Dragone's Last Adventure

So I haven't read anything recently.  But, I have written lots of stuff.

This is a short story I wrote awhile ago.  I actually wrote this after helping my best friend on one of our fishing adventures.  The first paragraph was just me day dreaming as we walked through long grass, but hey, it got this started.

Dragone's Last Adventure:

His glaive glanced across the long grass. It just barely beat the blades as he strode across the savannah. The glaive's freshly polished blade gleamed brightly as the sun caressed him. He could feel the pole against the right side of his back ,just resting on his belt, and pressed against his jerkin. The pole then lay across his forearm, perpendicular to his form, blade slightly tilted up. So very little pressure was needed to carry the blade in that position. He would need to conserve his energy.

Today was a day to be cautious. He had thrown the stones this morning; all hexes. Never a good omen. He had rolled worse and survived. The hex that spelled mistake pointed North West, only a minor mistake. Most likely that rock that had fallen into his boot the other night; the same pebble he had forgotten to knock out this morning. The troubling stone though was not the one in his boot but the Death Stone that fell this morning. An ambiguous stone. He never liked taking a life, and the stone generally meant that. He had done it many times before, and most likely would have to do it again. This time though, it probably meant the death of a friend. The one he now searched for. If true, it had even worse consequences. Baricos was a strong fighter, a savage fighter. If he were dead, someone skilled would have been on the other side of the blade. Of course, the Death Stone could mean something else; something it reads only once for any single individual...

His left finger rubbed at his arm guard. It unconsciously brought a small piece of parchment that lay between the leather and the plate. A picture of a man with a blade holding the hand of a boy. A picture drawn by a son left at home for a father that was only a visitor. That boy loved him. That boy would be the reason why the Death Stone did not fall for him that day.

The creatures were following him again. He could not hear them, but his clean blade reflected the world just passed. The creatures themselves remained low, but they still parted the high grass as they traveled. They had been behind him since he came into this savannah three days ago. It was nice to have company again. The days before that were traveling up a river, and his only company had been the constant rolling sound and that stupid pebble that he kept trying to catch with his toes so that it wouldn't roll and be a pain in his arch. He should have remembered to remove that this morning.

He stumbled. The creatures behind made a small cackle. The head of a stone spear just cleared the grass as they stopped. He smiled, knowing now what they were. Cackling and stone spears? Pygmy Gnolls followed behind. There were two on the right, which meant three were to his left side. It meant they were no threat to Baricos, and no threat to him. It meant the fact that he hunted his food since he was in the Savannah would have won their respect. The trip had taken longer than he thought it would have to get this far, and he'd of run out of food on his way back if he hadn't done the hunting. His decision would have impressed these creatures, and his leaving behind small amounts of food left for them to feed upon would befriend them to him. He did not leave a wasteful amount, an obvious bribe; he made it look like he ate his fill, and left just scraps. Scraps were all they needed.

But they would not eat the scrap that now lay just to his right. The grass split open like a diseased wound, and revealed a green arm ending in clawed nails. He gulped. Baricos was dead and dismembered. His arm laid alone, fist clenched tight as if it should be gripped to a hilt. The fingers had been broken to remove the hand's clutch, that held tight even in death.

A step beyond the hand, and the dogs yipped. They would not cross that line. Before him were hills, and not far from that would be his target. He walked further before slamming the glaive into the ground. A simple shrug and his bag fell to the ground. He gave a glare to the pygmy gnolls behind, which now gathered in plain sight to watch him. His hand adjusted the straps that held the plates to his left side. He stood tall, re-adjusting his gorget to cover his lower face. He stretched one last time before grabbing his glaive.

And off. His guard arm in front of his face, keeping the grass and wind out of his eyes. His right arm trailed behind with the glaive. He was low to the ground as he sprinted, and only the grass split before him. The glaive itself whipped about behind him like a bladed tail. A boulder simply meant he jumped on top, before leaping back into the grass, taking the brief moment to survey the land and change direction just slightly.

With a great motion, his right arm flipped forward. The grass, beheaded, flung into the air, picked up by the wind and brought to new homes. His glaive rested across his back again as he surveyed this different ground. The land had been cleared of grass. Nothing but dirt remained, but water from another location had been brought in, and this alien water left patches of ground with hardened mud. It would crunch beneath his feet if he stepped upon it, and he would slide. He grappled the pebble between his toes. The same Sun that had quickly changed what had been puddles into these mud cakes is the same sun that made him now sweat. But it was that sweat that cooled his body as a slight breeze pushed all the grass towards the solo shack that overlooked a pit into an abyss. His presence was made unaware, and there was only but a soul left. Inside the shack, idle motion stirred.

The door creaked open. A tall and lanky man stepped out, his head in a ledger. Long ears and pale skin, mixed with the long green cloak, and two blades tied to the hip of said Elf. One of those hilts had small scratches that would have been made by an orc's uncut claws. His eyes slowly climbed from the book up to the knight before him, then quickly jumped around the open field for others. This man came alone. His eyes then were left to examine the solitude sentry. A badge on the right shoulder caused the elf's eyes to jump again. The book dropped into one of the cracked puddles, his hands diving to his blades as he looked into the sky. Clear, bright, and only a slight breeze.

“You came alone?”

The man did not answer. He only examined the elf. A simple jerkin and leggings, the two blades, and a cloak. All greenish-browns with whisks of gold to blend into the Savannah Grass, and the leggings were caked in mud. The jerkin did not fit right, and the straps were pulled to their limit to keep it as tight as possible. It wasn't made for the elf, but a creature with a much broader chest and shoulders. Most likely the same creature that the hilt in elf's left hand truly belonged to.

“They sure did escalate this quick. But not quick enough. The shipment is already gone. We're done with this place.”

The elf didn't lie, the man was late. Perhaps if he hadn't slowed to hunt to appease pygmies he'd of been here earlier. Early enough to know what the elf was talking about it. But he didn't come here to unveil a plot. He came here to avenge the death of a friend.

The elf drew his blades with a laugh. One was a simple rapier, but the other proved this elf killed Baricos. A scimitar made of obsidian that reflected red. Serrated by shattered obsidian, cruel and deadly. A blade created ages ago by people who could not fashion steel, but could still imagine deaths painful and slow. “You recognize the blade! You know whose hands I took it from, and he was smart enough to bring his mount as well. I killed the both of them without this blade, I surely can kill you.”

Poor elf. Didn't know it was already dead. Yes, Baricos was strong and a friend of this knight. But there was a reason Baricos was a Manticore Rider, and this one served the dragons directly. Baricos was brutal, and straight forward. His mind tracked one way, how to kill his enemy. It won Baricos every battle but apparently one. But this knight did not think in such a fashion. He thought about how the dirt felt under his feet, and how the wind felt in his hair. How that same wind blew the elf's cloak about behind him. The smile on the elf's face reflected over-confidence in his abilities as well as cruelty. He would go for wounding blows so he could boast his kill before the death blow. The man focused how the elf's right arm was strained with the weight of the scimitar he had never used before. The stance, the smile, his recent kill all made this elf lacking fear. And when this elf had terror grip over him, he'd become a different monster altogether. First, the knight wanted to know more.

He charged forward with his glaive. He aimed straight for the Elf's chest. The elf laughed as he had to make a simple side step to avoid the blade. The elf's blades swung in a scissor to cut the knight down in the middle. The swords cleared cleanly through the air. On the roof of the building the knight stood, surveying the area. The glaive had been pressed into the ground, and pole-vaulted him to the roof. His left arm lifted the blade back up to his shoulder as he looked into the pit. The pit had been self dug by the hands of pygmy gnolls. Coerced and enslaved, they had been forced to dig a deep pit into the ground. Water had been used to make digging quicker, and filled the bottom of the pit. Water and blood, and if it was any hotter out that mix would boil. A few days ago, archers had lined the rim of the pit, and shot arrows in. Some arrows still stuck into the walls, and no-one had cared to clean up the corpses of the gnolls. Nor the ogres that floated in the pool at the bottom. Nor the carcass of the orc that had spent his last moments fighting in that pit, their flesh all being cooked in the heat. Baricos attack made them quicken the process, and the elf never had a chance to clean his pants since then. Speaking of murderous elves...

The elf had backed up, and pulled out his composite bow. The elf had used that bow to weaken Baricos while Baricos slaughtered the ogres. But now, the elf was having a hard time aiming. The heat was high, and the knight seemed to shimmer on the roof. Did the knight stand in the middle, or on one of the sides of the building? If the elf couldn't narrow it down, he'd shoot all of them. An arrow was released, and before the first arrow even got to the building a second arrow was being notched back and flying forward. The man launched himself, from any of his multiple positions, glaive raised high above his head. As the three came upon the elf, they focused into one form. One quick shot, and the elf could stick the knight, but he'd also be dead. The elf instead jumped back, dropping the arrow.

The glaive crossed down and around. It missed the elf, but the blow shattered the bow just inches from his stomach. The knight landed, still mid swing, and spun up and around. The earth was scarred by the spin, and then the sky was cut high. The glaive came down again at the scattering elf. The blade glanced across the jerkin, a shimmer as the elf's wards protected against the cut. The glaive would not pierce through the leather this time, but the blunt force was still felt, and the elf was thrown to his ass. The elf rolled back over his head and onto his feet, drawing out the blades, again showing Baricos' Hexblade. The elf still believed he had an advantage. It was time to crush that.

The knight went forward with the glaive, swinging down and right at maximum distance. The elf jumped out of the way, but before he landed the blade came back up towards his stomach. He arched back, the blade just cutting above him. The blade came straight down, forcing the elf to dive to his left. The blade followed low to cut the downed elf. The elf recovered fast enough and jumped over the blade. The elf's cruel smile flashed. The dodging had covered the distance, and now the elf was on the man's left side, and both blade's flashed down. The knight looked up surprised.

Surprised the elf thought that would actually work. The blades' stopped on the man's left arm. A single arm kept back the full strength of the elf. No ward gleamed, no shimmer of magic, this man did it with only the plate mail and the strength of his arm. The glaive dropped to the ground, and a fist rammed itself into the elf's stomach. Once alone was enough to double the elf over. The full force of the knight's shoulder sent the elf down, rolling onto the ground. The elf rolled and stopped himself on his knees, blades straight forward. A charging man would have been impaled by those blades.

But the knight stayed back. He picked up his glaive and slammed the staff into the ground. It stood tall like metal flag that refused to wave to the occasional gusts of wind. He drew his true weapon, a longsword sheathed at his belt. The Honor Blade, it had a blue light glow about it, runes written down its center. Such an underestimated weapon, so few knowing its strength. He admired his sword for a moment.

His eyes turned back to the Elf. The elf now understood what was going, and fear had struck him. The elf's eyes now darted to the door of the building, to the pit, to the rolling hills behind, and to the knight himself. Running made the most sense, but the old man had proved himself to be fast, and running would not get him far. The man looked at the hexblade, and he knew the elf understood the one thing that would spare his life. Baricos' blade must be relinquished, and the elf would be taken as a prisoner to face justice. Unfortunately, the same blade that was required to surrender was the same blade that emboldened the elf to charge forth.

The elf, enraged, attacked with both blades. The elf now moved faster, and the knight spent much of his concentration on backing up during the onslaught. Defensive now, he examined how the elf swung the blades, and the common attacks. The elf was skilled for sure. Ambidextrous, he could swing his blades in opposing directions and still keep himself protected from an easy strike. But the heat pounded down upon the two, and the elf was already sweating. The knight could simply win by exhausting the elf if so desired. The elf had already shown it battled much akin to the hexblade's last master, not thinking of deceit but of how to kill. Every weak spot the man showed, the elf bought into and tried to strike. One particular strike was a slash down with the hexblade, a stab forward with the rapier, and then a stab up with the hexblade. The knight feinted to the left, letting the hexblade stab to always almost hit him in the stomach.

It was time to end it though. The elf slashed down, and the man made his normal dodge left. The elf stabbed forward, but this time the knight slashed his blade down to knock the rapier down, and hold both blades on the ground. He then charged at the elf, rushing his blade across the top of the elves' blades. The Honor blade slashed across the elf as he charged behind. The wards kept the blade from cutting until the blade crossed the elf's shoulder, cutting deep into the upper bicep. The knight slashed back across the same shoulder, cutting in again now but from behind.

The elf's right arm, the arm that held the hexblade was wounded. The elf spun, as expected, to his left. His rapier slashing across, just outside the range of the knight. The wild slash left the elf's chest open. The knight took this chance, charging in and stabbing into the elf's chest, his left hand in position to grab the incoming hex blade. The Honor Blade hit true, slightly on the right side in the middle of the chest, piercing the heart. The longsword cut cleanly through, and emerged on the other side of the elf. Nothing but a gasp exited the elf's lips.

That blasted pebble. The one in the man's right boot had slid out from under his toe, to under his arch. This caused a quick pain to lift his right foot a little too much. That foot slid forward more than expected. His knee bent, and his body lowered slightly. His left hand, the one intended to stop the terrible obsidian scimitar, was supposed to stop the slash at the wrist. With the extra motion forward, and the lowered grab, he instead stopped the attack at the elbow. This gave the elf the leverage needed to complete a swing with the hexblade. The arm was wounded, and the man's jerkin was strong, still the edge cut through leather, and scratched his flesh. Just a small bit of blood trickled out of the knight's side as the elf's blood gushed onto his sword hand.

He pushed the now lifeless elf off his longsword. The man cleaned his blade, and sheathed the sword. He wouldn't have even noticed the cut if it weren't for that little trickle of blood. His eye jumped from the wound to that horrendous blade. Baricos' Hexblade had cut his flesh. The Blood drinker, Jumlin, a blade made ages ago by the Ursians to kill ogres. To give the ogres a slow and debilitating death. A wound made by the blade would not heal, but grow larger and fester over time. The knight's gauntlet dropped to the ground as he felt at his jerkin's cut mark.

Five days. That's how much time the man gave himself before he died from such a small grazing. If he could make it home, his wife had the ability to heal him. But it had taken him eight days to get where he was now. But that had been upriver, and now he would go down river. That would save him perhaps a day, maybe more if lucky. He had spent extra time hunting the last few days. If he hadn't, on his way home he'd have run out of food. He had also come up armored, and looking for Baricos. His hands undid the straps, and let all his plate mail fall to the ground. If he survived, he could return. If he did not survive, his prized glaive and armor would do him no good. Lighter, he could conserve his energy and travel faster. He grabbed the blade that wounded him, the blade that would kill him, and sheathed it.

This walk would be long. Long and arduous. But he had rolled worse on the stones, and had survived harder. This would at least end with his family again. He took off his boot, and dumped out the rock.  

1Q84

I tried to up my game, and read a bit more complicated and longer book than the ones before.  This time around, I went for a book suggested by my local bartender.  After a conversation about David Lynch films, I was told I might enjoy 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.  Both in an attempt to impress the woman, as well as to just try something new, I went to my local library and started reading.

I will be doing some spoilers, but I’m trying to tone it down a bit here.

The book takes place in Japan in 1984.  It follows two characters who are very different from each other.  Aomame (Japanese for Green Bean) is a physical therapist, while Tengo is an attempting writer.  The book starts very normal, and the writer is apt at describing people, their clothing, and what they eat.  But, after Aomame has to get out of cab in the middle of the highway and climb down a set of stairs, the world starts to change.  At first its just little things.  Then bam, Aomame is also an assassin.

All of a sudden, the story speeds up and everything gets really interesting.  There’s the “little people” trying to influence the world, dog’s randomly explode, people vanish.  The stories of the two main characters, which start off having nothing in common, slowly have their stories intertwine.  So much so that we find out that they are destined lovers from the age of 10.  It gets super interesting and involved and I found it hard to put the book down.  Every chapter brought some new revelation, or a new mystery that I needed to get to the bottom of.

Then the last section happens, and I still can’t put the book down.  Now for a different reason though... I want it over.  The book slows down immensely.  The first two sections are exciting and really establish strong characters.  The characters are being proactive in their worlds.  But the third section, they’ve accomplished their goal, and now they are much more passive.  The main female, Aomame, becomes a love-sick puppy just sitting around crying.  While Tengo is searching for her, he’s kind of stumbling in the dark.  The last section goes from every chapter bringing up something new, to feeling much like “didn’t I just read this chapter?”

Still, I enjoyed the book.  It was fascinating, and while it was slow, the ending was still entertaining.  It was also fun to read a non-American style of writing.  The author’s descriptions were great, and his ability to reference other things was so interesting that I found myself looking up whatever he talked about.

So what were the themes?  Well, the book is an homage to 1984 by George Orwell.  A similar theme both have is the idea of rewriting history.  History is what is written and known.  Unlike George Orwell’s Big Brother, 1Q84 have the little people.  They have made small, insignificant changes, to history.  But these only changes have snowballed into major events, which have warped much of the world.  But something else that Murakami touches on is that it only works if you aren’t aware whose pulling the strings.  This new world begins to unravel when Tengo, without knowing, writes a novel that exposes the puppet masters.  I loved both concepts there, that you can change history and ones perception of reality, by making small changes here and there which a lot of big things.  E.g. the assassination of Franz Ferdinand isn’t that big of deal alone, but it is the incident that erupted WWII.  But this power only exists if people don’t know what you are doing.  Expose the liars, and the lies fall apart as well.

Another theme is destined love.  The two main characters met, for a moment, when they were 10 years old.  Since then, they have both been yearning for the other.  So much so, that neither can fully love another human being.  It’s cute, it’s romantic, it’s sappy.  I also hate it.  Maybe I’ve just never felt it yet, but I don’t believe in that type of love.  That’s not saying I don’t believe in love, but to basically be waiting my 2 decades of my life in hopes that someone I love just drops back into my world is ridiculous, and not healthy.  Now, there’s some mention that these two were chosen early... but we’re supposed to identify with them, the story is ours as well.  I just find this specific concept of love to be bogus.

Another thing the writer explores is this idea of ambiguity. The Little People in the book are ominous, but not necessarily evil.  They are seeking their own goals, but their goal isn’t necessarily vile.  They are willing to go out of their way to stop people from getting in their way, their long term goals don’t actually seem evil.  Also, many despicable characters aren’t even that bad.  The Leader is built up to be some horrendous man, and when you meet him he isn’t that bad of a guy.  Ushikawa is one of the major antagonists, but I never found myself hating the guy.  He might have been unethical, and I might have disliked the people he worked for, but I never disliked him.

Further exploring this ambiguity is this concept of people have two sides.  Again, neither side is evil, but they do seem to be operating differently for different goals.  The book was rife with imagery of doubles.  There are two main characters, and the book is split between the two.  There are two moons.  There are two cults.  Every person has two sides.  Neither side is described as better than the other, or worse, but they both are required.  Without one side, you aren’t complete.  To be full, you need both.

I feel like there is a lot more to this book, too.  Unfortunately, many of the references are beyond me.  With David Lynch’s material, there are plenty of Red Herrings, but there are tons of these tiny things, that if you understand the reference, so much more becomes clear.  Murakami mentions so many things throughout, and I feel so many were references that if I knew I might understand the book more.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to do that much research, especially since I don’t know which is him showing off on how smart and well read he is, and how much are keys to hidden themes to the book.

The book was entertaining.  It’s a bestseller for a reason, and I would recommend reading it.  It’s a long book though, and has a lot going on.

Oh Myyyy!

George Takei’s “Oh Myyy!”

Want to read a diary of an old man’s perspective on the internet?  No?  How about...you want to read George Takei’s book, “Oh Myyy!”  Yeah?  Well the two are one and the same.  

This book was simple, and yet entertaining.  It came and went quickly.  The only reason it took me an entire month to read it is because I kept trying to read it while at work.  I have to learn to accept that I will no longer have breaks in my calls; that the rest of my time on the phone is going to be insane back-to-back getting screamed at, and I will no longer get a stress relief between.

I am instead trying to read a little before I go to work.  It was great for this book as the chapter’s were short and to the point.  It’s mostly George Takei explaining how he views things, and his perception of social media and how it grows.  A large portion of it is him remembering key moments of hilarity, while other chapters are him actually theorizing how social media is going to go.

Throughout the book, he compares himself as the crazy uncle of the family.  His book is much the same in that its awesome for short periods of times, but if you had to go on a long sprawling hike, his antics would become annoying.  Luckily, the chapters in this book are short.  They are entertaining, but you see the point that if he keeps talking about the subject things are going to start to either get very boring, or very awkward... or possibly both at the same time.  Takei is quite good at stopping at a point where you might keep thinking on the subject, without killing it.

My favorite part of the book was him discussing the ability to laugh at oneself.  I personally enjoyed it because many people I discuss things with find the insult in everything, and scream at it.  There are times to sit back and laugh.  There are times to allow yourself to be made fun of.  Still, Takei ignores the fact that some jokes are used to denigrate certain classes... but at times you can laugh and say “fuck off” to those who would the joke in such a fashion.

This book could probably be read in a single sitting.  It’s easy, quick, quirky, and at times fun.  But it also doesn’t have any sustenance.  He muses on social media and where its going, but he doesn’t add anything new to the subject.  The beginning ramblings of an Social Studies or Advertising firm.  But, much like “liking” his page, it’s not about sustenance, but about laughing and having a good time.  He provides that.

Bonk

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

I already feel behind on my goals for this year as I’m just now finishing my first book.  My first read of the year was Bonk, by Mary Roach.  I had read her previous book, Stiff, which is about death and how we treat our dead.  And as always, her book was entertaining while educational.

Mary Roach’s books, or at least the two I’ve read and what I’ve heard about the others, involve her taking a deep scientific research into a subject.   Her books feel almost as you traveling around the world with her as she discovers new knowledge.  The book is an exploration, not just of the subject but of how people study the subject.  And these journeys take you to places you would not expect to go, such as a pig farm, or a country that seems to despise sex and women.

This keeps the book from being a dry read.  While it is research of a subject, she doesn’t include pages and pages that contain graphs or statistical analysis.  For the most part, this is a good thing as it doesn’t bog the book down and allows people who don’t want to (or incapable of) digest numbers and research to come to the same conclusion.  At times though, I really do wish the research was right there, and not just because the subject is sex, but because I’m naturally distrustful of information given to me without evidence.  But, Mary Roach is not a distrustful writer, and will often report if follow up studies have been done or not (often times they have not), and if there was any discrepancies, and what those discrepancies were.  She also makes sure to point out when certain studies may be outdated or how cultural issues may have affected the outcomes.  She also admits when she might have a bias.

Each chapter is designated to a specific topic.  In that chapter, she’ll time travel through the research done that brings us to the current research being done, and how minds have changed about certain subjects.  For the most part, this just makes the reading more entertaining (especially laughing at what people once believed).  At times though, I found this to be confusing.  Especially the beginning chapters, where it felt like we were jumping back and forth between the same set of people.  By the end, it all made sense and I understood what was going on, but still I thought it might have been better handled to just talk about all the research done in the 1800s at once, followed by all the research done in the 1900s, and then all the research done by Kinsey and that crew.  That also may have made the book a lot more dry, and would have its own difficulties (such as that of following a specific subject).

Mary Roach adds a lot of flavor to the book.  There are jokes, there is sarcasm, and there is plenty of laughter in between all the knowledge.  This makes the book an entertaining read.  There are a few points where I, a discerning and hopefully intelligent individual, was almost confused if she was being sarcastic, sardonic, or actually telling the truth.  This makes me worried about the more foolish individuals out there (*cough* legitimate rape *cough*) who might not be as discerning as me.

Part of the problem with a book like this is that I do my reading while at work.  If a customer calls in though, I have to drop the book and get right with the customer.  For any sci-fi or fantasy book, this is no problem.  For a book where I’m actually learning things, this means a lot of re-reading and trying process what was going on.  It is also really hard to go back to answering phones with the word “Clitoral Orgasm” being the last word you read.  This not only aided in my confusion at the early chapters, but also in that it took me an entire month to finish such a small book.

Over-all, I enjoyed this book.  It may have permanently ruined certain words for me (e.g. Ungloved), but over-all I’m glad I read it.  Its not a book about how to have sex, how to improve your sex life, or anything like that, but it is a book that explores various cultures and times views on sex, and how we currently understand how sex works, how it is started, and what side effects can occur.  It explores various hypotheses, theories, and some just plain weird ideas.  It was enjoyable.  I would strongly recommend not reading this where you will be asked to talk to customers at the drop of the hat though, as you may just say something accidentally.

Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks

In 2013, I watched a show filmed in 1999 about the early 1980’s.  Yes, I’m a Time Traveler, because that’s over 3 decades of history being covered.  Not only that, but this time travel allows you to see many stars when they were young, such as Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel, and my favorite John Francis Daley (Dr. Lance Sweets from Bones).  The best episodes of the show were written by Judd Apatow, who has written many great comedies since then, including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

The show focuses on the Weirs, Lindsay and Sam.  Lindsay is a junior in high school, while Sam is her younger brother as a Freshman.  After a hinted at traumatic event, Lindsay starts burning out from school and hanging out with the “Freaks” of the school.  Sam himself is a geek, and is just trying to get used to school.  While there were some anachronisms, the show seemed to be pretty true for an era that I held in high regard despite not being in High School at the time.

The show starts off as if its a bunch of after school specials.  Episodes about premarital sex, drugs, skipping classes, and all those evil things high school students say.  Everything is given the hype that was instilled in the age, such as the father repeatedly saying “I know someone who did X, and you know where they are now?  Dead!”  Most episodes has Sam having to live in the fear of whatever X is, and freaking out, while Lindsay is being forced to deal with it.   As Lindsay is one of the main character, she rarely directly does any of the bad things, but has to deal with her friends and their actions and how they reflect on her.

Its cute and fun...for awhile.  Unfortunately, mid-season, I started getting bored.  The shows, while not formulaic, were predictable.  Lindsay’s friends are going to do something stupid, Lindsay is going to get dragged into it, and Sam is going to deal with a related problem.  The after-school specialness drug on, and I almost left the show.

I stuck with it though, and the let set of episodes is worth it.  Judd Apatow takes over the writing, and it dramatically gets better.  The issues are no longer just “don’t do drugs,” but actual real issues, such as finding out your best friends father is cheating on your best friends mom, and how to deal with that.  Sam and Lindsay’s plot lines are no longer parallel, and the side characters begin to learn and change.  The show also stops being so episodic, and more serial.

The show was cancelled after only 19 episodes.  I understand why it was; it simply got boring in the middle.  It was in competition with That 70’s Show at the time, which while much more silly, was also much more consistently entertaining. At the same time, I find it unfortunate that Freaks and Geeks did get cancelled.  Middle of the show I was ready to quit, but that final episode made me want so much more.  I wanted to know where the characters were going.  The issues they started to deal with were real and not just a bunch of silly stoners.  Under Apatow, I could see the show having been as good as The Wonder Years.  But, it didn’t learn to fly until it was too late.

My recommendation level for this show:  If you’re bored, or really want to see a young Dr. Lance Sweets.  It was entertaining, it was cute, and it had potential to be super cute and emotional... but it never got the chance to develop that way.  It could have been a show that would get me to cry, like The Wonder Years or Scrubs’ finale... but it wasn’t.  So it ends with cute, it ended up being worth my time to watch.  I also understand why it got cancelled.

New Years Resolutions for 2013

New Years Resolutions:

On-going Resolutions:

1. Physical health.  Basically, I want to see myself push myself harder.  I want to do more races, and see myself further improve.  Also, I want to do more upper body, and I hope signing up for obstacle course races will help me build up for that.  I felt great about my progress last year, and hope to see equally impressive growth this year.

2.Continue growing my comic book.  Obviously, I want to keep putting out pages.  In the month of December I had around 150 visitors to my comic book with minor to no advertising... I’d like to add at least a 0 to that number by the end of the year, if not more.  I don’t think this is the year to plan to go to a comic-con, but maybe bring my comic to a smaller Portland based comic-convention.

3. Read more.  It might be harder for me this year to read more than last year, as a lot of my “readings” were audio books, and I’m making less long drives and have less access to audio books.  Still, I’d like to at least read the same amount of books a I did last year.

4. Write more.  I started this strong last year, but it kind of dwindled at the end of the year.  I’d like to try to do more with my collection of short stories, to try to write / finish some old scripts, and prepare more for Dameon Strykes.  Hell, if I just have to blog more, that’ll work.  Writing is my art, and I really need to put more effort into it than I was at the end of the year.

5. Continue being awesome.  This means I want to continue to be an amazing friend, a great son, a hard worker, someone who is over-all happy with life, and most importantly, someone who I am proud to be.  It’s worked well for me so far, so lets just keep it up.

Failed Resolutions I’d like to try for again:

6. Video editing.  As has been my continuing resolution since I graduated, I’d like to get a paid editing gig. I don’t care if its temporary or not, I’d like to finally get paid for my work that has received acclaim in the past.  This might be the last year I try for this before I just realize its not meant to be.

7. Find a job I am happy with.  I’m not sure if I count this “Failed” last year as I was pretty okay with my job last year until the dramatic changes occurred.  Still, I’d like to have a job / career that I am happy with.  I’d like to mention that this doesn’t necessarily mean getting a new job, but could entail changing my mindset about my current job and focus on the positives of it.

New Resolutions:

8. Go on an adventure.  Last year I went to Las Vegas and Asheville.  This year I already have plans to go to New Orleans.  I’d like to try to get another big vacation / adventure in this year where I do something new.  Maybe this will be the year I finally do a road trip (although, a road trip really needs friends willing to participate).  Still, I’ll think of something new to do.

9.  More tattoos.  Already scheduled for one, and I think I want to get the Norse one before the year is up.  This is one of those “Gimme”  resolutions so that I can end the year without failing all of them.

10.  Geek out more.  I think this should be the year of the geek for me.  I am a nerd, and a geek at heart, and I really should let that out more.

11.  Get good at something new.  This is an “Eh” resolution, but I would like to see myself get “Good” at something new.  I’m mediocre at bowling, I’m mediocre at playing pool, I’m mediocre at fencing, I’m mediocre at comedy.  I’m mediocre at a lot of things, and I’d like to be good at one of them.  I’d also accept me joining a team sport kind of thing, like baseball.

12.  Family.  Last few years I tried to fix, repair, or salvage my old definition of family.  I don’t think I have enough duct tape to make the shattered remnants of my family look like how it used to. So as opposed to trying to “fix” my family, I believe I’m going to have to redefine my perception of family.   I should reach out to my extended family more that lives in the Portland area.  I also want to make sure that my friend is still included in my definition of family.

13.  Help my friend graduate from graduate school.  It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve been beside her through the whole process, but this year my best friend is graduating, and one of my personal goals is to make sure she gets there, sane, and with a damn amazing thesis.

2012

The Year was 2012 (AD).

Was.  Soon it won’t be.  Soon it will be 2013, and its time to see go back and judge 2012.

2012 started with me in tears.  2011 ended with me breaking up with my GF, and returning to being her best friend.  But at the beginning of 2012, I realized I was still pining to get her back, and I had to get that out.  I spent the first 2 days of 2012 listening to Modest Mouse, The Cranberries, Alanis Morissette, and writing perhaps one of the most personal scripts I’ve ever written.  As one friend on FB put it, “I’m surprised you didn’t kill yourself.”  Well, the goal was to kill part of myself, or to get it all out of my system.

It worked.  One of my 2012 resolutions was to get over her, and return to being her best friend...and I’m going to say I accomplished that well.  2012 might have started with me still longing for her, but it ended with me feeling like Family.  It ended with me celebrating Christmas with her and her family, and then her with my family.  Throughout the year there were some fights, some low and high points, but at the end of the year she is my best friend, and I’m thankful we worked through the problems that have arisen. This is most definitely a positive for the year, as there were many times things could have gone wrong.  While I’m sure more problems will arise as time goes on, I am confident we’ll fight through those, too.

I also rekindled some old friendships, too.  My move to Portland has allowed me to spend more time with one of my high school best friends here.  Ironically, moving away from Eugene made me realize I was leaving friends down there, and since then my Eugene friends and I have been talking more.  Surprisingly, an old work colleague and I got re-acquainted as well.  We hang out quite regularly, and she’s become my movie buddy.  How could this be a negative? It’s not.

Despite my attempts, I didn’t really make any new friends.  I put myself out there to meet new people, and while I got many new acquaintances, I didn’t get any new friends.  A few people that were also regulars at such and such bar, some of the comedy crew, but not any people I’ll be calling to hang out with.  If they are there, awesome...if not, *shrug*.  So I’m not really heartbroken about this, and won’t count it as a negative.

Same is true with my attempts at dating.  I got to go on quite a few dates with a variety of women.  One is in line for “rudest” end of date I’ve ever had, and another is in line for “craziest.”  There were also lots of mediocre ones inbetween.  One girl I saw regularly for a period of time, but it became obvious early on that we desired different things in the long run and that we wouldn’t ever work out as a couple.  I feel some remorse that nothing really worked out for me this year, but at the same time... I’m glad I’m not settling.  As one friend, who had years of bad dates before she met someone whom she fell head-in-over-heels love with said, its worth waiting for someone good.  It’s a minor negative.

I was in the ring for comedy for a bit there.  One of my resolutions was to really try for it.  For awhile there, I was going 3-4 nights a week.  I got up on Helium, and I was getting to the stage I felt like I could do a paid set.  For that reason, I’ll say I accomplished my goal.  Problem is, it was really taxing on me, both financially and on me as a person.  I’m an introvert, and I felt like I had little energy for anything else.  That’d be great if I felt like I was growing as a person, but I wasn’t.  Comedy is competitive, and I’m a person who does things because I enjoy them.  I like being that person, and comedy was changing me away from that.  There were other problems as well, but thats the main thing.  I might do more in the future, but it will be because its fun for me, and not because I want to make a career of it like so many of my fellow comedians.  While I lean towards a positive, I’m going to count this as a neutral aspect in my life.

I also moved a lot this year.  I lived in three different houses, which I guess when compared to some friends who were homeless for awhile, I should be thankful for.  The first place I loved, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to move out earlier than expected.  The next place I found seemed like it was the perfect place.  While the place itself was great, the next 6 months with my roommate made my life miserable.  Near the end, I didn’t leave my room unless I had to because I hated the encounters that occurred.  A quick summation would be “Bad times.”

But after that, I moved into my current apartment.  My current place is less of a financial strain, but more importantly, I have a much improved roommate.  We get along, have great conversations, play the same video games, and overall its a good experience.  I am reluctant to call any place “Home,” and I haven’t had a “home” for years, but I am very comfortable here, and look forward to staying here.  So, despite the “Bad times,” I would consider my living situation as an overall positive.

I had a lot of bad things this year, too.  Opposite of my relationship, I started this year in the job I loved.  I was Quality Assurance as well as a Price-Shopper.  I listened to people’s phone calls, and gave managerial feedback.  I also looked up the rates of our competitors, and made price suggestions for us.  I never dealt with customers.  Hell, the only time in my job I talked to someone is during my monthly reviews with my manager.  During this time, I was able to watch TV while at work and marathoned all of Doctor Who, Torchwood, How I met Your Mother, Babylon 5, and other amazing TV shows.  It was low stress, but I still busted my butt and got a lot of work done that I was still getting high praises from my boss.  Then my manager changed, and all of a sudden my job was thrown into turmoil.  In just a few months with my new manager, I lost my job.

By that, I don’t mean I was fired.  I mean, the heads of the company didn’t like the direction my department was taking (*cough new manager cough*), and decided to get rid of the department in its entirety.  I chose to stay in the company, where over the next few months my duties seemed to change on a regular basis until they finally settled me into a job that has been qualified as “The most stressful, and hardest job” by many of my peers.  I started the year bragging how much I loved my job and appreciated (and felt appreciated by) the company I work for, to feeling completely used and mistreated by my company while having a stressful job.  There are some silver linings in the future, but that won’t happen until 2013.  I’m trying to make the most of what I got, and be happy with what I have (a decent paying job that also gives me benefits), but this is most definitely a large negative.

It did motivate me to look for a new job, which was one of my resolution.  Another one of my resolutions was to do more video work.  I started the year off strong with my search, found nothing, learned how much I liked my job, and became complacent.  With the change, I started looking again.  I went all out.  I used my contacts, I called random people, I asked acquaintances who might know a guy who might know a guy who could have worked on Leverage.  I applied to every film and video job I could find.  So far, I’ve only heard one response, and it doesn’t sound very positive.

During the year, I’ve also been doing volunteer work on a project.  This project has been the project from hell, and I’ve more than once almost tore my hair out because of it.   My part of the project will be finished on December 31st, thank god.  Beyond that, I didn’t get to even volunteer on any other projects, despite what I feel were pretty heavy efforts on my part.  I pushed myself to meet new people and apply myself, to e-mail stranger and reach out.  Nothing.  Hope is awesome when you feel yourself getting somewhere.  But for me, it was crushing.  I almost got more responses when the economy was dead then now.  Film resolution and find a new job resolution are both big fails, and a negative for the year.

Things also died on me this year.  My great-uncle, who was always a hoot to hang out with, saw his health drastically fall and then he died.  We weren’t close, but I always saw him on Thanksgiving, and one or two other times throughout the year.  Thanksgiving will come into a play again here soon.  I also lost not 1, but both of my dogs.  First Lily went blind, and over an excruciating amount of time, her health dropped slowly until finally she had to be put down.  Before we even started recovering emotionally from her loss, her sister Taz, a dog I’ve loved since we raised her as a puppy, got sick.  Her health plummeted.   We thought she was going to recover, and then over Thanksgiving she took another nosedive.  She died shortly after.  There are no positives that can be seen here.

My parents did adopt a new puppy this month.  Ziva, another boxer.  Absolutely cute and wonderful and playful.  I have lots of pictures with her which are absolutely amazing.  But, she is my parents dog, and I’ll get to see her maybe once a month.  I look forward to the next time I get to play with her.  It doesn’t make up for the loss of Taz or Lily though.  People nor pets can be replaced... but it is nice to have her, and I am in love with my little Calamity Jane.

Backing up a little...Thanksgiving.   I’ve talked about it a lot before, and a lot of this will be repeat.  
My Thanksgivings have always been large family events.  This year it was just my parents.  Watching my father and mother “communicate” was heartbreaking, having a dog dying was heartbreaking, and having such a small family was heartbreaking.  I knew that I had lost what I had once considered family.  The word that could be used for this is...heartbreaking.  I am grateful that my best friend was going through a similar life dilemma, and that she was there for me, and that over Christmas I got to experience a large family with hers.  It really helped restore something in me.

Let’s end on two upswings.  One of my resolutions was to get myself in better shape, and do more races, and finish them.  I competed in 3 races this year, the Prefontaine, the Dirty Dash, and the Pumpkin Half Marathon.  I completed the Dirty Dash, that was no problem, but I didn’t “finish” either of the other two.  Despite that, I still feel accomplished.  I ran at least 5 miles of the Pre, but was injured and had to walk 1 mile. Even with injury, I still got an amazing time of almost 10 minute miles.  The race did leave me unable to run for about a month, just enough time to “train” for 2 weeks before the Pumpkin Half.   I ran at least 10 miles of that, maybe even 12!  For having been injured for so long before the race, I feel incredibly accomplished for both.  I am already signed up for three races next year, and have plans to do even more.  Who knows, maybe this year I’ll finally beat my best friend in one of these races!

A big positive, and my major resolution for the year, was to start my comic book.  I found an artist early on, and have been working with him since then.  By the end of September I had pages, by December I was doing minor advertisement, and the very beginning of 2013 I’ll be doing more work.  I’ve been getting lots of feedback, both positive and negative, and I really look forward to seeing it grow.  It took longer to start then I desired, but it has started, and it is rolling right along.

Over-all, I’ll say this year ended on Neutral grounds. It’s very mood dependent, but in a rational mind I think things evened out.  I think the events of this year leaned negative, but my life over-all is better than it was in 2011.  If it weren’t for some very possible, and real changes, coming in 2013 (a big change in my current job, a possible paying job in video, my comic book growing, and some new dating possibilities) I’d be leaning more towards negative... but already 2013 looks like its going to bring good things to me due to my diligence, and possible suffering, through 2012.

Coming soon to a blog near you:  My 2013 Resolution list.