Like a lot of the dreams I have, I can only remember bits and pieces I have, but what I can remember is kind of scary to me:

I was on a college campus (a specific college, but one I will not name for it deserves no attention) in a small town in the Carolinas and things were going along nicely. I was getting good grades in the classes, I had friends and everything was going along swimmingly… until it didn’t. Friends acted alien towards me, classes were beginning to slip and I noticed a small robot – the best way to describe it is to take Johnny 5, reduce him to an upper torso and give him a three foot long extension 45 degrees off his long axis. No matter where I went, this robot was always close by, trying to crawl towards me and I didn’t seem to like the idea. Whenever I told people about this robot, I would get the standard reply: ‘it’s not a problem to us. Why are you letting it be a problem to you?’ or even a downright denial of its existence. I ask my friends for help or advise and all I get is: ‘let it touch you and see what happens’. So I decide to take matters into my own hands and try to video it moving towards me. I take a flimsy laptop (I have no idea why I wouldn’t have my phone, or… I don’t know… a real camera with me at this point) and I wait for it to find me. While I’m waiting, I am getting everything set up on the laptop. Apparently, the camera function on this laptop needs to be registered.

The robot arrives with a new little skill: it can thrust itself into the air and drop down a few yards closer. Of course, as it demonstrates this new talent, I am still trying to get set up on the camera and it’s asking the most inane questions (“What sort of photography will you be taking? Please choose one of the offered styles: 1) business 2) pleasure 3) surreal 4) erotic 5) family”). As I say that this is a flimsy laptop, I mean that I have to use two hands to operate this thing: one to type in the answers (“In order to secure your password, you will need to create a key phrase. A key phrase is one that only you would know. Please submit a phrase that is no less than three words and no more than seven.”) and another to keep the screen and the keyboard from coming apart (a note of historical accuracy: my very first laptop – also my first computer – was like this: in order to see the screen, I had to lean it against something to keep it from breaking off). As I am trying to get this camera working on this crumbling laptop (“What you entered is an impolite phrase. Please re-type a phrase that is more family friendly.”), the robot is getting closer and looking a lot more menacing at me.

Then I wake up – an hour before my alarm goes off. I roll over on my bed and go back to sleep.

Well, time to go to work (speaking of menacing robots). Hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Seriously, just waking up and there was nothing interesting going on last night, no weird dreams, no sit upright in bed and shout ‘Eureka!’ moment for me. Just a humdrum evening followed by a (hopefully) another humdrum day. Since I finally got paid, I got the program for my Fire so I can do a little word processing when things get slow. Now, having done this – it is never going to get slow at work. I know – that’s a hard thing to think of, but that’s how my luck runs sometimes. That reminds me: I need to get my hands on Halo 4 on my next paycheck and possibly pre-order Bioshock: Infinite – assuming that they’re going to stick to a release date, and then try to get that release date and the following day off to play it almost non-stop. If you’re looking for a game that transcends the idea of being an amusement and delves into story-telling – the Bioshock series is the way to go. Where else can you learn about Objectivism and shoot bees out of your hand?

I/O Error – speaking of stories – is plodding along. I did do a little bit last night and ended up cutting down a wall of text or two. I am getting ready to work on the next major scene with Nate and Gail coming to polite, robotic blows over Gail’s perceived insanity (or should I say ‘unquiet’?). I’m hoping to get more done on the weekend and maybe even close out a chapter or two. I am still committed to the idea of finishing the whole novel by the end of March. If I can afford the editor at that point (and I do have one in mind) I would like to get that done first and save back some more cash for a suitable artist. If all goes well, I will have it out on Amazon and other platforms by the middle of the year. My goal is to finish the rough draft of a novel every quarter, and put out two finished products a year. Ambitious? Yes, but it will get me out of my current situation. Going back to the whole word processor in my Fire thing, I am going to start serializing After
Ever next month. I’ll work on the outline late Saturdays and get started on the first two episodes since they are waiting to be put down in my head. I’m still going to script them out for fun, but I should really start to get things out there to get paid.

Football is winding down – four wild card games to be played and I am rooting for… none of them really. My team won their last three games but it was way too little way too late. At least they’ll get a good view of the play-offs from their couch. Must be nice.

Well, I am off to get some lunch and a shower. Hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

I am in somewhat of a better mood today – and by better, I mean I am not looking to throw myself off a rooftop. I can deal with the slight soreness in my shoulders and the itching of a growing beard (which I should shave off soon) as long as I have my special drink. I am going to get a new coffee-maker so I can have something warm to drink without having to use up my Starbucks card… which I need to refill soon anyway. Yes, I am an addict and I feel fine, thank you.

I am going to get back into I/O Error today (maybe after lunch if I have time, if not then at work after I get the Office app for my Kindle – which I will get as soon as my work deigns to pay me) and work to the goal of getting the rough draft finished by the end of March. After that, it’s going to be a novel a business quarter. I am also going to start shoving aside money to pay for editors and artists. My big goal is to have at least one finished, edited and arted-up book by the end of the year. Obviously, I am going to shoot for more than that, but one will suffice. I’m still trying to come up with an idea for an erotic novel – this is turning into something a little harder than what I had anticipated. The end and the middle of the novel would be no problem: ‘… and they have sex’ and ‘… and they have hot, kinky sex’ respectively. I guess I’m trying to wedge sex into a plot like trying to hammer in a square peg into a round hole. I should be doing the opposite – have a regular plot and look for opportunities to have sex (much like real life, but have a higher success rate). I am going to just throwing out something into the notebook and see what grows. Maybe I can recycle an old ff plot – if I do that, then I know what I should use.

Right now, as far as reading goes – I’ve finished The Last Mythal series by Richard Baker. If you’re a fan of the old Forgotten Realms books from the Hallowed Era of TSR, then you’ll like this. Personally, I like the older books, but they are getting hard to find. I’m guessing that Wizards is trying their damnest to sweep the legacy of TSR under the rug. I am also in the middle of the book Tears in Rain, which is pretty much the spiritual successor to Blade Runner and a darn good read. After this, I am going to read a book that I got for free called Drowning
Ophelia. Did I mention that I love my Kindle? It’s nice to be able to pick up free books – gives me the chance to read genres that I normally wouldn’t get into.

Well, I need to shower and shout at my bank for a few minutes. I hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

If you will allow me, I am going to give you a little glimpse into what I expect for today. As you know, yesterday was New Year’s Day and a holiday for most people – not me, however. I still had to go into work. I took ten calls in 8 hours. I normally take ten calls in two hours on a busy day. I expect today to be very busy because now we’re getting people who wanted to call in yesterday and the people who would call in today. Yeah. Today is going to be a big day. Bleh. I just don’t feel right today. I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel like I could crawl back into bed and sleep for another two weeks.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ll do much else today. Not even on this blog. Sorry, all – I am just feeling bleh.

More tomorrow, I promise.

… and it’s twenty minutes. Good luck for all of you playing at home.

Now that 2013 has come and 2012 has gone with nary a Zombie Apocalypse to be seen, we can all buckle down and concentrate on what’s important… which I have no idea what that is anymore. The news tells me that we’re going over the financial cliff, but so far no one has run by the house and yelled that the banks are out of money. So, I will remain cautiously optimistic for this year… well, for at least the next hour.

The holiday season is pretty much over (I don’t include Valentine’s Day), I can get back to the blog and back to I/O Error. My goal (not a resolution – resolutions get dropped) is to get the novel finished by the end of March and get back to trying to finish a novel a quarter – which means I am now going to start writing every day at least 2,000 words. So, I’ll have to sandwich in some writing time in between the playoffs – something that Mr. Martin and I might have in common (it certainly isn’t football teams). Good news for me – my team didn’t make it, so it’s probably going to be a little easier to ignore the commentary until the Super Bowl in February (or is it going to be in March? Is it just me, or does it seem to happen later and later every year?). As far as what’s going on in I/O Error, we’ve met the Spooky Sisters and they’ve made their demands. All that I need to do now is show them making good on their threats – which is going to be fun for me. After this is finished, I am going to get onto the next project of Valentina’s Feast – I want to get all the one-shots done before I start working on long term series. Which means it’s going to be Valentina’s Feast followed by Bestial, Zeno’s Calendar and Graphic Love which should take me into next year and hopefully out of here before then.

There is really little else to report here. I had the Horror Movie marathon and out of the three new films, Drag Me to Hell was the scariest and 1408 was the most underwhelming. Population: 436 gets the ‘most wanted to have a twist ending’ award. I think next year is going to be an all J-Horror movie festival. I was kinda disappointed in the movies this year, but I’m sure that there will be better movies coming down the road for next year. As far as movies in the theatre go – I’m going to go see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Skyfall Saturday. Did I mention that I finally got a Blu-Ray player? Yep – and got the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so my Easter tradition is going to get a glorious new re-vamping.

Well, I need to get out of here and get back to I/O Error. I hope that everyone has a great New Year’s Day and a prosperous New Year.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

OK – I’m driving in a SUV in the desert (not the deserts of Arabia, more like the badlands of Arizona or New Mexico… or Fyrestone) and I come across a crashed Concorde Jet that landed mere feet from my house (which ends up being put together like the house I grew up in). As I look out the window and marvel that my house isn’t on fire, I watch people pick through the wreckage. Obviously disturbed by this, I go out and confront the people on the plane. As I walk out the door, I see that someone has set up a table with various things on it – blankets, books and whatever else could be salvaged. I see a police officer and point out the table to him. I ask him if he thinks this is right – given it’s a plane crash that needs to be contained and investigated. The officer looks over the table and the crash and tells me: “We not only allow it, heck – we encourage it.” That’s when I woke up. The most interesting interpretation will be posted here.

My interpretation? Let’s take a look at what we we’re starting from: the badlands. A hard place to be, also a lonely place to live in for any length of time – it would be nice for me, is only it were a little cooler. The Concorde crash? The thing I remember the most is that there were no bodies. So the crash I guess is a representation of something foreign coming into my life – especially that it’s a Concorde and you can’t get more foreign than that type of plane. People picking through the wreckage and the table? Maybe that’s how my subconscious works – picking through the dross of my experiences and producing something. I guess my indignation about this is just that fact that I am somewhat uncomfortable about the process. I would much rather have everything buried deep away somewhere, or better yet – just plain forgotten. The cop? The Freudian concept of the ego in an easily recognized form telling me that this is not only good, but preferred above other means (whatever those other means are). At the end of the dream, shortly before I wake up, I approach the table. I might put this up on a different site or two. It’s rare that my dreams linger this long after I wake up, so maybe having a second set of eyes on it might yield some other interpretations.

Well – no writing to report here given that it is Christmas week. Today, I expect a lot of calls at work, but if I want to get that Christmas pay, I have to show up today. Meh. At least I’m not going to worry about lunch and have a good dinner when I get home. Maybe a week is what I could use to get myself back on track.

Off to shower away the Christmas cheer. Have a good day all.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

With the show Surviving Zombies, I think the whole Zombie Apocalypse has finally jumped the shark. I’m just done with them as far as following anything new. I’m going to stick to The Walking
Dead and that’s about it. Personally, I hope that when the end that the Mayans predicted end comes, I hope it comes as meteorites, Planet X or zealously overfriendly kittens to kill me through my allergies – just something else other than zombies. I can understand the symbolism of the fear of zombies – we’re scared of the mindless mob, something that moves as an insensate collective without regard to anything else outside of itself. In this age of Facebook, Twitter and the Internet in general, we’re becoming less human and more of a set of collective data points. The zombie just gives us this in a tidy and disturbing visual form. I have a feeling that this zombie craze is going to start to die down after the New Year. Here’s to hoping we come back to our senses and fear robots again. Arnold could use the paycheck.

Speaking of robots… I/O Error continues along and I am going to skip ahead a little bit to write another ice cream scene: the airlock. This is one of the first scenes I envisioned when coming up with the central plot to the novel. I am looking forward to writing this scene and getting it out on paper. The other novel is going to have to wait for Saturday after the grocery shopping is done, but the good thing is that the re-writes (dialogue, getting rid of the idiot ball in one of the chapters) shouldn’t take any more than a day to a day in a half and then I will be done. In other good news, I have found a cover artist for I/O Error
here. The last thing I want to round up is an editor that can work with horror and/or sci-fi, but I am not going to get to that until the book is finished. I might go back to the editor that I used for the first novel if she’s willing, and this time I will actually pay her for her efforts this time. She was nice to take me up pro bono (which I think is Latin for ‘a lunch is owed’). I am working a little on other projects: The Pentateuch of Abel, Spooksayer and that series, and Tyro’s series – what I call my tent pole books. I have others as well: Valentina’s Feast, Graphic Love and Zeno’s Calendar to name a few… very few. I hope to be busy for a while with all of this. Maybe one day (just to aid my slipping memory), I’ll list all the projects and a rough status report.

Christmas continues along – I am getting the last of the shopping lists done and I will soon be able to indulge in one of my traditions:

Obviously, there is going to be more than just this. It’s Christmas, not Lent.

After that will be getting Cloverfield and The
Ruins to round out Christmas. I am going to have fun. I hope you all do, too. Now I have to go shower. Y’all take care.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy.

There are only two shows coming out this season (are there seasons anymore?) that I am really enthused about. Since they are on Fox channels, I will need to watch them while they’re on the TV:

The Following: Kevin Bacon. James Purefoy (Rome). So far this is a good combination – James Purefoy can pull off smarmy and smug, and I like the central concept that speaks to the Facebooker/blogger part of me. I just hope that we don’t see very much of James except in the first few episodes to establish his character. If this doesn’t get the big numbers right out of the gate, I think this is only going to get a season. It really all depends on how they work the actual followers – it could become a ‘themed killer of the week’ very quickly and that will kill it. Then again – it’s Fox, they’ll kill anything.

: OK – this is the one that I am all in on. This one harks back to the Cold War – so the normal target audience of FX might look at this without the same sense of strong nostalgia that I will see. I lived through the last twenty years of that period, so I can put myself into that mindset. As one critic has put it, there is something about the ‘us vs. them’ mentality in the 80’s that we need now on TV, and I agree with her. Now that we are far removed from that time and conflict, we can come back to it safely. Keri Russell (Felicity) is the star quotient in the show, but this could work with a cast of complete unknowns. Personally, I would like to have seen Konstantin Khabenskiy in the lead role, but that would have brought up issues with the sleeper agents being able to fit in so well. Since this one is on FX, there is a chance we can see multiple seasons.

It’s a shame that there are only two really good shows coming out so far. While Fox doesn’t follow the normal ‘season’ like the other networks, they do seem to have a knack for picking decent shows to play (except that one time…). I will watch the premiere episodes and report back to you, the faithful reader. But for now – I have lunch to make.

Until later, good friends.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

It’s already Thursday here. This week continues to fly by – then again, I did do a lot last week. I’m also going to meet with the writers’ group here on Saturday (which means waking up earlier than I normally do on the weekdays, but it’s only once a month. No biggie then), so I’ll need to get everything ready for them tomorrow night. Since my printer still refuses to print black, I’m going to have to print my submission in a festive red color. In the New Year, I might just ditch the thing. Hardly print, copy, scan or fax anything anyways – when I need that, there are Kinko’s or an Office Max within shouting distance. Might just scan a few pictures I’ve been meaning to put into my picture collection (going on 6 GB now) and then just cast the printer into the can and save up the money to get something a little more upscale and reliable. We will see what 2013 brings us… assuming that the world doesn’t crashing to a halt. If it does – I expect several girls from high school to show and fulfill their promises.

The sisters have been introduced in I/O Error! With this, signals the beginning of the second act and the fight to maintain the ship. Speaking of acts, there is a wonderful blog concerning story
structure and I recommend it to everyone… the fact that it is written by the Hulk and that I am at heart a Marvel fanboy has absolutely nothing to do with it. Nope. Nothing at all. I am also working on creating a central mythos with this story that would link it to one other story I have written and several I have in my head. Stephen King did this with Flagg with the conclusion in The Dark Tower (I think he shows up in ‘The Talisman’). I like those moments when you read something, then realize it shows up in another work and you follow that thread through several books. Nerdy? Sure. Fun? Of course! I am aiming for a late February completion date for I/O Error and hoping to get it out there by end of March.

The holidays approach and I am getting things together for the marathon. Popcorn, movies, Danish cookies and hamburgers are being lovingly gathered for Christmas. If anyone in the blogging area is bored with hanging out with family and wants to watch a horror movie (or three) is invited. I will even make dinner (hamburgers) for those who come in. All I ask is that you have a love for horror films, and like your burgers cooked medium-well.

Well, off to get well-scrubbed and ready for work. Y’all have fun.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

… because I know what puts eyeballs on the page, ladies. 😀 OK – maybe not that. It’s a bit of a hassle to shave in the morning and people seem to like me with a beard. So, I might just go on ahead and let grow out for the winter.

If you were looking for deep philosophical discussions and keen insights into society – you might want to look elsewhere. Sorry – this is only the warm-up for my head in the morning, or to rant about TV shows or movies. Don’t worry, if I get one of those keen insights, I’ll put it here first. I promise.

We’re about a third of the way through I/O Error and I am getting ready to bring in the Sisters. I’ve been waiting to get to this point since I started to put words on the page. When this little scene is done, I’ll get to Rob’s scene in the airlock – although I think I might move around some things and get the airlock scene earlier to ratchet up the weirdness factor of everything. I also don’t remember is I discussed this or not, but one of the things I was doing was having Gail’s consciousness (?) split into two sides: the quantum side (which deals in quantum processing and allows to tackle non-linear things and to work better with people in general) and her logical side (a traditional computer processor, albeit one that could run laps around anything we have today). When I would write – I would have them interacting with each other like some sort of Odd Couple:

The logical side of her processor noted that Milo was an independent device and did not need or benefit from any sort of increased attention. The quantum side of the processor told the logical side to put a sock in it.

It’s a cute line – it gives us a lot of information in few words. We see one of her internal conflicts and that could come into play in later scenes:

“Get a hold of yourself.” She muttered as she walked down a flight of stairs. “It’s only a CME. Milo’s been through worse. I’ve been through worse. The guest pods are working fine. There is absolutely nothing that’s going to happen.” Her logical processors pointed to everything she had said earlier and affirmed that the probability of anything to endanger the functioning of the Massive Internal Logical Operator, the guest pods and the android identified as Gail unit 23-Green were infinitesimally small enough to be categorized as non-existent. The quantum processors emphasized that even a stopped clock was right twice a day. Gail rubbed her temples – less a command of her dithering program and more of a mannerism adopted from one of the techs she worked with.

Again – interesting lines, but alas; they are not lines that should be in this story. The concept is that the reader is seeing everything that Gail sees, so when the others start to doubt what she is experiencing is that we are sitting in our comfy (or uncomfy bus benches) and harshly whispering ‘Yes, it’s there! Just look!’ So – in keeping with Pixar’s Rules of Storytelling, I am going to have to cut lines like this; however, I am going to wait to do the first round of re-writes first. Everything in its time.

Well, speaking of time – time to dunk under myself warm water and scrub myself clean. I hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy