Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy Holidays Unless You’re Working in Retail


So, I’m sure most of you have heard about the Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death; and the two innocent people who were shot to death at Toys-R-Us after two other shoppers got into a gun fight over a toy. And, here we are into the holiday season that celebrates love, joy, and the compassion of humanity.

For crying out loud! I honestly do not understand society’s need to possess as many material objects as they can. People have completely lost their minds. In the first place, why in God’s name would ANYONE wait for hours on end for a store to open? Who cares if they might be able to get a deal? I mean seriously people; I have better things to do with my life, what about you? Has our society become so obsessed by the need to consume that people would trample down and kill other human beings just so they could get the “best deal” on an object that will most likely be thrown out within a decade, or even as soon as next month?

Did you guys know that the people who murdered this man at Walmart were then upset, not because they had caused the death of another human being, but because the store closed for the investigation? It’s crap like this that makes me think the human race really does not deserve to live. I mean really, this is what we have evolved too? We are so intent on gaining material wealth that we would communally destroy the life of an innocent person. You know what really makes me sick, though? It’s the thought that there is probably a good many of those people who were involved who are at this moment justifying their actions. I can hear it now, “I didn’t actually run over the guy.” “I was caught up in the crowd, I had to keep moving or I’d get trampled” or how about the idiots who assaulted the police that were there to try and help, and the dick heads who battered the other employees as they desperately tried to save their associate? I wonder what bullshit excuses any of those people have. I say bullshit, because that’s what it is. If people weren’t so driven for material possessions and had any sense about them, in my opinion, they would never have been at that store (or any store) that morning and so, no matter what they have to say, they are guilty of causing these people’s deaths. That goes for anyone at any store, anywhere that Black Friday is celebrated. You are all guilty, because you are all responsible for causing these insane circumstances.

Personally, I have never shopped on Black Friday, I think it’s the mark of a true sheep. When I was 17 I had to work at a retail store on Black Friday, that was (what?) like 28 years ago and it was horrible then. It’s obviously only gotten worse. I’m of the opinion that the stores would be more likely to offer better deals throughout the year if more people avoided the mad rush of Black Friday. Of course, that’s just my meaningless opinion.

So, let’s hear it for the death of those three people. Yeah! Who cares that they won’t be celebrating the holidays with their families this year? It’s survival of the fittest here and those people that caused their deaths can have a wonderful, happy holiday knowing that they got a good deal on the gifts they are giving away. Besides, it just means that there will be less people to fend off next year. So, to all of you who fought the battle for the best deal and played a part in the cross country madness, my hats off to you. You’re a bunch of dumb fucks! Sorry, I call it as I see it. I think if you play a part in perpetuating this material possession obsession then you deserve to be called a dumb fuck. And for any of my friends who may have been a part of the Black Friday madness, sorry for the offend, but you, too, are dumb fucks – but I mean that in the most loving and caring way possible.

So, with that off my chest, at least there is a glimmer of hope that keeps me moving forward and not totally thinking that the world would be a better place without the human race. Hopefully, you’ll find some meaning in it too. Some
people aren’t afraid to share the wealth

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Where have all the people gone?



It’s crazy! Crazy I tell ya! It can’t be true! Surely there must be people out there somewhere. But if there were someone, wouldn’t they have commented by now? I guess I’ll just carry on all by my lonesome. (hint, hint) K, now that I have that off my chest perhaps I’ll be able to move on.



I’m watching a program on the National Geographic Channel about Stonehenge, called “Stonehenge Decoded”. A new theory has given rise to an archeological dig in the surrounding fields. Apparently this man believes it was used as a religious place where the souls of the dead were believed to be held. They’re looking for evidence of a civilization that existed around the same period. I guess we’ll see how it turns out. Ooh, update, they have found the largest known settlement in northern Europe for that time (4,500 years ago) the population well into the thousands.

So, I also read an article today about life on Mars. Scientists have found massive glaciers on Mars that are not near the polar caps. One of them is the size of L.A. and over half a mile thick. They said that with that much water it is possible that life could have existed. They would like to see if they can find any organisms locked inside the ice. Cool.


I’ll close with my day 20 PAD challenge. We had to complete the refrain we wrote on the 3rd day. Here it is. That’s all I’m going to talk about today. Feel free to comment, that way I may begin to believe that I’m not alone.



Some nights I walk in
my garden
outlines of formal paths
display the healing herbs of
classic medicine

Inside the borders a boundless
Zen – peaceful retreat into
breath and passage
creating solitude in an
aching world

Aromatherapy, soothing sanctuary,
the essence of stillness bottled
into dried petals whose
flowering has called me
to amble in their midst

As creation blossoms
within the garden’s sacred places
I am
carried back inside the house
where we touch
in the most tenderess sleep

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Some Ketchup...er...Catch Up Please




K, so I haven’t been writing again. You should know by now that it happens. I was playing catch up today on my Poem A Day challenge. I fell behind on that, as well, and found myself having to write, um..yep, six poems. But…on the plus side I think it really put me into a poetic type mood and I really got into it. I’m posting three of them here. The last one…I don’t know…maybe the pressure of having to write so many poems at once caused the break but…I found that I just couldn’t resist. Enjoy. Please feel free to comment on them. I would really like to have the feedback. Thanks.

Day 11 – Deep thought or observational poem

I remember falling from my mother’s
drying body
to the ground. The earth was warmed by
summer’s light.

Laying on the soil nature had its
way with me
and covered my shell with earthly
debris

The world around me became dark I
felt winter’s breath
gliding its ice above me as I
hid swaddled in the dirt

Warmth began to permeate
my inner being
I wanted to live and to grow and I
unfurled the life within me

A tender sprout of green rose
up and into day’s light
I grew tall and strong - a beautiful flower -
in my prime

As days grew shorter I felt myself
weaken
Knowing my days were approaching end I
released my seed and mothered my own
life.

Day 15 – A nightmare poem

Leaves blow in the dark October
wind. Seedheads sprinkling their
hardened kernels
onto my face.

I try to rise from the tangled
earth that grasps my legs
with its vines of wrath. Falling
back into the ground.

Crying for aid in the twilight hours
no one hears but skeleton
stalks of herbs gone by
uprooted by panicked hands trying to
grip something unshakable.

Swallowed into the worms and
bugs, crawling across my face
my arms, my neck. Deeper under the earth
until I wake in bed and
brush the sweat from my dream.

Day 16 – Title Prompts
“If it (blank), It (blank)”

“If it (is planted), It (will grow)”

I planted a seed under the ground
I covered it with love
I watered it and gave it food
And watched it from above

I waited long and never strayed
I beckoned it to grow
As days and months came and went
My tears began to flow

I soon began to realize
That my seedling needed more
It would never see the light of day
Why did I plant it in the floor?

Monday, November 10, 2008

OMFG-She Didn’t!


Oh what a night was the Vampire game…a memorable eve in vampire history. The title to this post is the title given to a video clip that was recorded during a social coterie at the Elysium. A coterie is a gathering a vampires for various purposes. A social coterie is just that, vampires get together to socialize. There are many different types of coteries like diplomatic and wartime coteries, each sounding pretty much like what their purpose is. An Elysium is a place where vampires gather and all agree to (basically) behave themselves. In other words, no weapons, no fighting, no clan wars, blah blah blah…get the idea?

K, so back at the coterie a Malkavian, unbeknownst to anyone other than the other Malkavians decided to have some fun. You see, the Malkavians are the crazy vampires, and I do mean crazy as in nuts, out to lunch, the lights are on but nobody is home, crazy. So, Harmony (the Malkavian) decides to round up about 10-20 cats, yes cats, and because it makes her feel at home (she used to do this same thing at the mental hospital she is no longer in) she attached some flashlights to them and released them inside the Elysium. So there we are with cats everywhere and all these vampires going, “What the F***? Where did all these cats come from?” Now, I know what you’re thinking, you’re wondering, “What’s the big?” Right? So what, a bunch of cats.

Well, you see it just so happened that my character was at the coterie. “So what?” you ask. When I created my character I took a flaw. Flaws allow you to gain benefits in other areas so many people take them when they make up their characters. The flaw I took was a “Phobia”. Have you figured it out yet? Yes, my phobia is cats. I freak whenever they’re around me. Now, while I managed to make two rolls that kept me from going into an all out frenzy; I botched a third one.

Frenzies are bad, think 11th century warrior dropped into the 21st century on crack. When a vampire goes into frenzy they’re virtually unstoppable and anything can happen. My frenzy ended after I jumped threw the air trying to avoid the cats, tackled three Nosferatu body guards and then landed directly on the Prince. Oh, it gets better. Not only did I land on the Prince of the city I knocked him off of his throne and rolled with him down the flight of stairs behind him to the landing below where I ended up face to face on top of him. Yikes! As if that wasn’t bad enough.

The evening continued…several vamps got it on tape, so to speak. They filmed the entire thing with their cell phones and then released it out to the ENTIRE vampire community within the city, attaching theme music to it like “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting” and titled it, yep…OMFG She Didn’t! This was fuel for the fire no doubt. The Prince could have had me killed right then and there, fortune was on my side thankfully, as I and the Prince are in the same clan. We’re Ventrue and fortunately the Prince sort of likes me so he only ordered me to go home and not show my face for a while, quite a while.

Now, while the video was making its rounds, Harmony (she is so dead) crazy Malkavian decided to send a present to the Prince to make him feel better. She boxed up a Persian and sent it to the Prince. When he opened the package the cat went nuts, windows were broken, the Prince’s head was latched onto and…it was all captured by Harmony’s good Malkavian friend, on video.

So, at the moment the Prince and I are the laughing stock of the city. He’s pretty pissed off and I’m trying to do some serious damage control before my career and afterlife are wiped from existence. Damn vampires….Through my investigation (I’m a lawyer) I was able to figure out that the Brujahs were responsible for the first video being made and released. I have decided on some serious just revenge, and…I was also able to piece together who was responsible for the cats because I was there at the asylum when Harmony became involved with our city’s vampire population and kitty’s with flashlights were running a muck. Anyway, revenge is in the works. We’ll see how things play out and I’ll try to keep you updated on the more fun/interesting stuff.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Game Night Tonight



We have our Vampire game tonight. It’s been a while since we played. Everyone had something else going on for Halloween weekend, which would have been our game weekend, so we didn’t play. Since we only run the game every other week we’ve been on hold for close to a month now. I can’t remember what I was doing last game; it’s a good thing I take notes or I’d be all sorts of lost.

I remember that I bought myself a house to act as my hidden haven. No one will know where it’s at. I decided to throw off the usual basement sanctuary and make my sleeping quarters in the attic. I had a construction team come in and conceal the entrance and extra exit. I’ve also had the attic lined with steel plating to prevent the accidental hole in the roof. (Sun bad). I’m creating a rather elaborate tunnel system stemming from the basement. It will have passages that lead out to several shelters that have been placed out in the wooded property. It will also have several hidden rooms where I will be able to keep ghouls and an emergency feeding bank. That’s a bit further down the line, though. I currently don’t have the power needed to nest people there and keep them under control. It’ll come, though. I guess that’s it for Vampire right now. We’ll see if anything big happens tonight. If so, then I’ll probably make a post about it.


Still on the gaming topic, but now on D&D. I’ve started running a game for the 4 youngest kids on our off game weekends. They’ve wanted to play for some time now. They see the adult game going on and long to participate. So, I figured it would be a good time to start them out. Their ages are 8, 9, 10, & 13 all but the 13 year old will be advancing a year within the next couple of months. It’s also a learning experience for me. I’ve never DMd before (run the game). I figure if I mess up they won’t notice, so…why not?

The kids are actually doing quite well. I was surprised at their level of understanding so far. Our 9 year old is playing a rouge and has really taken to the role playing aspect of the game. She does a wonderful job of playing in character. She’s always been extremely creative, though, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprise; but I am pleased. The youngest is playing a fighter. He still has a ways to go, I think, before he really gets into it. At the last game he was confronted by 4 goblins, as a dwarven fighter, he should have just kicked their butts, no questions asked. Instead he ran away…silly dwarf. I discussed it with him and found that he was afraid his character would die. (of course, that does happen from time to time). What he didn’t understand, though, was that if the character does die he can just make up another one and continue playing. He thought he would have to start over at the first level and lose all the XP he had gained. I assured him that he would be allowed to bring a new character in at the average party level. I think that made him feel better about fighting. We’ll see next game.

Man, look how I’ve rambled on about this stuff. I really do enjoy playing, if you hadn’t noticed. I guess I’ll cut it off here, though. The kid’s game has really been a lot of fun and I’m sure I’ll post some further updates on it. For now, though, I must go and clean the house, run to the store, and prepare dinner for the game tonight. Check you all out later. Have a good one and, oh…they say it’s going to snow tonight. I wonder if we’ll have our first accumulation *shrug*

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Day 6 of PAD

The challenge today was to write a poem of praise. This is what I came up with. Sorry the post is short; I have two articles that are quickly approaching deadline. So, without further waiting
Oh...and without a title...big surprise
Here's my poem of praise




Rose petals in the air
tossed in screaming
jubilation beckon the ground
landing to patterns of whimsy

Scents spring through the air
as pointed spires of rosemary
brush like feathers and
tickle my face

Kitties roll, they dig,
knock over containers of cat mints
as peppermints watch
safe from the scurry

Spider, brown and yellow like
fallen leaves of autumn
awaits its supper dodging
back and forth in webs of
graceful steel

Life, life sings its living
song and dances through
the waiting days of
tomorrow.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Let the Challenge Continue


Nicholas Culpepper


It’s the second day in the PAD challenge. I’ve written and posted my poem. The prompt was to make a declarative poem. I created mine with the voice and perspective of Nicholas Culpepper a famous herbalist and physician of his time (1616-1654). Since my theme is Herbs it seemed to fit.
I’m actually pretty unhappy with the last stanza. I just don’t like it and I’m sure there’s a rewrite in the future. Anyone who would care to offer some feedback wouldn’t go unthanked…hint, hint.

Oh! One other thing that I wanted to mention.
Dave, a recent visitor to my blog has a poem on his site in which dialogue was used. I thought this was a really neat idea and so…decided to give it a try myself. Thanks Dave for the inspiration.

Alright – Here it is

Culpepper’s Declaration

“The shrub is so well known by every boy and girl
that has but attained
the age of seven years, that it needs no description.”

How is it now, how could I see
that so few elder
and scarcely a child know - not even by name
or less by sight – Barberry

“The face being washed with the distilled water
of them – cureth the reddest face
that is.”

Cucumbers now
the women slice and like pennies
on the eyes they lie to the
swollen bags dismay.

“The juice of the leaves is a remedy
against the bites of serpents,
and for those that have taken
Aconite.”

Baked in pies to fill the stomach
Mulberry treats now warm
the heart. Feed the body
and the devil’s forgot.

Endless flows of time
resonate adversarial motion toward
arts of old once held dear
now enter this day all things are new
but plants still live and grow
as I find peace beneath them.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Poetry for You



Well, I’ve noticed that I really haven’t been writing any poetry lately. I’ve been writing, writing fiction, writing articles for two magazines, writing in my blog, even writing some monologues but no.. that’s zero, notta, zip, zilch…poetry. So…

I found myself at the Poetic Asides blog where there is usually some really decent poetic activity going on. I was rewarded with a PAD (Poem A Day) challenge. Robert Lee Brewer has decided to challenge readers to create a chapbook by writing a poem each day that focuses on your chosen theme. He will provide prompts for each day’s writing. Of course, this just seemed to be one of those things that falls into your lap, slaps you in the face, and yells “Hey stupid! Wake up; you wanted to write poetry, well, here’s your chance!”

Um, yes, I heard the call and I’ve decided to go for it. I made my theme “Herbs” and have written the first one. Robert refers to this poem as “The Hook” the one that draws the reader into the theme. I’ll probably be posting quite a few of my PAD poems throughout the month of November. That’s how long the challenge lasts. I hope you enjoy and I would very eagerly welcome any feedback from friends and/or critics.

I seem to have a serious problem coming up with decent names for my poems so this one is still unnamed. If anyone has a suggestion I wouldn’t mind considering it. I don’t know what it is about naming a poem. It’s just so hard for me; nothing ever seems good enough for it. I don’t know *shrug* So, without further ado here’s “The Hook”

Foods ring pungent in my watering mouth
fresh as melting sun and living fire.
Sick bodies are guided back to bloom or
granted merciful passage into summerlands.
Apparel liberated from a lackluster life
released into a world of effulgent hue.
Witness to the sight of flowing fields that dance a tempoed waltz in the wind
they sing in their garments - the bells of mother’s ball.
Bearing alms that are gathered by diverse desire
defenseless immolation scattered to aspirations of imagination.
Generations, heirloom spirit sprawls the boundless sphere,
antics of delicate stature camouflage wellborn privilege;
worshipped by some unnoticed by others
rooted in the soil of human animation.