Ramblings Of A Madman

I'm OK!

2008-05-15T20:53:00.003+02:00

Hey there!

Just thought I'd check in with you all and let you know that I'm still around. I just read up on all y'all's comments on here, and I'm touched y'all was getting worried. Thank you.

Now, I'm ok. I wasn't murdered in an alley, run over by the city bus or slain by a vindictive ex-lover. I have not been imprisoned after burning down the UO or locked in a padded cell in the psychiatric ward for losing my marbles.

Nor is my absence on account of the good things in life. I have not taken a demanding job that has left me unable to find the time to blog, nor did I meet Kate Hudson at the local bar and refuse to leave her alone - I didn't even meet an average chick who won't let me alone.

But I am OK, and I miss you all. I miss blogging, and I just thought it would be fair to step in and let you know that I'm still alive and kickin'...

...and that I will return.

It may be a week - two weeks - or worst case scenario a month... but I will return!

BTW... If you all wanna go ahead and post the PFC's... leave a comment here letting me know where to find it (link would be a good idea), so that I can read when I return.

Sincerely,
R.E.H. (aka Ramblin' Madman)

Getting To Know Me

2008-05-09T20:32:00.005+02:00

It seems the trend in blogging again has come around to meme's. I've been tagged a total of three times in less than two weeks, and being the nice guy that I am, I like to be a good sport and do the meme's I've been tagged to do.

However, please - no more meme's for a while... ok? ;)

This one comes to me courtesy of Richard over at Mister Richard's Bloggerhood. He wants to get to know me better, and that's a reasonable request, don't you think?

Ok. Let's get down to it - this is pretty similar to the "Four Things Meme" I did a few days ago, so I'll try to come up with new interesting tidbits that I didn't write about in that other one.

The Rules:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 or more people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Wow. 10 years ago... I'm one of those people who hear that, and think "that must've been a long time ago". Then I think... "10 Years... minus 2008 is 1998... what??? 1998 wasn't long ago. That was yesterday!" I swear. The whole concept of time scares the crap out of me sometimes.

Anyway. 10 Years ago I was working on a documentary which I shot for the local welfare institute. Apart from handing out food coupons to the poor, these guys are responsible for helping the less fortunate in our society - the homeless, the drug-addicts, alcoholics - you name it. One man in the town I live in has had more "business" with these guys than anyone else. His name is John (I will exclude his last name - but John is his actual first name). He started drinking when he was eight years old... according to himself. He has been homeless and an alcoholic his whole life. After interviewing some doctors he's been treated by, they all state that it is medically impossible for this man to still be alive at 65 the way he has abused his body. I found the whole project very interesting, and it is definitely the most inspiring job I have ever had. One of the highlights included re-uniting him with his long lost daughter... it was a little sad though, as his drinking over the years have done a number on his brain. The second time we went over there with his daughter, he wanted us to leave... because he was expecting an important visit from his daughter and some guys that were going to film him.

I remember sitting there, cautiously trying to tell him we were those guys... I mean, we had seen eachother every day for over a month by this time. Scary stuff.

2) 5 things on my to-do list for today?
The day is nearing an end - so my to-do list is pretty much taken care of.

Laundry - check.

Make Gulasch (and eat it) - check.

Check with my car dealer to see if the antenna I ordered has arrived - check (and not in yet - if I'm lucky it'll be there tomorrow)

Work out at the gym - check (shoulders and abs today)

Write Richard's meme - in progress.

3) Snacks I enjoy?
Snacks... I enjoy a lot of different kinds of snacks. Currently have an obsession with Geisha. Apart from that - I have a weakness for potato chips and cheeze balls. I also love me some fruit for snacks - mainly bananas, apples and pears.

4) Things I would do if I was a Billionaire
Please, Lord, let this some day become true! (As if everyone doesn't secretly wish for this kind of money).

First off - I would travel all over the world. I would get a car, and just go. Sleeping in hotels and camping sites or wherever... driving the car until it would go no further, by which time I would purchase a new one and continue my travels. This would probably last for a few years, until I have been to every corner of our planet - or until I got tired of it all, and no longer had a desire to see everything.

I would blog about my travels every day - almost like a diary. Including lots of fun vlogs and stuff too. It would be the bomb!

After that, I would settle down (most likely in Florida) where I would have my own film studio. I would make the movies that I want to make, and distribute them myself... not being worried about how it would be received by the audience, because making money would not be the issue.

Of course, I would make sure that family and friends are well taken care of financially, and yes - I would also give money to charity. I would carefully choose which charities to make sure that the money goes where it is needed the most.

5) 3 of my many bad habits
Hey! Why do you assume I have many bad habits? Well, you're right...

One - I stay up late. I've heard a lot of people say "so do I", and it turns out that they go to bed at 11:30 or close to midnight... no, no, no guys - I stay up LATE! I often don't get to bed until after 2AM... 3AM and sometimes even after 4AM. Even if I have to get up in the morning... I am a night owl if ever you saw one.

Two - Procrastination. I have a terrible habit of putting everything off until the very last minute. Quite often so badly that I start to panic, and wonder how the hell am I going to get this done in time now??? WWC, PFC are prime examples of this in my blogging (I pretty much had my PFC idea instantly this time... I am still to write a single word on the story)

Three - As I mentioned... the Geisha. This stupid candy bar... I cannot leave a store without buying one of those babies. And here I am trying to get rid of that pot belly of mine - especially now that summer is coming on strong, and it's about time to head down to the beach... one wants women to turn their head when one goes there - but you don't want them to turn their heads away.

6) 5 places I have lived
I'm skipping this one - this was covered in the last meme I did. Check it out here.

7) Jobs I have had
This one too. So refer to that other meme for answers to this question.

8) People I want to know more about
Hey... I want to know more about all'y'all! That's why I keep reading all'y'all's bloggs ;) Seriously - if you wanna do this thing - do it, and let me know. But, I'm not in the business of tagging anyone.

Just a reminder!

We're getting close to the deadline for this month's PFC! I hope you all are getting ready to finish up (or start writing) your stories.

May 14th is the starting deadline, with the "deadline" deadline on the 16th. As always I'm looking forward to reading all the stories. This thing has become quite a fun monthly feature.

Bird Poop x2

2008-05-07T22:13:00.004+02:00

Today was a gorgeous day. By far the most beautiful day of the year, so far. I think we pretty much skipped spring all together, and headed straight for summer.

So, I headed out - putting a short-sleeved shirt on for the first time this year. I wasn't out for long before I started regretting wearing my jeans, wishing I'd went with the shorts instead.

Anyway - I decided on another "first" of the year. A nice refreshing ice cream, outdoors, enjoying the warm weather. So, there I am - sitting outside at a local McDonald's enjoying an ice cold McFlurry. There is a family seated behind me... a bunch of kids running around playing and they too are enjoying the wonderful weather.

"Boo!"

I continue to enjoy my ice cream.

"Booooo! Whaaaa!"

I turn around to see what is going on. There is this kid chasing some birds (isn't it funny how many birds gather around in places like these? Hoping to capitalize on some spilled food.). I figure - let the kid chase the birds... what do I care? I'm enjoying my first ice cream, and the weather is perfect!

"Stop it!", the mother suddenly hisses at the kid. "Don't chase the birds!"

"I don't like birds. Birds poop everywhere! Booooo!"

"The birds aren't going to poop here", the mom says. The kid is chasing after a bird which whizzes by a little too close to me for comfort. He continues and stops right at my side... and speaks to me sincerely.

"Do you want a bird to poop you on the head?"

"No, I sure don't", I tell the kid.

"Yeah... MOM! See? I hafta chase the birds away!". The kid continues to run after the poor birds, hollering and screaming at them. I'm just thinking - Yeah, keep that up kid and one of those birds WILL poop me on the head!

............

Speaking of bird poop. I'm keeping this short. But the son of a bitching UO over here have indeed completely lost their mind - as I was told by others once they learned I was headed for the dreaded world of unemployment.

So, I had been in there - listing my qualifications, and what kind of jobs I was looking to get. Of course, I put media related jobs at the top of my priority list. This is where I want to be, this is what I once got a degree in. I have been on the wrong track working retail for far too long - I find it reasonable trying to get my job-life back on the right track. I would take retail temporarily, but I really need to get a job in film, television or any other form of production company.

Today, I had a personal meeting at the UO with a schmuck who decided it would be in their best interest that I not be listed for those jobs. Yes, their interest - they don't care about what I want... So I tell the guy:

"How am I supposed to get the job I want if I'm not listed in the database as a candidate for these jobs?"

"Well, you can look for these jobs on your own, if you want. But retail is where we will try to fit you in."

"I don't really want to do retail again. I am hoping that my education will land me a job where I want to be."

"But, you don't have enough experience. To be qualified to apply for these jobs, you need more experience."

"Alright, never mind. List me in that database however you so please. I don't care."

"We need to find you a job as quickly as possible", the guy pauses... "Here is one!". He shows me the computer screen.

Some company who are looking for carpenters and painters - they go to different places all over the country and do contract jobs - apparently.

"Uh... I have no experience in carpentry or painting."

"You listed that you assembled furniture at your last job."

I was dumbfounded... flabbergasted.

"Assembling furniture has got nothing to do with carpentry, and certainly not painting."

"Ok... I'll let you off the hook on that job then."

Yup... this is a normal day at the UO around these parts. I'm obviously experienced enough to apply for a job I would not be capable of doing, because I did something vaguely similar at a recent job - yet I am not qualified to apply for jobs in the field in which I got my education...

...Y'all know where I can get one of those nifty little bombs? The kind that goes BOOM?

WWC / Keeping It Short

2008-05-06T23:04:00.003+02:00

Oh, boy! I can hardly believe how fast the weeks are rushing by these days. It is Tuesday already, and time for the Weekly Words Challenge once again. This fun little game is presented to you by our own daydreaming procrastinator Tink of Pickled Beef - and this week we shall play with the words THREE and FIRE.

Now, I went out this morning, and I had a couple of interesting photos I wanted to take. It turns out... (now get this - in case you weren't aware) ...it turns out, it's not easy to take pictures minus a camera. I had put my camera out - clearly visible, so I wouldn't forget it when I left the apartment. Guess what - it was still sitting there, next to my shoes when I came home tonight. So, I don't have as many pictures as I'd like - but enjoy the ones I DO have for you!

Keeping it short today, because I'm all out of time it seems. I'll get around to checking out all y'all's blogs by tomorrow (I hope). Right now, things have been busy with the job hunt, the stupid UO, working out, and fixing up a bit of a computer crash I had, which cleared out my wonderfully catalogued system of all my CD's, Vinyls and MP3s... and I have a lot of them! As if that's not enough... I have a bit of an obsession about keeping my stuff "organized" and especially catalogued.

Pics for you this week:

Don't forget to return next week to check out another WWC. We'll be playing with the words SEVEN and EARTH next time around. That too is sure to be a lot of fun!

Funday Sunday: "Twin Peaks"

2008-05-04T23:40:00.004+02:00

Stepping in real quick today to squeeze in a Funday Sunday post.

Since I posted that meme a couple of days ago, I've not been able to get the magnificent TV series called Twin Peaks out of my head. And, while it isn't a comedy series - it does provide a wicked sense of humor. Not the laugh out loud kind - but the kind that keeps your smile attached to your lips from start to finish.

Besides - Emmeline told me she hadn't seen the series, and I must do what I can to allow her the pleasure of watching such a wonderful show.

Don't forget to check out the "3rd" monthly commenter story if you missed it yesterday! (Scroll on down)

"3rd" - April 2008

2008-05-03T15:32:00.003+02:00

We have reached the 3rd of May, and that means that it is time for me to present my monthly feature “3rd”. Since my monthly feature overrides any other features I usually do, this means that I won’t be taking part in the Wordzzle challenge this Saturday. I will return to the action on that one next Saturday… in the meantime – you can find those entertaining little stories by going over to Views from Raven’s Nest and following the links there.

Another story can of course be found right here, as well – and that would be the Monthly Commenter Story. I am sure Knight of Knight’s Knacht-Up Ramblings is particularly interested in reading up on this one, as she remembered the rules and decided to mess with me a little. She carefully chose a sentence for me to use in the story. And, actually, I thank her for that, because that inspired the outcome of this story which has now reached the third and final installment.

That means, that next month I’ll be able to come up with an entirely new storyline. I was really determined to finish off The Mystery Man Murder story – and I’m actually a bit surprised that I was able to bring it to a close.

I gotta say, though. This was the strangest collection of sentences I’ve had to work with so far. I sat for over an hour just reading them over and over again, trying to piece even two of them together in any way…

No need to try Knight’s stunt for next month though… I will change the rules of which sentence to use in the story by then – so you’ll not really know where I’ll be taking it from.

ONE: COMMENTER OF THE MONTH

Now, I said last month that I was going to opt for quality instead of quantity for this award. Not gonna happen – not this month. I messed up, and didn’t keep track of the quality comments, so I’m keeping everything just as it has been. That makes Farmer*s Wife the winner for the second straight month with a good 42 comments (which is less than HALF of what she produced last month). Runner up is Cinder-Single (aka Single In The City) with 37 comments. That is a repeat of the top two, but there’s a new (returning) 3rd place finisher in Jill, who commented 31 times.

Next month, however – I will be determining the top three commenters by use of quality, rather than quantity.

Below, is a list of ALL commenters during the month of April 2008.

WINNER: Farmer*s Wife (42)
2nd Place: Cinder-Single (37)
3rd Place: Jill (31)

4th Place: Knight (26)

5th Place: Dianne (23)
6th Place: Lakota (22)
7th Place: Jay, Jo (20)
8th Place: Dana, Leighann, Sparkling Red (19)
9th Place: Tequila Mockingbird (18)
10th Place: Emmeline (17)

11th Place: Karen (16)
12th Place: Aunt Jackie (14)
13th Place: TT, Unsigned (13)
14th Place: Jeff B (12)
15th Place: ~Angela~ , Fiwa, Raven, Tink (11)
16th Place: Jen, Kcinnova (9)
17th Place: Fortune Cookies, Mike, Newt (8)
18th Place: Anndi (7)
19th Place: Butterfly Girl, Guilty Secret (6)

Not involved in the story’s resolution:

20th Place: Akelamalu, Casdok, Ginormous Boobs, Richard, Spiky Zora Jones (5)
21st Place: Reb (4)
22nd Place: Doc, Freakazojd, G-Man, Jahooni, Melissa, Pookie Sixx, Real Live Lesbian (3)

23rd Place: Cardiogirl, Chatty, HoosierGirl5, Kristen Bjorg, Lightning Bug's Butt, Liv, Odd Facts, The Teach, Tookie Tail (2)

24th Place: Alice, Betty, Claire, Gene Bach, Joel, Krishna, Loving Annie, Mary P. Jones, Maryt, The OE (1)

TWO: KEYWORDS OF THE MONTH

Time to take a look at the search terms that were used on Google and other search engines that brought people to my blog.

Top Searches: "not so hot without makeup” – A lot of people seems to want confirmation that the hot ones really aren’t as hot as they appear on the pictures. Is April low self-esteem month?

Funny Searches:
“"7 deadly sins" party” – Sounds like a lot of fun… especially the Lust part!
“"horse condom"” – Yeah, dude – keep on dreaming. It’s not THAT big!
"swedish curse" "skitstövel"” – Farmer*s Wife? Are you behind this one?
“15 year old traci lords” – She didn’t start ‘til she was 16… pervert! ;)
“80s nun porn” – Why do people keep ending up on this site looking for nun porn?
“balls for girls” – Well, I for one hope that never becomes fashionable.
“cartoon of mad man” – Hey! That’s a good idea!
“does a rainbow appearing during a wedding ceremony represent anything?" – It could represent that it’s been raining?
“eating potato chips” – What? You don’t know how to do it?
“gym honeys” – Don’t you just love’em?
“hollywood cellulites” – Yeah, those are the worst kind!
“how to insert a bottle into my anus” – That’s just nasty!
“how to insert bottles into my anus” – Oh, please don’t tell me you figured it out, and now you want more??? Coming back with the same search term in plural… Yikes!
“ireland regrets not seeing” – I had no idea Ireland could see…
“japanese: princess sauna” – Now… for some reason I’m curious.
“lindsay lohans acting skills” – Excuse me… who cares about her acting skills? I just want her boobies!
“look after a zombie baby” – I don’t thing you should look after… it should be more like “look out for”
“restricted internet” – Now, I just can’t help but wonder if that was someone who was fooled by my April Fool’s Joke, and went searching for more information. I can just picture this person going… “Damn! How come no one but the Madman knows about this crazy shit?”
“sauna gi joe's” – Was that in there last month? Anyway… Sauna GI Joes sounds cool!
“sexy pictureof hollywood acters” – Were you just so horny you couldn’t spell?
“victoria's secret models” – That’s one search you should do at least once every day!
“xrays of things shoved up anus” – Ok. So the bottles aren’t enough any longer… you want more stuff up there?

Personal Favorite of the Month:
“plot film: take over the plane mad man plays dolls with little girl” – Now, here’s an interesting log line for a script. Just don’t go weird on me with the little girl!

THREE: COMMENTER STORY OF THE MONTH

While I will continue to use total number of comments as the way to earn a part in the story (which for now is likely to stay at a minimum of 6 comments), the rules on who gets more lines in the story will change for next month. I will from now on award the Commenter of the Month award to the BEST comment of the month. Whether that is because it makes me laugh, think, cry – or whatever. I will try to be fair in my judging. And, I will state the reason’s behind my choices of the top three comments of the month.

For this month… the rules remain as they were.

Monthly Commenter Story
The monthly commenter story is a fictional story that I will write and post on the 3rd of each month. This story is composed of all the people who have left at least three comments on my blog over the past month. Credit goes to RockDog for inspiring this idea.

RULES (may change slightly each month):
Every person who have commented on my blog at least 6 times during the past month will be included in a fictional story, written by yours truly - R.E.H.

I will go to these people's blogs and copy a single sentence from their final post of the month. It will always be the 9th sentence of that post. If the post has fewer than 9 sentences, I will use sentence number 6, if fewer than that - sentence number 3. If the post were to have less than three sentences – I will take the sentence from the second last post of the month.

The Commenter of the Month will have sentences from the last 3 posts included in my story.

Runner-Up and Third Placed commenters will have sentences from their last 2 posts of the month included.

Once I've collected all your sentences, these will be incorporated into a fictional story.

Sentences MUST be used as dialogue "out of the mouth" of that blogger, and I am not allowed to add other dialogue to that character in the story.

Every sentence MUST be used in the story. I can not skip using one, just because I can't find a good use for it.

Sentences MUST be used completely unedited, except if sentence breaking parenthesis is used, in which case I reserve the right to remove the parenthesis.

Names of the blogger will be linked to their blogs (only where dialogue follows).

If a blogger does not wish to feature in these stories from now on, they must tell me so in a comment, and I will exclude them from my story.

DISCLAIMER:
The events taking place in this story has no resemblance to reality in any form. The actions that fellow bloggers undertake in this story is in no way a reflection of their true selves. The only "real" deal here is that what the blogger says in this story, is what they have written on their blog... but it may be put way out of context of its original meaning.

Put shortly... this is for fun! I have no intention of hurting anyone's feelings, or making them out to be something they are not!

********** THE STORY **********

THE MYSTERY MAN MURDER - PART 3

After the elite bloggers of Blogville had been summoned to the warehouse down on Pier 505, they had all been shocked to find the Mystery Man face down, dead on the floor. Detective Matthews had quickly arrived at the scene and was keeping us there until the murder would be solved.

Things had gotten even more frightening once we all realized that what had killed the Mystery Man was a vampire, and Detective Matthews thought it would be a good idea to try out some kind of mass hypnotism experiment in hopes it would tap into parts of our brains that we couldn’t normally reach. Just to see if we knew something about this Mystery Man and our vampire.

The experiment had been successful, and our memories took us back to that day when we went fishing by the river, to celebrate the birthday of a little boy by the name of Samby.

The fishing trip had started out pleasantly enough. Farmer*s Wife, Fortune Cookies and Anndi were setting up the picnic area. While preparing snacks for lunch, Fortune Cookies was telling them of the misfortunes of her friend Snappy.

Fortune Cookies: “Eventually, Snappy's symptoms escalated to a debilitating level in which she was unable to maintain any form of gainful employment, and now, she is just one of so many Americans, living off of Social Security/Disability Income, which, if you don't already know, is actually less than minimum wage.”

Farmer*s Wife: “Personal employment.”

Anndi appears to not totally agree with the idea of self-employment.

Anndi: “My ten year old book-monster wonders if this is wise...”

Dave the Vampire, who was aimlessly wandering about trying to get in on the different conversations came by at that point.

Dave the Vampire: “Starting your own business is a good idea. You get to hire people you want working for you.”

Farmer*s Wife: “And, I can count on them to be there and to understand and to accept "me."”

Meanwhile, some of the others were going through Samby the birthday boy’s presents, which had been opened previously. Of course, the fishing rod had been one of them and the boy was now standing on a rock by the river trying to hook a squirming worm onto it with a big smile on his face. No one suspected anything as Dave the Vampire walked up to him to help with the worm.

Kcinnova: “ONE happy birthday boy (friend of Snake Master)”

Dianne was so pleased that her son had decided to give his favorite mug to Samby for his birthday, as Samby had always wanted that cup, and she held it out for the others to see.

Dianne: “Here are front and back views of my son’s “Hands Off My Mug” mug.”

At the same time I was just learning that apparently NetFlix had started selling shoes, as Karen told us of a new pair she had ordered from there.

Karen: “I got an email from Netflix that they have send it from Augusta, Maine because that is the closest copy to my house, in New Jersey.”

Sparkling Red who was wearing a new pair of shoes herself, took the opportunity to show them off. The shoes were much prettier than the ones she had bought the other day, and she had followed peoples advice of taking them back to the store and get a new pair.

Sparkling Red: “He took them back and gave me this spiffy pair:”

She pulls the legs of her pants up to show off the shoes, and as she does her tattoo becomes visible.

R.E.H.: “Wow… that’s a nice tattoo. I’ve always wanted to get one of those.”

This gets Emmeline’s attention, as she shows off one of her own.

Emmeline: “I was just out having dinner with my best friend from high school, The Flight Attendant, on my birthday and decided I would like to get a tattoo.”

Jill: “Kind of addictive for me!”

Apparently Jill had a lot of tattoos. One of which caught my attention, as I couldn’t figure out what it was.

R.E.H.: “What is that supposed to be?”

Dana leans in to have a good look at it.

Dana: “Like Truck Tits?”

R.E.H.: “Nah, it looks like a couple of dudes… or something.”

Mike: “Perhaps its the hormones in beef, or maybe these guys are hermaphrodites.”

We all started laughing at that, and Jill pulled the sleeve of her arm back down to hide it – being the only one who didn’t find the conversation the least amusing.

R.E.H.: “Oh, speaking of beef… I went to that new restaurant downtown the other day. I don’t know what they do – but they certainly must have the best beef in town.”

Tequila Mockingbird: “Well it IS the kitchen!”

R.E.H.: “They do have some good chefs over there. But, that’s not all that is good about that place. It’s just something about the whole atmosphere.”

Some of the others hadn’t been there to experience the place, and so Fiwa offered the basic explanation of what made the restaurant so special.

Fiwa: “Basically you sit down and the waitresses start coming by with trolley carts full of those little bamboo baskets.”

The horrors of that day was first noticed by Cinder-Single and Jo, as they were sitting by the riverbank, listening to the water trickling over some rocks.

Jo: “It's such a relaxing, zen-like tinkling sound.”

She immediately felt shivers down her spine, as she heard the voice of Cinder-Single speak up. She was trembling as she did.

Cinder-Single: “Samby is gone...”

We all fell silent at that. Having enthusiastically re-told the story of that day to Detective Matthews, but as we started getting into the terror we had experienced that day, it was getting harder and harder to talk about it.

Detective Matthews: “Good. Now were getting somewhere. You must go on. You must remember what happened that day. TT – why don’t you continue the story?”

TT: “I'm not going to go into it all again.”

She is apparently too shaken by the memories to vocalize them out loud. Detective Matthews turns his attention to Cinder-Single, and motions her to continue telling of the events of that fateful day. She shakes her head, and explains that she’s worried the vampires will know she had “ratted” them out. She was afraid to go home alone if she had spoken.

Cinder-Single: “I guess they know that my BFF "P" is staying at his own place now!!”

R.E.H.: “We went after him. I remember we started chasing after Dave the Vampire. We thought he’d taken Samby to the abandoned factory across the river. The Pillsbury factory.”

Detective Matthews: “Go on… did you find them?”

I started feeling as if there was something I was yet to remember about that day. The feeling was overwhelming, and I found myself unable to speak any more. Guilty Secret took it upon her to continue telling of the events that followed.

Guilty Secret: “I took my engagement ring off and took Baddie's hand.”

Detective Matthews: “Why did you take your ring off?”

She shrugs… apparently not knowing why she had done it, or why she had felt the need to say that she did. Instead she continued telling of how we all decided to chase after Dave the Vampire, and hope to rescue the boy.

After Cinder-Single had noticed that the boy was missing and we all gathered around where he was last seen. The fishing rod lay on the ground, and there was blood next to it. That’s when Anndi had remembered seeing Dave the Vampire helping Samby with the worm.

We all quickly understood that Dave must be responsible for the boy’s disappearance.

R.E.H.: “We must save him! Dave is a vampire!”

The others all looked at me with surprise. How did I know that? Why had I allowed Dave to come along if I’d known he was a blood-thirsty creature of the night? But, there was no time to ask these questions now. We all knew we needed to find out where he had taken the boy.

Newt: “The Pillsbury factory is right across the river.”

R.E.H.: “That’s where he must’ve taken the boy.”

There was a section further up the river where it was shallow enough for us to wade across, and we all started running upstream. As we reached the point where we meant to run to the other side, Butterfly Girl stopped dead in her tracks.

Butterfly Girl: “Feets in the water…..”

Leighann almost tried to push Butterfly Girl into the water, in a hurry to get to the other side and hunt the vampire down. But, Butterfly Girl refused to move out of her way – absolutely terrified of getting her feet wet.

Leighann: “If you don't want to move, stockpile sandbags and put the fucking things up early, you know it's coming why wait until it's lapping at your feet and then cry foul?”

After a minor altercation we all made it across the river and ran to the Pillsbury Factory. Jeff B stopped some distance from the large deserted building.

Jeff B: “That's it?”

That was the place indeed. And, after getting the confirmation of that, he lead the way inside.

The horror that awaited us there was beyond description. The blood, the gore… the entire factory, which had been abandoned for the past eight years, was like a vampire castle. Dead bodies hung from the ceiling, drained of their blood. The smell was unbearable.

I caught sight of a shadowy figure escaping out the back of the factory, and it ran into the woods.

R.E.H.: “There! He’s running into the woods!”

Determined to stop the evil bloodsucker, we all chased after him into the woods. We spread out to have a better chance of finding him. Jen even found an old bicycle, and hopped on to that thing hoping it would give her an advantage in speed.

After having chased him through the woods for over an hour, we had all returned outside the Pillsbury Factory. Dave the Vampire was still out there – somewhere. Jill and Lakota told of how they had almost caught him. They had found him hiding behind some fallen trees – but he had been much too strong for them to take him down.

Jill: “He is really good, even if we are two, we actually cannot get him.”

Lakota: “Instead I was out of breath and hobbling through the woods like a ninty year old woman.”

I look over to Jen, who looked absolutely exhausted after having ridden the bicycle like crazy through the woods.

R.E.H.: “What about you? You had a bicycle… surely you should have been able to catch up to him.”

Jen: “But you need to comprehend (1) I hadn't ridden my bicycle in about 6 months for that long of a distance and (2) I was, unknowingly, in the wrong gear the entire time.”

We knew we had to give up at that point. There was no chance of finding Dave the Vampire. He was long gone.

Detective Matthews had listened closely to the story, and he had continuously been scribbling in that notebook of his. Everyone had fallen silent as we had finished telling the story of the fishing trip. Detective Matthews noticed Tink was sitting by the laptop, seemingly engrossed in something on the screen. He walked over to her, and noticed that while the rest of us were busy telling the horrifying story of Dave the Vampire and Samby, she had found that GTA was installed on the laptop and was playing the game. Probably because she wanted to get away from the horrible memories.

Detective Matthews closed down the top of the laptop, and Tink looks up at him angrily.

Detective Matthews: “This is not the time to be playing games!”

Tink: “I had serious issues when it came to driving in the game though.”

Detective Matthews: “Farmer*s Wife. Why don’t you shut off the power to the laptop?”

She looks around, trying to locate the power switch.

Detective Matthews: “It’s that green blinking arrow.”

Farmer*s Wife: “One blinking arrow (I fear this thing).”

She was badly shaken after remembering the events of that day, but steeled herself against it and pushed the button. Detective Matthews resumed looking over his notes. Then he looks up with a cryptic smile on his face.

Detective Matthews: “I know who the Mystery Man is.”

The elite bloggers of Blogville looked at Detective Matthews with interest. They all wanted to know who the Mystery Man was.

Detective Matthews: “I’m sure you do to. Look at him again – now that you remember.”

Everyone was shocked as they did what he said. Immediately everyone recognized the Mystery Man as Dave the Vampire. But, how could that be? If Dave the Vampire was the dead body on the floor… who had killed him?

Detective Matthews: “That’s right. Dave is not the only vampire in town. And, I also know who the other vampire is. And, he’s sitting right here among us. And, he is the one to blame for everything that has happened.”

Everyone looked at Detective Matthews in fascination and anticipation. There was an aura of fear spread among them.

Jay: “Who are you going to blame?”

Detective Matthews: “It’s quite obvious if you think about it. Who had the key to this warehouse? Who first introduced Dave the Vampire to you all? And… who was it that knew Dave had taken Samby to the abandoned factory across the river?”

Silence followed.

Detective Matthews: “That’s right – R.E.H. is the other vampire!”

As soon as Detective Matthews said it, four of the other C.S.I.’s tackled me off the chair, and pinned me to the floor. They put handcuffs on me and started to drag me out of the room. Knight was watching in disbelief, shaking her head, mumbling to herself that it couldn’t be true.

Detective Matthews: “Why do you find that so unbelievable?”

Knight: “It's a well known fact that Madman R.E.H. is a modern day Apollo and he always has all the ladies swooning.”

Detective Matthews: “It is also a well known fact that vampires are often charming.”

I fought against the C.S.I.’s as they tried to take me outside.

R.E.H.: “I will return! Don’t think I won’t return… and I will have your blood!”

I was dragged outside violently, and thrown in the back seat of the cruiser parked outside. Immediately I started planning my revenge, and tuned in my sensitive ears to eavesdrop on the conversation that followed inside the warehouse. I was shocked to hear that they all seamed to just want to go on with everyday life.

Detective Matthews: “Thank you all. You were instrumental in helping me solve this crime.”

The elite bloggers of Blogville were clapping their hands, pleased to have been part of solving the Mystery Man murder.

Raven: “Anyway, he did all the work, but I'm still feeling tired and disoriented and I can't make up my mind what to do for Wordless Wednesday, which is clearly also becoming quite wordy.”

Detective Matthews: “So, you’re all just going to go back to every day life and your blogs? After all this?”

~Angela~: “I want it to be like any other day.”

Everyone agreed. Aunt Jackie was already thinking of new ways to entertain her readers.

Aunt Jackie: “I could include sound clips of things, or I could creatively interpret voices in my writings, OR--now get this, ORRR I could actually put in podcasts of my voice reading out my content.”

That was the last thing I could hear, as the police cruiser took me farther away from Warehouse 505. I was infuriated that they seemed to forget about me so quickly. But, I am planning my revenge. I had already gotten my revenge on Dave the Vampire for being so careless, and exposing our existence.

There is no barred cell that can hold a vampire like me for very long…

Four Things Meme

2008-05-01T13:18:00.005+02:00

Well, it's been a while since I had the [dis]pleasure of being tagged to do any meme's. Now, all of a sudden it happened twice in one week.

Being the nice guy that I am, I will do it - only because I like the people who tagged me so much. Spiky Zora Jones got her book meme taken care of on Tuesday, and today I will oblige to the request from Sparkling Red.

The "Four Things" meme (which is one that I haven't actually seen around until now) is what the lovely Sparkling Red over at No More Casual Nonchalance wanted me to do... and it will make for a decent post for today.

I didn't see too many rules written out at her blog (maybe I could backtrack the meme to find them), but who cares about rules, huh? So we'll just get down to it.

Four jobs I've had:

1.) McDonald's.
Yup, I've been flipping burgers like a pro for almost four years back in the days when I was young(er). I actually look back on those days favorably. The pro's of working at such a place are that there are always a lot of hot young girls working with you... those were the days!

2.) NCC (National Chemical Company).
This was/is a company which sells industrial strenght cleaning products. By far the worst job I ever had in my entire life. All based on commission, and every morning we would be betting big money on todays sales. After just over a month, I had managed to lose about $1.000 dollars, rather than make any money. If you are going to sell a product to a business, I don't think the door-to-door sales are going to work out very well. You need to book an appointment, not just come a-knockin'. The only good things about the short stint I had at this job was that I got to stay at a hotel for free, and then there was this cute Danish chick... (I wonder what she's up to these days)

3.) Documentary Filmmaker.
By far the most pleasing job opportunity I've had. Was hired by the city's welfare institute to make a documentary about a man who's been an alcoholic since he was 10 years old, and lived for many, many years on the streets. The documentary turned out decent enough, and the welfare guys sent it to ONE television station who turned it down. After that the damn thing was shelved, and since it was a contract job - I don't own the rights to the thing. It is still available to schools around here as an educational video... from what I understand it isn't being used too much.

4.) Furniture Salesman.
Leaving the company name out, because it's the place I just recently left. The longest time I've ever worked at one place. Spent four years there, and the only thing that I will look back on with positive thoughts are the majority of co-workers I had. I still hope to remain friends with a bunch of them.

Four places I've lived:

1.) Connecticut.
I'm not listing the cities because of my attempt to stay [somewhat] anonymous. This is where I grew up, until I was 6 years old.

2.) Sweden.
Where my mother and I moved when I was six. She has stayed in the same town since we came here in ´76. I have moved around a few times, but I am now back where we first moved.

3.) Florida.
Where I returned to the States to be re-united with my Father. I will return there some day - Florida is by far the most wonderful place I've ever set foot in. I just love it in the Sunshine State.

4.) Well - that would really cover it, since I won't list the different cities. Lived in a couple of places in Connecticut, about 5 different cities in Sweden - and just the one place on the central Florida east coast.

Four people I want to bitch-slap right into the middle of next week:

1.) Josef Fritzl - See yesterday's post.

2.) Usama Bin Laden - Doesn't require any explanation.

3.) The bitch I spoke to over at the UO a couple of days ago.

4.) The schmuck who cut in front of me when I was out driving yesterday.

Four people who e-mail me regularly:

1.) ...

2.) ...

3.) ...

4.) ... Well, I just don't use e-mail very much. It's just SO yesterday! ;) I keep in touch with friends and family by use of telephone and personal visits.

Four TV shows I watch: (I must be sounding ancient, because I only watch the ONE TV show right now... I'll have to go back in time a little and list what I used to watch)

1.) C.S.I. - The only show I watch regularly on TV right now.

2.) Friends - The best comedy show ever made for TV.

3.) Seinfeld - The funniest comedy show ever made for TV.

4.) Twin Peaks - The best damn thing ever produced for TV - period!

Four places I've visited:

1.) London, England.
One of the most memorable trips I've ever been on in my entire life. I had so much fun, and some really crazy things happened when I was there. It will remain one of my fondest memories in life for as long as my memories operate properly. (Reminds me - I should blog about this one some day)

2.) Paris, France.
For all the talk of how wonderful this place is - it kind of disappointed me. And, I must be one of the few tourists to visit that place who couldn't find the darn Eiffel Tower... It took me and my friend half a day to locate the thing - we'd ended up on the wrong side of town ;)

3.) Basel, Switzerland.
Guys! This is the one place you need to visit (girls too, if you're into girls). This place has got to have the prettiest women on the face of the earth. I had a hard time keeping my chin dry from all the drool. They were everywhere!

4.) Almuñécar, Spain.
I really liked this place. Not one of the fancy places to visit along the Costa del Sol, but it's small enough to have a personality, and a true aura of the Spanish culture. I've never been one to go to the typical tourist places - I like to sample a bit of the true feeling of being abroad.

Four favourite foods:

1.) Sirloin steak and baked potatoes. Make sure the meat is nice and juicy and red.

2.) Fried calamari with sweet'n'sour sauce and rice. Chinese food!

3.) Pizza. Can't help it - but pizza is always a welcomed meal!

4.) Pasta with Tuna - new recipe I've found... new favorite food. LOVE IT!

Four places I'd like to be right now:

1.) In Kate Hudson's pants.

2.) Fiji. After browsing Google Earth a while back - Fiji has become my #1 destination to go some day.

3.) Asia - in The One's arms. Yeah, I'm still not completely over her.

4.) On the moon. Wouldn't it be just awesome to be able to see the Earth from way out in space?

Four things I'm looking forward to this year:

1.) Summer. I always look forward to summer time!

2.) European Soccer Championships. My interest for the sport of soccer has diminished of late, but I'm still looking forward to this event.

3.) Travelling. I will go out travelling someplace this year. It's been so long since I enjoyed something like that.

4.) Alright, alright - finding a new job. Yeah, I am looking forward to that (if it is one that I will enjoy).

Four people I'm (not) tagging:

1.) Emmeline @ Why The Sky Is Blue...

2.) Jill @ Live Your Life And Smile

3.) Not claimed.

4.) Not claimed.

I'm trying this one out again. I did this another time with a meme - you tag yourself! That way I won't be tagging someone who's gonna come after me with a blowtorch and a box of matches. Let me know in the comments if you want to do it, and I give you some linky love up there.

I won't be around tomorrow, but I'll be back with a new post on Saturday!

Truly Disturbing News

2008-04-30T20:14:00.004+02:00

All the talk lately have been about this crazy ass son of a bitch I show you on that picture there. His name is Josef Fritzl, and he's a 73 year old Austrian [insert numerous bad words here].

I don't know how big of a news item this man is over in the States, but that ugly face sure is appearing everywhere all over Europe at this time. While I don't usually post about news items or anything like that, I can't help but want to get some of this out of my system today.

Before you read on - whether or not you've heard the story - I suggest you read the following news article.

Pictured: Inside the cellar where father locked daughter for 24 years and repeatedly raped her

*Taking a breather to collect myself*

*Not really helping*

I don't know what disturbs me the most in this story. Is it the fact that this man held his daughter captive for 24 years in the basement? Is it the fact that he raped her over and over again down there? Is it possibly the fact that she gave birth to 7 children down in that basement?

Maybe, it's the fact that one of those children died because of neglect, and he burned the dead infants remains inside the house. It could also be the fact that he was able to bring three of those kids out of the basement and have them live with him and his wife in a twisted version of freedom. Or, it could be the simple fact that his wife (supposedly) didn't know what was going on in their house for the past 24 years.

Either way - put all of that shit together in one lump, and you probably have the most disturbing set of news that I have ever encountered in my life.

Three kids - 19, 18 and 5 years old - who have never, since the day they were born, seen the light of day... never ever been outside of that cramped living compartment this man had built under his house to keep his family imprisoned.

I would usually go about analyzing a thing like this - but this all goes beyond my ability to comprehend.

I find this more disturbing, even, than the likes of Andrei Chikatilo, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy or any other serial killer who's spread their terror upon us. At least the victims of these people didn't live to experience the horror every day for years and years.

Can either one of those victims - the mother, or the 6 children - ever go on to live a productive and happy life?

Sadly... I don't think so.

Since I am rather speachless on the subject - feel free to discuss this in the comments, where I'll join in to the best of my ability.

WWC / Page 123 Meme

2008-04-29T19:46:00.003+02:00

As the week hits Tuesday we all know what's going down by now... that's right - it is all about the Weekly Words Challenge! Hosted by the lovely no-day pretender Tink of Pickled Beef, this week we bring you the words ONE and WATER to play with.

Now, I meant to catch up a bit with all y'all's blogs today, but let me just tell you I've had a horror day of the first degree! Starting off with talking to some imbecile over at the UO (of which details I will not go into, because we're all getting sick of the UO talk), after which I go to the car wash to get my car all nice and shiny. Yup - it got nice and shiny, and will cost me a pretty penny. Fucking numbnuts R.E.H. left the damn antenna up, and will have to replace it. See, I don't usually go to the auto car-wash. I do it manually... so I just didn't think about what the consequences of listening to music in the car would be...

After that, I quickly (is how I thought it would happen) decided to get my summer tires on the car. I had them at this place for storage over the winter (by law in Sweden you have to change tires each summer and winter, and after May 1st you are not allowed to have winter tires on). I sat and waited at the place for over two hours to get the job done... after which it was too late to get to the shop and fix the antenna.

They were nice enough though, and even bought me some ice-cream. Spring has sprung (HA!) upon us in a hurry - almost to the point of skipping it all together, bring on summer straight away. Nice and warm out today.

Ooooh... I started rambling. Let's move on!

I've been tagged with a couple of meme's and decided to get one of them out of the way today on WWC day.

The HOT and SEXY Spiky Zora Jones over at Bit Player Reflects wants to know what book I'm currently reading, and tagged me to do the 123rd page meme that I've seen going around for a while. In case you haven't caught up on her blog, it is about time you do so - her blog is as HOT and SEXY as she is (somebody fan me!).

Let's get down to it - there are rules (but I will not tag anyone else... feel free to do it if you feel so inclined) .

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book = Currently picking up on some of the books I missed reading back in the 80's when they were new ;) This one was left behind in the States, and I got it back last year. Only now have I gotten the chance to read it... The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

2. Open to page 123 = Oki doki.

3. Find the fifth sentence = "If it happened to me, I suppose I would," the man said.

4. Post the next three sentences = "Well, I hope your mother gets better in a hurry."
"You and me both," Jack said with perfect honesty. And that held them until the signs for the Oatley exit began to appear.

5. Tag five people = Nope!

With that taken care of... let's have a look at this weeks WWC pictures:

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I was running out of WATER pictures, because I've used so many shots of the river and the lakes in my surroundings for other WWC words - but I was able to find a few new locations.

Next week we'll be playing with the words THREE and FIRE.

Unemployed Ramblings

2008-04-28T19:17:00.003+02:00

After a bit of rowdy shenanigans over the weekend, it is time for me to do one of those "ramblings" posts again. You know, where I talk a little about this and then a bit about that - stuff that is currently on my mind in one way or another.

And, more so than anything - the fact that I am now officially unemployed (as of today) is one thing that is on my mind. The workings of being unemployed in this country is absolutely crazy, and from what I hear, it is a lot worse now than it was when I last experienced this state of being about 4+ years ago. Hence, the title of todays ramblings are "Unemployed Ramblings".

The Unemployement Office: The place to go when out of a job is the Unemployement Office. This is required for you to recieve payment from the Union (we pay monthly as we work - or not - to a pool of money from which we can collect unemployment benefits for up to six months... after that, we become the product of the welfare system). Unless you are registered with the unemployment office, you can not collect the money.

This all sounds reasonable to me. But, it is how things at the UO (Unemployment Office) are handled that pisses me off. Not only do they treat you like dirt - they refuse to help you, and as you walk in with a million questions (as you don't have a clue how things work around here) they point you to a computer. I don't want a computer, I can log onto that site at home... I came all the way down here because I felt the need to speak to a human being and have my questions answered. You then have to book a meeting, and hope you get to talk with someone who knows a thing or two. From my last experience of this place - very few of the people working here can tell you a damn thing worth knowing.

Top this off with the fact that they force people to take jobs - any jobs they think are suitable for you. That means, that because I have experience in retail - every single retail job available is going to be forced upon me. They don't give a damn that I don't want to work in that line of work any more... and if I refuse - there goes my benefits, and welfare isn't going to give me any money either... so I would stand without any form of income (save from robbing a few convenience stores and the occasional boondocks bank). Lately, I hear from others, they have also taken it upon themselves to force people to move to another city if they can find you a job there... listen - I'm not moving to another city in Sweden - if I'm moving, it'll be a hell of a lot longer than that. I've even heard of some people being forced to take a job in our neighboring country of Norway (see, them Norwegians actually have jobs)... how in the hell is that going to help the unemployment crisis is Sweden?

Beware, as this goes on, that I may have some very angry rants on this blog - it's all coming back to me now. What it is like to be unemployed in this country. I swear to you, I would rather be locked up in jail... hell, they even have their own Union Reps in jails over here - not long ago (and, no I'm not kidding) they were fighting for their rights to have televisions in their cells, and for their rights to have access to PORN!

Guys... these are criminals? Many of them sexual predators... they have NO right for porn. You know, as long as TV and porn is readily available - I'll go to jail and actually enjoy it too.

See how that happens? You talk about the UO, and you finish up in jail. It is all too much of a possibility that this happens too... I might end up hurting someone in one of my visits there.

"HOUSE DOCTORS": A number of years ago, things changed in the local medical centers. We no longer belonged to a certain health facility, but rather to a specific doctor. As these changes took place, I know I filled out the papers so that I could see the same doctor I had been going to since I was a kid. I didn't need a visit to the doctor's office in about three years, and upon my arrival I found out that I did not belong to this hospital, and as such I was not welcome. I was furious!

It's been another couple of years, and for the past six months my left shoulder has been bothering me. It really flares up when I try certain exercises at the gym, so for quite some time I've known that I need to go see a doctor about it... you know - after six months you can feel pretty certain it isn't going away by itself. So, today, I actually went back and was able to sign up to a doctor at the same hospital I've always gone to. Not my old doctor, but some new woman doc... I'll be giving her a call tomorrow and see if I can come in and have a look at that shoulder.

Balloon Angioplasty: Hospitals seems to be the theme today. Interestingly enough, apart from jail, hospitals are a likely place to end up when dealing with the UO. Either on account of a mental breakdown, or from stress-induced heart failure. Heart failure is not something to joke about...

One of my best friends, only 41 years old, apparently had to have a coronary angioplasty last week. He had been feeling down for a couple of months, and when he went out for a walk, he had to stop and catch his breath every so often. And, then he was feeling this intense pressure in his chest. For months he figured he had an infection of sorts, and didn't think much of it. He finally did go to the doctor's to have it checked out, and was rushed to the hospital for the surgery.

These things scare the living crap out of me... these things remind me that I am getting old. My friends are getting old, and dammit do I have some living left to do. Now, 41 is very young to suffer from this - and the fact that he has diabetes is part of what caused it.

I only heard of these news this weekend, and ran into him at the grocery store today. I was going to call him tonight anyway to check up on him. He was doing great now, and was out walking a few miles every day... and he didn't have to stop and catch his breath anymore. For that he was grateful!

Party was wild: I'll finish this rambling up on a lighter note. The party this weekend was a success. Apart from the new woman at my old job, whom I detest, we were a good group of people who got together. This new woman, by the way, has become the manager of the store since I was let go... Thank the Lord I am no longer there!

Anyway... we had fun, drinking, eating nachos and playing Singstar on the Playstation. That stupid game actually figured I hit the notes pretty well... I'm sure the judges of American Idol would say otherwise... I did not sing a pretty tune, I tell you!

We hit the bars later on, and even I spent a lot of time strutting my stuff on the dance floor... I can NOT dance, I tell you (so that leaves me out of favor with the judges of "Do You Think You Can Dance..." as well.)

I also met a couple of old friends that I haven't seen in many years. That's always fun... and then I hooked up with some drunk bimbo for a while, but it ended right there (and all for the better).

Yesterday... as usual... I paid the price for having a bit of fun. It's getting more and more expensive by the year to party... gone are the days when you could get hammered and then get up and be productive the next day. I have a strong resemblance to a zombie the day after...

7 Deadly Sins: Sloth

2008-04-24T20:00:00.006+02:00

After yesterday's post it is only fitting enough that we continue the 7 Deadly Sins series and have a close look at the sin of Sloth.

When I started this series, and did that little test/quiz it showed me that my most prominent sin was that of Lust. I guess, if we're going to be totally honest, that Lust is what is on my mind more than anything - and let's face it: The questiones asked on that quiz wanted to know what is on my mind. Which is probably why I don't score high on Sloth.

I mean... who's going to choose the option "lie around doing nothing on a couch" over "have kinky sex with a beautiful woman". It is quite easy to direct people in a certain direction...

Sloth, however, may actually be the sin that I indulge the most in. Especially of late, as you learned from yesterday's little post.

Anyway. Before we get too deep into the thoughts on Sloth, lets grab that quote from wikipedia as has become customary in this little series... it gives me a good reference to look at while I write.

More than other sins, the definition of sloth has changed considerably since its original inclusion among the seven deadly sins. In fact it was first called the sin of sadness. It had been in the early years of Christianity characterized by what modern writers would now describe as melancholy: apathy, depression, and joylessness — the last being viewed as being a refusal to enjoy the goodness of God and the world He created. Originally, its place was fulfilled by two other aspects, Acedia and Sadness. The former described a spiritual apathy that affected the faithful by discouraging them from their religious work. Sadness (tristitia in Latin) described a feeling of dissatisfaction or discontent, which caused unhappiness with one's current situation. When St. Thomas Aquinas selected Acedia for his list, he described it as an "uneasiness of the mind," being a progenitor for lesser sins such as restlessness and instability. Dante refined this definition further, describing Sloth as being the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul." He also described it as the middle sin, and as such was the only sin characterised by an absence or insufficiency of love. In his Purgatorio, the slothful penitents were made to run continuously at top speed.

The modern view of the vice, as highlighted by its contrary virtue zeal/diligence, is that it represents the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts. For example, a student who does not work beyond what is required (and thus fails to achieve his or her full potential) could be labeled 'slothful'.

Current interpretations are therefore much less stringent and comprehensive than they were in medieval times, and portray Sloth as being more simply a sin of laziness or indifference, of an unwillingness to act, an unwillingness to care (rather than a failure to love God and His works). For this reason Sloth is now often seen as being considerably less serious than the other sins, more a sin of omission than of commission. The South American animal was named after this sin by Roman Catholic explorers.

Oooh... that's a bit of a longer paragraph than the others got. So, lets get right to it!

It was first called the sin of sadness: You know. I think the vast majority of us when we hear about Sloth, we think of laziness... of not doing anything and basically just wasting time. We picture a dude with an enormous beer belly, sporting a torn and dirty old white t-shirt, and a can of beer in one hand. His other hand reaching under his equally dirty boxers scratching his balls while watching some uninspiring talk show host interviewing sex-crazed teens. I had never even heard of Sloth as Sadness before... but reading it makes perfect sense to me. I don't think anyone can reach the stage I just described without experiencing a great deal of sadness. In essence... is Sloth not just the end result of great Sadness?

Refusal to enjoy the goodness of God and the world He created: Refusal is a very strong word... inability is more the case for most people who indulge in Sloth, I would imagine. And, I am not writing about these sins with a religious view, so we'll just basically consider the world He created, as the world around us. This would then pretty much sum up my take on the meaning of Sloth. And, am I guilty? Indeed I am... to a certain extent of course. There are a lot of things that I dream of doing, that I want to do, and quite a few that I actually need to do, but yet I find myself incapable of doing just that. I find myself sitting around doing nothing because it is so much easier that way... Yeah, I know - I need to change this pattern. This is not something that I frequently do, though... or at least not always. I just seem to go through periods of doing basically nothing (of importance).

A feeling of dissatisfaction or discontent, which caused unhappiness with one's current situation: Jackpot! Well, I guess this is pretty much hitting the nail on the head when describing my situation. I am not satisfied with what I have accomplished in many aspects of life, and I do feel that I could achieve so much more. One of the major reasons I haven't been able to reach my potential, is based on circumstance beyond my control. If I am to go all therapeutic on myself, I will tell myself that circumstance is just what I choose to blame this upon...

The slothful penitents were made to run continuously at top speed: Sounds like I've lately been planning to punish myself then. You know, I have thought of going out running for a stretch every morning, to start off the day. Ok - let's be honest... this running will be done at a moderate jogging speed - surely not at top speed. I'd be too lazy for that!

Represents the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts: Exactly! Again! Damn, I'm learning a thing or two as I work my way through this little sin. At least, this is how I feel - if I am right or wrong, well, that's for others to decide. But, I do feel that my talents lie in the creative business. I write, I've made movies, I've acted and I've played around with designing computer games. Plain and simple... I love to create. Yet, I don't do it. Not to the fullest anyway. I've got hundreds of stories that I started to write - only a couple of them have reached a first draft stage... still waiting for me to go through them and re-write them. Anyone who thinks that re-writing isn't necessary needs to learn a few things about writing. No one will ever write anything perfectly at first. There are always things that require improvement. Yes - require! Not just... "could use" improvement. I just have a major problem finishing things off... I always come up with some new idea that I can't wait to get started on, and so a lot of half finished (or just started) projects get left behind.

A student who does not work beyond what is required: This is getting uncanny. Yes, I was that student. Teachers would always tell me (and sometimes my mom, in hopes she could turn me around) that I have so much potential, if only I would study more. Truth be told - I went through my entire high school and college years without doing a single homework assignment, and still managed to graduate with average grades (well, I had average grades before I was kicked out of college, anyway). Hey! I had other things to do in my spare time than to sit with my face down in school books.

Sloth is now often seen as being considerably less serious than the other sins: I know this refers to what is important "in the eyes of the Lord", but I would say that this is definitely one of the most serious sins in our personal lives. I mean, most other sins deal with enjoyment or pleasure of some sort - while Sloth really hurts our very own well being. In that respect - Sloth should possibly be considered the worst of all the 7 Deadly Sins.

The South American animal was named after this sin by Roman Catholic explorers: And isn't it one of the funniest looking animals you ever saw?

Well, that concludes my look into Sloth as a sin. But, I will leave you with another song on my playlist which I feel represents Sloth well. And, I do recommend you give this one a listen even if you don't usually listen to the songs I put up there. This is one of the best songs ever recorded in my opinion - a magnificent power ballad by Skid Row called "Wasted Time". I would sure like to be able to sing with the kind of power that Sebastian Bach shows off in this song. Right at the end there, when he starts singing "I never thought you'd let it get this far, boy"... that stuff just reaches in and pulls your heart right out of your chest, leaving a massive chest cavity in which the sound goes right to the core of your spine. Seriously - this is one good tune!

Inside Looking Out

2008-04-23T21:05:00.003+02:00

I said that I was going to go a little "old-style" on you people this week, and blog a little bit about the current situation that I find myself in. As you regular readers have probably noticed, there has been a lack of posts that speak of what is going on in my life of late... well, let's have a peak, shall we - and I'm sorry I don't have too many good news to share.

Apart from the party happening this weekend, there really isn't anything fun to report.

I mean, as I lost my job, I thought of it as a good opportunity. I hated the place, and under no circumstances would I want to return to work there - I am still very pleased to be out of that hell hole.

But, what I have found out since I didn't have a place to go every day for work is this.

A) I have a tendency to fall into apathy. I am nowhere near as productive now that I should have all the time in the world to be that. I am not utilizing all this freedom to my advantage, and time flies.

B) When looking for a new job, I have only come to the conclusion that there isn't a single job out there that I would enjoy working at. At least not jobs that are available or jobs that I am qualified to do.

Now, I thought about packing up and leaving the country. Fucking brilliant idea (excuse the french, but I get emotional sometimes)! This is in fact the one thing that I really feel would be right for me at the moment. It is right for me if I am being 100% selfish, that is.

I'm still planning to go - but it won't be likely to happen until earliest at the end of the year - probably even next year sometime. In the meantime I need to save up a few dollars to get me started when I get over to the States. I mean, I'm gonna need some rent money, a car, and enough cash left over to feed me for two-three moths until I am sure I have a steady income... or, I could try to get a job from here and have that ready for me when I land. I wonder how that would work?

Either way... I could use some more savings before moving. I am not going to completely drain my current life savings for the move, because who knows the repurcussions I would suffer then! And, saving up money means I need a job, because what I get from the state is barely going to cover my bills. And, I'll probably be living off pasta and... well pasta and ketchup. Water on the side ;) Nah, it's not gonna be that bad... I'll probably be able to afford a bowl of freshly boiled rice every once in a while.

This job that I should get could be anything that pays a decent salary. I can't be too picky, but still I am faced with a few retail jobs as the only choice, and Lord knows I don't want to do retail again. I did see a sales job that would require a lot of travelling, and that I could do - I like to travel. Problem was, salary was only based on sales, no basic payment at all, and I've tried that before. That was the only job I ever had in which I actually lost money instead of made any. At least I got to stay at hotels for free for a month. In total, though, I'd lost about 2.000 dollars on that job in one month... so you can see my aversion towards these types of businesses.

Writing... journalism. This I could do, and I do believe I could do it well. A few years ago I even wrote a few pieces for the local newspaper, and I did a couple of movie reviews. But, try to get hired at a newspaper without a degree in journalism to show... not gonna happen.

So... should I go back to school? I guess - if I want to get a better job than your average junk piece of work. But, going to school right now is a waste of time and money. If indeed I am going to move, that is simply out of the question.

End result of all that I just wrote is - I really don't know what I want or what to do to get it. Not right now.

So, at the moment, I try to spend some time at the gym working out. I've thought about going out into the woods for a jog once every day, now that spring finally does seem to have arrived... I need a pair of jogging shoes for that.

So, yeah. Over all, I am a little down. Have been for a couple of weeks now, and it's taking its toll on my blogging as well. For some weird reason, it seems, getting a job and actually having less free time, would give me more time to effectively be productive and creative...

Apart from that, you might say that I am being a bit slothful at the moment... and we will probably have a little closer look at that tomorrow, as (fittingly enough) I will discuss the sin labeled Sloth of the 7 Deadly Sins series tomorrow.

WWC / Party Time

2008-04-22T17:26:00.004+02:00

At the blink of an eye, another week has passed us by and it has become Tuesday again. And, as always Tuesday's are when we play a little game called the WWC (aka Weekly Words Challenge).

The fun and games is, as you darn well should know, brought to you by Blogville's very own gorgeous Prom Queen, Tink of Pickled Beef, and the words she has chosen for us to play with this week are FIVE and WIND.

For a second there I thought I wasn't going to get any pictures this week, because there has not been a hint of a breeze in the air all week... but, I started to think outside the box a little and came up with quite a few pictures for you this week.

Another little note. I got a call from a (former) co-worker the other day, and now they've finally decided to throw me a going away party this weekend. It has been something we always do when someone leaves the job - throw them a party in their honor. I was beginning to worry that I wasn't "popular" enough for them to want to party with me... hehe. And, some of these people I still consider my friends. So, it's going to be fun - and I'm going to get wasted.

Yes, I really don't have a choice. This one girl, who made the call, is probably as good at drinking as my favorite party gal Tequila Mockingbird. There is just no way anyone can escape the liqour assault when she's around... and, she's always a lot of fun.

Well, Friday is my last official day of employment at the place - so I guess now is the time to actually go crazy.

Ok - with that said... let's look at this weeks WWC pictures:

Those are my pictures for this week!

Tink hasn't posted her WWC yet, so I'll get back here to update this post with the words for next week once she does.

Tink has now posted her WWC, and announced that the words for next week are ONE and WATER. That should be reasonably easy and fun (last time I said a WWC was going to be easy I struggled like hell).

Don't forget to check out the pictures for the next PFC in case you missed the post yesterday!

PFC #4

2008-04-21T13:15:00.003+02:00

As we move on the the fourth edition of the Picture Fiction Challenge I can tell you that this thing has become a much bigger success than I could have ever imagined. And, there have been some excellent stories written, so it has been a whole lot of fun blog-hoppin' and reading up on your stories. I would like to take this opportunity give my thanks for participating to those who do, and also a big Thank You to those who do not participate, but still show up to read and comment on the stories.

Any newcomers who would like to try their hand at this writing exercise are of course welcome - last month saw yet another couple of newbies who offered some really good stories. You will be able to access last months stories from the sidebar links all month.

And, don't forget to check out the ARCHIVES for previous PFC entries!

The deadline for PFC#4 will be set at May 14th - May 16th, which should give you ample time to write a story.

If you're new to the game, you might want to read through the rules below. If not - scroll on down and get a peek at the pictures for next months story!

THE PICTURES:
Each picture below represents a certain aspect of the story. Analyze each picture and try to interpret what you see into the specific category the picture represents.

Character(s): The main character(s) of your story. This is the person(s) whose perspective the story is told through. You can have any number of additional characters, but the one(s) on this picture are who we will relate to.

Objective: This is the overall objective of the story. That which our main character is trying to achieve - what the MC is trying to reach. This is the objective of the story.

Setting: The place where the story unfolds.

Item: An item of significant* importance to the story.

Random: This could be a picture of anything at all, and what you see on that picture must have a significant* importance in the story you write.

*significant. That means that these things do not simply appear in a fleeting moment in the story. They hold an importance to the events that unfold, and are as such necessary to the outcome and progression of the story.

THE STORY:

All of the picture representations must be present in the final story.

The story you write can be as long or short as you wish.

You can write the story in either first or third person perspective.

The story must be a fictional story.

DEADLINE & POSTING:

The deadline to post the story on your blog will be between 14th - 16th of May. Not sooner - not later! (Ideally, everyone posts on the 14th, but I'm giving you a couple extra days because there are many reasons one may not be able to post on a specific day)

Let me know in a comment when you have posted your contribution, so I can add a link to your blog (and story) in a list of all participants on my sidebar.

Read the other people's stories (only after you've posted your own) and comment on their writing.

Those are the rules and here are the pictures that we get to work with for Picture Fiction Challenge #4:

**********

Remember! You can click the pictures here and go to the Flickr page they came from, so you can see higher resolution versions of them.

Lots of colorful pictures this time around, and I'm hoping to see lots of colorful stories to go with it in mid May.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the WWC!

Funday Sunday: "Crazy Taxi"

2008-04-20T12:40:00.003+02:00

You gotta love those Japanese television shows!

Today I chose a Funday Sunday post which makes you think twice about riding a taxi ever again. I just wish I could understand what they are saying in this clip, but words aren't really necessary to get the feel here.

Anywhere else in the world - the TV-station would have their asses sued if they pulled a stunt like this! This would surely be the ride of your life.

Unless... if you're from New York City, this is pretty much just your average ride. Last time I took a cab in NYC (a couple of years ago) I actually hit my head on the ceiling.

Enjoy!

Wordzzle / Next Week Preview

2008-04-19T14:55:00.004+02:00

After missing out last week, I am back to play the Wordzzle challenge again. This is a fun little word-game that is hosted by the very talented Raven over at Views from Raven's Nest. Head on over to her place to check out the rules of this little game, and find out who else played!

A lot of fun and interesting little stories usually come up during the Wordzzle play, so I recommend going around reading those (they are usually much shorter than the PFC stories).

Lets take a look at the normal 10-word challenge: cocker spaniel, penultimate, fetters, warranty, tarmac, quartz, paparazzi, apple sauce, earsplitting, lackadaisical

And this is the story I came up with:

The paparazzi was there to capture the moment of Adam Sanderman's mental breakdown. His lackadaisical approach during the punultimate race to win this years edition of American Idol was front page news on virtually all of the entertainment magazines.

"You're putting fetters on your own chances to win this thing", was one famous line from one of the judges. Up until the final stages of the show, everyone thought Adam Sanderman would win with ease.

His Quartz watch had stopped working. Not that big of a deal. Get your warranty out and go get it fixed. It became much more of a deal than Sanderman would have ever expected. It's one thing to not focus one hundred percent on winning a competition - a whole other thing not to focus while you're driving a car.

Before he knew what had happened, he had flattened an old lady's cocker spaniel to the tarmac of the road. In shock, he quickly exited the vehicle to the earsplitting screams of the old lady, and saw a mass that reminded him of apple sauce under the wheels. He snapped. A blubbering mass of incoherent mumblings, he fell to his knees and started to cry.

The paparazzi was there to capture that moment, and the front page of Celebrity Report sported a graphic picture of Adam on his knees crying, behind him an old lady screaming with her hands held out. A close-up picture of the dead dog was inserted, and the caption read:

AMERICAN IDOL'S ADAM SANDERMAN CRUSHED

What is the world coming to?

Ok... I know. I broke one of the golden rules of writing with this one - and I'm sorry about that. I read in a book on writing once that you should never kill a dog if you want to get the sympathy of a reader. Dogs are man's best friend and all - but I have to go with whatever story line pops up in my head from these words. I hope I didn't offend anyone ;)

Then, there is the mini 5-word challenge: spinach, interwoven, compromise, tennis, intangible

Again... I went for the single sentence approach with this one:

There is no compromise to the intangible rule that success as a tennis player is interwoven with eating spinach.

There you have it. My Wordzzle contribution of the week!

Tomorrow is Funday Sunday, and we'll see what I'll have in store for you then. On Mondays of late I have been running my new 7 Deadly Sins series, but will bump the next sin up until Wednesday or Thursday, as I will give you the pictures for next months Picture Fiction Challenge on Monday, and Tuesday's as you all know is reserved for the Weekly Words Challenge. One of those days next week, I am going to go old-style R.E.H. and tell you a little bit about my current situation.

Looks like it will be a busy blogging week ahead!

Don't forget to read up on my PFC story, in case you missed it!

PFC #3: "The Spirit Of Loa"

2008-04-17T22:47:00.005+02:00

After a bit of a garbage delay and some serious writer's block, I am finally able to present a story for this months Picture Fiction Challenge. I had to bang my head several times against the surface of my desk to shake out a few words today, hehe.

Anyway - as you probably have noticed, I've been keeping the links up to date on the sidebar here, as well as in the archives - so I hope you all got around to read some good stories. I've been longing to do the same myself, but as it is nearing midnight here, I might have to save a couple of them for tomorrow.

I might just as well tell you this before I present my story. The next PFC challenge will be announced on Monday. I've decided to present the next challenge quickly after the last one - that way we get a little more time to write. And - if you're anything like me - the inspiration level is higher right after you have posted and read these things, so maybe that'll help us all get a good jump.

Well, enough of the chit chat - you have plenty of reading ahead of you as it is!

Here is my story:

********** THE SPIRIT OF LOA **********

She weaseled her way down the streets in the Harbor District area, head down and a firm grip on her guitar case. She hurried as fast as she could walk, without running. She avoided making eye contact with anyone on the street. Dressed in a green mini-skirt and a red sleeveless top, her masculine features made her look like some crazed cross-dresser. Anywhere else in town she would draw attention simply by the way she looked. Not down here in the Harbor District. Down here is where all the low lives roamed the streets - the hookers, the tricks, the homeless, the druggies and their dealers. Every now and then she would lift her gaze to check out the surroundings and try to localize where she was, and where she needed to go.

She had to be close now.

An hour earlier she had left the hotel behind. The other girls were asleep, and she had gone up, grabbed her guitar and then she ran down the hall, down the stairs – too nervous to wait for the elevator – and through the lobby and out onto the streets. She was leaving her old life behind. She was leaving the band, the girls and the life she sold her soul to get.

Growing up had been tough. She fought, she drank, fucked around and did drugs and alcohol. Her life was destined to be a short one, likely raped, murdered and left dying in the gutter of some deserted alleyway. She contemplated suicide often, but she loved her guitar. Playing her music made her feel good – playing her music is what would keep her sane and even alive. Her music was angry. She let everything out of her when she plugged the electric guitar into the amplifier.

She wanted stardom. She wanted the world at her feet as she played them her music.

That’s what Anabel had promised her. That’s what Anabel gave to her. And, now she was running away from it all, fearing for her life.

Maxime Steel stopped for a second to catch her breath. She felt her heart pounding in her chest – even in her ears as she leaned against a wall. She looked up, trying to figure out where she was. She didn’t know this city at all – this was the first time she’d ever been here, but this place could provide her salvation. If the stories she heard were true, there was a small voodoo shop in one of the back alleys down here. The magician who ran the place was well known among practitioners of Voodoo. Pierre-Jean Brassard was a master magician, and only he would have the powers to save her from her fate.

Her head snapped to her side as she heard a chirping sound. Her eyes fell on a yellow-rumped warbler as it landed in a small planted tree on the sidewalk. In its mouth was a worm, squirming helplessly for a second, before the beautiful bird cocked its head back and seemed to swallow it whole. Maxime watched in fascination. Spring was in the air – she’d seen a bird just like it outside the window of her hotel room as she dressed up in a hurry and grabbed the guitar case. She had to move on, before someone noticed her guitar, and wanted to steal it from her.

The guitar she could live without. It was the thing that was lying next to it in inside the guitar case she needed to protect. The thing Anabel had given to her - the thing which held her soul captive. The Loa Doll.

Anabel showed up that one day when Maxime and her band “Butch Bitches” were looking for a new singer. The Butch Bitches were just an obscure garage punk band of girls looking to blow off some steam. Occasionally they would play in some backstreet joint where people were generally so blacked out or stoned that they couldn’t make sense of any kind of music, but Maxime always wanted the band to be her salvation. She wanted to play in front of thousands of adoring fans, screaming her name and going crazy as she ripped a vicious solo. But, she was never a good enough guitar player to go beyond an angry, monotonous riff from start to finish of a song.

Anabel was a raw singer. Perfect for the band, and she said she could make the Butch Bitches a raving success. Maxime wanted it – the other girls did too. A ticket out of poverty was the lure.

But, there was a price to pay.

“Sell your soul to Loa”, she had told her.

“Loa?”, Maxime had asked her, thinking she would do anything for fame.

“Loa is a powerful Voodoo spirit. If we give our souls to Loa, Loa will give us fame and fortune”.

So, Anabel had given her the Loa Doll, and Maxime had spilled her blood onto it. She will never forget that day, as she could feel her soul being drained from her body. She felt as if she was high on some incredibly powerful drug, and she felt invincible. From then on she had never looked back. From then on the road to stardom lay in front of her, and the Butch Bitches were now playing in front of crowds of 20-30 thousand fans.

But, there was a price to pay, and as the crowds grew larger the price went up. Loa wanted blood, sacrificial blood. And to honor their God, the Butch Bitches would take unsuspecting fans to a “party” after the show, where they killed them ceremoniously and sacrificed their blood to Loa. It had always struck Maxime as fascinating how easily the fans would let themselves be murdered, but they too – the fans – were under the powerful spell of Loa. Their music drew them in, captivated them and made them want to die for him.

But, Maxime wanted out.

The yellow-rumped warbler took flight and Maxime watched as it flew around the corner into a narrow alley.

Down there, she thought. That’s where it is.

She started walking again. Faster than before, eager to look down that street. She couldn’t explain it, but she just new that the Brassard Laundr-O-Mat would be down there, and behind the laundry machines there would be a small draped passage leading to a flight of stairs to the second floor. That was where the voodoo shop was.

Maxime rounded the corner, and saw what she had been hoping to see. The place looked run down and for a second she thought it may have closed. Forever. That would be just her luck. She could not turn back now. Anabel would know by know that she had eloped, and the punishment for that would be severe. Anabel would evoke Loa’s rage upon her, and her fate would be far worse than death alone.

Unable to hold her composure any longer, Maxime started running down the street. As she stopped just outside the door, she noticed the yellow-rumped warbler sitting on top of a fire hydrant… as if it were looking at her.

She walked inside. No one seemed to be there. All the machines stood still and empty. The smell of incense was powerful, and comforting. The incense assured her that she was in the right place.

Behind a large clothes dryer, she noticed the small passage, covered only with a colorful beaded drape. She went through it and ran up the stairs – praying that Pierre-Jean would be there.

She came upstairs and saw a jungle of paraphernalia. Crows feet, dried lizards and chicken heads. All sorts of dolls, incense and jars full of things she didn’t even want to know what they were. But, no sign of another human being.

She looked at the many different voodoo dolls, and was relieved that she didn’t see one that resembled her own. The Loa Doll was much too powerful, and if Pierre-Jean would have them in the store, Maxime would be worried that he too, like Anabel, belonged to Loa. Loa was an evil spirit.

“Lady, you look like you was run over by a freight train”.

She spun around, surprised at the voice behind her. She came face to face with a large Haitian man, tattooed and pierced like he added one each day to his face… for the past 20 years. He had dreadlocks, and colored beads – making him look like a crazed punked out rasta man. His eyes penetrated her very soul… had she had one.

“Brassard?”, she asked. “Are you Pierre-Jean Brassard”.

“You are a lady of question. You have a purpose”, he motions to an old arm chair. “Let us sit.”

Maxime didn’t want to sit. She needed to know she was speaking to the right man… her life depended on it.

“I asked you a fucking question. Are you Brassard?”

That dead stare of his wouldn’t leave her eyes, and she was getting uncomfortable with it.

“What troubles you, lady? And for what do you seek the guidance of the spirits?”

“I’m not talking to anyone but Pierre-Jean”, Maxime says and sits down in the arm chair. She found she was too exhausted to stand up any more.

“Then speak, troubled lady”. His eyes never leaving hers, penetrating deep. Was he looking for her soul? You keep looking fucker, she thought. You’re not going to find it in there. My soul is trapped in a fucking doll in my fucking guitar case.

As if he could read her mind, Pierre-Jean’s gaze wandered to her guitar case. Then back to her eyes.

“Well, you better fucking be Brassard then. I’m in some deep shit, and I hear you can help me.”

He sits down in front of her, in an identical arm chair facing the one she is sitting in. For a second his gaze shifts back to her guitar case. She gets the feeling he is a little nervous after all – despite his unfaltering eyes.

“Show me”, he says.

“Shit man…”, she begins. “I don’t know where the hell to start. It is bad… it is really fucking bad, and-“, she is interrupted.

“Lady, I don’t want to hear. I want to see. Show me what is in that guitar case”.

“Maybe I need to explain…”, she could almost feel his eyes penetrating her – forcing her to stop talking. “Ok. Fine.”

She picks up the guitar case and opens it up. Carefully holding the guitar up, so that she can reach into the small compartment where the Loa Doll is hidden. As she touches it, she feels a razor sharp pain shooting through her entire body. The doll is small, brown with piercing black eyes. It’s mouth is a gaping wound of blood red with a line of sharp teeth on the top and bottom.

She takes it out and holds it out to him.

His face paled instantly, and she could hear his breath slowing down – almost ceasing completely. But, his eyes never falter.

“Loa…”, he whispers.

“Yes!”, she almost shouts. “It’s a fucking Loa Doll, and I want my fucking soul back!”

“Silence!”, he screams at her, and stands up quickly. “Do not curse in the presence of a Loa Doll! You do not want to anger it, Lady”

“Can you help me?”, she gets up herself. Walking toward him, with the doll held out in front of her. He takes a step back.

“Maybe…”, he says. “Loa is a powerful spirit. Lady put the doll back where it belongs”

“I don’t want it”, she says. “I want you to bring my spirit back to me and get rid of this fucking doll”.

“Put it back!”, he screams at her. “And, stop with the cursing! I will try to help, but I can’t help you here. You can only help yourself, and I will give you what you need. Then you leave here, lady. Far from here, and you help yourself”

Desperate, and defeated, Maxime puts the doll back in the guitar case. Pierre-Jean watches intently as she does so.

“Good”, he says. “I don’t want Loa to see me”. Then he turns and starts going through a lot of stuff in the store. He is putting together some things in a small wooden box, and after a short while he returns and holds out the box to her. She puts her hands on it, and as she does, Jean-Pierre clamps both his hands onto hers and squeezer her hands tight.

“Take this, lady. Go far away - out of this city. Only then must you open this box. Only then must you see what is inside, or your soul will be lost forever.”

Those eyes of his look into hers so powerfully that she can barely breathe.

“Thank You”, she says for the first time in her life. “How much do I owe you?”

“You owe me only one thing, lady. Do not open the box until you are out of the city.” He lets go of her hands. “Now, go!”

She takes her guitar case and the small wooden box, and hurries down the stairs. As she exits the Laundr-O-Mat she notices the warbler still waiting for her on the fire hydrant. As soon as she notices it, it takes flight again. She watches as it flutters down the alley, and lands on top of a car.

Maxime runs after it. The bird was showing the way – she knew that now. The bird was showing her the way to freedom. She had stolen many a car in her youth, and she knew she could still do it. She ran up to the drivers side door and crashed the windshield with her elbow. Pain shot up through her arm as blood started pouring out of the wound. It was a small price to pay for freedom.

She unlocked the door and hopped inside, quickly breaking off the panel underneath the steering wheel, and expertly – as if it was only yesterday – wired it started. The bird suddenly took flight again and disappeared into the night.

“Thank you little birdie”, she said after it and then she drove.

She drove fast, but careful. She didn’t want to be stopped by the police now. Not when she was so close. She got on the highway and left the city behind. Soon after the city lights were behind her, she took an exit and went down a small road headed towards the mountains.

When she was certain that she was far from civilization, and no cars would be passing through, she pulled over to the side of the road, and stopped the car. She grabbed the small wooden box Pierre-Jean had given her and stepped out of the car. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest. Was this finally it? Was this the end of the Hell she’d been going through for all those years?

No more sacrifices. No more blood spilled. No more death on her conscious. No more Anabel and the girls of Butch Bitches. Only freedom!

She heard something rustling the leaves of the trees to her side, and turned toward the sound – half expecting to see what she did see.

The yellow-rump. It landed on some branches, and sat there looking at her.

“You are my savior, little birdie”. She opened the small wooden box in her hands. Inside was a small black voodoo doll. She didn’t like the look of it, as when she looked at it, it sent shivers down her spine. Next to it was a tiny note, neatly folded.

She took the note out, and unfolded it. Then she looked over to her little savior bird.

“Lets get my soul back, huh? Fuck Loa!”. The bird chirps, as if in agreement. That’s what she thought. “Yeah…”, then she read the note:

DO NOT BETRAY THE SPIRIT OF LOA

“What?”, she read it again in disbelief. “You fucking asshole!”. She crumples the note in her fist and throws it away, as tears begin streaming down her face. She looks back at the bird. “Do you fucking believe that?”

The warbler takes flight again. Right towards her. It came at her so fast she never had the chance to start defending herself as it attacked her face. Pecking at her eyeballs, and flapping its wings. Maxime tried to run, but stumbled and fell to the ground. The bird continued to peck at her eyes, her nose and her ears. She screamed and flailed her arms around.

She struck the bird with the palm of her hand, sending it to the ground. Maxime quickly got to her knees. She was only able to see with one eye – the other one was punctured and she could feel a gooey mass pumping out of it. The pain was unbearable.

It was only now that Maxime remembered what Anabel had told her that night.

“If you ever betray the spirit of Loa, she will come after you and tear you apart. You can not escape from her wrath.”

“Has anyone ever seen this Loa spirit?”, she had asked.

“In our back yards. In the trees. Loa is a beautiful bird”

Maxime had never pictured Loa as a yellow-rumped warbler, though.

The bird was flying again. It didn’t attack. Instead, it landed on the hood of the car, next to the wooden box which still lay open on top of it.

“Alright little birdie”, she says. “Attack me again, and I’m going to fucking tear you apart. You don’t scare me!”

Then, in amazement, she watches the bird dip its head into the wooden box. She feels a burning pain in her left side, as if her entire rib cage was suddenly crushed by an unseen force. She screams in pain and fear. At the same time, her eyes register the small bird flying up to the trees again. It lands on the same branch Maxime first saw it on. In its beak, she notices the voodoo doll Jean-Pierre had put inside the small wooden box. The bird lays it down in front of it. The little black piercing eyes looking at Maxime as if they were hiding an evil smile.

“No”, Maxime said. “No, please, no…”

The little black doll was her. She suddenly realized this. Whatever happens to the doll would happen to her. That’s why her rib cage shattered as the bird took it in its beak.

The bird chirped a happy song, while Maxime begged for her life, and then it tore into one of the arms of the doll – ripping it lose.

So far away from civilization that night… no one would hear Maxime’s screams in the night.

********** THE END **********

Well, that's my story this month. And, as I've said I would always do - here are my little notes that I write on each picture before I start writing - just so you can follow my thought process... for whatever that's worth:

**********

One disturbed main character this month. Now, there's been controversy regarding the sex of this (human) being, but I clearly see a pair of boobies in the chest area, so I am going to go with this being a woman. Those arms... that face, though - there is nothing feminine about that... *shrugs* One butch hard rockin' bitch!

Time to think outside the box... snowy mountains, long winding road, desolate - driving a car. I am starting to think that my hard rocking butch bitch (knowing the story takes place in a city setting) wants to just get away from it all. Maybe she's hit rock bottom, and is looking for an escape?

City lights, night time. Big city, harbor district type area. I'm thinking this is not a nice part of town. Our butch bitch has one final thing she needs to take care of here in the crowded (and dangerous) streets of the city. One final obstacle to overcome before she can escape the city and head for freedom!

This little strange thing will be that obstacle. If this were a movie, that little funny looking doll would not be suitable for use, but I'm hopeful I can describe that doll into something a little more creepy... a voodoo doll of sorts (you didn't think I wasn't going to go all horror on you did you?). That voodoo doll is she - it is what is keeping her in the crazy punk rockin' band. As long as this doll is with her, she will never be able to escape. Getting rid of the doll has its price though!

A bird. More specifically a yellow-rumped warbler. Hmmm... I believe this bird will be following her around. We'll see where that takes us? She notices it, thinking of freedom... but is that what the bird really represents?

**********

Ok... so now I'm off to read your stories. I'm sure there will be a number of really good ones out there this time - I can feel it!

And, don't forget to pop in on Monday and check out the pictures for Picture Fiction Challenge #4!

PFC Garbage Delay

2008-04-16T12:59:00.003+02:00

As I said yesterday, I won't be making the deadline on the Picture Fiction Challenge this month. Well, the deadline doesn't end until Friday, so I'll be on time really.

I'm just quickly stepping in here to give you guys a post where you can announce your own stories, so I can add them up as links to the sidebar here later tonight when I get back home. Also a good place if you're looking to read the contributions.

So, until I get my own story posted, I will not be reading or commenting on your stories (I don't want to be influenced in any way).

Good luck!

And, in the meantime - check out my WWC yesterday, in case you missed it!

WWC / Garbage Day

2008-04-15T20:48:00.003+02:00

After taking a week off from (just about everything) the WWC I am back to present some pictures for you. As you all should know by know - the WWC is brought to you by all our favorite walking plant with arms, Tink of Pickled Beef. The words for this week are CLOSE-UP and BACKGROUND.

I offer quite a few pics this week, to make up for my no-show last week.

But, before we go on. Let me just quickly tell you that I will probably be late with my own story for the PFC this month. I meant to start writing today, and finish it up tomorrow. Well, I didn't find the time today - and tomorrow there is this huge project I have to take care of. They're setting up a temporary junk yard around where I live tomorrow, and my mother has tons of junk she's been dying to get rid of. You know, bigger stuff. Like old furniture, mattresses or other things you can't fit in a regular trash-bin.

So, of course, I have offered to go over there and clean out her storage rooms and all that stuff... I got plenty of junk myself to rid myself of so it should prove quite an interesting day. Call it garbage day! After that - I am headed to the gym. So, I'm not likely to return home until after 9PM - and you can understand that leaves little time for writing a story.

When I get home though, I'll quickly gather all the links and set them up on the sidebar here to those who have posted on time. I will not be reading or commenting on your stories though, until I have my own up on Thursday.

Enough of the PFC - lets have a look at this edition of the WWC.

In honor of the word BACKGROUND I have stored each of these images in 1024x768 resolution, so they can all be saved onto your computers for use as your desktop BACKGROUND... just click my name on the slideshow, and it'll take you to the Picasa web album where you can download the pictures in all their glory (how'z that for original?)

Here they are:

And that does it for this edition of the Weekly Words Challenge. I took a quick peek over at Tink's place to find out the words for next week, and they are FIVE and WIND. Great! Thanks... it is always windy around here... except for the last three or four days - what Weather God shall I pray to for some wind?

In addition to my lateness of the PFC - I'll put up a post first thing in the morning where you will be able to announce your stories, so people can start checking it out before I get back home to update the links.

7 Deadly Sins: Greed

2008-04-14T20:26:00.006+02:00

To begin with...

Short, sweet and to the point. I took a couple of days off... I needed it. I'll get around to reading your blogs again, probably tomorrow as it is getting late, and I wanted to continue my series on the 7 Deadly Sins.

Ah! Today we shall talk about Greed. Now, personally, I would say that Greed is the one Deadly Sin which I do not (really) indulge in. I do not consider myself a greedy person.

Well, lets face it. If someone walks up to me and asks if I want $10.000.000, and I don't have to do anything for it... I'm not going to say no. I'm not, by stating the above, trying to tell you that I don't want money or material things. Because I do. However... I am totally content with life as long as I got a roof over my head, and a daily meal on the table... with a few bucks to spare to enjoy myself every now and then.

If being traditional was a Deadly Sin - that one I would be guilty of... we will continue the tradition of quoting wikipedia for the definition of Greed as a Deadly Sin:

Greed (or avarice, covetousness) is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the Church) is applied to the acquisition of wealth in particular. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that greed was "a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. "Avarice" is more of a blanket term that can describe many other examples of greedy behavior. These include disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain, for example through bribery. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed. Such misdeeds can include Simony, where one profits from soliciting goods within the actual confines of a church.

How do you like that? Lets start at the beginning of this quote...

Greed is applied to the acquisition of wealth in particular: Ok... as I said. I do want money - so in that respect I am guilty. However, I am quite certain that the very vast majority of humankind shares this desire with me... to some extent. Do I need or covet an excess of money? No - not really. I wouldn't say no (we've covered that), but I will easily settle for enough money to be able to live a relaxing and enjoyable life. In order to do this, money is required - this is so payment of bills, shopping of groceries and (buying drinks for the ladies?) having some fun whenever I feel like it...

Whenever I feel like it... ! A-HA!

Yes, in that respect I am guilty. But, it isn't the money or the things that I can buy... my sin is that I want to have fun - maybe we'll have a closer look at that when we discuss Sloth...

Man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things: Ooops... well, my "temporal" fun is important - but it's still got nothing to do with material possession or a bank vault full of un-spent cash...

I found this sentence quite interesting though. I am not a religious man... nor am I an atheist. Lets just say that I am a man of belief who chooses not to go to church (except for - you know - funerals, weddings, christenings... the like). I have always been of the belief that if you are a good man on this earth, and treat your fellow humans (and non-humans) with respect and love... you will have your just rewards when you move on to whatever the afterlife has in store for us. I have never, however, quite understood why things that are enjoyable in this world could be considered evil in any way... that above statement clears a few things up.

I still choose not to adhere to that particular sentiment.

Penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts: That sounds evil... it makes me wonder what life was like way back in medieval times. And some people say that things were better in the old days...

Disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain: Nope. I'm not guilty. Hey, I even refuse to cheat in a game of Monopoly or something like that. Where's the joy of winning if deep inside - in your very own heart - you know you don't deserve it. Same thing goes for money and material things. You know - I bought a nice expensive car... Greed, you say? No - because I earned the rights to buy that car through hard work. Besides... I'm still paying on the damn thing now that I don't have a job, and that is going to hurt my finances... does that bother me? No, not really - not as long as I'm able to make those payments...

Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects: Now... I don't know why - but one thing comes to mind. Scavenging... could that be the art of trying to get money through playing the lottery? I must admit that I do play the numbers quite often, in hopes of acquiring a sick amount of money. I would use that money wisely, though (is my plan - one can never say for sure how one would react with a gigantic pile of cash in front of them). I would stash a huge chunk in a bank, where I could live off the interest rate. Before that I would buy a nice house - nothing too fancy - a complete film studio (now there's a dash of Greed), and then I wouldn't have to work for the rest of my life. I'd make awesome amateur movies (No! Not that kind! Well, maybe, but not for distribution...)

Theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation: Apart from some shoplifting back in my teenage years, I am probably as honest a man as you will ever find. I'm the kind of guy who wouldn't sleep well for several weeks if someone dropped a dollar unnoticed, and I pocketed it for myself, instead of going "Excuse me... you dropped this". I have entertained the thought of robbing a bank every now and then... you know - don't we all? The requirements would be a) A sure-fire plan, so that there is no chance in Hell I would be caught. b) No need to scar another human, physically or mentally, from the deed. Only two requirements, and I'm sure these are two obstacles I will never overcome, so robbing a bank is pretty much not going to happen anyway...

I got this trait from my mother... she's even worse than I am. I gave her a ride to the store once, to do some shopping (well, I do this often... but this particular once, ok?). When we returned home, and unpacked her groceries, she noticed on the receipt that they had failed to charge her for the soda. Next time she went there - she brought the receipt, the (now empty) soda, and told them of their error, and that she would like to pay for it. Now - that's taking it a little further than I would do... and she's far from a wealthy woman too.

That will conclude my little look into Greed. Hope you enjoyed the read...

HOT DAMN! I nearly forgot (this is an update... you may have missed this part).

To stay with the tradition, I am supposed to offer a song representative of the Deadly Sin of the day... and though there would be lots to choose from on this one, as I had to quickly choose one, I went with the first one that came to mind. That would be the awesome cover of Abba's old hit song "Money, Money, Money" by At Vance. See, how fitting is that???

Tomorrow is WWC day. CLOSE-UP and BACKGROUND are the words... and this week I will NOT miss out! Shame on me, R.E.H.!

Wednesday is time for the PFC (oh, how I love those three-letter abbreviations). So, while there's been a lack of posting of late... now you know you'll get a minimum of three days in a row worth of (possible) entertainment.

Then, the 7DS series will continue... at some point!

Nothingness Ramblings

2008-04-10T21:28:00.006+02:00

Now... I didn't have anything to say today, really. So I wasn't going to post anything... really.

Then, I thought to myself, when you have nothing to say - what do you do?

You ramble!

Ramble on about nothing and anything, and find out what comes out of your fingertips and onto the keyboard. It is interesting, in it's own way, to see some text devolop on screen while you are barely aware of what you are writing, and where this is headed... so bare with me - this might be a strange and uninteresting read.

KEYS: I'm gonna have to go back to my old/sorta current job tomorrow and hand in the keys that I still carry. They called me the other day and wanted me to bring them in, after which I told them I do not give my keys away until I sign the papers that say I've done so... if some other moron loses the keys, I'm not going to be held responsible. So, that'll be done tomorrow - then there is only two more weeks that the place will pay me, so I better get my ass out of this chair and start looking seriously for some jobs.

THE GYM: Still going there as much as I can - just got home after a third straight day. Did some work on my back and the triceps today... my legs are still hurting from Tuesday's session. I had been neglecting the legs for a while, and sort of decided to work them extra hard - to get back on track with them... boy did I suffer yesterday for that one! Love it!

RANDOMNESS: Did you all know that I have a thing for randomness? Well, I may have created a little something that most people are going to think is outrageously nuts - but I enjoy it immensely. See... I dabble a little in computer programming... well - that's pretty much a lie. I have a piece of software which makes a little computer programming so easy a five year old could almost make their own games. A lot of drag and drop functions, but you can use code to make more complex stuff - and this is what I dabble in.

Ok, ok, already! What is this crazy thing you have done?

I have made a little program which randomizes a weekly menu for me. Yes, a weekly menu of what I shall serve myself for dinner each day. I can easily add all my leftovers stashed in the freezer (and I have a lot of food in there - I always make 3-4 servings, eat one and freeze the rest). I can also add into the mix some new recipes that I want to try out, a bunch of dinners that I often make... then - at the click of a button, a menu pops up, and I go with it for the entire week. Not only does it save me from thinking about what I should eat each day, it also makes sure that I eat those leftovers in the freezer.

I started this little project this week.

I am pretty sure this makes me the only person on the planet who has a randomized weekly menu...

And you guys thought I had an ounce of sanity? No, sir. I'm as looney as they come!

And... at risk of sounding conceited or pompous - well, I've been given yet another award. My favorite little Single Girl in the City bestowed me with the "Gratitude with an Attitude" Award... how sweet is that?

Now, I'm going to pass this baby along - but I'll get back to you on that one, because today I'm not really functioning as well as I like to when deciding who gets an award and who doesn't (this time). So keep your eyes peeled for when I announce the "winners" of this particular one.

In the meantime - if you haven't checked her out (I sure have!). Go visit Single In The City and marvel in her fun posts, and her wonderful persona. She's well worth a visit... or even a little bit of a stalking - just don't scare her... because then I'll have to come after you, and it's not going to be pretty... LOL!

BLOGGING: I haven't been the best of bloggie friend of late. I'm not able to make my rounds to you all and comment like I used to. Part of that is that I've been spending more time out of the house (shocking, eh?), at the gym and out with some of my friends. Part of that is lack of inspiration for blogging of late. I'm sure I'll get back to my usual self in that respect soon enough. Just, you know, if you don't see me at your place for a couple of days or so - it doesn't mean I don't love you anymore.

I still love y'all!

PFC: Oh! Almost forgot! It's about time I remind you all of the Picture Fiction Challenge! It is due next Wednesday... the 16th! I hope you all are finishing up, or touching up, your contributions! It looks like it will be an interesting one this month!

Better Than Butter

2008-04-09T11:11:00.005+02:00

To begin with... I'll offer my sincere apologies to Tink of Pickled Beef, and everyone else who expected a little WWC play from me yesterday.

I was going to take my camera out yesterday morning and get some pics, but my head was blank. Couldn't come up with a damn thing that was either Rough or Smooth - one of those days when the brain cells have obviously decided that "today is a good day for closing down shop". On top of that, I wasn't home last night to even put up an apologetic post. I will hopefully make up for this terrible behavior next week - and I'll even try to come up with some shots for ROUGH and SMOOTH. Next week, I promise to be back in the action, when we play with the words CLOSE-UP and BACKGROUND.

I am such a pathetic loser!

Yet, I've been handed a couple more awards, and I thought I'd announce them today (how do you like that combo for today's post?).

First up, Jo of Whatever... spent some 8 hours or so in the kitchen, carefully sculpting a chunk of butter into the shape of a heart, and set up some beautiful lighting to take a picture of it. Then she ran it through some photoshopping to add the words "BETTER THAN BUTTER", and handed out this beautiful award to some people. She also explained why she thought we deserved this awesome award:

"REH is a bundle of complex goodies--romanticism, grit, domesticity, creativity that often leans towards the dark, a personality that inspires laughter, loyalty, empathy. It's very special the way these contrasts come together in him & make sense. He shares his life courageously, and isn't afraid to dig deeper."

I loved those words... I think I may have choked up a little there, reading that! Thanks Jo! I am honored!

Then, Freakazojd over at Freakazojd's Palace also decided to bestow me with the coveted E! for Excellent award. That makes it a total of three times I've been awarded this one - and you all should know, by now, that my lucky number is 3! That's just fantastic!

Take a look over at the sidebar to see my Trophy Case, where these awards are now proudly presented for the world to see.

7 Deadly Sins: Gluttony

2008-04-07T22:42:00.006+02:00

As I continue my "series" of posts about the 7 Deadly Sins, we are about to take a look at Gluttony. As this series is also about me, we will refer to the definition with me as reference... how interesting is that going to be?

Now I'm a guy who likes to eat. I've always enjoyed my food, my desserts and my candies. Not to mention potato chips and a mouth watering bar of chocolate.

Apart from fulfilling the desire of Lust which we talked about last time, the desire to eat is one we need to fulfill or we will die. Lust is only important, really, when taking survival of the human race into account... that's not so important, now is it? Yeah, I'm joking... in case you are one of those people who have a hard time picking up sarcasm and irony.

Let us also continue the tradition of referencing Gluttony from the ever popular web encyclopedia "wikipedia". This is how it describes the Deadly Sin of Gluttony:

Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp
down or swallow, gluttony is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of
anything to the point of waste. In the Christian religions, it is
considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food, or its withholding
from the needy.[2]

Depending on the culture, it can be seen as either a vice or a sign of
status. Where food is relatively scarce, being able to eat well might be
something to take pride in (although this can also result in a moral backlash
when confronted with the reality of those less fortunate). Where food is
routinely plentiful, it may be considered a sign of self control to resist the
temptation to over-indulge.

Medieval Church leaders (e.g., Thomas
Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony (Okholm 2000), arguing that
it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant
eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods.[3] He went so
far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, including:
Praepropere - eating too soon
Laute - eating too expensively
Nimis - eating too much
Ardenter - eating too eagerly
Studiose - eating too daintily
Forente - eating too fervently

This was a bit of a funny read, as I learned a couple more things about what Gluttony really mean... I always thought it was all about over-eating - excessive eating of generally unhealthy foods, while this shows that there are really other forms of Gluttony. Lets not get ahead of ourselves... we'll do the highlighting thing again.

Gluttony is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste: Yup - this is what I figured Gluttony was all about. Am I guilty? Hell yeah! At times, anyway. I come from a long line of family members who are natural born eaters... I have been to other family dinners and actually been worried that there isn't enough food. My eyes scouring the tables, while my brain wondering can I really fill my plate with the goods and still leave something for the others? See... our family always makes enough to have left-overs for weeks after a get-together. We are the kind of family who says "Come on. Have some more. There is plenty left."

Stilll - I am the only one who [was] over-weight.

Add to this a love of pizza, hamburgers and other kinds of junk food. Kentucky Fried, Taco Bells... man, I miss those two! Can't have'em around here.

So, I eat a lot. I don't go hungry, that's for sure. But, let me ask one question? How important is it to eat moderately and healthy? Really?

I lost weight. I've mentioned that before here. I went from 260 pounds down to 186 pounds in about a year. I didn't do this by counting calories on every damn thing I ate. While indulging in Gluttony (of course) isn't going to shed the pounds, you can still enjoy eating some good food every now and then. I ate pizza and hamburgers, and I ate large servings of food. What I did, mainly, was cut the potato chips, the chocolate and most importantly; No evening snacks! Evening snacks are the killer... do not eat 4 hours before bedtime! You can have water to keep from getting hungry. And, keep yourself in motion - excercise is more important than counting calories... the word from Dr. R.E.H.!

So, my take? Eat what you want... moderately most of the time... enjoy some Gluttony every now and then, and keep away from the snacks and the midnight bite!

Where food is relatively scarce, being able to eat well might be something to take pride in: Yes, in a way. We are fortunate enough to live in rich countries where we do not have to suffer from starvation. We should eat, and we should eat well - but that's not to say we should eat excessively... nor too fattening foods. I am, honestly, quite proud of the fact that I can afford to put a decent meal on the table each day.

Of course - I would be even more happy if this was possible for all humans on our planet.

Now. To finish off this little look at Gluttony - let's have a look at the six ways to commit Gluttony. This is the part that I didn't know of until I read about it here on wikipedia.

Praepropere - eating too soon: Guilty! At times I do eat stuff even though I'm not the least bit hungry. Most often the things I choose to eat at such a time are candy or potato chips. Hey! I bought that bag of chips to eat while watching that movie on TV tonight... so what if I just had dinner? Bring on the tasty tater chips! Though... as I said, I have scrapped the chips for the most part. I don't want those pounds back.

Laute - eating too expensively: Not Guilty! I rarely pay too much for food. I rarely eat out even - cook mostly at home. Even when buying the groceries I will often opt for the cheaper brand. Only a few things will I buy from the more expensive well-known producers, and that is a decision which has been made depending on the quality of the lesser known suppliers.

Nimis - eating too much: Guilty! We covered this already...

Ardenter - eating too eagerly: Guilty! Depending on what it is. If it is something I've been longing for... I will dig in fervently. If I am extremely hungry - even more so. Both Nimis and Ardenter is practiced on my birthday to the max. There is a special meal we always have on that day, I would call it "Pepper Sauce"... I have never, ever left the table without being so full I can barely breathe! And, my motto on that day is "the faster I eat, the more I can swallow before my stomach sends warning signals to my brain".

Studiose - eating too daintily: Not Guilty! Sometimes I wish I were. I don't do too well at fancy dinners or anything. I like to sample the foods and I am often a sloppy eater... not to the point that I have grease running down my chin, or eating with my hands or anything. But, soon after I dig in - usually the plate looks like a mess.

Forente - eating too fervently: Hmmm... well, Guilty! I think of that as pretty much the same thing as eagerly... go figure!

We will continue the tradition of adding a song to the playlist which has got to do with Gluttony. I couldn't really come up with any songs that deal with over-eating, except for Alice Cooper's "Eat Some More", which of course was not available in the playlist. Instead, I give you another Cooper classic - which if you use your imagination is quite suitable; "Feed My Frankenstein".

Tomorrow it's time for some WWC fun again. ROUGH and SMOOTH are the words!

Funday Sunday: "Fawlty Towers"

2008-04-06T13:07:00.005+02:00

This week I bring you a clip from one of the funniest ever shows on television. The Brittish comedy series Fawlty Towers, where John Cleese plays the role of a hotel owner. This series had me laughing to the point of falling out of my couch at times. The clip is one in which he serves some German guests in the restaurant... he's obsessing a little about the war (The War, of course, being WWII).

I thought I'd offer you a little recipe today as well. Everybody seems to be doing it lately, and I don't want to be left out... so here is something that's really quick and easy to make, and yet mighty tasty - give it a try.

Pasta with Tuna:

1/2 onion
1 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons honey
1 cube vegetable bouillon
1 can of tuna (6-7 ounces)
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1/3 - 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Serve with
Pasta
Salad
Parmesan cheese

Here's how to do it:

Chop onions... how hard is that? Breathe through your mouth to prevent your eyes from tearing up. I'm a regular Martha Stewart, am I not?

Brown the onions in bottom of pot. Use olive oil for best results.

Add rest of ingredients, stir and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook for about two-three minutes.

Serve it up with pasta, some tomatoes and a salad. Garnish with some more fresh parsley.

Eat and enjoy!

Wordzzle Saturday

2008-04-05T10:59:00.002+02:00

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge time!

This fun little challenge is hosted by Raven over at Views from Raven's Nest. She gives us 10 words from which we are to base a story, including all those words. There is also a mini-challenge, consisting of 5 words. Head on over there and check out her blog, and see who else is participating in the Wordzzle!

The words this week were really tough, so it'll be interesting to see what people have come up with for this challenge. Let's have a look at what I've come up with:

The words for the "normal" challenge were: fruitcake, necromancer, gibberish, marshland, Lone Ranger, hog-wild, effluvia, plaintiff, phonograph, fern

And my story turned out like this:

The plaintiff sat in disbelief in the courtroom, watching on as the trial went from strange to utterly ridiculous. The case against Humberto Valdez, aka the Lone Ranger, was getting out of control. According to his neighbors he was a total fruitcake, and people were sick of the effluvia originating from the marshland behind his property.

"It is a smell of death!", Prunella Simmons exclaims. "It is making the whole neighborhood unbearable to live in!"

Humberto's face is red with anger.

"Of course it is the smell of death! It is the remnants of those who have passed on to the other side which reside out there."

"Murderer!", she screams at him. "I swear the marsh is full of dead bodies. The smell! The smell!"

"I have never murdered anyone. I respect the living and the dead equally!".

"Order in the court! Order in the court!", Judge Lithgow hollers, wanting to get on with the hearings. "Now, tell us again what it is that you do."

"I am a necromancer. I speak to the deceased. The dead come to me through the marshland, which is causing the lingering smells. It is normal for this to happen, and I can't do anything about it. It is important work that I do - many people want to get in touch with their loved ones, and I can help them with that. We should be here talking about that fern on Prunella's property instead. That thing is un-natural, and evil. Many of the dead are afraid to come to me because of that un-godly fern."

Prunella Simmons went hog-wild, listening to his gibberish, and suddenly flies out of her chair lunging at him in the witness booth. It took five strong men to pull her away from him, and pin her down on the floor. The court went into recess for the fifth time that day, to calm things down. There was no progress what so ever, and the plaintiff still sat there in disbelief - thinking the whole thing was like a broken phonograph recording... playing the same thing over and over again.

Would this trial ever be over?

And then there is the mini-challenge words: frozen, history, myrmidon, Shylock, incapacitated

And a teeny-weeny little "story":

The Shylock stared him down. Why was he not following his orders? His myrmidon hitman stood frozen, incapacitated after hearing the history of the man he was sent to murder.

"Why do you refuse!", the Shylock says angrily.

"The man you speak of... he is my long lost brother."

Come back tomorrow for a little Funday Sunday entertainment!

"3rd" - March 2008

2008-04-03T21:05:00.003+02:00

Time for the monthly feature over here at Ramblings Of A madman; 3rd! Posted on the 3rd of each month. This is where we look at the Commenter of the Month award, some fun keyword searches that brought people to my beautiful blog, and the always highly anticipated Monthly Commenter Story.

Now, about the monthly commenter story… first of all – next month I will not base your “qualification” to be part of the story through the number of total comments you leave, but rather on how many separate blog posts you have replied to… so you can’t just go in and leave 20 comments on one post and make the cut… hey, no offense Jahooni – you score high on originality for that one ;)

Speaking of originality… the commenter of the month will not be rewarded to the person who leaves the most comments either. Originality is the name of the game from now on. Comments that evoke any kind of emotion – from laughter to tears to break through stuff. I will keep track of those comments that are not only related to the post of the day, but also has a particularly interesting or funny viewpoint on it.

So… I want quality comments – rather the quantity. Hey! Don’t be ashamed if you comment a lot, I do appreciate that too… I’m just looking to level the playing field a little here, so that those who do not necessarily stalk me every day have an outside chance of winning the title… of course – the more you comment, the more likely it is you hit the jackpot with one of them…

Ok… let’s get on with this months “3rd”.

ONE: COMMENTER OF THE MONTH

No competition this month! No one could threaten winner Farmer’s Wife, as she racked up nearly 100 comments with her quite impressive 96 comments on the month. That’s an average of 3.7 comments per blog post! Single In The City sure put in the effort and finished 2nd with an equally impressive 79 comments, while Naughty Lakota finished only 3rd despite commenting a good 55 times, which ties with last months winning number.

Below, is a list of ALL commenters during the month of March 2008.

WINNER: Farmer's Wife (96)
2nd Place: Single In The City (79)
3rd Place: Naughty Lakota (55)

4th Place: Jill (39)

5th Place: Knight (32)
6th Place: Jahooni (30)
7th Place: Emmeline (28)
8th Place: Jay, Leighann (27)
9th Place: Dianne (26)
10th Place: Dana (25)

11th Place: Sparkling Red, Tequila Mockingbird (23)
12th Place: Unsigned (22)
13th Place: Jo, Karen (20)
14th Place: Casdok (18)
15th Place: Newt (17)
16th Place: TT (16)
17th Place: Butterfly Girl, Fiwa, Guilty Secret (13)
18th Place: Elle, Jen, Joel (11)
19th Place: Tink (10)
20th Place: Fortune Cookies, Jay Cam, Pookie Sixx (9)

21st Place: Mary P. Jones, Mike (8)
22nd Place: Raven (7)
23rd Place: Anndi, Fu Manchu Dad, G-Man, HoosierGirl5 (6)

Not suspected of the Mystery Man murder:

24th Place: Aunt Jackie, Jeff B (5)
25th Place: Cardiogirl, Freakazojd, Lightning Bug's Butt, Melissa, Scarlett (4)
26th Place: Ginormous Boobs, Kcinnova, Liv, Preposterous Ponderings, Spiky Zora Jones, Tookie Tail (3)

27th Place: Akelamalu, Alli, Beautifully Profound, Chatty, Ginni Dee, Jezdez, RockDog, Steph (2)

28th Place: Amy, ~Angela~, Barb Michelen, Chatti Patti, Kim, Lilli & Nevada, Linda And Her Surroundings, Loving Annie, Moo, Random Moments, Reb, SnoopMurph (1)

TWO: KEYWORDS OF THE MONTH

Time to take a look at the search terms that were used on Google and other search engines that brought people to my blog.

Top Searches: "mlb tv"
As the new baseball season was about to begin (has now), the most popular search term which brought people to my blog was that of MLB.TV. I am beginning to wonder if I should give them a call and get paid for advertising their product!

Funny Searches:
“a picture of a glass coke bottle up a 60 year olds arse” – Well, you’re not going to find that here!
“200 orgasms or more per year” – No problem… want me to help you out?
“baby come take a ride with me in this beautiful world” – It is a beautiful world… lets go!
“"boss on vacation" party themes” – Anytime the boss is away, is a good time to party…
“but at the end of the day i love her” – Is she a bitch in the morning?
“come take a ride with a and i be hot go back” – Huh?
“cuddling on sofa with large man” – I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have lost all that weight…
“curious about losing my virginity” – Let me help you out with that one…
“embarrassing photos dudes schlongs” – You know… there is this photo… it is quite embarrassing…
“fuck in multan” – Multan again this month? What’s with this place… calls for some investigation.
“full naked t.t at nun porn” – TT? Do you have something you need to confess?
“how to make a mad man to laugh?” – Write funny search terms on Google, and find your way here…
“i what to know if a mad man lived next to me” – Yeah, that’s quite a frightening prospect…
“if you want to go and take a ride with me, smoking in the back of the” – In back of the what? What to people expect to find writing long search terms like that… and what are they in fact looking for? They got me though… that’s reward enough!
“"japanese mistress" "very hard"” – My most prominent Deadly Sin kicks into gear reading that…
“kick balls nuts girls” – A girl has to be nuts to kick a guy in the balls… or does she have the balls to kick a guy in the nuts?
“locker room stories guys naked dudes schlongs showers” – Wanna go to the gym with me?
“madman in a box” – This is a good one… imagine me popping up like a Jack-in-the-box…
“pics of a random madman” – And you got me…
“picture fat man in sauna” – Sorry, can’t provide that one for you…
“scare my kid about std” – I am offended… should I be set as an example for that?
“scare your friends with weird ramblings” – I would be the man to talk to…
“virginity bottle on cam” – I didn’t know virginity came in a bottle…
“what famous actress captures m&m's heart?” – Do M&M’s have a heart? I can see why they’d want to capture it though… M&M’s are yummy.

Personal Favorite of the Month:
“where do pepsi bottles come from” – Well, this one wins my favorite… I have a twisted mind, and considering the multiple searches for Pepsi bottles that I get – I can officially tell you that they come out of a man’s butt… right? LOL!

THREE: COMMENTER STORY OF THE MONTH

The rules for how to make it into the story will change for next month. Instead of being based on number of total comments, the way to make it in will be through commenting at least once on a given number of different blog posts… I will decide how many later. That means those of you who are loyal readers will be “rewarded” with a starring role in those little stories… even if you don’t want to comment several times per day.

For this month… the rules remain as they were.

Monthly Commenter Story
The monthly commenter story is a fictional story that I will write and post on the 3rd of each month. This story is composed of all the people who have left at least three comments on my blog over the past month. Credit goes to RockDog for inspiring this idea.

RULES (may change slightly each month):
Every person who have commented on my blog at least 6 times during the past month will be included in a fictional story, written by yours truly - R.E.H.

I will go to these people's blogs and copy a single sentence from their final post of the month. It will always be the 9th sentence of that post. If the post has fewer than 9 sentences, I will use sentence number 6, if fewer than that - sentence number 3. If the post were to have less than three sentences – I will take the sentence from the second last post of the month.

The Commenter of the Month will have sentences from the last 3 posts included in my story.

Runner-Up and Third Placed commenters will have sentences from their last 2 posts of the month included.

Once I've collected all your sentences, these will be incorporated into a fictional story.

Sentences MUST be used as dialogue "out of the mouth" of that blogger, and I am not allowed to add other dialogue to that character in the story.

Every sentence MUST be used in the story. I can not skip using one, just because I can't find a good use for it.

Sentences MUST be used completely unedited, except if sentence breaking parenthesis is used, in which case I reserve the right to remove the parenthesis.

Names of the blogger will be linked to their blogs (only where dialogue follows).

If a blogger does not wish to feature in these stories from now on, they must tell me so in a comment, and I will exclude them from my story.

DISCLAIMER:
The events taking place in this story has no resemblance to reality in any form. The actions that fellow bloggers undertake in this story is in no way a reflection of their true selves. The only "real" deal here is that what the blogger says in this story, is what they have written on their blog... but it may be put way out of context of its original meaning.

Put shortly... this is for fun! I have no intention of hurting anyone's feelings, or making them out to be something they are not!

********** THE STORY **********

THE MYSTERY MAN MURDER - PART 2

Inside the locked down warehouse 505 down by the pier, the group of bloggers watched in terror as a shadowy figure approached whom they now referred to as the Mystery Man. All of the bloggers had been called down here by this unknown man, and upon arrival they had found his dead body on the floor. Detective Matthews was in charge of the investigation, and what they all witnessed from the surveillance tapes was true horror.

The shadowy figure reached the screaming Mystery Man, grabbed him by the scalp and pulled his head back, before sinking his teeth into the man’s neck. What had killed him turned out to be a vampire.

Detective Matthews quickly turned to Dr. Swartzmore who turns Mystery Mans head to the side. Two perfectly round puncture wounds are exposed right by the jugular.

Detective Matthews: “I’ll be damned… a Buckingham Palace vampire.”

R.E.H.: “What? What is that?”

Detective Matthews: “Buckingham Palace vampires are a breed of bloodsuckers that hail from the 16th century England. They are particularly vicious and have the ability to turn invisible. It is the only explanation as to why our Mystery Man couldn’t initially see him. There’s no place to hide in here.”

He motions around the room.

Casdok: “Buckingham Palace sinks into decay.”

R.E.H. swallows hard, fear evident in his eyes.

R.E.H.: “Which means the vampire could still be in here… right now?”

Elle nervously starts rummaging through her purse with shaky hands. Detective Matthews gives her a stern look as she produces a small bottle and throws him a dejected glance.

Elle: “Little white bottle for drugs.”

She quickly pops a couple of pills, hoping they will calm her nerves just a little. Jahooni looks on with equal fear in her eyes.

Jahooni: “Wishing um naief could be with us!”

Um Naief was a well known vampire slayer around Blogville.

Detective Matthews: “Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It may not even be a Buckingham Palace vampire we’re dealing with here. There are many kinds of vampires… Transylvanian, who can turn into wolves and bats, and what else?”

Raven: “Then there are vampires like the Bush administration - evil people who suck the blood and soul out of a nation, its constitution, it's economy and it's spirit without a twinge of remorse or conscience.”

Everyone turns to Raven, and seemingly agrees… except for Detective Matthews.

Detective Matthews: “Those kinds of vampires don’t have fangs, do they?”

R.E.H.: “Oh, shit… this all reminds me of that movie. The Vampire Palace. Who was it that starred in that movie again?”

HoosierGirl5: “Harrison Ford.”

Karen: “It was one of those movies that I needed to watch more than once to get the full effect.”

R.E.H.: “Yeah, that was a great movie. It really had you on the edge of the seat… just wanting more!”

Mary P. Jones: “And I know that many of you who have both seen the movie and lived with addiction have told me you've experienced that same resonance.”

Everyone falls silent at that. Knight seems to be thinking hard about something else – possibly to keep her mind off of vampires.

Knight: “Is anyone else watching Rock Of Love II as religiously as I am?”

This catches the attention of Jill who quickly and enthusiastically starts nodding her head.

Jill: “And the episode I just watch have Julian naked...”

Jen: “I'm just sayin'.”

Detective Matthews is getting mighty upset at the lack of respect as we go on talking about movies and television shows. He slams his hands down on the desk.

Detective Matthews: “Listen up! This is serious shit we’re up against. Our dead Mystery Man called you all here for a reason… what reason is that? And, why was he killed by a fucking vampire? Where is that vampire now? Did you all ask yourselves these questions?”

We all stare at him… dumbfounded. No, we had not been thinking about these questions.

Detective Matthews: “None of you claim to know our Mystery Man. But what about that vampire? Do you know him? For all that I know – one of you could be that vampire!”

Silence.

Detective Matthews: “Or maybe you are all sincere… and maybe you just don’t remember knowing them. If he’s a vampire, he may have hypnotized you and erased your memories somehow. To protect himself. Well, let’s find out.”

He slams a large book onto the desk. Joel notices the book and seems to recognize it.

Joel: “This is an interesting book for those who have a lot to say and say it in frustration, leading to arguments.”

Detective Matthews: “Yes, this is an interesting book. Did you read the part about finding out what lay in our deepest subconscious?”

Joel shakes his head.

Detective Matthews: “Well, let’s play a little game… and I’ll have to warn you – this is a bit dangerous and you could end up getting hurt.”

Sparkling Red: “The children of Canada had Elmer the Safety Elephant to give us tips on how to play without getting hurt.”

Anndi: “But from pain comes growth...”

Detective Matthews: “Now, pay attention. This is more like a test – it asks you to fill out a form with various seemingly routine questions. But, what it does is direct your train of thought into the subconscious, and before you know it – you may start to remember things that you cannot access right away. Things hidden deep inside your brains.”

CSI Rodney quickly runs the route around and hands out a stylish looking form, and gives each one of us a fancy gold ballpoint pen. Jay Cam picks up the clearly expensive document and the gold pen.

Jay Cam: “Man, what a waste of money...”

Tink suddenly gets up and asks for permission to leave for work. She figures since the vampire was obviously male that she cannot be a suspect.

Detective Matthews: “And exactly why should you be allowed to go to work?”

Tink: “We're two people short this week.”

Detective Matthews: “You’re going to be three people short today… Now sit down.”

We all begin looking at the forms, pondering the questions. None of us start filling it out immediately, as it seems very confusing. Emmeline is scratching her head, frowning.

Emmeline: “As far as I can tell, I'm supposed to list 5 things you probably don't know about me.”

Detective Matthews: “That is correct.”

At that, Tequila Mockingbird wonders if her blog should be mentioned in the document, and how she got to where she is today with it. If she should mention her time with craigslist.

Detective Matthews: “Sure… write that down!”

Tequila Mockingbird: “However with craigslist, I didnt get to quite take full credit for my posts and eventually they expired so I couldnt share my gems of awesomeness in a long term sense.”

Detective Matthews: “Fine. Write! Don’t talk!”

Tequila Mockingbird resumes writing on her form, enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Single In The City seems to have trouble understanding something she’s reading. Fu Manchu Dad leans over her shoulder to see what is puzzling her. He points at her questionnaire.

Fu Manchu Dad: “That one should be a given, but sadly, in too many places it is not.”

Single In The City: “Blondes are suppose to less educated and they seem to think we are easy.”

She seems a little peeved at him, and he quickly states that he did not mean it like that – he was just trying to be helpful.

Dianne is writing what seems to be a very long paragraph. Then, suddenly she stops and mumbles to herself.

Dianne: “But I digress …”

After about an hour, we have all finished filling out the form. It seemed we had all written about half a novel by the time we were done… nothing revolutionary seemed to have happened though. CSI Rodney collects all the forms, as if we had just finished a term paper in college.

Detective Matthews: “Did you learn anything? Dana?”

Dana: “My life is very much like my dining room - it looks put together and pristine on the outside, but the chaos lies just below the surface.”

R.E.H.: “Well, if your life is anything like that stew you served in that dining room a couple of weeks back, I envy you. How does one make a good stew like that?”

Jay leans forward, offering a bit of his cooking wisdom.

Jay: “When it comes time to make the stew pour just a bit of Olive Oil in the bottom of a big pot that’s been heated up on medium.”

R.E.H.: “My stew always tastes too salty.”

Jo: "But one year I forgot, and added the salt to my own coffee."

R.E.H.: “Huh? What has that got to do with anything?”

Meanwhile, TT notices Farmer’s Wife is trying to flirt with Detective Matthews just as he’s gathered all the forms together in a large pile on the desk.

TT: “She just doesn't.”

But, obviously – she does. Did she just ask him to go to church with him? He seemed to be nodding his head.

Farmer's Wife: “So we can attend Mass either day.”

Again Detective Matthews nods his head, and this time he follows it up by putting his finger in front of his lips in a hush-hush gesture. Farmer’s Wife walks away.

Farmer's Wife: “If so much as a mouse passes wind?”

She always said it like that – as a question – when she meant to be absolutely quiet. Single In The City has noticed Farmer’s Wife’s quite successful flirting attempt with the coveted Detective Matthews and starts waving her hands to get his attention.

Single In The City: “Toddles, Single!”

Detective Matthews doesn’t notice her though… Naughty Lakota has walked up to the desk and is leaning over it, appearing as if she is mighty fascinated by the book that still lies on top of it. It is embarrassingly obvious that she is only doing this to expose her round butt right to his face. She waggles it slowly back and forth, as Detective Matthews looks at it appreciatively.

Detective Matthews: “That’s a mighty fine ass you got there”

He slaps it… and she turns around looking at him with eyes burning with desire.

Naughty Lakota: “Without you my ass can never live up to its fullest potential.”

She walks up to him and moves her hand towards his mid-section, where she grabs a firm grip on his… gun.

Naughty Lakota: “NOT safe for work in even the most liberal environment.”

Then, Guilty Secret looks at me very seriously, and informs me that she could have had Detective Matthews any time she wanted.

R.E.H.: “I bet he knew that.”

Guilty Secret: “What he knew was that I just wasn't feeling it.”

I was feeling very strange. Everyone seemed to be acting weird, and things were not making sense to me… but I went along with it. I listened. I listened as we all started to find things in our subconscious… things we didn’t know were there. We were all rambling from the subconscious with a dazed look on our faces.

Farmer's Wife: “She found the powdered sugar hidden in the bottom crisper drawer of the back up refrigerator.”

Leighann: “It scared her so she started to jog!”

R.E.H.: “That’s not where it started though.”

Detective Matthews has quickly produced a notepad and is writing it all down.

Detective Matthews: “When did you meet him. The Mystery Man.”

Pookie Sixx: “They walked out together and Dad said that the young man was going to come home and spend the night with us.”

G-Man: “That was followed up a bit later with a phone call in which I was invited to join the rest of the team at work to work this problem.”

R.E.H.: “Clarke!”

Some faded memories started to take form somewhere in the back of my head. I didn’t even feel like it was me doing the thinking – as if some outside force was working my brain in ways I didn’t know how.

R.E.H.: “Clarke & Dave. Dave was a vampire.”

Fiwa: “Since the moment they met when Clarke got out of the army, Clarke and Bea have nursed a constant low grade dislike of one another, based I’m sure on a certain jealousy each had of the other’s relationship with Dave.”

As our tortured memories were beginning to unravel, there was something still very important which was eluding us. Something about a fishing trip was at the back of my mind.

R.E.H.: “We went fishing…”

Newt: “And boy did we have a great time.”

Butterfly Girl: “He didn’t, but the little boy standing nearby proudly announced he caught his limit.”

We all understood from Butterfly Girl’s comment that she was referring to Dave. Dave the vampire. He hadn’t had a good time that evening by the fishing lake. And that boy… there was something about that boy she mentioned. It was all coming back to me now. It was all coming back to all of us at the same time. We began telling our stories – from our own perspectives, and as we all spoke incoherently and loudly and at the same time, Detective Matthews could not pick up a single thing of what was being said.

All of a sudden Mike raises his voice loud enough to shut everyone else up.

Mike: “I want those of you who are intolerant asshats to listen closely (I'm looking at you, fundamentalist religious zealots).”

Detective Matthews: “I see my little experiment is working. You’re all starting to remember now, aren’t you? Now we can get to the bottom of this mystery. Fortune Cookies – why don’t you begin…”

We all knew what she was about to tell. We had all been there that day – only our brains had buried those memories deep in the back of our minds, because what had happened that day was so terrifying, neither of us would have remained sane keeping those visions alive.

Fortune Cookies: “See, what had happened was...”

...TO BE CONTINUED (MAYBE...)

Gotcha Fooled, Did I?

2008-04-02T19:12:00.006+02:00

Gotcha fooled, did I?

Yeah, yesterday was April 1st - commonly known as April Fool's Day. That is the day of the year on which we have all agreed it is fully acceptable to lie... or rather make other people look foolish. And, I am no better of a man than to feel I have to take that opportunity.

So, just in case y'all still thought that I would have limited access to the internet in the near future... you've been had! Seriously... I don't think anyone is quite so gullible that you bought that one - but, still; Better safe than sorry!

Well, I don't have time for a real post today... but I thought I'd announce my April Fool's Joke to avoid any confusion... and Hey! One more thing!

Dianne over at Forks Off The Moment gave me this award... so this one too comes from two different bloggers. I've added Dianne's name underneath the award in my Trophy Case, so no one can ever forget who gave it to me.

Thanks, Dianne! I certainly appreciate it!

In the meantime... feast your eyes on my WWC post from yesterday - there was no joke about that!

WWC / Restricted Internet Access

2008-04-01T18:53:00.003+02:00

Tuesday, again... and as always on Tuesday's it is time to play the ever popular game of Weekly Words Challenge. The game is hosted by the pensive and hard-working Tink of Pickled Beef. Words chosen for us this week to play with are SHINY and ERA.

Before I go on to present my pictures this week, I have a some rather upsetting news...

A new law has been passed in Sweden. For quite some time now the government have been fighting against illegal downloading on the internet, fighting against excessive porn surfing and wanting kids to get away from the computers to go outside and play with their friends instead. And, now they have come up with what they believe to be a reasonable solution.

Restricted Internet Access!

Needless to say - I am outraged! Starting already on Monday the 14th of April, internet service providers are asked to shut down internet access after 15 minutes of use. The new law states that we are entitled to fifteen minutes of internet browsing per day - no more. It is believed this will prevent people from downloading software, music and movies illegally off the internet. It is also considered a good solution to get people to spend time away from their computers.

Well, that's just wonderful. Like I am going to have time to read all your wonderful blogs, or even keep up posting on my own under these circumstances! And, what about my MLB.TV subscription which I paid good money for... I am yet to see a baseball game played out in less than 15 minutes!

I will certainly pen an angry letter to the government regarding this Big Brother type bullcrap!

So, while it is still possible for me - let's have a look at this weeks WWC:

There you have it!

I'll get back to you with the words for next week... until then - signing out, frustrated, furious and flabbergasted!

7 Deadly Sins: Lust

2008-03-31T15:11:00.007+02:00

A little while ago, over at Single In The City's place I saw she had taken a little quiz which showed how sinful we are. I thought it was a cool little thing, and decided I should do it too.

I also thought it would be cool to make this a whole new "series" of posts... taking a close look at each of the seven deadly sins, and relating to them on a personal level.

Initially, I meant to do this in order of my own "sinfulness" in each sin... but at the end of the test I was struck by a touch of Wrath... turns out I had to pay $4.95 to get that listing... there's no way I'm paying that for some half assed test that is probably as reliable as the Mitchell Report. At least - what the test result did reveal was which my most prominent sin is... so that gave me a place to start.

LUST!

Am I surprised? No - not at all really... I thought maybe Sloth and/or Gluttony would be up there... but, I would agree that Lust is my most prominent sin indeed... lets take a look at that test result shall we?

How Sinful Are You?

My Result: Lust

Indulging your passions can be a healthy outlet. But those who scored high in Lust should beware of prioritizing sexual experiences and conquests above other things. These kinds of desires may quickly take control of their lives.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=sevendeadlysinsogt&c=50652

There... that shows that I am more sinful than most people. Is it wrong of me to be proud of that? LOL!

Now, as I said - lets take a look at this Deadly Sin on a personal level... Lust! What is lust?, you may ask. Well, lets copy the definition from wikipedia for reference...

Lust (or lechery) is usually thought of as involving obsessive or excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature. Unfulfilled lusts sometimes lead to sexual or sociological compulsions and/or transgressions including (but obviously not limited to) sexual addiction, adultery, bestiality, rape, and incest. Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," which therefore rendered love and devotion to God as secondary. In Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings.

I am a naughty, naughty boy...

Obsessive or excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature: Now, I'm not going to go as far as to say that my sexual desire is either obsessive or excessive. Well, it might be excessive at times... you know - when the testosterone levels reach a critical point. But, I will certainly agree that when compared to the other seven deadly sins - this is the sin that I would most definitely choose to indulge in... excessively. Of course... if I've been deprived of both food and sex for a week... it is likely that I would choose Gluttony over Lust at that point - so it's all relative... I'm sure, however, once I've restocked my nutrient levels - sex will be what is on my mind.

Now, I'm a single guy - so I don't get anywhere near as much sex as I would like to have at the moment. I can't say for sure whether that adds to a sexual need, or if it deprives me of it. All I can say for sure is that... women better watch out, because give me an inch and I'll take all of you in! Every single good looking woman out there on the streets, in the bars, at the gym, behind the counter at the local coffee shop... hell! Even the telemarketer that I can't see, if she has a sexy voice... just say the word and lets get it on!

I don't think this all makes me sinful... no more than the average guy. I believe I am genetically cursed to be this way... because I was born a man!

So... as a man: Do I watch porn?

Come on! What guy does not watch porn? I know of maybe one or two who claim they do not... I don't believe that for one second - of course they watch porn!

I've been around since the 80's watching adult movies. I was there, nervously renting VHS tapes at various back street outlets at the age of 15, as soon as my mom was away for a day or so - so I could sneak home and pop said VHS tape in the VCR. Often one would have friends over and watch it. This was back in the day when we thought Traci Lords, Ginger Lynn and Stacy Donovan were the sexiest things on the planet. Of course they were - we got to see all of their special parts!

Porn today is even better. Not only have the "professional" porn companies discovered the technology behind filming. Making the lighting, coloring and even editing good enough not to ruin the experience. The women in todays porn are so freaking hot it's not even funny any more. And there isn't just the 5 or so major stars around... there are like hundreds (if not thousands) of them that are mindblowingly beautiful.

So... how can a guy NOT watch porn?

But, lets look at the possible compulsions/transgressions which can result from my sexual desires...

Sexual Addiction: Can/Could/Will happen? The question here is how often must one think about sex to become addicted to it? Every day? Then I'm cursed... I think about sex every day. No - I think most everyone thinks about sex on a daily basis. A study I found on the internet says that people (male as well as female) think about sex at least 10 times a day - so even if you think about sex once every hour... I hardly believe it qualifies as an addiction. My take - if you think about sex every minute of the day, you are addicted. I'm sure there are a few minutes during the day when I think about something else...

Adultery: While adultery normally speaks to married people - lets simplify this by calling it "cheating" instead. Have I ever cheated on someone? I hate to admit it... but I have. In fact, I did it once the very same night I got involved with this girl - I ended up screwing her class mate at a party that night. Don't think too badly of me - the girl who was supposed to be my girlfriend stood me up that first night in preference of doing some drugs. There was also the time when I did it to get back at the girl because she had done it to me... fair enough, huh?

Beastiality: In the words of Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop movies: "Get the fuck outta here!" Under no circumstances will I ever have sexual intercourse with any kind of animal. What the hell has that got to do with sexual desire? That is just downright sick and demented. Animals can be cute and all - but for the love of Jeeezah!

Rape: Again - GET REAL! I don't care if I'm so horny I have to carry a needle and some thread to sew the front of my pants back together every 30 seconds - if the woman doesn't consent... it isn't going to please me. Rape is not a sexual desire - studies have shown over and over again that rape is an act of rage and hatred towards women... by no means a love or desire for them. And me? I love me some women... why would I want to hurt them?

Incest: Now, I'm getting angry. These possible "compulsions" from Lust are in no way related to sexual desire in any way as far as I'm concerned. Along with beastiality, incest is the result of a seriously demented mind - and not sexual desire. Family members are OFF LIMIT!

In Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings: Now... why do I think that sounds HOT!?

ROFL!

Now, in addition to talking a little about the 7 Deadly Sins - in this series I will add a new song to my playlist which represents the sin. And what song could possibly represent Lust more than the old 80's controversial song "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)" by W.A.S.P.? I became a fan of the band after reading all the commotion surrounding that song, and I loved their first album... yes, the music was actually really good. Now - this song may not be the best one they ever did... but tell me it doesn't represent Sinful Lust, and I'll tell you you're a liar!

I hope you enjoyed this rather different post... and that you'll be looking forward to the other six Deadly Sins!

Tomorrow is WWC day... don't forget - the words are SHINY and ERA!

Funday Sunday: "Eddie Murphy"

2008-03-30T13:20:00.003+02:00

You know. I'm a huge fan of stand-up comedy. The purest and simplest form of entertainment there is, and it has a way of having me laugh my socks right off. And, the man who introduced the concept to me was Eddie Murphy, back in the 80's.

Yeah, I was subjected to the stand-up art form kind of late... well, I had seen other people on stage being funny - but Eddie back in those days took it a step further. First time I saw Dilerious, I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to die choking. The clip I present to you today comes from his second stage show "Raw". It is called that because that is what his humor is like... raw!

I had trouble deciding which clip to show you guys, and I've been meaning to do the Eddie Murphy thing for quite some Sunday's... finally, I've decided on one that I find quite funny. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Wordzzle / Dining Table

2008-03-29T15:27:00.004+01:00

I almost didn't play the Wordzzle today - because I felt a severe lack of creativity. And, besides - I thought the words were really hard this week.

Well, I pulled myself together, and came up with a little something to post anyway.

For those who are still unfamiliar with the Wordzzle challenge - it is hosted by Raven over at Views from Raven's Nest. She chooses 10 words that we are supposed to write a story from, while incorporating each of those 10 words. There's also a mini challenge, which only consists of 5 words.

So, the words for the "normal" challenge were: arbitration, music, salamanders, frankinsence, trojan horse, balderdash, bottomless pit, fantastic, pugnacious, Trivial Pursuit

And, this is the story I came up with:

When the San Fransisco Salamanders General Manager Tim Weicks realized his star player, Derek Minton, was up for salary arbitration, he knew the team would not be able to keep him. Derek was a fantastic player, and they would need him around to keep from falling into the bottomless pit of yet another losing season.

Mr. Weicks decided to call Minton to his office to try and work out a deal. As the pugnacious star player entered the office the air reeked of frankinsence, and soft music played in the background. The GM suggested they settle their differences with a game of Trivial Pursuit. If Minton wins, they will meet his salary demands, else - he will continue to play on his current salary.

"Deal!", Minton says - and the game begins. After a hard fought battle, Minton lands on the center square. One final question, and if he answers correct, he'll get his desired dollars. Mr. Weicks draws the question from the deck and reads it out to him... his heart pounding nervously in his chest.

"What is the Trojan Horse?"

Minton's smile widens. Victory is near!

"Horse condoms!", he exclaims victoriously.

"HA! No! You lose!", Weick shouts back at him. Minton is furious and starts a balderdash reasoning as to why his answer was the correct one. "Don't even try it, Minton. Your ass is mine, and you're going to help us have a winning season this year... and you'll come cheap for us as well!".

Mr. Weicks lets out an evil laugh, and shows Minton out the door.

For the mini challenge this week, I did the (cheating?) thing of making a single sentence out of them. Not a story, but I enjoy trying to get those five words together in a one liner...

The words were: maniac, video store, telephone pole, flute player, windy day

And my sentence goes like this:

On a windy day, the only surviving witness to the maniac's killing spree at the local video store was a flute player standing by a telephone pole.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks contribution.

**********

I also thought I would join in on another little thing that I've seen around lately. At first I saw Jay do it, and while visiting Freakazojd's blog today, I saw it again - and had the sudden urge to join in.

Apparently it started at the Apathy Lounge, and it asks you to take a picture of your dining table - as is of the moment. I was lucky enough to have my kitchen looking nice and clean as I took out my camera, but I can assure you it doesn't always look as tidy as in that shot. I often leave grocery bags on top, groceries that do not require placement in the fridge or freezer, and ever so often - my left over dinner plate... until I can find the inspiration to do the dishes.

So, what do we see on this picture?
In the window we see four little plants in coffee cups... yeah, I've had them in there to allow them to grow roots, so I can plant them again. The plant had died on me, and I'm trying to resurrect them. They've been ready for re-planting for about a month now... gotta get that done!

There is also my phone...

On the table - my salt and sugar dispensers... always gotta have those ready. I use a lot of pepper, but I don't keep it on the table for some reason... probably because I use a lot of different kinds depending on what I'm eating. Half the table would be full of pepper.

Next to that you see little packets of latte. I bought those because... well, I thought it would be nice to have a cup of latte every now and then... what was I thinking? I like my coffee black. I guess I'll offer it to guests when they come over...

Not much else going on...

Nice and tidy kitchen, huh? ;)

PFC #3

2008-03-28T12:21:00.005+01:00

Time to put up the pics for the third Picture Fiction Challenge.

Last one saw a few newcomers from the first one, and offered a lot of really interesting and good stories to read. I've enjoyed this little challenge tremendously, and I'm so glad to hear some of you find it both inspiring and challenging. I hope you all continue to play along, and I hope others decide to give it a shot as well.

I'll leave the links to PFC#2 stories on the sidebar - and there is always the archives where you can go back and read stories from past PFC's if you want to. The feedback we get from readers (participating or not) is important, so keep reading and commenting!

Deadline for PFC#3 will be set at April 16th - April 18th.

Ok, lets take a look at the rules (if you're new to this):

THE PICTURES:
Each picture below represents a certain aspect of the story. Analyze each picture and try to interpret what you see into the specific category the picture represents.

Character(s): The main character(s) of your story. This is the person(s) whose perspective the story is told through. You can have any number of additional characters, but the one(s) on this picture are who we will relate to.

Objective: This is the overall objective of the story. That which our main character is trying to achieve - what the MC is trying to reach. This is the objective of the story.

Setting: The place where the story unfolds.

Item: An item of significant* importance to the story.

Random: This could be a picture of anything at all, and what you see on that picture must have a significant* importance in the story you write.

*significant. That means that these things do not simply appear in a fleeting moment in the story. They hold an importance to the events that unfold, and are as such necessary to the outcome and progression of the story.

THE STORY:

All of the picture representations must be present in the final story.

The story you write can be as long or short as you wish.

You can write the story in either first or third person perspective.

The story must be a fictional story.

DEADLINE & POSTING:

The deadline to post the story on your blog will be between 16th - 18th of April. Not sooner - not later! (Ideally, everyone posts on the 16th, but I'm giving you a couple extra days because there are many reasons one may not be able to post on a specific day)

Let me know in a comment when you have posted your contribution, so I can add a link to your blog (and story) in a list of all participants on my sidebar.

Read the other people's stories (only after you've posted your own) and comment on their writing.

Ok. I know you're dying to see the pictures this month. As usual, I am not doing any selection what so ever - it is completely random. The only thing I do is select the first picture that could possibly represent the category... for example, when I draw the Character pic - the first picture with a human being on it is chosen from the random display on Flickr.

The only one that causes a problem, really, is the Objective picture. I keep staring at them, and asking myself - is there an Objective here? I mean - just about anything can be an Objective, so I guess just using whatever picture comes first is what I should do (and, I'm almost sure I've done that so far). I mean - first one we got a close-up of a pretty girls face - yes, there's an Objective. Second time we got the tiger cubs - and Objective indeed. The one present in today's challenge is likely to be more open for interpetration... we'll see.

Any suggestions on how I should work my mind around deciding the Objective for future PFC's? I'd like to know...

Item, Setting and Random are of course real simple. For each category I click for a new random page.

For Item - I use the first *drum roll* item I come across.

Setting - the same, any location will do... so many beach pics on Flickr. Missed out on them this month, but I'm seriously considering ignoring those.

Random - for this one I get a new random page on Flickr. There are 9 pics on a page, and I have a 10 sided dice. 0 means I click for a new page, 1-9 represents the pics left to right, top to bottom.

Just thought I'd clear up the selection process, in case you're wondering.

This is what we get to work with next month:

**********

Remember! You can click the pictures here and go to the Flickr page they came from, so you can see higher resolution versions of them.

Ok. Now get those creative juices flowing, and you have plenty of time to finish this one up. I've been working my way towards the middle of the month with this challenge, where I'll try to keep it. I'll always make it a Wednesday through Friday deadline.

I'm making it mid-month, so as not to be too close to my Monthly Commenter Story, leaving me with plenty of time to do both during the month.

Write On!

Quirks About Me

2008-03-27T13:15:00.004+01:00

A little while ago I ran a poll suggesting a few topics that I could write for blog posts. I almost forgot all about that until just a few days ago.

I was a little surprised to see that the topic "Quirks About Me" won the poll... and I'm even more surprised I included it as an option. Well, I had it in that .txt file I keep and store ideas for my blog in - and I do remember reading a blog (don't remember which) where this person talked about quirks, and I thought it would be fun to write about my own quirks...

...only right now I can't seem to think of too many. Well, the one's that I do have might scare you away... so thank you blog - it was nice while it lasted... my reader's will be gone forever now. It's been nice knowing you all!

Anyway - just for your information, here are the poll results:

Quirks about me... 11 (42%)
Being Half'n'Half (American/Swedish) 8 (30%)
Supernatural Experiences 7 (26%)
The Car Wreck 5 (19%)
Where have all the years gone? 2 (7%)
The Unfinished Short Horror Film 1 (3%)
Fitness/Fatness Report 1 (3%)

It is quite likely that all of the above will be blogged about at some point, and since I ran the poll I've decided that you guys polled for the pecking order. So next time I'm short on ideas - I will write about being Half'n'Half...

QUIRKS ABOUT ME:
I'll present three types of quirks. In no particular order.

A Touch of OCD: That picture up there... that's me checking that the door is locked. Every single night - the last thing that I do is check on the door. I believe a lot of people do this, and it's not really quirky at all... but don't think for a second that I settle there. As I said... it is the LAST thing that I do - has to be! If I routinely check the locks and then as I walk past the living room headed for the bedroom and notice the monitor still on or something, after which I proceed to turn off said monitor... then I have to walk back to the door and redo the lock checking procedure. It's not that I have forgotten that it is indeed locked - it's just that I'm not comfortable going to bed unless it is the last thing I've done (save undressing and setting the alarm or whatever else goes on in the bedroom...)

The locks seem to have a thing with me. The other thing about them is that I constantly forget (or rather doubt myself) if I did lock it. I live on the third floor in my apartment building - no elevator - and it does happen quite often that I walk the five flights of stairs back up to the apartment to make sure I locked the front door. I've even made it all the way to the car, when that uncertainty hits... it doesn't matter if I'm late for work or whatever - I have to return to my door. How could I possibly be away for 10 hours or so with a nagging feeling that my door is left unlocked. I need to make a very strong mental note when it's locked, so I can refer back to that and be certain...

Of course... I've never ever found that I, in fact, did forget. It's just one of those natural things to do when you leave, right?

I did wake up one morning, searching high and low for my keys before going to work. I finally found them... still in the lock on the outside of my front door. Not good - certainly not since I have a next door neighbor whom I'm pretty sure is selling drugs - with all the traffic going on there at night...

Doesn't do much good to lock the door from the inside, if you leave the keys in on the outside, does it?

Nervous Ticks: Whenever I meet new people, or find myself in new situations I get nervous ticks. Do not mistake this for me actually being nervous however. Inside I can feel very comfortable about the situation, but if our eyes meet the muscles in my neck and entire face will freeze up and begin to twitch.

This is something which pisses me off. It's not easy to walk up to a girl I don't know, asking her out on a date when you look like you're having a seizure. And, it doesn't matter one bit how much I tell myself that I've got nothing to worry about. The ticks will be there, even when I feel all calm and relaxed - even when I don't give a crap about the outcome of the situation. This is of course present in job interviews and the like too... and even if I go to a party and meet new people.

From what I've heard - this is not noticable to others though, so I might be imagining the whole thing. I can get that feeling something bad, and afterwards tell a friend who was with me at the time that, "Damn, I was so nervous... I fucked that up completely, didn't I?"

And they'll go something like: "What? I thought you handled that really well. I was thinking I could never do that, because I'd be too nervous"

This is the truth... and I cannot believe why they say things like that. I feel like my knees are going to buckle, that my face turns red and that my voice fails me... still others claim I looked calm and collected.

I've met people when I'm flat out drunk too, who won't believe me when I tell them I'm plastered. Maybe that is a similar situation?

Solo Conversations: A lot of people talk to themselves, I'm sure - even if few people would admit it. When you are alone and no one can hear, don't you sometimes say stuff out loud? Nothing quirky about that...

Me? I take it a step further. I do whole conversation pieces with myself. I don't settle for an outspoken sentence like "Meeh... I better do the dishes", before I make myself go out in the kitchen and take care of them. I'll go all schizo on myself instead - like:

"Dude. You better go on out there and do them dishes now, boy", with a deep southern accent.

"I don't want to. Dishes no fun", sounding like a doofus.

And it goes on... while I walk on out to the kitchen. I always mentally create a couple of characters that speak very differently from one another... sometimes they're even female, and I will distort my voice to make it all feminine - and yes, my body language changes to the characters as I speak with their voices. For example - if I do a gay character, you better believe I become very animated, gesturing with my arms and hands, with my pinky fingers pointing in a completely different direction than the rest of my fingers. And, usually, I adopt a french accent in honor of the "Serge" character from Beverly Hills Cop.

I think this all started back in the day when I wanted to be an actor. I would play out scenes with myself, as a sort of practice. I've found that it's quite enjoyable - and I do it to this day still to ...ahem... entertain myself ;) Quite often, these conversation pieces end up really funny... at least, I think I'm being funny.

I would never, ever do this if someone's watching though... this is for my eyes and ears only!

Are you ready to phone the syringe wielding men in white coats on me yet?

Dull Day

2008-03-26T22:05:00.004+01:00

Winter just won't let go around here. In fact, we've got more winter now that we've had all friggin' year! Why is that? Why does it do this to me... give me 3-4 weeks worth of reasonably nice weather... no snow, sunshine, almost warm enough to put on a nice cool spring jacket... some rain - ok, fine. Birds start chirping away - everything appears as if spring is drawing near.

And, then... BOOM!

Just like that - one night you get up in the middle of night to wee-wee and you look out the window, only to see a massive downfall of giant white flakes, like Godzilla with a severe case of dandruff has walked into town. And, then it is freezing cold, snow damn near every day, and even more ice.

If I don't get me some warm weather soon, it comes down to two options for me - either way I'll end up in a small confined space with guards keeping a close eye on me.

Option 1: Go out on the town with a sawed off shotgun in my hand, shooting everything in sight while cussing the hell out of winter... resulting in a life sentence to prison.

Option 2: Completely lose whatever is left of my sanity and sit curled up in a corner, mumbling to myself about the impending doom and how the aliens, disguised as snowmen, are coming to take over the world... which will get me committed to the local funny farm.

I'm still fighting against both of these options.

Yesterday - traditionally in Sweden - was the national Waffle Day. Swedish waffles are quite different from the one's you're used to in the States. They are more like a dessert (which is why Swedes raise an eyebrow when you mention waffles for breakfast). You serve them up with whipped cream and jam of your choice - personally I want them with raspberry jam. I had gotten hold of some fresh (imported) strawberries, so I added those as well.

Yes, that's what I'm trying to say here. I gave myself a treat yesterday. I made me some waffles, and a cup of latte (I bought some little packets - just add water). I also popped a movie into the DVD and took a look at the Asian version of Dark Water, from 2002. Not a bad movie at all.

Below is a pic of the Swedish waffles I served up for myself.

It is one of those things that I don't like about being single. That's a hell of a lot of work to go through only for yourself. At times like this it would be nice to have a cute girl I could serve this stuff up to, and who would reward me with some wild and rough sex a big hearty smile.

I was gonna do the "Quirks About Me" post today, which won the poll I had up a while ago - but I'm really not in the mood. My team lost game 2 of the ice hockey semi finals and are now down 0-2, not looking good.

The thing that pisses me off is that they don't even appear to be trying to win any games right now... guys - it's not fucking Sunday league we're playing here!

WWC / Excellent Award

2008-03-25T13:44:00.006+01:00

Well, now that the Easter holiday has come to an end - let's get back to blogging a bit, shall we? And, what better way to do so than play a little Weekly Words Challenge?

As always - the booby trapping, Tink of Pickled Beef is the one to select a couple of words for us to take pictures of... and this week we got TREASURE and JUNK to play with.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and that you weren't assaulted by the Easter Bunny. I hope you all got the opportunity to eat bucket loads of colorful eggs and truck loads of delicious foods. I know I did. I think I've finished up about a week's worth of food rations during the past three days. Believe me - that won't keep me from eating the rest of the week either.

And, I've been given another award! This time it is the awesome, soon-to-be famous(?), actress ~Angela~ of ~Angelaboration~ who's been kind enough to honor me with this Excellent Award!

Thank you! I will cherish this thing, and proudly display it in my Trophy Case.

I have decided on three bloggers that I will pass this thing on to. As always - so many more are deserving of it. The reason I settle for three is because I have a thing about "three's". Farmer's Wife will understand that particular obsession as she shares that one with me ;)

Cardiogirl of Cardiogirl: 19% body fat 100% fun
Writing about her struggles with depression, and her outlook on life in general - the Cardiogirl is always a very interesting read. Few bloggers I've come across are so open and honest about what they write, and you really feel like you get to take part of her daily life. That is what makes her blog Excellent!

Jo of Whatever...
Artsy and wonderfully creative. Jo offers Excellent writing, photography and interesting blog posts that always entertain. She's wonderfully warm and loving, and always puts a smile on my face. I always look forward to reading her when she updates... and she lives out in sunny California - which makes me jealous ;)

Single In The City of You Say Tomato ~ I Say Tomahto
Now here's a girl who always makes me feel good. Her innocent charmful teasing, and daily updates over at her blog is something I always look forward to. She has a way of spreading the love and the "feel good" wherever she is. And for that she is Excellent!

For those of you who didn't get an award from me this time... don't fret - You might me next!

Now, on to this weeks WWC:

Hope you enjoyed!

Tink is on vacation, but hopefully she will post her WWC today anyway - and announce the words for next week. I will update this post once she provides the words.

UPDATE: Ok, Tink has returned and the words for next week will be SHINY and ERA. That should prove interesting! Until then...

Funday Sunday: "Funny Bunny"

2008-03-23T11:39:00.003+01:00

Well, I hope you all are enjoying your Easter holiday!

I gotta jump in real quick today to post my Funday Sunday. I'm off to eat me some eggs, so I guess I won't be around much today to reply or read y'all's blogs - but I'll check in with you tonight.

What I got for you today is sort of a "panic post", as I wanted something funny and related to Easter... well I found this clip "Is that a rabbit in your pocket?" Very short... but it made me laugh! I hope you enjoy!

Beware the bunnies!

Wordzzle / Game 7

2008-03-22T15:49:00.004+01:00

I'm getting ready to watch the game tonight. After being robbed of the equalizer in the very last second of yesterday's game, I am still outraged, and my team better win!

Besides. I read today that a "specialist" team of technicians have been looking at the time board, and they have come to the conclusion that there is NOTHING wrong with it... which means some asshole decided to push the button on purpose to start the buzzer just as FBK got hold of the puck in the corner. I'm sure there will be repercussions, but the result will stand.

Game 7 - winner goes to the semi finals, loser ends the season. I am jacked up for this event tonight! Wish me (and my team) good luck!

Anyway. Quickly threw together Raven's Saturday Wordzzle Challenge, and I hope you'll enjoy reading these really short little stories. The idea behind Wordzzle is to write a story, and you need to use the words she has chosen for us. It's a little tricky at times, but a fun little challenge. Check her blog out to see who else played.

Here are the words we had to use this week: horse shoe, antique chest, marigold, lunatic, science fiction, Oregon, previously, 10 billion, google, tree hugger

And here's my story:

Marigold ran for her life.

She felt like a character in a bad science fiction movie. The odds must've been 10 billion to one that the lunatic chasing her would google her name in his quest to murder every tree hugger on the planet.

She had previously put an ad on e-bay, selling her old horse shoe and an old antique chest, and while speaking to a man from Oregon who was interested in bying, she had told him of her love of mother earth.

And now she was chased down the streets by this raving madman.

Marigold ran for her life.

Short and (?)sweet(?). There was a mini challenge too. Only five words to use in that one, and for some reason I found that one harder to do.

These are the five words: pardon me, feather duster, gathering storm, furthermore, magnolia blossoms

And the story:

"Pardon me."

The hispanic maid at the Magnolia Blossoms hotel put her feather duster down and looked at the man who spoke to her.

"Sir?", she felt uneasy about his presence. Didn't really want to speak to him. He looked like a homeless man to her.

"There's a gathering storm out there. I need a room for the night."

"I no have room. Room is in lobby, speak to man in desk, yes." Her english was not the best, and furthermore she needed to finish cleaning up. She wanted the man to go away from her.

"I'll do that. I'll speak to the man at the desk".

As he turned to walk away, she noticed something in the mirror... he wasn't really there at all.

I'll get back to you all with Funday Sunday tomorrow... I hope I'll be in the right mood to do it after tonights game!

Oh, and yes! Have a happy Easter!

An Outrage!

2008-03-21T12:12:00.007+01:00

5 seconds is all it takes! Or is it 3? What the hell just happened last night is beyond me... all I can say is that it is an absolute outrage and totally scandalous. How this can happen at the top level of sports is simply not acceptable.

Lets start by telling you the basics. The play offs in the Swedish hockey league are in progress. Quarter finals are being played out - best of seven. Hockey is the number one sport in this country (close second would be soccer).

I am a huge fan of FBK, and they are currently battling it out with Frölunda for a semi-final spot. FBK lead the series 3-2, and went on the road to hopefully finish them off.

Game 6 was an absolute thriller - and a tremendous game to watch. At the start of the 3rd period, FBK seemed to have done enough, taking the lead 4-2. Then, with two men in the penalty box Frölunda get back in the game. 4-3 scores... they go crazy, playing hockey like mad. The equalizer and the go-ahead goal are scored in rapid succession, and FBK have completely lost control of the game.

This is when things start going crazy in this memorable hockey match.

Frustrated, an FBK player tackles a Frölunda player in the back - the supporters go berzerk. Security at their home stadium - which by the way is a secondary, much smaller stadium than their regular one, and certainly not equipped for play-off ice hockey - has failed and a glass bottle end up on the ice, shattering. Apparently it was thrown right at the player, but thankfully missed him.

Ok. So these things happen - and they are scandalous enough. This was just the beginning of the craziest night in sports I've ever witnessed.

They redo the ice, to make sure there is no glass left on it - so we have about a 10 minute break with five minutes on the clock. This actually gave FBK a chance to regroup and try to get back into the game.

When things really started going crazy is when there was 5 seconds to go on the clock. A face-off in Frölunda's defensive zone, and FBK still down by the one goal. Now, try to follow this crazy shit:

5 seconds left: The ref drops the puck. Frölunda wins the face-off, and the puck goes down in the corner behind their goal.

4 seconds left: Four players, two from each team, battle it out in the corner - trying to get possession of the puck.

3 seconds left: Still a jumble of players trying to get the puck out of the corner. It's a total brawl... AND THEN THE FUCKING BUZZER GOES OFF! The one that signals the end of the game!!!

2 seconds left: The puck comes loose. A pass out to FBK's Mikael Johansson in front of the goal. Frölunda's goalie is just standing there not understanding what the hell is going on... but the game is NOT over!

1 second left: Mikael Johansson shoots and scores, quite easily, and FBK players celebrate like mad for another second... all the while the buzzer is sounding.

Then, the ref signals something - FBK players point to the scoreboard where the clock reads 19:59... they scored the goal before time was up. Fighting among players behind the goal ensue. Others are hunting down the referee demanding to know what's going on.

Mind you, this is a very important game too.

Fifteen minutes later, it is decided there will be a face-off in the Frölunda defensive zone again - with (now hear this out) 3 seconds to go??? No goal!

How can it not be a goal? How can there only be 3 seconds to go if they want to replay the face-off because the Gawd damned buzzer went off too soon? How can that fucking buzzer go off before the time on the clock is up, unless someone manually pushes the son-of-a-bitchin' button?

I'm telling you... this is absolutely crazy.

A decisive 7th game will be played tomorrow, and I sure hope we kick their asses then. I was furious last night! How can something like this happen in professional sports? I've never seen anything like it!

If you want to see a clip of the craziness - click the picture below... unless you understand the Swedish language you won't understand what they're saying... but you'll see the crazyness in pictures.

PFC #2: "The Money Shot"

2008-03-19T21:36:00.005+01:00

Finally, I was able to put together... something... for the Picture Fiction Challenge this month.

I struggled something bad with this one. But, it wasn't an easy collection of pictures to work on. Especially seeing as I don't know the first thing about tigers, really. And, did I have time to do any research? Nope - not any at all, so bear with me if this story comes off a little unrealistic. Heck, we're just doing this for fun, right?

Anyway. Hope you enjoy reading it. I'm off to read yours, and I think that part is going to be a lot of fun indeed.

Lets get on with the story.

********** THE MONEY SHOT **********

”You been out here all night?”

Clara Taylor was sitting on a rock overlooking the ocean, her knees brought up under her chin as she had her arms wrapped around them. She looked like she was freezing despite the warm, breezy air – but it got cold at night. Really cold. Next to her, on the ground, was her camera on top of its case, ready to go at any time.

“Yes”. She didn’t have to turn around to know who was standing behind her. She was too tired to turn. Doug Feinstein was a well renowned wild life photographer, just like Clara. They had always worked close together. Doug was getting ready to retire, having celebrated his 60th birthday just two weeks earlier.

Doug had pretty much lost the passion, while Clara had lost the respect she once had. It was a long time since she brought in any “A” class photos.

He took off his jacket and wrapped it around Clara before he sat down next to her. Her gaze remained fixed out over the ocean, as if she was paralyzed. She had large bags under her eyes, a clear sign of her lack of sleep.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m ok”, she says as she reaches for a Starbucks coffee cup standing next to the camera.

“So you’ve been keeping awake drinking coffee all night…”

She shakes the coffee cup which has a plastic lid on. It makes a sound like that of a home made rhumba shaker. She pops the lid open, and reveals a half full cup of green candies.

“M&M’s. Can’t live without my sugar high you know.” She holds out the cup toward him and gives him a tired look for the first time since he arrived. “Want one?”

“I think it’s better you keep those for yourself.” He looks at her, concerned at what he sees. “Maybe you should get back to the hotel tonight. Get a good night’s sleep.”

“I need these pictures, Doug.” She pops a green candy into her mouth and puts the lid back on.

“It might just be hear say, Clara. You don’t know for sure they even exist. And, even if they do… maybe they’ve moved on. Maybe they’re not around here any more.”

“They’re here”, she looks back out to the ocean.

“Oh, for God’s sake, Clara! You’ve been out here for four days straight. There hasn’t been a sign of them this whole time”.

A little startled by his sudden outburst, Clara wearily looks back at Doug.

“Tiger cubs, Doug”, she looks him over. “You, of all people, should know what it means to capture tiger cubs out here by the ocean side. Look around.” She motions with her hand to shed light on the scenery. “Right here, how beautiful it is. Those pictures could be the best I ever took… probably the best pictures I’ll ever take. Every wild life magazine in the world would want these pictures, Doug. This is a money shot if ever there was one.”

She falls quiet. Her tired eyes remain fixed on the vast ocean in front of them.

“I’m just worried about you, is all. You don’t look well.”

“They’re here”, she states absently.

“I hope, for your sake, that they are.”

Doug gets up. He takes a look around, and deep inside him, where that part of him that once shared the passion for wild life photography that Clara still possesses, told him that this was a money shot indeed. Maybe years ago, he too would sit here day and night waiting for those tiger cubs to show up, just so he could get that one shot. That one shot that everyone would envy.

“I guess you wouldn’t accept my offer of driving you into town.” He says to her. She doesn’t reply. Just keeps staring out to the horizon. He turns and starts walking back to the car.

“Doug…”, she turns around to look after him. He stops. “Your jacket.”

“Keep it. You’ll need it when the sun goes down.”

“Thank you”, she says. Her fingers play with the collar, as her tired eyes fall to her feet. “I mean, for everything… for caring.”

“I’ll be back to check on you in the morning”.

And, just like that, Doug hopped into the car and drove off. She watched as the trail of dust settled behind the vehicle, and then reached into her backpack bringing out a wrapped up half of a sandwich.

“And food… bring me some food, Doug”, she mumbles to herself as she takes a large bite out of the ham and cheese sandwich. She swallowed it down with some bottled water she kept in that backpack, and realized she was running low on water as well. After eating, she took another green M&M from her Starbucks cup and was thankful she was well stocked on those at least.

She wondered when was the last time she got up to move around a little. She had been sitting on that rock much too long, and her butt cheeks were numb. Deciding that she needs to get her blood circulation going she stood up and began walking down to the beach. Her legs barely held her as she staggered the forty feet or so down to the small stretch of sand. She almost felt like stripping down and go for a swim in that blue water. She hadn’t had a shower for four days.

Right, I should be in the water if the tiger cubs show up. That’s gonna make it real easy to get the pictures. No, I have to be ready every second. No time for swimming… or sleeping.

And, could she use some sleep? Yes, indeed. She had averaged at most one hour each night out here. She was so tired right now she could feel her pulse in her temples. And, if she closed her eyes and laid down, she was certain she would fall asleep in two seconds flat. She began to realize that she was barely thinking at all any more.

What if I’m too tired to react when they show up?, she wondered to herself. I can’t take quality pictures if I’m totally exhausted.

She walked back up to her hiding place and that rock, which over the past couple of days had started to feel quite comfortable. To her, right now, it was as good as any recliner, and the view of the ocean was as good as any television program. The excitement of the show was to see when the tiger cubs would come strolling out of that small grove of woods to the right. Maybe if they didn’t come out soon, she would go in there and look for them. It wouldn’t make for the same quality shots, but at least it might give her some pictures, right?

I’m waiting for them right here. This is the money shot.

She sat down in her rock recliner again, leaned over sideways so that she was almost laid down on there. She was barely aware that she closed her eyes.

I just have to rest my eyes a little while…

And then she was asleep. The sound of the waves breaking onto the beach, the distant rustling of leaves in the breeze, and the soothing warm wind in her hair, made her feel more comfortable than ever in her life. Sleep was as welcome as anything. She drifted off into dreamland, and there wasn’t a worry in the world.

She didn’t even worry about missing out on the tigers. In her dreams she was back in her comfy, albeit small, New York apartment. Malaysia was millions of miles away, and she was developing photos she’d taken of beautiful birds. She was holding them up in the dim red light, in awe of her own beautiful pictures. Behind her, she heard footsteps. She turned around.

“Twiggy…”

Twiggy was the name of her dog, a rottweiler she kept for protection. She bent down and patted the dog on its head.

“Hey… what’s wrong?”

Her stomach protested… something was wrong with Twiggy. The dog sniffed at her, and its eyes seemed wild and distant somehow. Clara started to feel very afraid indeed, but she continued to pet the dog. It’s nose brushed up against her cheeks, cold and a little moist. It pushed at her face a little harder… too hard. It was hurting her.

“Cut it out, Twiggy”, she waved the dog away from her face… and it began to snarl. A deep growl that didn’t sound doglike at all. It took its paw and jabbed it against her shoulder – much too powerful it seemed. It hurt like hell.

“What’s the matter with you?”, she blurts out half asleep, half awake. She puts her hands out to push the… the dog?... away, as her eyes slowly open.

The orange and black stripes of a giant tiger standing right there, only inches from her face, looking at her. Head lowered, bent down, the muscular shoulders pointing upward.

Clara stifled a scream of terror in her throat. Screaming now would certainly aggravate the large cat, and it would attack her – tearing her apart like an old Raggedy Ann doll.

She quickly came to understand that it was the mother of the two cubs who was sniffing at her, poking at her… assessing the possible danger to the cubs she may propose. Moving slowly, breathing slowly… that was her only way of getting out of here alive.

Where’s my camera?, she wondered. Very slowly, she reached behind her and traced her fingers along the rock, looking for the camera case. The large cat moved, threw a glance at her arm and took a step forward, making a grunting sound. Clara stopped dead, just as her index finger reached the strap of the case. She tried to look to the side, down towards the beach, to see if the cubs were there.

They were. Engaged in a playful fight they hissed and clawed at each other. The sun was coming down, creating a magnificent red sky backdrop over the blue sea and the two cubs. Oh, my god, this is a one in a million photo opportunity, her brain was screaming at her.

But, there was a problem. A very large problem! And it had an attitude.

Its large front paw came toward her again, hitting her shoulder and pinned her down with her back on the rock. The tiger moved in closer, the large head – a beautiful, yet ultimately horrifying, head – almost touched hers. It had a foul breath, and a slobber of saliva dangled from one side.

Quietly. Slowly, she began moving her hand again – fighting against the pain inflicted by the giant paw on her shoulder. Her fingers grabbed something… it wasn’t her camera, she could tell.

The cats eyes seemed to focus on her neck, and her terror escalated. She came to realize that the feline beast in front of her was very likely to strike out at her any second now, and sink those large fangs into her neck like a four legged monster of a vampire… only it wouldn’t suck her blood – it would tear her neck wide open and start chewing, feasting on her long before her brain would have time to shut down, and save her from the horrors of being eaten alive.

Her fingers were wrapped around her Starbucks coffee cup. The one filled with green M&M’s.

Oh, how I wish I could have my sugar high right now, her mind said incoherently. Another part of her brain was telling her, urgently, that she must do something. Really quick, because she was going to die very, very soon if she didn’t.

That subconscious part of her brain made her flick the lid off with her thumb. There was no rational thought going on – it was the only thing she could do… and if you have to do something, and there’s only one thing to do… what do you do? Yes, you do what you can in order to survive.

She tipped the cup over once the lid was off, and M&M’s spilled out on the rock. It made a rattling, scattering sound as green M&M’s rolled and bounced down the short slant of the rock.

Unbelievably, it seemed to work. The tiger’s eyes moved from her neck and to the side – watching the green little candies scattering down the rock. The large paw that held her pinned to her back eased, and the cat went around her and started sniffing at the candies.

Still dazed and confused, and scared out of her mind, Clara operated on instinct. She quickly seized her camera, and slowly slid herself away from the predator. The tiger seemed very puzzled and watched the green M&M’s with great interest, sniffing them, putting its large tongue out licking at them. Clara was no longer of any interest to it… as long as she moved very slowly, she thought.

She looked back down toward the stretch of beach, and saw the two cubs still playing with each other, uninterested in Clara and their mother. The view was simply perfect right where she was… of course – that’s why she’d chosen to sit by this rock those four nights that she’d been out here hoping to see them. She unscrewed the cap in front of the lens, and slowly raised the camera to her eyes. What she saw through the viewfinder was simply astounding.

This is not just “a” money shot… this is “the” money shot, she thought to herself, as she snapped a number of shots in rapid succession. The sound of the shutter opening and closing momentarily drew the attention of the large cat to her again, and her heart was racing. She was almost immediately, somewhat, relieved as the tiger resumed his interest in eating the candies.

Oh, my god. It’s eating the M&M’s, she thought. I need pictures of that as well – no one’s going to believe me if I tell them.

She turns the camera towards the mother of the cubs, and starts snapping pictures. The sun had quickly fallen behind the horizon, and there was little light… so she snapped the flash on. Even with her super sensitive camera, these shots would come out too dark. She waited for the little red indicator lamp to tell her that the flash was ready, and when it came on she turned it towards the large cat. She scooted back a little, slowly – what if the flash would startle it?

She needed the picture.

The flash went off. Looking through the viewfinder she immediately knew she nailed the shot perfectly. Green M&M’s, and a tiger licking them up off the ground. Perfect shot.

The sudden flash of light did startle the cat. It must’ve scared it really bad, as it suddenly turned and darted into the woods again. The two cubs were quick to run after their mother, as if they sensed the fear of their protector.

Clara just sat there, paralyzed with fear, with the camera held in a firm grip in her hands.

It’s gonna come back. It’s gonna come back for me and kill me, she thought. She had no place to go – the nearest village was over 50 miles away. And, to even attempt walking through the dense jungle between her and the nearest town would surely be even more dangerous than staying put. Doug was going to be here in the morning to check up on her.

“I got my money shot”, she said it out loud – just to hear the sound of it. Even if I don’t live through the night, Doug will find the camera and know I got my shot.

She remained sitting right where she was, holding on to her camera for dear life. It was going to be a very long night, and sleep would not have the mercy to guide her through it.

It’s gonna come back. It got scared of the flash, but it might just be hiding there in the bushes looking at me… waiting for the right time to attack.

She holds on to her camera a little tighter.

When it attacks, I’ll flash it again, she told herself. Hoping that would be enough.

Hoping the batteries on the flash would last her through the night.

********** THE END **********

Well, that's my story this month. A little shorter than the one I offered up last month... and a little less structured.

Anyway. As is my intention - I will offer you the little notes I make about each picture before I start writing, which may or may not explain how the story I wrote came to life, looking at the pictures we had to work with. Here goes:

**********

I see a woman. From her clothes, sunglasses and the wind in her hair I get the feeling she's an adventurous woman. She's fit... but she might be lonely.

**********

Tigers. Are they cubs? Anyway... it should work well with the adventurous woman's nature. Her objective is to encounter these tigers in some way.

**********

Thanks a lot. A beach setting. Ok, did minimalistic research... there's a Malaysian tiger - it could possibly be found in the coastal areas right? Possibly down by the beach? Let's work on that... we'll be in Malaysia for this one.

**********

A Starbucks coffee cup filled with green M&M's. Okay! Can they be some other kind of pills? Green ones? Does she have a condition which requires her to eat medication... why? Or, maybe she simply has a sweet tooth and carries the M&M's in a Starbucks cup because she can fit more in there than the one pack?

**********

A camera... this is easy. She's looking for the tigers to take pictures of them.

**********

So there you have it. Keep checking the sidebar here where I'll add links to the other contributions to the PFC, so you can read up on them all. It's fun to see how people interpret the pictures we got to work with.

And, check back next Friday - the 28th - when I will present the pictures for next months PFC.

PFC #2... Running Late

2008-03-19T14:45:00.002+01:00

I'm just quickly throwing this post together, because I'm running awful late posting my own PFC.

Right now, I'm cursing the hell out of myself for not having written the thing earlier... one should learn from ones own mistakes, right? Well, let's hope so.

Anyway. I probably won't be ready to post until later tonight, but I thought I should give you all a post where you can announce your own contributions, and that way you all can start blog hopping and reading up on what everyone else has written.

I will update the link list once I get my own story posted.

Sorry, guys - I'll be sure to have my PFC ready to go as soon as I get out of bed on deadline day in the future...

WWC / Award / PFC

2008-03-18T16:54:00.003+01:00

Time for the Weekly Words Challenge again!

This week we are playing with the words DOMESTIC and FOREIGN, and as always it is the tire-less fix-it-all Tink of Pickled Beef who comes up with the words for us shoot pictures of.

Well, you're not going to be surprised when I say I have an announcement or two to make before I move on to the pictures... that is just the way I do this every single Tuesday.

Am I a man of habit or what? (Just a bonus pointer to some random old post of mine...)

HoosierGirl5 over at The Coffee Table has honored me with this here award. Thanks, babe. Now, I do rock - but not only that - she thinks that I'm a HUNK too! Now that is sure to warm a guys heart up, right there!

You're a BABE, darlin'!

This was actually the first award I was ever given too (back then it was Guilty Secret who gave it to me), so I've now got two names under this one in my Trophy Case.

Second of all - let me remind you that tomorrow is the deadline for the latest Picture Fiction Challenge. You still have until the 21st to post your stories if you're running a little late...

As usual (if anything can be "usual" the second time around) I'll be looking forward to reading what you all come up with for this one. I've got a feeling we'll be presented with quite different stories from those who participate.

Even if you're not into writing fiction yourself, be sure to step by and read them all... it's better than any John Grisham novel (right?)

So... without further ado I now present this weeks WWC:

There you have it. My contribution this week!

Next week, the words will be TREASURE and JUNK. Junk should be easy... I'll just have to take some pictures of my personal belongings (LOL!).

Still Hung Over Ramblings

2008-03-17T15:16:00.003+01:00

Yeah, I'm still alive... barely ;)

No, don't worry. Nothing serious - I just suffered the worst hang-over in the history of [recent] times yesterday. That's why you didn't get any "Funday Sunday" from me.

Let me give you a break-down of yesterday's events... Woke up at around noon with a mean headache, feeling like I've been run over by - not one truck, but a whole caravan of trucks. Crawled out of bed and sat down in front of the computer looking for something to post for "Funday Sunday"... Nothing was funny - not even remotely funny.

Popped a movie into the DVD and crashed into the couch meaning to watch the film. Lasted for all of 30 minutes before I realized I could not enjoy the movie at all. Stopped the DVD and crawled back into bed and tossed and turned, massaging my head - pretty sure it was going to explode soon enough.

Now, I'm not one to take any form of pills the day after, but yesterday I pulled myself back out of bed, popped a couple of aspirin, and slipped back under the covers. 45 minutes later I fell back into blissful sleep. Woke up again at 8:30PM, after which I proceeded to crash out in that couch again finishing the movie I'd started... Silent Hill, by the way - which I had yet to see. Good enough, but I'd expected more from it... or maybe I couldn't fully appreciate it in my current state.

Flipped some channels after that, and then went to sleep around 1AM again.

How does that sound for an exciting Sunday?

I'm not much of a drinker... I rarely drink, but Saturday night I downed about 15 beers - which is twice as much as I'd normally do when I drink... Never again! (Ever heard that one before?)

Anyway... that'll teach me to have some "Funday Sunday" post prepared before I go out on some Saturday shenanigans again.

The Ireland trip is up in the balance at the moment. Seems the two single ladies who we were going to travel with are a little... uhm... unflexible. I really didn't like the way the trip was scheduled. It would consist mostly of riding a bus through Europe, meaning we'd only get about three days in Ireland. So, me and my friend suggested we book a flight, and spend 7 days in Ireland, with a rental car so we could go around checking out some of the beautiful sights. End result was a much cheaper alternative which offered more quality time.

The ladies were not happy, it turns out. They actually looked forward to the bus rides. Ok... we're still discussing the matter - but it's now more likely me and him put something else together. We'll see what happens.

Still a little under the weather today - so I'll leave you all with another song on my playlist. Another Finnish based band for you that you may or may not have heard of. They're called Stratovarius and make some really good music. Couldn't find my favorite song "Infinity" on that playlist thing (irritating... so many songs I've thought of posting can't be found on that thing - does anyone know if you can add your own mp3's to that thing somehow?). Anyway - I decided on "Destiny", which is another one of those rather long songs in which a lot "goes on". I love the intro... gives me goosbumps. As with all music I listen to:

Crank it up!

Wordzzle Challenge

2008-03-15T15:39:00.004+01:00

Thought I'd do something new today.

A while ago, Dianne made me aware of Raven's Saturday Wordzzle Challenge, which is somewhat similar to my own Picture Fiction Challenge. Except in this case you come up with a short story based on a number of words she has chosen, which must be used in the story. So, it is also a little like the Monthly Commenter Story that I write as well.

I've been meaning to get in on the action for a couple of weeks now, but I've forgotten about it come Saturday. Not this week. Now I'm playing along. I'm not sure I'm going to do this every Saturday, but it will make for a perfect blog post when I don't have anything to blog about, or when I'm badly hung over (in which case I'll have this story prepared for posting come Saturday).

Well... these were the words we had to incorporate: Bolivia, Green Goddess, virtual reality, laundry, ample evidence, matches, your mamma don't dance, sugar, saucy, sofa cushions.

And here's my really short "story":

Standing there in the laundromat, bored out of her mind doing the laundry while singing ”Your mamma don’t dance, and your daddy don’t rock’n’roll”, an elderly man walks by and gives her a saucy comment:

“Lovely singing there, sugar. Could you please tone it down a bit?”

She falls quiet. God, she hates the laundromat… she starts thinking about when she gets home. She’ll break out the matches, light up some candles, turn on her X-Box 360 and cuddle up in her sofa cushions. Then she’ll enter the virtual reality world and seek ample evidence of the existence of the Green Goddess of Bolivia.

Yes, she’ll take gaming over laundry any time of the day.

There was also a mini-challenge, consisting of only five words. In this one, I decided to incorporate all five into one single sentence. These were the words: olive groves, paraphernalia, sausages, moose droppings, store front.

And this is the sentence/short story:

After a hard days work in the olive groves, hungry for some sausages, he stopped by a store front where moose droppings seemed to be required paraphernalia.

“Uh-uh. I’m not buying any food in this place”.

To see some more stories made up from these words - visit Raven's blog and find out who else played this little game.

Twelve Little Bullets

2008-03-14T13:30:00.007+01:00

I've got nothing lately. Nothing to blog about, nothing to say. So I present twelve little bullets today with little things that come to mind. I sure hope that my blogging inspiration returns quickly.

The first week of freedom/unemployment has not been spent wisely. Ok, I kind of intended to do nothing this first week, but I didn't really take advantage of nothingness either. Starting next week I'll have to get busy trying to figure out what's next...

Coffee shop girl seems to be no more. Been there twice this week, and she wasn't there. Well, no loss really. I think one of the reasons I was a little hot for her is that she physically reminded me of The One. They had similar looks, although no one would confuse one for the other. She didn't appear too bright, which would've been a turn off after a while.

The One's birthday was yesterday. And I missed it! What is wrong with me? Sent her birthday wishes today, and a virtual birthday cake on Facebook... was that the right thing to do? I'm not even sure I should put myself in a situation where heartbreak is the likely outcome... I haven't kept myself updated on her where abouts or what she's up to over there (in Asia)... I'm not sure I want to know too much.

I need a casual relationship. Nothing serious... just some random hot chick to have some fun with and not put that Rubicon Heart of mine at risk. I am certainly not ready to deal with heartbreak at this time... I guess coffee girl would have been a decent choice, right? But, what if the girl for some reason was to really fall for me? It would have to be a mutual decision that we are not exclusive...

There is this girl who works (out) at the gym I frequent. She's a short one (I have a thing for short girls... not too short, though) with a body to die for. She works out really hard, and I almost want to tell her not to overdo it - her body is simply perfect, but the way she goes at it lifting weights she may be on her way to becoming a little too muscular for my tastes. Right now she is - oh My God! I think my chances are slim, to say the least...

I've noticed I've started to gain weight again... I've been eating too much of the good stuff, and not enough fibre. I have to watch it so I don't become fat again. I found a picture the other day that will serve as a good reminder of what I used to look like. I should make that my desktop background so I don't forget...

I've still not made a decision on the Ireland trip. I really want to go, but I'm not so sure I can afford it. I mean - the money is there if I want to spend it, but I can't quite decide whether I should save it so I can move back across the pond sooner. I could still relocate, but it would be postponed to a later date... although - no date has been set. I've pretty much decided it will happen though.

Single In The City gave me this award a few days ago. The One In A Million Friend award. That's so sweet of her, and it touches my heart. You, my dear friend, are truly one in a million yourself. I don't think this award was meant to be passed on, as it was hers to give - so I'll just keep this one for myself! Thanks, Sweetie!

Because of my lack of blogging inspiration of late, I have put up a poll on the site, where you can vote for a blog topic that I should do. There are a couple of things I've been meaning to write, but the time hasn't seemed to be right. So, vote on what you want to read about... I'm not even sure any of them are that interesting.

The Picture Fiction Challenge is due next week. Wednesday March 19th. I've still not written my own, and I hope I will find the inspiration to do it. I'll put something together either way, but it would be nice if there was some quality to it, right? I hope you all are ready to play!

Finally. I'm giving you some music to listen to. I've chosen White Lion's "When The Children Cry", because that song speaks to my mindset these last few days. Yes, I've been feeling a little down, a little depressed. This is one of those ballads that really washes over you and makes you almost want to cry. It certainly is one of the best ballads of all time, in my opinion.

Ramen Noodles...

2008-03-12T22:00:00.003+01:00

Well, I got nothing to say today.

Ramen Noodles, dude. If you talk to any kind of fitness instructor I'm pretty sure they are going to tell you Ramen Noodles is not a recommended pick-me-up after a rough outing at the gym. Well, I don't give a hoot about that... for me - some Ramen Noodles, a couple of toasts (yes, white bread even) with cheese is just what the doctor ordered. Add to that a glass of milk and I have my energy levels fully restored... almost.

Yeah - those noodles on that pic there have just been eaten... they are no more. The next time they see the light of day - they will look a lot less appetizing... I promise not to post a picture of that...

Well, I learned something new at the gym today. I mean, it should have been obvious but I've never really thought of it like that.

See... I like to do 12 repetitions, 3 times on each station. I put on all the weight that I can muster... and today my cousin tells me to put on some more, because he thought it looked a little too easy for me. So I tell him:

"Yeah, I could. But, I can't do 12 with the added weight."

"Well, do eight or ten then."

"But, I want to do twelve."

"You know, less repetitions with more weight will give you bigger muscles."

This I knew from before... but I figured if I max my 12, it should have the same effect. That is when the revolutionary news were spoken out.

"Do eight with more weight. Then, when you can push that up to twelve, add some more"

Now... how freakin' simple is that? Why didn't this unbelievably simple equation exist in my head before. I would pump the same weight over and over again... try once with some more on, and if I couldn't do twelve, I would revert back to the old weight.

Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid R.E.H. This new way should make it a lot faster to add more kilos, pounds, whatever.

Poker...

Now, I like my live poker games. With actual people sitting around a green felt table pushing chips and shufflin' real plastic coated cards. It was a long time since I played any internet poker. But, since it is becoming quite rare to actually gather enough people for a live poker session, the other day I decided to log onto my old PartyPoker account.

Should I e-mail them about this? I mean, I knew I had over $100 on my account - yes I play with little money... I do it for fun, not to become rich... still. As I logged on I read $66 on my account.

No friggin' way, guys!

So I check out my cashflow history, and realize they've charged me $7-something each month because of my "inactive account". Yes, I haven't logged on since october or something last year - but where and when was I informed it would cost me money not to play? I'm not happy about it.

Well, I sat down at a cash table and won my money back... $35 in about an hour of play. I won $18 in a matter of minutes at the first table, and then everyone logged off. Did I frighten them? I would've been $60 up, had I not wasted $46 on one single hand. The guy HAD to have pocket aces to beat me, nothing else could win the pot... I thought the odds were on my side - the dude DID HAVE the friggin' pocket aces! Here you go, buddy - here's my hard earned $46... spend them wisely, schmuck - and they never do!

Played a single table $11 tournament this morning... won another $20. Maybe I should think about a professional poker career? Wouldn't that be sweet? Hanging out in Las Vegas all the time in the casinos with all the hot [Playboy bunnies] chicks and the sound of slot machines spilling coins all over the floors... the occasional "YEAH, BABY, YEAH!"... and the frequent "FUCK! My life is OVER!" and "My wife's gonna KILL ME!".

I would enjoy life in Vegas!

WWC / Ireland Singles Trip

2008-03-11T15:20:00.007+01:00

Tuesday is upon us, and it is time to present this weeks Weekly Words Challenge again. The oven fried honey Tink of Pickled Beef chooses the weekly words for us to play with. This week she wanted pictures of PAPER and CERAMIC, which caused me a ton of problems... I still got some pics out there, but forgive me if they aren't all that interesting this week.

What is interesting, however - is this:

A good friend of mine, the other day, sent me a message wondering if I'd like to go to Ireland this summer with him and a couple of single women.

Now, having some Irish blood running through my veins, I've always wanted to go there some time. And, the fact that two, unknown to me, single women would be accompanying us on that particular trip... this should be a simple enough answer, right?

That answer being: "Hell, YEAH!"

But, it's not that simple. For the following reasons:

A) I've just lost my job, meaning my finances are not very secure yet - not until I know what will happen in the future.

B) I thought the trip was way more expensive that it should be... not sure it's good value for money.

C) If, indeed, I decide to try my luck over across the pond again - I need to save up every single penny I can find.

D) I don't know these two women - have no idea what they look like, or how much I would enjoy their company... If he tells me they're Victoria's Secret models or something... that would make the choice SO much easier... (Yeah, right - as if...)

Now, I need to make a decision fairly quickly - or someone else will take my place.

I would really, really love to go to Ireland! What'd'ya'll think? Let me know - you know how much I value your opinions...

While making up your own minds about what decision I should make, feast your eyes on my contribution to this weeks WWC:

PS. Again, with the slideshow - hit the 'pause' button to view the pics at your own pace.

There. That's it for this week. Hopefully Tink will provide some words that I find a little easier for next week... I think this was the most difficult one yet in my WWC career.

Oh, and as soon as Tink posts her own and announces the words for next week... as usual I will update this post and let you know what they are... of course - If I forget, you can always head over to Pickled Beef and get the words from the original source!

Now, I'm outta here. Headed over to my Aunt's place to wish her a happy birthday. Just a small gathering with her son (my cousin Andy), and his family for some coffee and birthday cake. Another one of my cousins is celebrating her birthday today as well, but she lives further away, so she'll have to make do with a phonecall later tonight.

I'll be back (as the governor of California used to say).

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UPDATE: Words for next week will be DOMESTIC and FOREIGN. That should be interesting!

Funday Sunday: "The Toy Dolls"

2008-03-09T13:35:00.003+01:00

Can music be funny?

When I first came across The Toy Dolls way back in the mid 80's I got the answer to that... YES! It can be laugh-out-loud funny - and still be pretty darn good too! The Toy Dolls are a UK band that mixes the laugh with some weird punk riffs, and as stupid as they are - I still enjoy their music. So I present to you the song "Nellie The Elephant" on video for this Funday Sunday. This one is off their first album, and may be one of the absolutely most ridiculous songs they've done... couldn't find "Olga... I Cannot", which is my personal favorite though...

In addition to that I have put another one of their songs on my playlist. That song is "Fisticuffs in Frederick Street", which me and my high-school band actually did a cover of... imagine me singing that tune live on stage in front of a whopping 300+ crowd at 18 years of age (we did this song at a reunion gig a few years after graduation).

Only 10 more days to go before it's time to submit your Picture Fiction Challenge for this month. The deadline was set at March 19th (although you have until the 21st to submit). Refresh your memories and take a look at the pictures for the new challenge, if you want to play.

As usual, I'm eager to read what y'all come up with this time.

Saturday Ramblings

2008-03-08T15:58:00.004+01:00

Thank you all for your well wishes, and belief that my future holds great things for me. I will be taking a few days off before I really begin to think what my immediate future should bring.

Great party last night, huh? I'm kinda hung over to be honest...

I read through what I posted yesterday, and one thing struck me. No one's commented on it, so I guess you all didn't read it like I did, but in case one or two of you thought it strange, I thought I'd clear this one up...

I wrote:

"Also, at lunch, all but one of my co-workers ambushed me in the breakroom, and presented a potted plant and a bottle of whiskey - as a farewell gift."

Now - the one co-worker who didn't ambush me was left out in the store... someone has to be at the register, or customers are liable to rob us (them!) blind, right. So it had nothing to do with not wanting to be there to present the gift to me...

Just thought you should know that.

**********

Other good news!

Casdok over at Mother of Shrek has given me an award. Apparently I am quick witted and I make her laugh... so she gave the Quick Wit Blog Award 2008. Thank You, Casdok. I will put this one in my newly rearranged Trophy Case for all to see!

I will pass this baby on to the following bloggers... although there are a lot more of you who deserve it.

Lightning Bug's Butt and Preposterous Ponderings. These two have some really Quicky Witty blog posts, and because of that they will receive this award from me. Keep me smiling, chuckling, giggling and laugh right out loud for the foreseeable future. Can you do that for me?

I knew you could!

**********

Taking a day off from everything, basically, today. No gym either. Starting tomorrow I'll be working out extra hard, in preparation for the summer. It would be nice to go to the beach this year and leave all the hot honeys wanting me... needing me... desiring me beyond control.

That's gonna happen, right? All I need is a couple of hours in the gym to make them all quiver at the sight of me... I'm gonna be hunk number one this summer for sure.

A man's gotta have a vision, you know!

**********

Leaving you all with that for today. Tomorrow is Funday Sunday, so I'll be back trying to entertain you then.

Last Days Chronicles: Finale

2008-03-07T21:32:00.004+01:00

Freedom!

I am done, over and out, adios amigos, no more work at Hell Hole for this Ramblin' Madman!

Surprised myself at the amount of work I put in today... thing is - it was easy to do it, because whatever I did I could think; Hey, this is the last time I ever have to do this crap!

Before lunch today, my mom showed up at the place. She's been wanting this computer desk that we sell for quite some time, and I had told her she should come in and look at it before I buy it for her. She got to see a little of what I go through on an everyday basis over there.

I was called on several times during the short time she was there, because the others needed help, and didn't know how to do things. My mother couldn't understand why they'd let me go, and was asking me how they were going to cope without me... haha!

At lunch today... I went to Hollywood. Sounds awesome right. It was - but it wasn't very far. My favorite Pizza joint (same place I went to yesterday) is called just that - Hollywood. I got me a nice steak with some home fries today, instead of the pizza. It was absolutely deeee-lish! It's like they knew I "deserved" something special today.

Also, at lunch, all but one of my co-workers ambushed me in the breakroom, and presented a potted plant and a bottle of whiskey - as a farewell gift.

That's what four years at the place was worth ;)

Honestly - it was nice. I really didn't think they would have bought me anything. Just a pat on the back and "good luck" would have sufficed. This was nice - especially that plant. Precisely the kind of thing I want in my home. The whiskey will be drunk, and probably mess me up good.

I also got a cake, and 15 minutes later in the day to sit down with a cup of java and eat it... it was a "semla" cake. That thing was delicious too!

All in all - it was quite a pleasant day at work. Surely so because I knew it was the last day I would ever do at the place - so there was no frustration going on. Something didn't go right... what do I care? Right? Right!

So - time to celebrate!

What better way to celebrate than with a cold beer, and some really good party music? And, because of that - I present to you what I think is the ultimate party song of all time. Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" is one of those songs that gets me in a good mood every single time I hear it.

The intro guitar riff is a classic that will never ever die. It just grabs you immediately and lets you know it's time to party hardy!

That's Rock'n'Roll for you!

Last Days Chronicles: Part 2

2008-03-06T20:43:00.005+01:00

Didn't sleep last night... unbelievably tired when the alarm went off this morning. Cursing the day ahead of me.

Didn't even make it to the coffee shop for my breakfast. Got into work and made me an old sandwich out of the refrigerator in the breakroom that I ate while counting the cash drawers.

Vacuumed the whole store... took register duty for two hours. Mattress delivery. I had forgotten all about that - thought today was Wednesday. Co-worker says to me:

"Good thing you didn't go to lunch already. The mattresses are here."

"Yeah, we don't get mattresses today"

"Well, the truck is out there"

"Mattresses are delivered Thursday's. Today is Wednesday, so nice try. I'm going to lunch."

But, I was wrong. Today was Thursday, and a truckload of mattresses were waiting for me to unload them. That pushed lunch forward, which was ok - I like to have my lunch as late as possible, that way it doesn't feel like forever after lunch before I get to go home.

Took lunch with one of my co-workers today. That was nice. Because we are so few working these days, lunch is always a solitary business. We went to my favorite pizza joint where I often go for the daily special, or (would you guess?) a pizza. That was a little sad - I'll likely not eat at that place very often now that I won't be working. There are better pizzas around town, but I like the atmosphere at this place. And... a girl I've known for many years works there - so it's always nice to see her too.

Lunch was a little longer than it's supposed to be... but, who cares, right?

Today was unbelievably slow... business wise. Hardly any customers today, which made time pass extremely slowly as well. I told the Sales Manager to count down the extra cash registers and do most of the paperwork at 5:30, and told her she's free to go home after doing that.

Yes, you read that right, I was giving orders to the Sales Manager ;) Well, she'd been hoping to leave early today. She was scheduled to work til 7PM, but wanted to leave at 6. That's why I said those things... I'm not a bossy bastard by nature...

The last hour it was me and that same co-worker I lunched with... barely any customers, which suited us both fine right then. We wanted to get home quickly, so I said we'll prepare as much as possible so that we can go home as soon as we lock the doors.

I opened the drawer, and started counting the money. He was standing next to me.

"We're not allowed to count money out here", I told him.

"No, we're not supposed to do that", he says.

"There's a security camera up there." I pointed straight at the thing and offered my best smile. "If they catch me counting the money on that thing, I could be fired."

"Is that so?", he says. He honestly did not know that as a fact.

"Uh huh... do you think I'm worried about that?"

He laughed about that.

End result. We finished everything up only 10 minutes after locking the front doors and were out of there. The cold air outside was wonderful...

Only one more day to go!

Music today. Today I'm presenting some old stuff. I've decided to share Lizzy Borden with you - there's another guy who can really sing. This song "Rod of Iron" was the very first song I heard of this band - it played on a heavy metal radio show back in the early eighties. I remember back then I loaded up my tape recorder with a Sony or Maxwell 90 minute cassette tape every time that show was on, and I recorded the songs - it was all very high tech. If I didn't like the song, I quickly rewinded and recorded the next one over the bad one - that way I collected some good music for my listening pleasure. The best thing about this show was that they played a lot of obscure metal - not only Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe, and what have you. When I heard this song for the first time, I quickly ran out to get their albums. I could only find the one - the right one though which had this song on it; the "Love You To Pieces" album. It took me another year - until I went back to the States to visit my father, before I could collect the other albums by Lizzy Borden. I'm still a big fan!

This song... what really hooked me is the wonderful slow start, and the build-up when it kicks into gear. I swear - those drums make me wanna jump up and down and throw my fist in the air every time. Listen to it real LOUD!

They have recently recorded a new album that I haven't listened to yet, and a few years ago they made another reunion cd that was really good. They still know how to make music!

Last Days Chronicles: Part 1

2008-03-05T20:59:00.004+01:00

Starting today I will do something as boring as chronicle the last three days of working at my current job. Yes! Friday I will finally be set free, allowed to start life anew - far far away from the job I've been at for four years, and loathed for about two of them...

I'm going to take for granted that you know about me getting laid off from work, and also of the situation with Mr. Weenie-Hat the Union Rep, so I'm not getting into any of that here.

I will just tell you a little bit of my experiences these last few days.

Well, I got into work this morning. My boss is on vacation, so I won't ever have to see her again. In fact, as I arrived there was no one there who was in "charge" at the place. Not that we all don't know how to run the business anyway...

I had bought my breakfast at my usual coffee shop... I was sad to see that the hot girl who works there wasn't in today. Instead there was this other woman behind the counter whom I don't really like. She looks... dirty. I don't understand why a place that deals with food would hire a person like that... I mean - wouldn't you at least expect that someone who's going to touch what you're going to eat will look nice and clean?

Anyway... I got my cheese sandwich and my pistachio bun, and the orange juice that I usually buy there. That amounts to approx. $6.

As I sit down in the break room eating my breakfast, talking to the other three co-workers I will be spending my day with, I see a new schedule print-out on the table. I decide to look it over to make sure that I am scheduled correctly for the remaining month and a half that I am supposed to get pay without actually working... isn't that going to be sweet?

Now... that's when I started to become agitated. I am not even ON the darn thing. My name is nowhere to be found.

And, with the boss on vacation, and no one really in charge - who do I speak to?

Later, the Sales Manager came into work, despite having the day off, so I confront her about the situation. Of course, she doesn't know a thing. So I do the only thing that's left for me to do.

I call the District Manager... the schmuck in charge. I tell her that I'm not even on the schedule, and she tells me that I should be.

"Well, I'm not."

"Your store manager did the schedule on Monday. She should have included you."

"I know that... but I'm not there."

Apparently, after discussing the matter, it appears that she did, in fact, schedule me, but decided not to include me in the print-out. Alright, fair enough - but I want to see it, to make sure that the hours are the way they should be.

So, the district manager ended up faxing me a copy of the schedule. Could barely read the stupid thing, because our fax machine is from the middle ages or something. I'm getting someone else to print me a copy tomorrow - one that I will take with me home and keep in case they try to slip one by me here. They're not dealing with an imbecile here...

With that done. I leisurely helped out re-arranging the store in preparation for summer articles that are already coming into stock. I'm not busting my balls... but I need to make time go by a little at least.

I swear - today felt like a week at the place.

One of the co-workers I like, and will miss, got some sad news today. I was in the office when I hear her in the breakroom crying - speaking on the phone. My heart sank, as it sounded as if someone had died. I didn't want to interrupt her phonecall, and so I stepped outside to give her some space.

Turned out someone did die... it was her cat. Her neighbors had found the cat on their porch, curled up as if it was sleeping. After a while when the cat hadn't moved they realized he was dead, and so they called her up to tell of the bad news.

She's burying the cat tonight.

Oh! Almost forgot.

I'll be adding a song to the playlist each of those three days as well.

This time I chose "Wish I Had An Angel" by Nightwish. They are a Finnish hard rocking band that mixes the heavy with some "opera" like singing by the beautiful voice of Tarja. She's no longer with the band, and I don't really like their new album. She was what made them special!

This is a really good song!

WWC / Picasa Mi Asa!

2008-03-04T18:52:00.006+01:00

Weekly Words Challenge time again today. This week we will be showing off pictures inspired by the words GLASS and STONE. As usual it was the always cute Tink of Pickled Beef (also well renowned for drinking Bacardi out of origami cups), who chose the words for us.

I'm doing something new today. I will be presenting my pictures in a slideshow, as so many others are doing. I felt that way I could choose to share more pictures, without making people scroll the page down forever to see all the shots.

At first I wanted to add the same sweet looking slideshow that G-Man has on his site, but hear me out: I downloaded the Picasa software... that must be the most crappy piece of junk software that has ever found its way onto my computer! The thing freezes up all the resources, and slows down the computer to such a rate that it becomes unusable, and unstable - and I have a pretty darn good computer... well capable of handling all the latest graphics demanding games, and significant amounts of data. I couldn't figure out what caused the problems, all I know is that I am, as of yet, unable to launch Picasa on my computer and then close it down without hitting ctrl+alt+del. What a piece of junk!

I did however log onto the Picasa website itself, and found that I already had an account there - I was unaware of this.

AHA!

That's where all the pictures I have uploaded to my blog are at! I've always wondered how to get to them in case I wanted to delete some and all that... so that was a nice little discovery. After playing around a little there I found that I could make albums and create slideshows in a much easier fashion than the fancy option I wanted. I don't even need the stupid Picasa software - I can just upload the pics directly onto the Picasa website, which works so much better than the downloadable piece of junk they offer...

...maybe none of this is news to you. I just never checked it out before, so it's news to me.

Now, all I need to figure out is how to make that stupid slideshow slower. The pics show only 3 seconds before going to the next. I think that's too fast. You can hit the pause button, and that way you can look at the pictures at your own pace.

Well, let's try this - shall we? Here are my pictures for this week:

Hope you liked the new format. That gives you a couple more shots than what I usually offer. Next week we'll be playing with PAPER and CERAMIC. See you then.

Do check out the Commenter of the Month story I posted yesterday, in case you missed it.