Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Two Towers

I tried to come up with two book-ending posts about fellowship and returning kings so I could make a grand Lord of the Rings reference, but I just couldn't come up with anything, the little nerd inside me is sad.

Onward, to what this post is really about.  This is Gracie, she is a grumpy ten year old Persian with arthritis.  Her aching back legs have kept her from getting on the table where her food was.  Her food of course was on the table so that Gaius, our thieving little dog, couldn't get to it.


After spending night after night listing to her fail to make it up onto the table an falling to the ground with a loud smack followed by a long painful moan Liz and I decided to move her food to the pet room, where her litter box is. The pet room is blocked off by a baby gate, so low enough for Gracie to get over but to high for Gaius and his stumpy little Doxie legs to scale.

That was what we thought, turns out Gracie is the exact opposite of her name, and doesn't quite face plant into the gate so much as get her front paws over the top and then scuttle across. More often then not though she would fall to the ground and again scream in pain. Now the Pet room is right next to the Master bedroom, making this night time screaming worse.

Or original idea was to get a long piece of carpet and lay it across the gate so that she had coming to grip and pull her self up, because as she reminds us when saving her, Gracie still has claws. A few weeks ago Liz and I were in NoVa at her parents house, because we had a meeting with the rabbi (ah wedding planning). I got to talking with her dad about our problem and plan, and he suggested a cat tower, and after spit balling the idea we hit on the idea to use two small cat towers next to the gate so she could get on them climb and even sit down if she wanted.  We lucked out in that Liz's parent's had two old towers that their cats were not using.

We came home and I put this together.


After a few days, and some well placed tuna, Gracie got the idea and started using the towers to help her get across the gate to her food and litter box, which were now pain free and dog safe. A few days ago I saw her sitting in the outside tower, she looked up and said hello as I walked by even, so I think this was a susses.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

GI Joe

As a child I was big into GI Joe, the toys the comic the cartoon, any and everything that had to do with the property.  I loved the characters, the looks of the vehicles and enjoyed the story as I could get it broken apart as it was for me. 

Throughout the years even as I drifted away from the 3.5 inch action figures and then they disappeared for a while I still loved the comic books. The first run ended in the early '90's after started in 1982. Because of this started before both my birth and ability to read I missed almost all the issues, and thus started my quest to buy as many as I could.  Normally that involved going to boxes and boxes of X-men and Punisher comics at antic stores and flee markets. I didn't usually find very many issues, and usually seemed to find the same four or five, but every time I found one I would buy it. 

Now I'm not a comic snob and the ones I had before that are in lets just say really shitty condition. I couldn't keep the covers on those suckers to save my life. Also as a boarded 5 to 6 year old I drew in them. I know I know a moral sin, they should have had boards I'm a savage, put away your inner Brodies and let me be, the ones I have now all have covers and are in cases with boards.

I had given up on my GI Joe quest for a long time till one day a few years ago when Liz took me to this little restaurant near VCU that served local food with a rotating menu. Really good food even if it did feel a bit to hippy for me. In the front they had a few big boxes of comic books and started pawing through them. Low and behold I found around 30 issues of GI Joe. Issues that I had never seen, the second parts to story arcs that I had owned part one of for years.  It was a gold mine that I jumped on.

Looking back I always new that GI Joe had an effect on how I viewed story telling and some of the stories I created.  Sure there is a lot of Solid Snake in Mongoose from The Yokai Project, but there is also some Snake Eyes.

YO JOE!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Timeline and other things

So the Writing Adventure is about more then just plugging what is out or talking about old writing. The adventure is how did we get to where we are today as people and society etc.

A few weeks ago I switched to Timeline on Facebook so that I would be just a little bit ahead of the grandmothers and Luddites, (even people who hate tech have Facebook right?) As I was going through old posts I could see trends, mostly when I was watching a show I was really enjoying. In other words I would like to apologize for filling peoples news feeds with the following, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, Stargate, etc.

Another thing that I found was this.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/sean-van-damme/25-unintersting-things/50351587097 

A note that I pulled off somebodies wall that asked 25 uninteresting questions.  That was Feb of 09 now that it is 12, I figure I will see how things have changed how have I grown up or regressed, as the case might be.  (New comments in Bold)

OK so it happened. You know the drill.

1. I have come to realize I like frak more then well you know.
I still like frak but have gone back to using the old triad and true, original. I do now say Godsdamn a lot go figure.

2. I am incapable of sitting still. Weather it be just tapping my foot rapping my fingers or having a leg spasm.
Still true, I suck at sitting or standing still.

3. I know the run time in minutes of every movie I own and most I rent or see.
I don't see as many but I do always look up the run time, and can peace things together from trailers.

4. I have a 125 page outline for a novel I have started twice but well probably never finish.
I will finish it damn it! I wrote 40k words on it last spring and want to go back after I knock out Bodies under 95.

5. Yes I gained 50 pounds in a semester. I blame Beer.
Haven't lost it haven't started eating right, still drink Beer, could use one right now.

6. I listen to talk radio in the car when I'm alone because it helps me focus to pretend a person is there. I do this even though I want to kill conservative pundits.
We have a great new version of NPR, so Rush and Glen don't get my blood pressure up anymore.

7. Real blood makes me sick but fake blood is a blast.
Still true.

8. I hated dogs till Gaius came along.
Yup, can't fathom why though.

9. I almost voted for Roslen/airlock 08.
They would have killed Osama faster, and spaced a few bankers saving us billions.

10. When I walk I look at my feet like they are going to not work or something.
I haven't fallen yet, no need to try anything new.

11. I own a fedora so that my shadow can look bitchen cool.
You can't have a black wool coat without a fedora, I'm sure that is a law or something.

12. I know how to and enjoy cross stitching. Though I suck at it.
My thread box mostly fixes clothing now. Though I did give one of Gaius's toys a Col. Tigh eye patch with some cross-stitching fabric.

13. I own a 1gig ipod nano that I never use, and have no intention of getting a bigger one or a smart phone in the future.
iPod touch and want a smart phone so bad it isn't funny. What the fuck was I thinking, I mean really?

14. I watch horrible TV shows that I don't even like because they are in High Def.
I don't watch crap TV on my own, or SD willingly for anything that wasn't shot that way.

15. I have gained and lost real life friends over World of Warcraft.
Haven't lost or gained anymore which is good, though if I played TOR more that might change.

16. I got into news because I couldn't draw and VCU hides film behind AFO.
Three Years doesn't make that statement any less factual.

17. extremists on both sides of the political spectrum piss me the frak off. Hasn't anybody heard of common frakking since and compromise.
Oh Padawan you knew nothing in the good old days of '09.

18. I fully expect to have a heart attack by age 40. If not from the temper it well be the McDonalds.
Ya, that is probably sadly still true, running is for crazy people.

19. The world isn't as creepy alone at 3am as I thought it would be.
True, now that I am out of the city it has gotten better. Though that first night of pitch blackness an quiet was really unnerving.

20. I am a lazy slob who has yet to grasp that clothing goes in a dresser. It took me years to understand the dirty clothing doesn't belong on the floor with clean in the hamper.
I have regressed to dirty goes on the floor, clean goes in the dryer.

21. I can't spell and I no longer give a frak about it.
No since fighting with it, that is what spell check, editors, and Google are for.

22. I am able to judge people by the movies and TV shows they like. And I'm OK with that.
If you haven't watched The Wire you really shouldn't be allowed to vote.

23. Anybody who loves Babylon 5 is instantly my friend. To a lesser extent with SeaQuest.
I think NBC could have a hit if they let Ron Moore Fix-up SeaQuest like he did Battlestar.

24. I am sick of people thinking I'm a chick at restaurants. I cut off the damn pony tail five years ago. I know its kind of long now but lord I'm an ugly chick.
Almost a decade later and it still happens, I might as well just get fake tits and call it a day.

25. I love puns and am not ashamed about it at all.
Presented without comment.

Some stuff has changed some has not, but it was cool to see a snapshot from the past.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Another book down.

Another book has fallen off the list.  Killing to Know my first NaNo project is now available for the Nook and Kindle.





The other part to this post is that I said I wouldn't shave or get a haircut until I was finished, as a way to push me along.  I got it up late yesterday and thus didn't have a chance to get trimmed. A day late is still better then nothing at all.
Me looking all rugged and such.
Now that it is over, I got a trim and ran a razor across my face, that scruffy was thicker then it looks, not if only it would grow together so I could have a proper goatee.

Me with a bit less hair.
Now who wants to guess how scruffy I'll look when I finish Breaking Overnight?