The story continues

Ok, so a blogger has taken up the gauntlet in my little writing piece... so I shall continue it below. Notice that nowhere will I mention dragons, I am sorry to say.
Today I head North for grilling, drinmking, and gaming. Happy Memorial day to everyone!

The Soon-to-Be Titled Story as it Stands

Bridget had three sisters, but you'd never know it by looking at her. She seemed a mess from afar, and when you zoomed in close, you could see the wheels were about to fly right off of that train. It was no fault of her own, however. She had been unceremoniously dropped right into the middle of things, her husband of three years deciding that what he needed more then a loving, committed relationship was an underage girl with an "ass that wouldn't quit" and a sports car that no matter how fast it was driven would never get him back to the youth he was now trying to emulate.

The middle of things was where she'd started, so she should have been comfortable enough in the position. Her entry into the world had occurred during the middle of her mother's pregnancy, rather than towards the more traditional end, causing no end of bother. She'd grown up right smack in the middle of Indiana, a midwestern girl in a middle-class family that had little enough time for its middle child. Her older sisters, twins of a flamboyantly similar nature, kept themselves to themselves, and her younger sister was too much of a tomboy to pal around with Bridget.

Her real trouble, it seemed, was with the number three.

Nothing good ever came of that number, and she resisted the urge to spit as she closed her eyes and saw it there, a giant number three seared deep in her unconcious. Her hatred had gone way past obsession and landed deep in disorder territory.

Last week, the women's group had thrown their annual barn dance and charity auction at the Miller farm in Stuartville. Mary had convinced her that she needed to take part in the bacholerette auction. A bachelorette auction! Who does these things anymore? And with her entry, wouldn't it be more of a yard sale - showing used goods going for a low price.

Still, she played the socialite role, put on a smiling face, and a dress that helped cover some of her softer exterior, and stood in line waiting her chance to strut the catwalk - a piece of cattle being eyed by the eyes of fat, disgusting butchers.

As she waited, Nan came over, that smile of hers trying to cover the vacancy that existed behind her eyes. As she whispered some cooing remarks about how radiant Bridget looked, she pinned a number to the front of her dress.

That number was three.

Ok, I had an idea where to go with this, but I want to give the next person something to work with so I'm stopping here. I'll be excited to see what someone does with this setup.

As I had mentioned before, it's not really a "paragraph per writer" type of exercise, and you can see I took that to the extreme. Hoever, I feel that I needed the above to get the story advanced. Again, any writer can write as little or as much for their turn. Though a paragraph will be the minimum.

On To A Long weekend... and a journey begins

So, my weekend has officially started. And what have I spent with the blissful alone time I have had since getting home from work? Play some Magic online. So, all the productive things I could be doing, and instead am playing games.
Oh well, last night I got second in an 8-4 draft. Now, most of you out there have no idea what this means., which is fine. If anyone does understand it, they can understand my excitement. Tonight, no luck was to be had.

So, I mentioned about doing some kind of writing exercise, envisioning a story that jumps from blog to blog and grows with each jump. Well, just as I thought, a fellow blogger fell right into my plan. (Let's be honest here... I expected Beth to bite, and the post was directed at her. Her and her husband are probably the only people who tune into my ranting regularly.)

Anywho, I figure I'll just get the ball rolling and we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping I'll have a spark of motivation and will keep it going - as I will be the weakest link - but I think I can... I think I can... I think I can.

Without further ado, here is the opening paragraph. Whoever grabs it next, if you want to rewrite it a bit, feel free. If you feel you can't work with such rubbish, then fine, start it your own damn self. heh.

Insert Title Here

Bridget had three sisters, but you'd never know it by looking at her. She seemed a mess from afar, and when you zoomed in close, you could see the wheels were about to fly right off of that train. It was no fault of her own, however. She had been unceremoniously dropped right into the middle of things, her husband of three years deciding that what he needed more then a loving, committed relationship was an underage girl with an "ass that wouldn't quit" and a sports car that no matter how fast it was driven would never get him back to the youth he was now trying to emulate.


Well, there we go... i guess that's my start. And no, I have no freakin clue where that came from. I would think I would never write a story that started out like that, so don't hate me when it takes a turnb for the weird on my turns.

Ok, so I guess we need to lay down some kind of rules or something. They'll change as we go along, I'm sure of that.

1.When you want to claim a turn, you have to post a comment with a link to where your addition will be. Then, you will take what has come before it to your space, and add to it.
2. You will feel free to rewrite the part that was written before (only the part right before you grabbed the story... not rewrite the whole thing. we don't want it to have one voice). Actually, I think this may be a critical step, as my tendency for run on sentences may need to be curbed.
3. If we get more then two people... we'll try to keep the turns bouncing around as steadily between all that are involved. That way, if someone isn't around for a while, we could keep this moving. Again... that is if we get any more then two. we'll see.
4. The length is not going to be restricted to a paragraph. That will be the minimum. If you have a point you want to make on your turn and you need to take a few paragraphs, that is fine.
5. If we should keep this thing going on for a long time, and you feel we need to add chapters, or jump characters... then by all means, do it. And honestly, i say if you feel like killing someone off, go ahead. While it may be unfair if someone wanted to do something with this character... the exciting part is adapting our stories to address other's points of views and narratives.
6. Finally - to repeat - if you feel you have nothing to work here, go ahead and create a whole new place to start. but I think you have a lot to work with here.

Ok, that sounds good (actually unnecessarily wordy for something that may go nowhere). I pass the pen... whoever intends to grab, please, by all means, step up.

A quick link, and a fantabulous idea.

Ok, so I know that some people who read this irregularly-updated blog have thought about writing something at sometime. Well, I just came across a link that said people (person?) might be interested in.

http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html

what that is, is a free software to help plan novel writing. I haven't fooled with it yet, but I got the link from a very trusted site, so I trust that it may be helpful, if not at least virus-free. Anywho, some of you might want to check it out.

Ok, so I also have an idea that may or may not be interseting to you few who come here. When I was in high school, to pass the time in study halls, we used to play "Who What Where When". What that was, was the first person wrote some names in a column, then covered those names and passed to the next person. The Next person filled out an action, then covered that part up... and so on. At the end, the paper was revealed and our silly little sentences were read to much laughter.
SO, I think it would be a pretty keen idea if me and some of my fellow bloggers
did a more "mature" version of this. Perhaps one person would write a paragraph, then the next person reads that paragraph and adds the next one, and on and on... passing the story from blog to blog. Now, maybe it should be more then a paragraph, but I'm just not sure. So, anyone interested? let me know.

Quick bits

Well now, it’s been a while. Again. And once again it is due to nothing other then sheer laziness.
   So, to get something up, and quickly, here comes some rapid fire thoughts:

   Song of the moment right now is Limelight by Rush. This song is from the 70s(?) and I’ve been wondering why it took so long for me to hear it – or at least pay attention to it. Right now I can’t get enough of it.

  I’ve been to several baseball games so far this year (3). Got to see Bonds hit 713. What a shot, it was an amazing sight. Juice or no juice, that was one hell of a blast, and I’ll probably always remember it. The last game I was at? Phillies versus Red Sox. So I got to boo Manny and watch them lose. Well worth the money.  In a month it’s Yanks vs. Phillies. Hell yes

  I’ve not been playing City of Villains lately, as my time has been spent with Magic: Online or reading. I’m happy to be back into magic: the Gathering…  it’s a game that makes me feel smarter.

   Oh, and New Super Mario Bros. A new version of the classic? Awesome. Still my PSP sits around, collect dust, wondering what the hell it did wrong. It’s simple: the DS is just much more fun to play.

  I am listening to “Warlocks” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they mention a Rockappotamus. Man, I want one of those, even if they don’t exist.

  My body is falling apart… seriously. I can’t move my head to the left without much pain. Slept on it wrong. Still, I’m working out for this?

  Also, I messed my ankle up a bit, as I fell down the steps at a bar over the weekend. Who thought it was a good idea to put the bathrooms of bars UP the steps? And I thought my coordination got so much better whilest plastered. Hmmm.

Alright, there we go, some random stuff regurgitated for your pleasure. Hope to put something more coherent next time.

   Ooohhh…. Lost season finale tonight. Excellent.

Audioblogger

I was looking for the Word plugin for Blogger when I came across Audioblogger. Apparently, you can dial a number from your cell phone and leave a message which is then posted on your blog. I think I am very much afraid of this addition, but I tried it out anyway, so it's below.

Does anyone actually like the sound of their own voice? I listen to this and all I can do is just wonder how I ever got laid.

A post from the sky

What appears below was typed while on the plane for my business trip. I didn’t get a chance to post it until now, and I don’t feel like messing around finding out how to post-date it, so I’m just posting it. Here you go:

Well, I get some free time to type up a little post, as I am now cruising several thousand feet above the Earth. I’m writing this on my short flight to Providence. I need to go up for a store opening. The owner of the store specifically asked for me, so I guess I’m a celebrity in the card-based laundry market. Hoozah.

While I was sitting on the airplane, which was in turn sitting on the runway – we boarded early, but Philadelphia International still managed a way to fuck it up – I thought about one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. It’s a cartoon in which the father is a B-17, or some other large aircraft. If I remember the cartoon correctly, the mother aircraft gives birth to a baby with jets. The father is at first ashamed of the kid, but then when he gets shot down the baby-jet comes to his rescue. In the end the father may end up with jets as well. The whole thing is kind of spotty. I can’t remember if the cartoon is a Warner Bros. cartoon (Looney Tunes). I believe it was by the same company that made Tom & Jerry (MGM?). Wow, do I ever need the internet now. I feel stripped of my superpowers. The evil Lord of pop culture stands before me, and though I raise my hands in defiance, my usual bolts of useless knowledge will not come to strike him down.
I promise that if I can find any more information on this, I’ll throw up a picture or a link or something. If anyone remembers it, leave a message after the beep (comments section).

Today I had to blow a wad in the CD section of my local house of worship (Best Buy). I couldn’t help it, there were just too many goodies to pass up. Thankfully, I had two reward zone certificates to lend a deer-discount to my overall purchase.
First up: Red Hot Chili Peppers. Ok, Their last two were CDs that everyone should own – especially Californication – and so there was no way I was gonna pass this 2-CD up. Especially after I saw all the reviews pointing out the fact that it kicks complete and utter ass, especially nailing the usual dreary double-disc feat. As of this writing, I’ve made it through the first half of the first CD, and I likes it. A lot. They basically took all the versions of themselves: the funk-soul brother punk rockers, the harmonizing inheritants of the ghosts of the Beach Boys, the introspective balladers that created such top 40 hits as “Scar Tissue” – and filled the disc with songs from each persona. The first single: “Dani California” was excellent, and if any of you haven’t heard it yet, you will. It will be over played – though in this case deservedly so. I’ll fill you in on the album once I’ve digested it in its entirely.
Or I’ll say: go get it, it rocks.
Speaking of songs that you may not have heard, but will… I also got the release from Gnarls Barkley. Gnarls is the name of a group formed by Cee-Lo and DangerMouse. The first single is a song called “Crazy” and some one, some where should be playing this non-stop. It is the official song of this summer. So I have spoken and so it is so. I only glossed over the album, but another absolute winner is “Smiley Faces”. It’s like they knew that I have a love for the 60s sound and some ass-kicker beats. They made this song for me. It completes me.
I also bought the latest (and sadly last) album from Grandaddy. I’ve heard good things about it, but at first listen I;m not so sure. I do know that Grandaddy was always a band that got better with repeated listening, so I’m not passing any judgement just yet. Lastly, I got the new Snow Patrol album. I haven’t played a single note of it yet. I did hear one of the song on Sirius, while I was borrowing a company car, and I was very disappointed. However, I loved the hell out of their last album, so I just couldn’t pass this one up. It was on sale, anyway.
I did not buy the newest one from Neil Young, though it sounds pretty good (You can actually stream the entire album. Go to www.tower.com, look up the album “Living With War” and there’s a link to play the thing.) Basically, it wasn’t on sale, and it wasn’t even cheap. I figured I had enough music to keep me busy for a while. Well, until next week when the Raconteurs come out. If you don’t know them: Jack White and Brendan Benson together. It’s gonna be stellar.
I’d love to put some touchy-feely crap here, but I needed to fill you all in on my latest consumerism. It’s sunny outside the plane window, anyway. You can’t really talk about your feelings in the sunshine, that’s for night time. Or rainy days.
I will tell you one thing, this laptop kicks ass. Over 4 hours left until drained. Well, gotta stow the electronics. Chat to you guys later.

The Sadness Awakens

Well, I certainly wanted to type a little howdy-doody into this blog while I was up in NY for business. However, the hotel I was staying at did not understand what the term "Hi-speed" internet meant. They advertised it, but they sure as hell didn't have it. It was like you going to a fancy resteraunts, spying the bottle of wine you absolutely LOVE (Whitehall Lane in my case), order it, and the waiter brings you tap water. Muddy tap water, at that.
So, I didn't get to make an entry.
Trying to make up for it here. What's cool is I'm lying in bed - upstairs - typing on my laptop with no strings attached. technology can be really grand some times. I thought of going out for a beer or two, but just lost my energy. I don't even have the will to play some videogames right now. Traveling really wears me out.
The title is called "The Sadness Awakens" for a reason. See, I was just thinking about going to visit some friends in France (and I want to soon, I really do), and it made me think how most of the people I really connect to always seem to just float away.
I'm pretty sure I've brought this up before.

I understand it all, they all move on to persue bigger and better things, to live their life the best they possibly can, and I think that's fantatstic. It's just a little sad when distance puts a strain on relations; though I'm far from naive, time does the same damn thing.

When I was little, I mean REALLY little, my parents used to have this couple GAry and Luann over all the time. It seems like they were over every weekend. They played cards, hung out, drank, just had a good time. Eventually, they stopped coming over. I know my parents harbor no ill feelings toward this couple and I'm pretty sure this couple doesn't hate my family - I'm not watching my back or anything - but they just stopped communicating. I remember every now and then we'd run into them, and they would talk, but they never really came over.

It happens to us all.

Ok, the funny thing is, I'm not really feeling down or anything, and I hate to be such a downer here, but I miss my friends. I wish them all the luck in the world, and I hope we can talk often, and I'm glad technology allows me to communicate to them whether they are an hour away, or 20. Still, I miss them.
Maybe it's the booze talking.

I've been playing a game called "Brain Age" for my Nintendo DS, and it's fun. There are different challenges that you have to complete, with the intention that you get, well, brain-trained. Things like 20 simple math problems (8*8, 6+7, 3-1, etc.) I do pretty well, though some days I'm embarrased at how long it takes me to add 6+7 (13). Still, it's nice to stretch the mind. It's not the most perfect game, it wouldn't make you buy a DS (like Phoenix Wright would), but it is a good time-occupier.
Plus, it also includes Sudoku. Now, before this, I could never really get into Sudoku, but then I got this program. And then it pointed out to my I was doing them wrong (everything should have a tutorial), and now I love 'em. i finally GET them. and I can understand the craze a bit.
OK, I think that's it for now... I'm falling asleep here. I feel better, and hope to come back with a smile for next time.

Oh, and I found a Yankees jumper for my nephew while traveling. Let the corruption begin. heh.

Busy Busy

Well, I actually have been somewhat busy as of late, so my blog has been neglected. I hope it will be updated frequently over the next two weeks, as I will be spending much of the time traveling. ephasis on traveling. TRAVELING.

I will be driving 1127 miles in 10 days. Yowza. My trip goes like this: NewYork -> Lake George, NY -> Montreal -> Burlington, VT -> Stoughton, MA -> back to Illadelph.

Notice the "Montreal" part up there? That's all for me. everything else is work-related, but not that. For the record, I've never been to Canada. I'm extremely excited. I've been to Europe several times, been to China, and never been to the closest country. strange, but soon to be a moot point.

To the left you might notice a list of songs - which may or may not update correctly. Anywho, it's part of last.fm. Not sure how this whole things works/will work, so I'll update it eventually. Supposedly, if I let it monitor what I'm listening to through media player, it will create a personalized radio station that I can listen to, for free, and ad-free.

we'll see.

regardless, it should allow me to easily create a "listening to" item in the sidebar right there for you guys to paroose. (how the hell is that spelled?) Fine, gander.

See you guys later. Oh, huge update if it wasn't mentioned before: I AM AN UNCLE (again). My twin sister had a pretty little boy: Kaden Francis. On April 27th. It was such a weird experience, holding this thing that had only been in the world for 6 hours. The good news is I managed not to drop him. I'd like to think the practice I got with someone's adorable little French girl is the reason I accomplished that feat.

Alright, see you cats later.