Question a couple weeks ago, this is another of those albums that's filled to the brim with memories for me.  Let's go down the list of why this is one of the CDs I never thought of parting with.
  1. The Nostalgia Factor - I can't heart a single note of a song on this disk without thinking back to the mythical summers between years of highschool and shooting endless games of pool with my friends in my parents' basement, including the now legendary Best 11 out of 21 with Steve Roberts.  I won 11-9 but it was pretty hectic.
  2. Playability - This is one of those cds where I don't feel tempted to skip songs.  Look at this track listing (Toxic Toast, 365 Days, and Jump Through the Hoops being my favorites):
    1. Kinder Words
    2. A Sad Silence
    3. Hell Of A Hat
    4. Pictures To Prove It
    5. We Should Talk
    6. A Dollar And A Dream
    7. Stand Off
    8. 365 Days
    9. Toxic Toast
    10. Bronzing The Garbage
    11. Dogs And Chaplains
    12. Jump Through The Hoops
  3. It was when the ska really started to take hold of my musical tastes.  It's weird to think I've been into ska for over half of my life at this point.  I lost sight of the Bosstones when The Slackers, The Skatelites, and other ska bands eclipsed them in my esteem but they're still part of my past.
That's about it.  I play on digging this one out when I get home.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Post-It Memories - 1st installment

Two drawers of my computer desk are crammed full of post-its with snippets of dialogue and other things of a writerly nature.  When I unearth interesting morsels, I will post them here.

Here's a tiny poem.  I don't remember precisely when I wrote it.

Remember when
I went into the past
And stopped us
From ever meeting?
Neither do I.

Here's something else, a dialogue fragment from a time travel story:
"Something we did in the past must have caused this.  Damn you, Ray Bradbury!"
"Who's Ray Bradbury?"
"I don't know.  Doesn't he have something to do with cottage cheese?"

Bradley Sands will Fucking Kill You! - 13 Questions

Today, I'll be questioning Bradley Sands, author of Rico Slade Will Fucking Kill You, which, coincidentally, is available for free download until the end of the month.

How did you get involved in the Bizarro movement?
A few years before the term was coined, I stumbled across a couple of books by Carlton Mellick and one by Kevin Donihe on Amazon. They seemed interesting. I bought the e-book versions because they were cheaper than print (this was long before the existence of Kindle so I read them on my computer). I liked the books and noticed they were all published by Eraserhead Press. I went to their website and read online excerpts from all of their other books. I also read a few stories here and there on The New Absurdist website. A few of those authors were published by Eraserhead Press.

Soon after, I was looking through the zine section in Salt Lake City’s library and a man convinced me to buy the first issue of his zine. It was called Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens. The majority of the issue’s contributors were either Eraserhead Press authors or writers who posted on The New Absurdist. A few weeks later, the man asked me if I wanted to take over as his zine’s editor. I accepted, and through it I met a lot of people online who would later be involved in the bizarro movement.

About a year later, I had finished a novel called It Came from Below the Belt and was ready to submit it. I thought Eraserhead Press would have been an appropriate place, but they weren’t accepting submissions at the time. But I noticed that a new press called Afterbirth Books had recently published one of Carlton’s books (The Menstruating Mall). So I submitted by book. It was accepted and published. Unfortunately, Afterbirth Books closed last year and the book went out-of-print.

What was the inspiration behind Rico Slade Will Fucking Kill You?
The first chapter of the book was originally a short story. It was an action hero scenario inspired by the movie, Passenger 57. For a workshop during BizarroCon (a convention for readers and writers of bizarro), I participated in a workshop where we had to create a conceptual book. I used the short story to come up with the book’s concept, which ended up being similar to my final concept. I have no idea how I thought of the concept of an action film star suffering a nervous breakdown and believing he’s the character that he portrays in his movies. Also, the book’s plot structure was based on the movie, Falling Down. Kind of like how Ulysses is based on The Odyssey. The movie, Road House, was also a huge influence.

Which celebrity would you like to karate chop in the vagina the most ala Rico Slade?
Will Ferrell. Unless director/writer Adam McKay is within a 500 yard radius. His presence makes Will Ferrell godlike.

Was there a book that made you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I don’t remember what it was called, but it was about a cooking contest. It was awesome. I think the winner conquered his enemies by eating them.

Who are some of your influences?
Carlton Mellick (because he worked with me as a mentor while I was writing the novella, Cheesequake Smash-up, which appeared in the second/blue version of The Bizarro Starter Kit), Tao Lin (because he is a virus), Russell Edson, Raymond Chandler, Richard Brautigan, Ron Loewinsohn (although I have only read one book of his: Magnetic Field(s)), The Zucker Brothers (except not so much when it comes to the movies, Ghost and First Knight), Roald Dahl, L. Frank Baum, Lemony Snicket.

I just finished writing a children’s book (although it still needs more editing), hence the children’s authors.

What's your favorite book?
It Came from Below the Belt

But if you want me to be less specific: Steve Aylett’s The Complete Accomplice, Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, Thomas Ligotti’s The Nightmare Factory, Russell Edson’s The Tunnel, Ron Loewinsohn’s Magnetic Field(s), Mark Leyner’s The Tetherballs of Bougainville, Daniel Pinkwater’s Lizard Music, Richard Brautigan’s In Watermelon Sugar.

Who's your favorite author?
Me.

But if you want me to be less specific, all of the authors who I mentioned in your last question, along with Steve Erickson and Stephen Dixon and every female author who has ever written a book.

What's the story behind the Bradley Sands is a Dick anthology?
I was talking to Andersen Prunty at the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City a bunch of years ago. I think maybe I was drunk or he was drunk or we were both drunk. But I made a comment about how probably everyone in the room had submitted stories to Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens and I had rejected all of them. And he said I was a dick. And then one of us said that we should edit an online anthology called Bradley Sands is a Dick. Then one of us said that every story in the anthology should be titled “Bradley Sands is a Dick.” At least something like that happened. Then we put out a call for submissions and received significantly more stories a stupid idea like that deserved. And Andersen did some sort of contest where people voted for their favorite story in the anthology and the winner received $100. So after the anthology came out, the future winner of the contest voted for himself hundreds of times by clearing his “cookies” over and over again or something and received Andersen’s hard-earned money because of it. It’s weird referring to him as Andersen. Ordinarily, I never do. He’s “Andy.” But I thought people might get confused.

What's the best book you've read in the last six months?
Daniel Pinkwater’s Lizard Music

Which of the following Arnold movies is your favorite: Hercules in New York, the Last Action Hero, or Junior?
I haven’t seen Hercules in New York, although I prefer its alternate title, Hercules Goes Bananas! There’s not actually supposed to be an exclamation mark at the end of the title, but I believe it’s necessary. So anyway, Hercules is out of the running. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Junior, but I can’t remember it at all (I believe it was a traumatic experience that induced memory loss). And I love The Last Action Hero, so definitely that one. It might be my favorite Schwarzenegger movie overall. Either that or Jingle All the Way.

If the 2010-2011 New Bizarro Authors got into a seven-way gunfight, who would come out on top?
Nicole Cushing, but only if she wears her bionic cow costume. It’s seriously so creepy that anyone holding a gun in its presence will shoot themselves in the face.

Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?
I’ve been asked the same question in my last two interviews and I gave the same sensible response. And I’m tired of being sensible. So my advice for aspiring writers is that they shouldn’t read any books. Reading books will cause your writing to be completely unoriginal. You will never find your unique “voice.” If you’re a reader, the best thing you can hope for is to be a second rate copycat of all the authors you read. So instead of reading, I suggest you play video games, become a backyard wrestler, and join a fantasy football league.

What's next for Bradley Sands?
A novella collection called Please Do Not Shoot Me in the Face: A Novel. It won’t actually be a novel, but collections don’t sell very well and traditional NYC presses often market story collections as novels because they’re aware of this fact. So I might as well take advantage of this manipulative practice instead of leaving it to the big dogs.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Reggae Ear Worm

So last night, I was trying to read but for some reason the opening trombone piece of a song kept popping into my head.  All I could remember were six or seven notes from the trombone and the phrase "You don't like that reggae beat."  For some reason, I couldn't get the song out of my head and began digging through my cds trying to figure out what the song was.

I remembered hearing two different versions of the song and I had the idea that the singer might have been Laurel Aitken so I scoured all of my Laurel Aitken cds and all of my Skatelites cds, all to no avail.  I googled the phrase "You don't like that reggae beat" and eventually found a Laurel Aitken recording from 2001-ish entitled Must Be Crazy (Reggae Beat.)  Overjoyed, I returned to my cd collection... and could not find the damn thing!  I thought about calling Greg and humming the beginning and/or asking him if he had any of my Laurel Aitken cds in his possession.  Eventually, pissed off, I gave up the search and went to bed.

Early this morning, while the coffee brewed, I stared at my piles of cds with contempt and watched the video I'd found the previous evening for the third or fourth time.  While Laurel Aitken was the main attraction of the show where the recording was made, Rico Rodriguez was the guest trombone player.  Watching the recording closely, I saw that Rico was actually doing the vocals.  I rushed back into the living room and rifled through my cds for the millionth time.  Sure enough, I had two Rico Rodriguez cds.  I looked at the track listings for both... and noticed no mention of a Reggae Beat.  However, I compared the track listings, remembering that I had two versions of the song.  Sure enough, the song Jungle Beat was on both.  I knew I had the right track in seconds.  Took me long enough but it was worth it.  I've listened to it about ten times today.  Hopefully it will be out of my system by tomorrow.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Productive?

I took today off with very little on my plate.  I think I've been fairly productive.
  • Took thirty or forty pictures of cicadas (See Dawn of the Locusts for some of the best)
  • Ate at the Cracker Barrel with Carrie
  • Went to the bank
  • Threw the ingredients for crock pot curry into the crock pot
  • Conceived a short story while driving to the Cracker Barrel and wrote it from beginning to end (2000-ish words.)
Not bad for a lazy Friday.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

My Favorite Record of All Time

I own probably three hundred cds and a lot of them have gotten considerable play time over the years.  When I think of my favorites, this one is always at or near the top.




That's right.  It's The Question by The Slackers.

There are many reasons why I love this record so much.
  1. The Question was released at a happy time in my life.  Every time I listen to it, I can't help but remember cramming into Steve's car and driving who knows where to see a band, often times The Slackers or another ska band, perform, and then eating at some greasy spoon afterwards.
  2. The cover is pretty damn sweet.  A man getting caught in bed with another woman by his gun-toting wife or girlfriend.
  3. It's a long record.  It seems like albums rarely have more than 12 songs and this one has 19.
  4. If you like ska, there's not a song on it you'll want to skip.  For me, this is the gold standard of Slackers records, a giant among giants.  Just look at the track list for God's sake!  I've made myself hoarse belting these tunes out at Slackers shows since 1997.
    1. Manuel
    2. Knowing
    3. Have The Time
    4. And I Wonder?
    5. No More Crying
    6. Feed My Girl
    7. Mountainside
    8. The Mummy
    9. Motor City
    10. Power
    11. Keep Him Away
    12. The Question
    13. The Question (Version)
    14. Face In the Crowd
    15. Do You Know
    16. Yes It's True
    17. Alone Again
    18. Make Me Smile
    19. No Love
  5. It features my favorite lineup of my favorite band.  Q-Maxx and Zulu were still in the band.
There you go.  If you want to know what makes Dangerous Dan tick, you could go a long way toward finding out by buying this record and listening to it repeatedly.

    Sunday, May 15, 2011

    Sunday Morning Superstition

    Superstition is my favorite Stevie Wonder song and here's a version he did on Sesame Street in the early 70's. Dave Hillyard posted it on Facebook this morning so I'm passing it along.

    Friday, May 13, 2011

    Friday Fun

    Man, it seemed like Blogger was down for six or seven eternities, didn't it?  I kid, I kid.

    Last night, I got an email from the fine folks at NaNoWriMo saying they were doing Camp NaNoWriMo this year, an additional NaNoWriMo in August.  Do I dare?  Two competitive novel writing attempts in one year?  Yes.  I dare.

    Which of my headlocked projects should I attempt to squeeze from my head onto the computer screen?
    •  the Bizarro noir tale?
    •  the time travel story with flesh eating mutants?
    •  the heist story?
    •  the sf western?
    •  something as of yet unimagined?
    So many possibilites...

    Clash of the Titans: Dangerous Dan vs. Big E

    Today, I'll be questioning Eric Thomas, aka Big E, the guy who gave Dangerous Dan his name and also introduced him to the marvels of Steel Reserve malt liquor.  He's also the creator of Hacktastic D/20 Fantasy RPG and the author of The Makings of a Warlock.

    What was the impetus behind the creation of Hacktastic?
    Hatred. When B.P.P. Inc. first started we were running game days using the open d20 system and having a fine time of it. Then when rumors of 4E started and all the open d20 stuff was fading we got a bit pissed off. I’ve spent thousands of my hard earned dollars on D&D for years and finally said enough is enough. It seemed pretty ridiculous to me that to just play D&D you needed to spend $80-$120 just to get the core books. So we made Hacktastic D/20 Fantasy, It is fun, affordable and easy to learn. Now I’ve heard all the complaints that it looks like it was made in a basement, well it was. It also is priced according. I’m not trying to be the next Gary Gygax, I just wanted make an alternative for those who like their gaming fun and don’t want to mortgage their house to play it.

    How did your experience with Lulu differ from your current relationship with Createspace?
    VERY! Createspace is hands down the better option for anyone who wants to self-publish. It is cheaper, easier and above all they have customer service...with if you can believe a real, live person on the other end of e-mails and phone calls.

    How long was The Makings of a Warlock floating around in your cranium before you finally put it on paper?
    Not long really. It just kind of flowed out. Like it was ready to be told.

    Was there a book that made you realize you wanted to be a writer?
    Not really. I always wanted to be a game designer, but wrote my first novel just to see if I could do it. The fans of our game liked it, so I wrote more. Now I enjoy doing it so I keep writing.

    Who are some of your influences (Besides Robert E. Howard)?
    Well Howard goes without saying, but Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser stories, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Mel Odem, Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, George R.R. Martin, Ed Greenwood, All the Thieves World books and of course Tolkien. There are so many others. I find I always take something away from any book I read.

    What's your favorite book?
    The Hobbit hands down. It was what got me interested in gaming and I read it once every year.

    Who's your favorite author?
    It would have to be Howard, though Leiber runs a close second. I mean come on, Conan, Fafhard and the Mouser are such cool characters, how can’t you love them. They live hard, play hard and get all the chicks (at least for a time).

    What's the best book you've read in the last six months?
    I just reread Conan of Cimmeria. The Frost Giant’s Daughter story by Howard is one of my favorites.

    Favorite Kurt Russel movie?
    That is tough...I’ll have to go with Big Trouble in Little China. It has a Six Demon Bag for God sakes!

    Favorite D&D Class/Race combination?
    After thirty years of gaming I have many. I like playing Dwarves or Humans mostly. As far as classes, I like Fighters, Ranger or Rogues. Though lately I have been into spell casting classes.

    If you could punch one celebrity in the face, who would it be?
    Chuck Norris...just to say I did it.

    What was your most memorable gaming experience?
    I guess it would have to be at Die Con a couple of years ago when I looked across the game room and watched thirty or forty gamers working on their characters before a game session and they were all using a game book that I had written. It is kind of crazy, though pretty damned cool.

    Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?
    Well being a fellow that has a Wisdom score of about 9 or 10 I’ll give it a whirl. Write what you think is fun. Once it starts to feel like a job it probably is. Also if you think you are going to quit your job and be the next Hemingway...get ready to eat a whole lot of Romen Noodles and search through your couch for loose change.

    What's next for Eric Thomas?
    The 2nd Warlock book will be out in October. I have to finish the 3rd Warlock book here soon. I have two other books started as well, though they are a bit different flavor than the Warlock stuff I’m doing of B.P.P. Inc. I’m also working on a supplement for the new version of Villains & Vigilantes with my buddies Robert and Terry Crump, as well as another game project with an old friend of mine. All that and some new Hacktastic stuff for Black Pigeon Press Inc. So I guess quite a bit.

    Wednesday, May 11, 2011

    Dangerous Dan Goes to the Movies - Six String Samurai

    Welcome to the first installment of Dangerous Dan Goes to the Movies.  Today, I'll be talking about an old favorite: Six String Samurai!


    In an America devasted by a nuclear attack in the 50's, Elvis has just died and the throne of America is vacant.  Every guitar slinger in the devasted country is heading to Vegas to be crowned the new Rock and Roll king.  Six String Samurai follows the story of Buddy and a feral kid as they cross the wasteland, running afowl of cannibals, Russians, and a metal band led by Death himself.

    Sound awesome?  You bet your ass it is.  It's part spaghetti western, part samurai, part Wizard of Oz, part Mad Max.  The setting is a rundown version of the 1950's, complete with psychotic bowling teams, Cleaver-esque cannibal families, and dying 50's tech.
    The soundtrack is spectacular, both the score and the songs by Russian surf band The Red Elvises.  The acting?  Well, it's passable.  Buddy's good but one of the Russians sounds suspiciously Texan.  And the kid?  I'll talk about him in a moment.

    The visual aspect of the film is by far the best part.  The costume of Buddy and the assassins on his trail are both very distinctive.  Probably because Buddy looks like a post-apocalyptic Buddy Holly and the assassins look like Guns and Roses.

    You wouldn't think a B-movie would have a message but the underlying theme of Six String Samurai seems to be that Rock and Roll is an unstoppable force.  Buddy and the kid keep going up against bigger and bigger threats.  One of my favorite lines in the movie is "Only one man could kill this many Russians."
    If it weren't for the film's 85 minute run time, I'd probably give it a 4.5 out of five.  But I can't go higher than 3.5 for one reason: The Kid.  The Kid, unfortuantely, isn't as cool as the Feral Kid in The Road Warrior.  No, he's annoying, much more like the feral kids we all see every day in real life.  Not only that, he has a negative impact on my enjoyment as far as the end of the movie is concerned.  The little bastard causes Buddy a huge amount of trouble and drags down the entire movie.

    Final verdict:  3.5 out of 5.

    Tuesday, May 10, 2011

    Pteradactyl Samurai: 13 Questions with Kirsten Alene

    The missing piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.  Here is my interview with Kirsten Alene, author of Love in the Time of Dinosaurs

    How did your becoming one of the New Bizarro Authors come about?

    I met Cameron Pierce last year and ended up writing the book for him as a birthday present. When he read it he told me to send it to Kevin Donihe (the editor of the NBAS) immediately.

    Other than Jurassic Park and Anonymous Rex, there's a noticeable lack of dinosaur fiction on
    bookshelves everywhere. What made you go with a human-dinosaur love story?

    I love dinosaurs. When I was nine I discovered that it would be impossible to grow up to be a golden retriever and decided on a Pterodactyl instead. Dinosaurs are really outrageously terrifying. I couldn't think of a better enemy. The love story evolved very organically as I was writing the book. I intended Dinos to be a story about war and destruction. I guess I'm a big softy.

    Was there a book that made you realize you wanted to be a writer?

    I decided I wanted to be a poet when I was seven for no real reason. It sounded like a really good idea at the time. The book that made me realize I COULD be a writer was Andersen Prunty's Zerostrata.

    Who are some of your influences?
    Everything I read goes into a big spaghetti-noodle maker in my mind. It all gets ground up and reused so I really have no idea.

    What's your favorite book?
    100 Years of Solitude. Or In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan. The former is my favorite novel, the latter is my favorite 'thing.'

    Who's your favorite author?
    My first literary love was Arthur Rimbaud. I love L. Ron Hubbard's classic sci-fi western genre explosion works (like Mission Earth and Buckskin Brigade). My favorite literary author is probably Marquez - no matter what else delights me, I always come back to him.

    What's the best book you've read in the last six months?
    I re-read The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton recently. I love Edith Wharton in a girl-ish way. The best new book I've read in the last six months was probably Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes. It was all of the awesome suspense and action of Michael Crichton without all of the over-researched, analytical bull. And there was a giant squid.

    Favorite Kung fu movie?
    They're not EXACTLY Kung-fu movies but, Sukiyaki Western Django and Ran.

    Favorite dinosaur?
    Trachodon. Duh (Although, if Pterodacytls were dinosaurs, it would be the pterodactyl, but they are Pterosaurs, not Dinosaurs).

    If you could punch one celebrity in the face, who would it be?
    Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire. Then I would fall into his arms and marry him.

    What's the strangest thing you've ever ordered at a restaurant?
    I don't know. But I do know that I peel the onion out of onion rings and leave it on my plate. People probably think that's weird.

    Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?
    Don't expect to publish a short story collection in which none of the short stories have been published elsewhere. Listen to editors and take their advice. Even if they are not smarter than you, their perspective is better than yours. No one can judge his own work.

    What's next for Kirsten Alene?
    Grad school. But for right now, I'm working on selecting and editing short stories for the websites Unicorn Knife Fight and Bizarro Central. I have a short story in the new issue of Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens (edited by Bradley Sands) and I'm working on another novel now, a little longer than Dinos about a city of skyscrapers surrounded by water and a group of vigilantes who ride genetically altered bionic unicorns.

    Sunday, May 8, 2011

    Happy Mother's Day!

    Here's what I sent my mom early this morning:





    She was pretty Nintendo savy back in the day so I think she'll get it.  Damn that Mother Brain was frustrating...

    So there was big goddamn explosion at about 5:20 this morning.  It was so loud that I was up and pulling on a pair of paints before I realized what happened.  I heard a siren and then a quieter boom.  I decided it was probably blasting at the quarry not too far from my house.  It was a hell of a way to wake up though.

    I visited my parents yesterday so there won't be a visit today.  I did give my mom a couple Harlen Coben novels and a 16 x 20 print of this:
     





    Maybe I'll venture out in a few minutes and see if any of the neighbors heard that explosion...

    Friday, May 6, 2011

    In Which I Celebrate Seis De Mayo with "Interesting" Blog Stats

    Yeah, I really go out of my way to not do anything on my days off.  I don't consider myself a stats junkie but I do like checking my blog stats.  Here are some that you may find slightly more interesting than watching paint dry.

    Most viewed posts: 
    1. The one where I speculated on who drank what was left of the bottle of tequila I left in my car.  
    2. Kirk Jones interview, partly because people from furniture websites keep posting comments on it, which I immediately delete.
    3. A Nap I took in September.  No idea why my nap was so interesting
    4. A three way tie between the Steve Lowe interviewthe James Steele interview, and the Eric Hendrixson interview 
    Interesting search terms:
    1. while the coffee brews
    2.  april hairy pics
    3. hairy april pics
    4. barbed wire testicle
    Meanwhile, over at Dangerous Dan's Book Blog:
    Most viewed posts:
    1. Blossom by Andrew Vachss.  Vachss linked to this review so it has about ten times more views than #2
    2. Earth Abides
    3. Kraken
    4. a four way tie between Blue Belle, The Walrus and the Warwolf, Bucket of Face, and Behind the Walls of Terra.  The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness Wiki linked to The Walrus and the Warwolf, which probably accounts for its position.

    Tuesday, May 3, 2011

    Tres De Mayo

    There should be a holiday called Cinco De Mayonnaise where people eat dishes where everything contains that blessed condiment.

    Well, I have 500 more words than I did this morning on the bizarro detective story that's been festering in my head the past couple of weeks.  I'm still not decided on my main character's first name or the title but the story is pretty complete in my head.  I guess I'll have to take some time out of my busy schedule of reading and sitting around to do some writing. 

    The gas station was out of gas when I stopped this morning.  You'd think that would be the one thing they'd manage to keep in stock.

    Sunday, May 1, 2011

    May Day

    Wow.  April came and went rather quickly.

    I finished How to Eat Fried Furries last night and have now finished reading the 2010-2011 New Bizarro Author Series.  I have no regrets.  I'll have to read a few more books I already own before I embark on another Bizarro binge of that magnitude.  Special thanks to Steve Lowe for enticing me to try them in the first place. 

    I spent most of Friday putting new gutter guards on my house.  No rain yet to test them.  The blisters on my thumbs have almost healed.  Note to self: When you have the soft hands of a computer programmer, it's best to wear gloves when you do manual labor.

    Today is the day the Dark Tower group on Goodreads starts re-reading The Waste Lands.  I may have jumped the gun and started last night.  Today is also the day I told myself I'd better get back on the writing horse.  No word if that's actually going to happen.  I've got a ton of housework to catch up on.  Damn laundry and vacuuming!

    If you give birth today, don't forget to put your baby on the boat so it won't grow up to become Mordred and kill King Arthur.