Well, apparently I had a shy monster standing on the window screen. It wasn’t there this morning, so apparently my taking a picture of it reminded it of the paparazzi so it’s fled. More than likely, it’s holed up in a tower wearing tissue boxes on its feet (a lot them) and ordering a repeat showing of “Eight Legged Freaks” on the local channels… which would explain why there is nothing but “Eight Legged Freaks” on TV.

Right now, it’s Saturday and it’s just me, a glass of milk and “Jennifer’s Body”. I’m trying to finish off another chapter in a novel, but the words aren’t just coming out the way they normally do. So, I thought I would try making a blog entry today and see what would happen. I might end up playing some Left 4 Dead 2 today and just chill out. Next Thursday I’m going to be able to get the anthology edited – which I am now calling “Four Bits and a Dollar” (yours for only $1.50! I get 70% of it, 65% from Nook!). If everything works out, I should be getting some downloads by the middle of the next months. I’m also going to try to use Kickstarter in order to help pay for the novel editing. I think $2000 is good enough for an editor, might be even a little high for the editor I’m using (who will be a much vaunted ‘double shout-out’). I think the reward should be a mention in the post script or author’s notes. Good Lord, that sounds so bad, but hey – I need money to do this. I need to think like a business person.

But that’s later.

Right now, it’s bad movies, documentaries and deli night… and preseason-football. I am recording a preseason game (I like the inflow ebb of the game, the groin smashing? Not so much) tonight and tomorrow – so I got to clear out a little more space. Not a bad problem, but I can only watch certain things at certain hours. All in all – I like what’s happening here with me. I can finally get things together and start writing professionally. I just wish there were certain people here to see it happen, but hey – I should have moved faster, right?

Oh – another good thing about this publication – Tattoo! I don’t know what to get, since I’m doing the anthology. Since I’m charging $1.50, I was thinking about having the picture of a saint holding out a dollar and two quarters – or maybe an angel with the saying ‘deliver me from evil’. I might have to ask around. Could be a ghost holding a dollar… could be my cat with two quarters in its paws. Don’t know – might poll for some ideas. Well, I got another idea for something. So, I am off to scribble something.

Sleep well, Gentle Reader

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

… and by there I mean ‘paid’? Well, I hammered out the details with the woman in the heeled tights holding a hot iron and I found the value of a strong dollar. $211.00 for editing services, and I hope that it all works out. By works out, I mean gets me enough to afford her services for any one of the several novels I have a mind to write. If it does work out, she will definitely be getting a shout-out.

To other things – away!

Work continues to exasperate me. I really had to wonder what sort of criteria they use to dispense the goods and services we provide. One would hope that it’s a little more than ‘do we have a pulse? Can they sign on the dotted line?’ I doubt that, though, given the people I have to talk to on a daily basis. This Friday, I get to work an additional hour – meaning an additional 2 and a half hour to be sucked away from my weekend.

Sorry – don’t mean to gripe about work. Really, other than waiting to get paid so I can hire the editor to get everything squared away for the anthology, there is nothing else to say. I did find out that not only can I self-publish on the Kindle, but I can also do it on the Nook. They ask for a little more money when it comes to pricing, but hey – it means I can get my stories out there to twice as many markets. I can even have one pseudonym exclusive to Nook and the other one to Kindle – don’t know which one gets what. I only have the three, so someone may end up getting both – maybe the big one. I also have to admit, now that getting published is drawing near to me, I’ve been getting a lot of ideas. There is one novel series I was working on and I was convinced that I would only get maybe two or three other novels – ends up the whole series can be stretched out to at least seven if the fans will have it… and that’s the one that can be the most open ended. The others that have definite beginnings, middles and ends need to be worked on some more, but hey – at least these things will see the light of day. Great time to be alive, everyone – have your coca, don’t fret over your Yurt and try not to get epoxy on your fingers. Don’t get chained to what makes you woe.

With the beginning of the pre-season football season (also called ‘let’s cripple the newbies’), I look forward to my hapless team perhaps breaking even for a change. Well – maybe a little less than even, but hey – miracles can happen. I might get off early tomorrow from work. Believe it or not, it’s been known to happen. I’m telling you – never look for logic, reason or sense in a call center it ain’t gonna happen.

A last note to leave you with: there is a big spider on my window.

Yes, I know that has all the clarity of a Bigfoot picture. To give you a good idea as to how big this thing it – from tip of rear leg to tip of front leg is an inch. Yes – an inch. I want to get a better picture of it, but its dark outside and I have no camera with a decent flash, so I had to use a flashlight. If it’s still there in the morning when I get up, I’ll get a better picture for you. Maybe you can tell me what it is and how best to kill it. I’d spray it, but it looks like it would use bug spray for perfume.

Sweet Dreams, Gentle Reader – in spite of the fact that Lloth has taken up residence on my window.

Yours,

Seething Apathy

Hello along. This going to be a shorter one than last night’s because there is too little going on and my Internet connection is poo. So, I have downloaded WordPress on my phone, but there is no way in Hell I am going to type 500 words on a Galaxy S phone. Not to say that it’s a bad phone.  The fact that I can blog here is a testament to the versatility of this little thing. Rather, I am crashing from the exhaustion of all my caffeine reserves and I want to be able to add some more to my commonbook before I go to sleep tonight. If we must rejoice in something — rejoice in that the chain is unbroken and that the magical post #28 approaches with some luck soul is getting a shout-out. Also, rejoice in that the spellchecker for my phone isn’t going lie next to me in the bed crying… much like my Word Office.

Good night, Gentle Reader – if there is good news, I will tell it to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Seething Apathy

Hello, all – this is indeed the third posting in as many days – could this be a trend? Who knows? Right now, I am enjoying a podcast I picked at random through Stitcher. I also finally found an editor for a collection of my best four short stories to be sold on a Kindle for a buck. So, I am hoping to get something out before the end of September. I think that a buck is a good price for four short stories (about 14K words). Anyhow, finally finished the mead just a few seconds ago – don’t think it’s going to take the place of my beloved absinthe any time soon, but I would pick it above Monty Python’s Holy Grail… not that the ale wasn’t bad, but it’s not as sweet as I like my drinks. Sadly, I am not drunk enough to feel it. Thanks, absinthe.

I am still very much pumped about getting the Kindle stuff together. On the next shout-out episode, I am going to give the website a big shout-out. So far, the site is highly recommended and the rates seem to be reasonable (in British pounds).

I’m sorry that this particular blog is going to be short, but I am rather tired from work, mead and coasting down on the idea of finally getting published.

There will be more.

Good night, Dear Reader.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Well, today was my first day back at work… and I now I remember why I need either a vacation or a change of jobs. Those of you who have jobs that you enjoy – you have no idea how blessed you are. Seriously – if you leave your job and you’re depressed about having to go home, count that as a blessing. You know the old saw: ‘if you want to see the dead come to life, be here at 5:00 pm’. Enough of my grumbling – I did manage to finish another chapter and I think the secondary character is starting to take over the novel. Jeez – not let someone have sex for… several years, and they’ll do anything to get laid. Enough about my life, though – back to the book. I have a better and more realistic goal: to have the novel finished by the end of November and to have it edited and on Amazon by the week before Christmas. With any luck, I will have a novel out there, earning money… wow – it sounds like I’m turning my daughter out on the street. I hope people like her.

Right now, I’m watching a military documentary. Yes – I enjoy watching documentaries more than I like watching scripted TV. Why, you ask? Simple – there are few really good scripted TV shows out there. I’ve been thinking about trying to write a script, but I don’t have any good ‘script’ ideas. When I write, I see everything like a movie, but I find it easier to write prose than scripts, but then again – I should try to expand my wings. I mean, this is a great time to be a writer. The tools are everywhere. Want to get published? Go to Amazon, they’ll publish it. Don’t have the program to convert the file to Amazon’s format? There’s a program for that. Want to write scripts? There are several script formatting programs – one of them is free. Want to get your script filmed? Good cameras are getting cheaper and cheaper. Actors? Dime a dozen (sorry friends). Need to get it seen – two words: You Tube. At this point, if you have a creative desire – there’s a program for that.

Speaking of which, if you know any artist types who want to draw a webcomic, drop me a line here. I have a couple of webcomic ideas I would like to see fleshed out.

Anyhow, I have so many ideas, what I am going to do is farm them out to various pseudonyms (which I am not listing here – that would break the whole idea of a quasi-anonymous blog for me to say such things as: if I have to listen to one more guy tell me “Can’t you just do something on your end?” like I’ve just been screwing around with them at the end of my day (another 18 minutes I’ll never see on my paycheck), I am going to start throwing dead bodies out the office window. On the brighter side of things – the hot weather has finally broken… well relatively speaking. It was in the upper 80’s here to whet my need for a shower and my sheerest towel. I’m not going to be happy until it’s in the lower 70’s, but that’s just me. I’m a big ole polar bear… well, a big ole hairless polar bear.

Well, Dear Reader – it is time for me to go to bed. I promise I will chat about something more prescient. Maybe baseball.

Good Reading to you, Gentle Reader,

Seething Apathy

“Hurry up and drop, I have things to do.”

I have to go back to work Monday, so it’s going to be a ‘pack in enough good times now before I find myself back up to my neck in frozen waste. No, I am not looking forward to coming back to work. So, I am trying to finish something and get it sent to Amazon.com. Hey, if that writer can write something and make $200,000, I can make a quarter of that easily. You may be asking ‘What did you do the whole week?’ Well, I wrote – finished a couple of chapter, now officially half way through, and worked on another blog entry about how I would improve certain movies. I also spent some time at the movies (Rise of the Planet of The Apes – good! Go see it.), went to the gym a couple of times, watched a couple of movies on my DVR (went from 85% to 59%). Went out to lunch (as previously documented) and just bummed around. Now, some of you might be saying ‘So, you wasted a week’ – and yes, you would be somewhat right. Also, let’s keep in mind this: I spend a minimum of 40 hours a week under a lot of pressure to get 500 things done. For eight hours a day, I have to field calls that have crept through all the stop gap measures and punch me in the ear. So, during my vacation, if I feel like watching a movie, I watch a movie. If I feel like writing, I write. While I called it a working vacation, it is still a vacation.

Also in the news, I have tried B. Nektar Mead. Mead isn’t really what I thought it would taste like. I was thing that it would be more of a honey flavor with some hints of vanilla and cinnamon (I ordered flavored mead – believe it or not, for research). Instead, I got something sweet that didn’t have a honey taste, more like a sweet wine (yes, I know that mead is basically honey wine, but that’s not my point). I don’t mind it, but it took a quite a bit to get me a slight buzz… which I blame on the absinthe. 17% alcohol by volume for the mead versus 64% for the absinthe — you be the judge. I am not going to drink anything tonight, since I am going to go to the gym later on tonight (God bless 24 Hour Fitness).

All in all, I had a good vacation, but soon it will be back to work until the first week in November, when I take off for my birthday week. I hope by then to have enough money to get my own personal birthday gift: a laptop from Alienware for gaming.

Good night, Gentle Reader. Until next we meet.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Sorry if the last one might have made you, dear Reader (all two of you), a little on edge… and especially for that very long gap in between. I assure you that the gap was not the result of hospitalization or a significantly long bender. Let this be a lesson – either find something you like to do and go after it with everything, or just get used to suffering. Kids, if you apply yourself at college, you can get easy jobs. So, while I am on vacation (and it dwindles so rapidly), I thought I would try to get back into this whole blogging thing again.

So… anything interesting happen while I was gone? Nothing? OK.

Today, I’m going to run off to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Holy cow, does it look good. Sure, I’m a sucker for great special effects (and it’s WETA, so they’re going to deliver), but the story behind it looks compelling to me, which is far better than any whiz-bang special effects (are you listening Wachowski brothers?). There is something to be said for good storytelling… and caffeine. I need some caffeine. You know that feeling – the weight on your limbs, the drift of your consciousness and attention into the Sargasso Sea of exhaustion. That’s better… and now for the daily reminder: I don’t have a problem.
I can’t quit when I want.
Headaches are temporary.

Oh – another thing that’s happened to me. I’ve signed up for Amazon’s publishing, which means I can actually publish something that I finish – more incentive to get things published. It’s a great time to be a writer, ladies and gentlemen.

There is really nothing else to say. I’m just waiting for my favorite shows to come back, trying to reduce the number of shows and movies in the DVR (down to 60%! I should watch ‘Victim’, something I recorded on 8/31/2010) while trying to work on a project… or two. I have cut back on my X-box during this week. I only played it once during this whole vacation. The rest of my time was spend watching stuff on TV, bought a bunch of books on Amazon and my Kindle, wrote some more in my novel (finished a chapter, might finish another one today!) and went out to a restaurant for lunch over the river (avoid the steak sandwich… there was a large bit of fat in mine. Eww…). Today: lunch at Qdoba, ice cream and movie. Come home and play some X-Box if I have time and treat myself to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and dessert. Come back home and maybe watch Victim on the DVR to get it out. If I’m still awake at that point, maybe finish up the chapter. I know, I know – I have a horrible work ethic, but in my defense: I work a lot better if I’m not stressed. My most productive day? Monday. My least: Wednesday when I was obsessing with why I wasn’t further along than I wanted to be. So – I’m just going to not worry about this (the writing. The end of my vacation? Hangs over me like a vulture with a knife and fork) and let whatever happens happen.

I wish you luck in your endeavors, Dear Reader. I am off to shower.

Ever Yours, Dear Reader

Seething With Apathy

Well – a college that is based where I used to live has made it farther than it did last year and farther than in school history… and there is no love for it. From the other people in the sports media, you’d think that would be a major headline. Not here – not where I’m at currently. Here, all I hear about is how a cobbled hot slut wielding hoops is doing in their games. No love for a mere shop that vies for leverage. I haven’t gone to the home paper yet, but hopefully they will have more good information. Their next game is tomorrow and I intend on watching it and cheering them on. Someone should at least.

On to other things – my absinthe review blog is the only one that I can seem to keep to a schedule, since it’s the first Sunday of every month, which means I probably should get started on the review and also start looking at other drinks to criticize heavily. After a few months, I might try to monetize this thing. Hopefully, I can get some sort of attention… other than getting a 1 Day chip. My other writing pokes along as to be expected. Trying to make time for it, other blogs and serious writing, on top of trying to get some exercise… I just wish science would hurry up and make the 72/24 pill – stay away for 3 days straight and sleep for 1 day straight. I could really get a lot done if I could reclaim at least 6 hours of my life back from the yawning abyss of sleep.

Speaking of reclaiming hours – I went out with some friends from work to celebrate one of them getting a promotion out of the same department I’m in and going to another place. Don’t get me wrong – he’s a great guy and I am happy for him… but I was painfully…painfully bored. I made up an excuse and got out as soon as I could. I had some rum, some bourbon and I got out after playing a couple of rounds of bank tights and card darts for a couple of shills. I’m just not that much of a social animal. There was nothing to really do other than game and talk, and frankly I felt like the odd one out. This is why I want to follow the career tracks I have in mind – no required interaction with people unless it’s something I can do on my terms. No crowds. I can’t stand crowds of people. I like being alone, but I’m not an agoraphobic… yet. If I had my way, once I got into a position where I could maintain my bills and never leave the house – I would be a happy person. This is something I am working towards on this end – so wish me luck.

Well – other than envy for shut-ins, the obvious depletion of caffeine in my system and the pressing need to watch In the Mouth of Madness (a very good horror film that, to me, doesn’t get the due it should). Bit of trivia about the film: after Sutter Cane (the Stephen King expy) states that his favorite color is blue, notice that everyone else who gets a close-up has blue eyes. Seriously, check it out.

Good night, Gentle Reader.

Seething With Apathy

As I sit here, I see that Sci-Fi has picked up the rights to re-broadcast “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. *Sigh* This is the same channel that killed “Caprica” but continues to show wrestling shows. At the risk of sounding like any other fanboy – this doesn’t make any real sense other than trying to get some quick cash. A quick solution to a long term problem, but it’s like putting a band-aid on a severed artery – there are a lot of better things to do about that other than stand around and say ‘please don’t drip on the rug’. Am I going to watch? Of course! There were some episodes that I missed when FOX aired it (not happy about that either – but at least it’s on the air), so I have a chance to see it before I run out and get the DVD series. I am not expecting anything else from Sci-Fi than a quick run to be followed by disappointment. On a different note – The Science Channel is going to host “Firefly” – it would be nice to see it on the TV again… but I already have the series on DVD.

On other things, I am trying to work on a stock portfolio to get some more time here at home working on writing (which, now that I have some inspiration about grocery stores, I can get through to the end of the chapter at least) and get my name out there. Work continues to drive me to drink and I store it up for the weekend. I learned my lesson from a few Fridays ago – no more than 2 cups, but at least I’m now trying to work on a blog to review absinthe. Time to make the alcoholism work for me! Other than watching the money I made swirl down the drain on the stock market and trying to get worked up to write and not worked up to yell at the top athlete pope and the he hen. Good times. Good times. This weekend (since I get paid), I think I am going to go see “Black Swan”. I’m a fan of Aronofsky and “Pi” is one of my favorite films (and I hate math, just to let you know).

So far, I am still waiting for a call back from one of the other company who has a cad who sorts by fingertips. I should hear something close to the middle of next month. I didn’t do very well on the interview truth to be told, and truth to be told – this is a lateral move more than anything else. It’s just that where I am now drives me crazy to do the most basic things at times. I’m hoping that where I am looking to will have a simpler way of things.

Now, on to a private grief: dishes. I have done the dishes every day this week and 95% of the month. When I signed on to help out with the dishes, it was because the pork in the treetop needed to hook a bee for study. No problem – I don’t mind helping, but I mind being taken advantage of in this manner. I am working more hours than the beekeeper, and frankly, my work is far more stressful. I would just like to see the beekeeper pull the weight every now and then. That’s all – make the offer. That’s what the beekeeper talks to me about.

Tonight, after dishes and some gaming, I am going to hit the gym and if there is some time left over – I should write. I need to drink some clear water and listen to the moon again. I’ve got the scene in my head, I’m just worried that the character will be seen not as a woman who is trying to cope with extraordinary circumstances, but as a whiny girl over her head. But that’s what editing is for. I just think it’s a good scene. I need to really focus on what’s important to me and my sanity right now. I am in a place where I don’t want to be (again) and I need to keep my head clear to get out.

Easier said than done in the end.

Well, I think I have found the one other thing that makes me happy… stocks. Yeah – I said it. I’m playing the stock market. I hate my current job at where we chopper the shell near the tut’s house. I’m hoping to get successful enough at this to make a living off of it and have the time to pursue my writing. Of course, I am not here to merely complain about my job… there are other things as well.

I have found my new second home!

This place is amazing. It’s not just pasta. It’s a wonderful little gourmet store that sells wonder things that you wouldn’t find in Kroger’s or Wal-Mart.

Spanish Octopus, just like your mom used to make.

Not only that, but precooked pastas – spinach and cheese ravioli, chicken tetrazzini and other things that look absolutely fantastic. I’m thinking about getting some of the ravioli and taking it for a test spin as it were. I have never been this excited about a store, but walking in was like being led into some strange new world… of food. I admit that I like eating, and I have grown fond of cooking (but not washing dishes…never of washing dishes). This year, for Thanksgiving, I am thinking of making turkey stuffed ravioli, so I went out today in order to see if I could find something to help me stuff the ravioli. Went to Lotsa Pasta first and fell in love with it, then went to the mall and stepped into a cooking supply shop. Now, I’ve seen this thing in the Internet. What I am looking for is a device that will allow me to stuff the pasta to make ravioli. It’s a piece of plastic that you lay the pasta over and it will make a divot large enough for you to place whatever you want to stuff into the ravioli, then you put pasta over that and crimp it shut. I can’t wait to try this. Sounds odd, I’m sure – but what I am going to use to stuff the pasta with is the same thing I used two Thanksgivings ago – I make manicotti with browned turkey meat and three kinds of cheeses (ricotta, mozzarella and I want to say either cottage cheese or Swiss), but it was really good. You know, I might even try to make it again one of these days as a surprise.

On to other things.

I’ve noticed that while I have many more devices to be used to read, I don’t read that much anymore. I have Kindle on all my electronic devices, as well as Nook and a couple of other pieces of software on my phone. I have no real excuse not to read something – be it Kushiel’s Dart, The Discourses of Epictetus or The Strain. Hell, I even have an actual Nook somewhere with some Stephen King on it (I recommend his unauthorized bio). I should look for it this weekend and get back into reading…and writing as well. I’ve been too swept up in the whole stock yard thing. I need to try to balance everything else.

Now: the shout out. A friend of mine has her own blog about shoes: see the face of obsession. Good luck.

Be Well, Faithful Reader.