Mood: missing something
Music: Ashokan Farewell (I was just practicing it)
So this entry is just another morning pages, but practicing my fiddle music as I was just now has gotten me missing the lessons I was taking. I sent Alex (my instructor) an e-mail telling her that I'd like to resume my lessons soon. It might be next year before I could do so, but I don't want to let the lessons die. I was enjoying them so much. There're times when I think I tightened my belt on my finances a little too much, and maybe this entry is getting too personal, but I also miss my flying lessons and the ballroom dancing. I might actually get back to the ballroom dancing first. We'll see how things go. I've been resorting to the cheaper entertainment of role-playing games again and I certainly enjoy that too. It's just harder to make a living at it. I suppose I could try my hand at writing modules, but I think I need to get more involved to do that. That IS something I'm trying to do at least: what with attempting to get involved in the RPGA and all. Life seems so very full, yet there's so much I want to do. Angela tells me I'm a regular jack-of-all-trades (joat), but I still have so much that I want to do, so much that I want to try my hand at: hang-gliding, riding a train, visiting other places, writing a novel, getting back to my artwork, becoming a father (okay, I'll be a stepdad soon enough), learning how to ride a horse (Anne, if you ever read this we still have a deal), and I'm sure there's other things I want to try as well that just aren't coming to mind at the moment.
Sometimes these entries come off to me a bit morose, but I have so much that's making me happy right now. I'm gonna get married and that's got me VERY excited. She's so wonderful, and she's such a match. We have moments where we're in each other's heads. How many women out there wish their men could do that. I found the one I can do that with, at least some of the time. :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Mood: nervous energy
Movie: Se7en
Lieing awake in my bed, my insomnia was definitely giving me one of it's worse nights. The rain aggravated me nervously with it's insistant rapping upon the roof of the apartment. I contemplated getting up and fetching another Benedryl. Not that it was helping me get to sleep anymore. My body had already started to build up a tolerance. I turned in my sheets, only half covering my torso. I missed my wife. I hoped that her business trip would end early and then I could welcome her home with the best meal I could manage and candles in the bedroom. I thought about my bills. I thought about the repairs I needed to have made to my car. Mom's birthday. And then the cat hissed and ran heavily across me to hide behind the fold-out sofa bed. At first I couldn't understand. Then, the levin lit up the window and the silhouette that stood there was entirely alient to the room. It wasn't apart of our world. Not our furniture. Not our small family. Not anyone that was supposed to be there. A bat hidden underneath the bed seemed just out of reach, and the gun hidden behind a vent grate was out of the question. We just froze and looked at each other. Then suddenly he moved. I say he because the frame was heavy, but I couldn't be sure. The movement looked both deft and cumbersome all at the same time, a contradiction in movement. I reached for the bat and when I came up with it he was gone.
To be continued... maybe.
Movie: Se7en
Lieing awake in my bed, my insomnia was definitely giving me one of it's worse nights. The rain aggravated me nervously with it's insistant rapping upon the roof of the apartment. I contemplated getting up and fetching another Benedryl. Not that it was helping me get to sleep anymore. My body had already started to build up a tolerance. I turned in my sheets, only half covering my torso. I missed my wife. I hoped that her business trip would end early and then I could welcome her home with the best meal I could manage and candles in the bedroom. I thought about my bills. I thought about the repairs I needed to have made to my car. Mom's birthday. And then the cat hissed and ran heavily across me to hide behind the fold-out sofa bed. At first I couldn't understand. Then, the levin lit up the window and the silhouette that stood there was entirely alient to the room. It wasn't apart of our world. Not our furniture. Not our small family. Not anyone that was supposed to be there. A bat hidden underneath the bed seemed just out of reach, and the gun hidden behind a vent grate was out of the question. We just froze and looked at each other. Then suddenly he moved. I say he because the frame was heavy, but I couldn't be sure. The movement looked both deft and cumbersome all at the same time, a contradiction in movement. I reached for the bat and when I came up with it he was gone.
To be continued... maybe.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Mood: nervous energy
Music: Back in Black by AC/DC
It occurs to me as I read my gf's favorite book that I've wanted to write some science fiction of my own. After all didn't I inspire my senior year of h.s. English teacher to want to be my agent when I became a writer? Wasn't that part of the point of starting this blog: to spin ideas, rough drafts, fantastic ideas into something I could use as the basis for a genuine story. My trouble comes in finding something that strikes me as being truly original. I doubt myself in my ability to create something truly new and groundbreaking that people would actually stand up and take notice. I mean Dan Brown beat me to the punch w/ the Da Vinci Code. Isn't that what I would have done had I written Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? I keep telling myself that I'm gonna write a King Arthur epic poem, but all the research I want to do to make it the most loyal to both history and the fantastic is a lifelong project. I want to write the ultimate werewolf story, but that never seems to happen. It's easier to come up w/ premises than the actual story sometimes. Transformers from the beginning: nevermind, the comics are doing it now. An original Star Wars story for a television series? Cartoon Network got the shorts. The D&D movie premise? Well, I could flesh that out, but what are the chances someone from the movie production would actually see it? There's got to be something out there. It's just a matter of finding it, and putting it down. It will come. If you dream it...
Music: Back in Black by AC/DC
It occurs to me as I read my gf's favorite book that I've wanted to write some science fiction of my own. After all didn't I inspire my senior year of h.s. English teacher to want to be my agent when I became a writer? Wasn't that part of the point of starting this blog: to spin ideas, rough drafts, fantastic ideas into something I could use as the basis for a genuine story. My trouble comes in finding something that strikes me as being truly original. I doubt myself in my ability to create something truly new and groundbreaking that people would actually stand up and take notice. I mean Dan Brown beat me to the punch w/ the Da Vinci Code. Isn't that what I would have done had I written Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? I keep telling myself that I'm gonna write a King Arthur epic poem, but all the research I want to do to make it the most loyal to both history and the fantastic is a lifelong project. I want to write the ultimate werewolf story, but that never seems to happen. It's easier to come up w/ premises than the actual story sometimes. Transformers from the beginning: nevermind, the comics are doing it now. An original Star Wars story for a television series? Cartoon Network got the shorts. The D&D movie premise? Well, I could flesh that out, but what are the chances someone from the movie production would actually see it? There's got to be something out there. It's just a matter of finding it, and putting it down. It will come. If you dream it...
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Mood: calm
Music: The Irish Washer Woman (I was just practicing it)
Where to begin. I just mean this to be a morning pages so I'm just going to ramble on and on again like I used to do. Hope this doesn't bother anyone but I just mean to keep on typing until time runs out or I reach a satisfactory length of typing. That's the way it is so :PPPPP. Okay, that's not exatly words its an extended emoticon, but so what. What are you going to do about it. Like you even care. Why am I even giving an attitude to something that few if any ppl are going to read. Shame on me for using ppl as an abbreviation for people when I need to type stuff out full length if I'm going to have a satisfactory length to this writing in the first place. The idea is to just get me writing in the first place. blah blah blah yackety schmackety have a nice tall cool glass of OJ. I miss that show. Taxmania. A welcome to a land that's way under down under. The sky's always blue come rain or shine. Come to Tazmania. Come to Tazmania. So what else are people watching these days. I've been watching Charmed, Angel, Monster Garage, Monster House, and Trading Spaces, but most of those are in reruns right now. I miss having the SciFi channel, but sinced it switched places w/ the Hallmark channel its only available w/ Comcast's digital package and we don't feel like shelling out the extra bucks for digital. If it wasn't for that we'd mostly be happy w/ what we've got. Okay, still going, nothing outlasts the Energizer. Gee! I'm just full of TV references this morning. Think I watch too much? Nah. Of course, not. I've still got Isaac's Tuna.... or do I? I liked the paranoia demon on Angel last night. It was a rerun, but a rerun that I hadn't seen. The origin of the hotel where Angel investigations was basing its operations. Was a cool flash from Angel's past. *YAWN!* Okay, sorry to interupt w/ biological functions but as they go that's not so rude unless someone else was doing the typing. Okay, don't mind me if you're reading this. Like I said I'm just prattling on as if I had something to say, which for some reason this morning I don't but that's hardly unusual is it? I mean, I'm usually fairly quiet at the pub. Not too much reason to go babbling. Matt and Andrew usually have the most interesting things to say. At least politically, philosophically or whatnot, which isn't to disrespect what anyone else has to put forth, just okay. I've put my foot in my mouth and that's as far as it needs to go. Hey! Isn't that why I stopped doing this thing in the first place. I just need to shut up, but apparently I can't so blah. Um, maybe I should talk about the Guild reunion picnic that I've been "organizing". That's a compliment to myself as I've mostly been letting volunteers do all the hard parts. I need to do something to show my appreciation to them for that. Certainly they deserve it. Okay, not there yet, but I've certainly made some progress. I dunno, would Marion be proud of it. That reminds me, I need to call Mary. She called me back yesterday about the game. She missed the last one, but I could still use her for the story coming up. I wonder if she'd be willing to play the part I needed Taryn to play. She can make up her own background of course, but I'll plead w/ her if she's still willing to join my game. We'll see how that goes. She and Jeff still haven't joined the Yahoo group for the game. I need to get on both of their cases. I hope Jeff comes back for the next game session. Its going to be Angela's game this weekend anyway so I need to do some more writing for that later on today. We'll see how that goes. I need to clean out my car, get the CDs and shoes put away. Just so much to do. I want to go back to the gym and to Dance Masters today. I need to find out my schedule at work for next week so I can schedule a flying lesson. I still have to wait to renew my medical before I can solo, and then its just the next calm day that I can go up before I finally solo. Oh! Its been a LONG time coming and I'm so excited about it. I just don't know what's next in the learning process. Just soloing has become a goal in and of itself that I don't know where I will be going from here except on the next step towards getting my license. After that if not before I also need to figure out how to get my seaplane license. That might require moving unfortunately. That could be a problem in and of itself. I'm still waiting for the IRS to come through. Meanwhile taxes are coming up and they'll take a chunk right back out of me. Okay, that's enough.
Music: The Irish Washer Woman (I was just practicing it)
Where to begin. I just mean this to be a morning pages so I'm just going to ramble on and on again like I used to do. Hope this doesn't bother anyone but I just mean to keep on typing until time runs out or I reach a satisfactory length of typing. That's the way it is so :PPPPP. Okay, that's not exatly words its an extended emoticon, but so what. What are you going to do about it. Like you even care. Why am I even giving an attitude to something that few if any ppl are going to read. Shame on me for using ppl as an abbreviation for people when I need to type stuff out full length if I'm going to have a satisfactory length to this writing in the first place. The idea is to just get me writing in the first place. blah blah blah yackety schmackety have a nice tall cool glass of OJ. I miss that show. Taxmania. A welcome to a land that's way under down under. The sky's always blue come rain or shine. Come to Tazmania. Come to Tazmania. So what else are people watching these days. I've been watching Charmed, Angel, Monster Garage, Monster House, and Trading Spaces, but most of those are in reruns right now. I miss having the SciFi channel, but sinced it switched places w/ the Hallmark channel its only available w/ Comcast's digital package and we don't feel like shelling out the extra bucks for digital. If it wasn't for that we'd mostly be happy w/ what we've got. Okay, still going, nothing outlasts the Energizer. Gee! I'm just full of TV references this morning. Think I watch too much? Nah. Of course, not. I've still got Isaac's Tuna.... or do I? I liked the paranoia demon on Angel last night. It was a rerun, but a rerun that I hadn't seen. The origin of the hotel where Angel investigations was basing its operations. Was a cool flash from Angel's past. *YAWN!* Okay, sorry to interupt w/ biological functions but as they go that's not so rude unless someone else was doing the typing. Okay, don't mind me if you're reading this. Like I said I'm just prattling on as if I had something to say, which for some reason this morning I don't but that's hardly unusual is it? I mean, I'm usually fairly quiet at the pub. Not too much reason to go babbling. Matt and Andrew usually have the most interesting things to say. At least politically, philosophically or whatnot, which isn't to disrespect what anyone else has to put forth, just okay. I've put my foot in my mouth and that's as far as it needs to go. Hey! Isn't that why I stopped doing this thing in the first place. I just need to shut up, but apparently I can't so blah. Um, maybe I should talk about the Guild reunion picnic that I've been "organizing". That's a compliment to myself as I've mostly been letting volunteers do all the hard parts. I need to do something to show my appreciation to them for that. Certainly they deserve it. Okay, not there yet, but I've certainly made some progress. I dunno, would Marion be proud of it. That reminds me, I need to call Mary. She called me back yesterday about the game. She missed the last one, but I could still use her for the story coming up. I wonder if she'd be willing to play the part I needed Taryn to play. She can make up her own background of course, but I'll plead w/ her if she's still willing to join my game. We'll see how that goes. She and Jeff still haven't joined the Yahoo group for the game. I need to get on both of their cases. I hope Jeff comes back for the next game session. Its going to be Angela's game this weekend anyway so I need to do some more writing for that later on today. We'll see how that goes. I need to clean out my car, get the CDs and shoes put away. Just so much to do. I want to go back to the gym and to Dance Masters today. I need to find out my schedule at work for next week so I can schedule a flying lesson. I still have to wait to renew my medical before I can solo, and then its just the next calm day that I can go up before I finally solo. Oh! Its been a LONG time coming and I'm so excited about it. I just don't know what's next in the learning process. Just soloing has become a goal in and of itself that I don't know where I will be going from here except on the next step towards getting my license. After that if not before I also need to figure out how to get my seaplane license. That might require moving unfortunately. That could be a problem in and of itself. I'm still waiting for the IRS to come through. Meanwhile taxes are coming up and they'll take a chunk right back out of me. Okay, that's enough.
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Mood: slightly anctious
Music: the menu music to Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE DVD (if you can call that droning music)
As I have not written anything in some time it seemed due that I should do so. The following is simply some ideas that have been tossed around by Heath, myself and a few others. It had been brought up that a sequel to the Dungeons & Dragons movie is in the works. Here's some ideas as to what we might do if we were to write it:
Heath had suggested keeping Jeremy Irons and the actor who played the evil fighter from the first movie around for the second recognizing that while their acting was horrible in the first film he knows that they CAN act if given the chance to do so. He also suggested a cameo appearance by Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
For the opening credits I'd have the camera extremely close-up on dice as they roll across a table revealing the credits in their wake as if the dice stamped them onto the table. As the pan continues it would reveal such other sundry items on the table as pencils, game books, notebooks, character record sheets, hex maps, miniatures, DM's screen, ninja notes, pizza, Mountain Dew, chips, pretzels, and other snacks, and stacks of magazines of Dungeon, Dragon and Heavy Metal. A new camera pan would scroll across a bookshelf full of fantasy and scifi novels, and another would show some movie like Monty Python, Star Wars, Ghostbusters or some other appropriate movie on the nearby tv.
Other cameo apearances in the movie should include Gary Gygax and Dave Arnsison, Steve Jackson, Mark Rein-Hagen, and Mike Pondsmith.
The movie should consist of two parallel stories: one following a group of role-players and how they deal w/ the issues they face in everyday life; and the other being the fantasy story imagined by the players. The movie should be very tongue-in-cheek with lines dished out like Bill Murray in Ghostbusters. Mutlitple movie references should include MOnty Python, Star Wars, the Princess Bride, Conan, Aliens, the Terminator, etc. It should not take itself seriously, and yet it should do for role-players what Clerks and the Jersey oeuvre did for comic book afficianados.
Heath has suggested that the fantasy story have a simple plot like rescue the princess or something like that. I think it at least needs a proper dungeon crawl. The penultimate villain should be a dragon of course, but that shouln't be revealed until the third movie according to Heath. Possibly that dragon would be Tiamat.
I suggested that in the fantasy element live-action be meshed with the occasional random old-fashioned cell animation thrown in: perhaps of the original Dungeons & Dragons cartoon characters + images from the original D&D books, and perhaps one roto-scoping drive-by image perhaps from the original Heavy Metal movie or Wizards.
A trip to a gaming convention should yield an encounter w/ Elmore.
Yoda and Darth Vader should cameo in the fantasy element as if they were actors w/ some one-liner a la "Amateurs," or "Oh, shit! There goes the planet."
The soundtrack should include Howard Shore spoofing his own LotR score, loads of Queen, some KISS, Black Sabbath or Ozzy, various other metal and goth (bloodletting by Concrete Blonde comes to mind), Monty Python of course, Weezer's In the garage, some filk, and perhaps the Dungeons & Dragons bit by the Drunk Alewives most often heard on Dr. Demento.
Confrontations with the mother figure should occur in the players half of the story a la Detroit Rock City with satan-worshipping controversies covered.
I may add more to this later. Feel free to offer me suggestions.
Music: the menu music to Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE DVD (if you can call that droning music)
As I have not written anything in some time it seemed due that I should do so. The following is simply some ideas that have been tossed around by Heath, myself and a few others. It had been brought up that a sequel to the Dungeons & Dragons movie is in the works. Here's some ideas as to what we might do if we were to write it:
Heath had suggested keeping Jeremy Irons and the actor who played the evil fighter from the first movie around for the second recognizing that while their acting was horrible in the first film he knows that they CAN act if given the chance to do so. He also suggested a cameo appearance by Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
For the opening credits I'd have the camera extremely close-up on dice as they roll across a table revealing the credits in their wake as if the dice stamped them onto the table. As the pan continues it would reveal such other sundry items on the table as pencils, game books, notebooks, character record sheets, hex maps, miniatures, DM's screen, ninja notes, pizza, Mountain Dew, chips, pretzels, and other snacks, and stacks of magazines of Dungeon, Dragon and Heavy Metal. A new camera pan would scroll across a bookshelf full of fantasy and scifi novels, and another would show some movie like Monty Python, Star Wars, Ghostbusters or some other appropriate movie on the nearby tv.
Other cameo apearances in the movie should include Gary Gygax and Dave Arnsison, Steve Jackson, Mark Rein-Hagen, and Mike Pondsmith.
The movie should consist of two parallel stories: one following a group of role-players and how they deal w/ the issues they face in everyday life; and the other being the fantasy story imagined by the players. The movie should be very tongue-in-cheek with lines dished out like Bill Murray in Ghostbusters. Mutlitple movie references should include MOnty Python, Star Wars, the Princess Bride, Conan, Aliens, the Terminator, etc. It should not take itself seriously, and yet it should do for role-players what Clerks and the Jersey oeuvre did for comic book afficianados.
Heath has suggested that the fantasy story have a simple plot like rescue the princess or something like that. I think it at least needs a proper dungeon crawl. The penultimate villain should be a dragon of course, but that shouln't be revealed until the third movie according to Heath. Possibly that dragon would be Tiamat.
I suggested that in the fantasy element live-action be meshed with the occasional random old-fashioned cell animation thrown in: perhaps of the original Dungeons & Dragons cartoon characters + images from the original D&D books, and perhaps one roto-scoping drive-by image perhaps from the original Heavy Metal movie or Wizards.
A trip to a gaming convention should yield an encounter w/ Elmore.
Yoda and Darth Vader should cameo in the fantasy element as if they were actors w/ some one-liner a la "Amateurs," or "Oh, shit! There goes the planet."
The soundtrack should include Howard Shore spoofing his own LotR score, loads of Queen, some KISS, Black Sabbath or Ozzy, various other metal and goth (bloodletting by Concrete Blonde comes to mind), Monty Python of course, Weezer's In the garage, some filk, and perhaps the Dungeons & Dragons bit by the Drunk Alewives most often heard on Dr. Demento.
Confrontations with the mother figure should occur in the players half of the story a la Detroit Rock City with satan-worshipping controversies covered.
I may add more to this later. Feel free to offer me suggestions.
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