HALLOWEEN BLUES

Ordinarily on Halloween I feel energized and refreshed.  Not this Halloween.  Why?  Well, I wasn't gonna go into it but Sis said I should so I'll try to keep it as brief as possible.  To highlight it all I have a little picture I whipped up.  They are worth a thousand words, after all:

 

 

 

 

Halloween was th' intended weddin' date between me and my ex, year still unknown.  Th' plan was we'd have it that night in a cemetery of our choice (Norwich in th' runnin').  I'd arrange to get an Ecto-1, real or fake, to be our limo.  She long since picked out her costume, th' Emperor's Concubine, from th' sexy costume site we'd frequent together.  Just before it all went down I had finally settled on Ash from th' Evil Dead trilogy, knowin' a place I could get a great (yet expensive) chainsaw fer my hand.  Everyone else would be in costumes as well.  We'd have th' service, then depart fer our respective hotel rooms fer th' night.  Th' next day, we'd do th' reception at her parents' farm and have us a nice BBQ.  Last year we celebrated our first pre-anniversary with what would become our last weekend together.  And that's why I ain't too happy today.

But, in other news, Halloween sucked all around.  There's very little participation in terms of kids.  We did get more this year than last as ma all but ran outta candy, but it died off before I even got home from school.  What th' hell?  When I was a kid I'd FIGHT to stay out longer and longer.  What a disappointment.  One day I'll have Halloween off again, get in my costume, and do it up right!  Although, today it was discovered that a new NBC show is filmin' on our office's block.  I learned on th' way home it's also gonna film on 68th and part of 4th as th' signs were all over indicatin' no parkin' fer Friday.  Wonder if I'm gonna make it to work that day...

Sent out my first E-Bay win.  Damn postal site tells me one price, ends up bein' another.  Stupid system.  Thinkin' I should probably make all big lots Priority Flat Rate.  Saw a guy sellin' a buncha RGBUK comics, includin' one I needed.  Asked him fer th' shippin', told me 5.00.  FIVE?!  There's another guy who sells 3 fer 2.50 in shippin'.  And that's their money, BTW, which is that plus half in our money.  Then he tried to tell me excuses why it'd be so much, 'cause of Airmail, distance and he'd hafta pack it.  Oh, poor baby...you'd hafta pack it?  Shucks.  Cry me a river. 

Sis is all excited 'cause she's gettin' published in an E-Zine next week.  At least someone's makin' it!  She also wants to start one of her own, but as she knows very few writers besides me it's gonna take her a while.  She's also very excited about my bringin' Prospect Park back fer good.  But given how we ain't in high school no more fer inspiration, gonna be a helluva task.  Thinkin' of askin' everyone to tell me school stories and I'd just cannibalize 'em as I need 'em.  Hmmm...

COMPLIMENTARY

Why is it after every party I feel like complete and total crap?  Yeah, that's right...two Cokes was all I had and I may as well've been drinkin' th' night away with how I felt gettin' up.  Probably gettin' too old fer this shit...

Had my breakfast, got my Posts, then got to finishin' my study sheet.  Unfortunately, was takin' a lot longer'n planned 'cause th' notes just don't match up all that's there.  Yeah, gonna bomb this one I think.  Not that my study habits are all that great right now.  Could give a shit less about school.  Printed it out before I head off to bed, so I can study before sleepin' and a bit at work tomorrow.  Also sent it to myself so I can improve it should I get free time.  Of course, since I've given myself somethin' to do I'll be SWAMPED tomorrow.

Danielle posted pics from th' reunion she went to last night and then asked me about them.  Thinkin' she mighta been lookin' fer a flat-out compliment instead of a genuine critique.  Lightin' was shite fer th' kinda camera they used so th' pics weren't all they coulda been, and one of th' ones with her just didn't look good.  Of course, turned out to be th' pic she liked best, but ah well.  Knowin' what she looks like in person, I'm sure she looked just fine that night and other pics when she gets 'em will prove that fact.  Blame th' photographer! *laughs*  That's why I love my digital camera; I can manipulate things so my pics come out fantastic.  Anyways, if she dug it then that's what counts in th' end, ain't it?

Kinda reminded me of th' time I went to a co-worker's BBQ with another co-worker, Esmeralda, an' she was askin' me about her looks.  I was younger an' dumber then so I didn't realize why she was askin', so I stumbled and fumbled through tryin' to explain my answer to her.  Yeah, I can't just do th' typical "yer fine" answer guys are pre-programmed to give when it comes to girls (as Deb highlighted in a discussion about this topic).  Too honest fer my own damn good.  But, I like to be able to mean what I say.  Sue me.

And fer all those curious how I looked last night, I took some costumed pics this mornin'.  Enjoy!

COMIC PARTY

Got up early fer th' eye doc and ended up havin' to wait a while as there were lots of patients before me. Yeesh. I did get my field of vision test right away, so that was good. They added a lense to th' whole thing, dunno why but whatever. Eventually was my turn to go in, and yes folks; gloucoma free. My theory of those problems bein' related to th' stress form my last job've been basically proven right. Since I left it's all been normal. Well, normal fer me, anyways.

Got home an' put th' last touches on my costume: velcro on my mask to attach it to my shirt. Fer some reason, th' holes that were a problem seemed to have disappeared, so I didn't need th' glue. Weird. After that hadda help wrangle Figaro to get him to th' vets. Earlier this week he was constipated, so he hadda go in fer his second check-up as he was still constipated after th' first. Or so they thought. Turns out he musta done somethin' before he was caught 'cause he was "empty", to quote th' doc. Ah well.

Left fer th' party around 6, got there just before 7. Couldn't wear my full costume thanks to terrorists, so I put on th' accessories a block and a half from th' bar. Got a fairly good response outside and in, but then came th' revelation: nobody came in costume! Only a handful of people; ya had me, th' head guy Kieth who was supposed to be V from V For Vendetta but failure to aquire a mask ended up gettin' him dubbed to be a gay pirate, a guy callin' himself th' Drunk Lantern, a guy in office clothes and a Dr. Doom mask callin' himself Disco Doom, Clark Kent transformin' to Superman, one of th' live performers wearin' a mechanic's uniform fer one of the Star Wars Imperial ships, this chick who dressed up like a dominatrix witch, a chick as Adam Ant, an Asian as Austin Powers, and a couple random people in masks and generic costumes. There was a costume contest, which I promptly lost.

Party started off slow, but picked up big time. I met some new people, remet some old people, met people I talked to but didn't meet yet...whole lotta meetin'. Had some good convos and bought a couple of th' displayed comics. After th' costume contest (which I lost) I ditched th' costume fer my street clothes I brought as it was gettin' WAY too hot up there. Party died down around 11 as intended and th' place started to be cleared out. On my way out I helped th' DJ bring some stuff down then headed fer th' train. So yeah, was fun. Circulated, got more interviews set up, shot th' shit with people in my field. And I'll say this, some pretty girls were there. Unfortunately, all of them were with some guy. Why is it I can never meet a comic chick BEFORE she's taken? Ah well.

Overall had some fun. Can't wait till I have some work I can actually TALK about with these guys instead of my piddly web stuff that nobody even reads. Didn't eat till I got home. Was food there, but was in costume most of th' time and then was too hot to be hungry. Eventually I had a couple buffalo wings, but about it. Did get two Cokes..tried to keep it so I wouldn't hafta go to th' bathroom often as it's a bitch to get in and outta costume. Fortunately, only hadda do it once. Go me!

THE HAUNTING

Was gonna go look fer pants today, but said screw it. Costume's rag tag enough, a change of color won't help it none. Worry about that when I find th' red Converse...if I ever do. So I stayed home till D called me. Decided to have dinner at Anapoli before goin' to th' haunted house. I left at 7, stopped off fer some glue fer my mask, and STILL got there before he did. Go figger. I grabbed a table while his pops ran him his umbrella. There we talked about his trip and plans fer next summer. We finished with plenty of time left an' went up to Rite Aid so I could buy my Vicks inhaler fer th' night, then over to Carvel fer a cone. Headed to my place fer a pit stop and then he called car service and we went.

Place was an old public bath house down on Union. I guessed as much when I saw th' Men/Women signs over th' doors, web search confirmed it. Nice old buildin' it was. Sean had called us to say him and th' two girls were runnin' late in th' car, so we went inside to th' waitin' area to, well, wait. There they had themed memorabilia lined up on a wall, SAW III promo crap all around, an' were playin' old black and white horror flicks on a screen there. What's funny was I was tellin' D about this one movie I saw way back when I could never find th' name of, only to have a scene from that movie play on th' damn screen after. Figgers, just like th' radio. Th' others finally arrived (Sean and two gal pals of theirs) and with our tix we were able to just get on line to go in.

Was a short wait outside th' main area, and then a longer one INSIDE. Yeah, most of th' time was spent standin' on line in th' dark. Okay, so here's a rundown of what went down. First, ya had a guy jump out at yer group from th' curtain when it was yer turn to go in. He'd lead ya into a closed off room where he'll turn his light on under his face, turn it off and move, and then turn it on again, gettin' up in a different person's face (he had a slight BO that gave him away). Then we got led into a room that had th' scene of outside some girl's bedroom window. She went to bed, a guy came out from behind a bush, went inside and attacked her. Sean was makin' comments through all this, th' girls were just screamin'. She escaped an' led us to another room where she bailed through a "secret" hole and a wall started to close in on us. Sean tried to be a zero hero by pushin' back on th' wall. Ass.

Girls were screamin' an' forcin' me into a corner where th' attacker came in and tried to open a bookcase fer us to go through, but of course I was bein' crushed in th' way. We got led across a bridge where a spinnin' array of colors surrounded us till we entered a room with a long table an' a bloodied guy shufflin' cards. Said th' Queen got to follow him to th' next room. He dealt out 5 cards, we picked 'em, and of course I got th' Queen. Got led into th' next room where I was instructed to scream, so I made like I was bein' bloodily murdered. Led into th' next room where I was to hide in a cabinet, scare them, then lead 'em along. And that's just what I did. Lotta fun there.

We were goin' down a dark corridor till we got to a room that looked like a tomb. Above us, this guy was shovelin' dirt onto th' clear ceilin' above to simulate bein' buried alive. Door opened when he was done an' we were led into a room where th' girl from before was bein' cut open and eaten. Next was th' bug room...a long twistin' pitch black corridor with things fer cobwebs hangin' down. I didn't get to see th' only part that lit up 'cause th' girls kept stoppin' in fear. We finally found our way into a room with a strobe where a buncha dummies were lined up around, and of course guys kept poppin' out at us. Finally got to a jungle room where a dummy was launched at us and I hadda catch a girl as she fell back into me, not sure exactly who. We were led through one final door till we got confronted by th' ghost of th' girl who started this mess and a boiler about to explode.

That was th' end and we were led back out to th' waitin' area. I fumbled on my way to find th' hidden bathroom upstairs before we headed to a bar 'cause they all wanted to hang. Found a nice little place off Carrol street and 5th. Wasn't too crowded, nice atmosphere. Wouldn't mind goin' back there again, actually. Bad parts were Sean's mouth, that's about it. Me an' D, sittin' by one of th' games on th' wall, got challenged to photo hunt by this girl who was already smashed and her BF. We accepted an' played 3 games. She was lookin' fer a rematch, even more smashed than before, but we had called our car an' left before then. I even got a free Coke outta th' deal. Dunno if th' kid behind th' bar realized he gave it fer free as I paid their bill fer them at th' same time, but it's a good thing since it was so incredibly watered down. Blech.

Came home and now I'm eatin' White Castle that my pops bought fer his dinner, shockingly. Couldn't pass up a chance to eat it, no matter how late. Should get to bed soon as I got my doc appointment tomorrow. D's gonna see how his knee feels and lemme know if he's gonna come with me tomorrow night. Hope he does, wouldn't mind some company. So, overall, good night. I didn't get scared any (sucks knowin' what's gonna happen before it does sometimes...) but it was still an enjoyable time. I wouldn't mind another Friday night like this.

MY SPIDER SENSES ARE TINGLING!

Many years ago, I used to dress up every Halloween. Never did I use th' same costume twice, until I became th' Scarlet Spider. (Fer you non-comic geeks, that's th' ID of Spidey's clone). It was a real rag-tag suit. Red sweatshirt with a sleeveless blue one over it and a drawn off-center spider emblem, red hosery to act as tights, red socks, wool knit gloves with leatherish pads, a red lone-ranger type plastic mask an', of course, th' original Spidey webshooter toys that shot silly string. Yeah, it was ghetto.

Th' next time I wore it, th' mask was upgraded to a closer version of th' comics, except in order to see through th' eyes hadda use black fabric instead of white. Th' year after that, th' panty hose finally gave in to all my "acrobatics", so I got me a pair of red sweat pants. Unfortunately, th' pants, shirt and mask were all different shades so kinda killed part of th' illusion, but still looked good. After th' last time I wore th' costume, th' mask was fallin' apart a bit and my gloves gave out. And then th' Scarlet Spider was retired.

Today after work, I headed up 5th to try an' find replacement parts. Stopped in this costume shop where I bought a pair of Spidey gloves and these spandex-type ballroom gloves. Went to Modelle's on 86th to see if I can find anythin' there, but th' only decent red stuff was shirts, which I didn't need. No place along th' way had decent pants except fer Thriftee. I stopped by a sewin' place fer some velcro fer my mask and then Thriftee fer th' pants I saw. I finally found my mask in my gma's apartment where I had moved it and tried on my new costume (after cuttin' down th' gloves a bit...one thing to wear ladies accessories, it's another to have them LOOK like ladies accessories). Costume's lookin' good. Just gotta fix up th' mask and see if I can't find better pants 'cause ones I bought were just too tight. Damn my muscular development!

I stayed home from school with th' intent to clean, but D called to tell me Nel had a test Sat so we're gonna hafta push it yet again to next weekend. Fine by me. Gives me a chance to finish my study sheet an' study fer my own test Mon. He also told me that one of th' people he forgot to mention comin' to this haunted house thing tomorrow wasn't comin'. Unfortunately, I dunno a single replacement that's either in this state or available, so looks like we're stuck with an extra ticket. I worked on my website stuff to bring in to work tomorrow and chatted, an' that was pretty much my night.

One other thing; Deb got me to join Facebook. I had tried to join before so I could see pictures of some people, but when I did ya hadda have yer school E-Mail, which I don't have. Now they'll let anyone join so join I did! Don'tcha just hate when other people grow up decent but ya still look th' same? Yeah, that's me. Face's thinner but otherwise I look th' damn same. Speakin' of school E-Mails, in order to do somethin' fer psych class I need to get into my school EM. Well, I gotta pass by an office to get my password again 'cause I ain't got it. Stupid crap. Th' hell can't they put YER EM on file? Ya give it to 'em enough!

FIGHT

My parents have REALLY selective memory. Tonight we got into a fight about th' trailer idea again. Hadda ask pops fer help to find places to rent a pop-up which led me to doin' searches fer an RV now. When they see how much it's gonna be and how I ain't gonna let this lie, they make like I can use th' trailer (again) AFTER I come up and see how it's all done. I inform them that was my plan when they shot me down, but they cut me off and just kept shootin' me down that night. Ma makes like I didn't, that it was all their idea and I never followed through on it 'cause I didn't go with them Columbus Day weekend. I didn't GO with them that weekend 'cause they also hadda deal with takin' my gma to her reunion in PA! I also love th' fact that it's ME who treats THEM like idiots, and yet they can't see when they do it ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME! Assholes.

I was EXTREMELY late to class today. Got stuck in th' bathroom again and then got stuck on th' R. Of course, I couldn't get all th' way there 'cause th' 6 was too damn crowded, so rather than wait fer one I could get on I walked from 59th to school. Was just faster. Ended up missin' part of Shaft, which turned out to be a decent flick. Only bitch was his constant interruption of th' film to interpret th' racial crap every so often. Why is it everythin' needs to be analyzed an' have a reason? Why can't what's there ever be what's just there?

Takin' th' day off tomorrow so I can clean fer Sat, if it happens. Hafta call D an' see if he ever reached Nel to see if he's still in. Probably not. If it ends up not happenin' s'fine by me; got th' doc before an' th' party after. Wouldn't mind a rest between.

HUNG UP

So apparently they changed th' rules with cell phones, makin' 'em able to be charged long distance fer callin'. Rogue's ma called me today upon seein' her phone bill but I played it off as if it was some kinda mistake. I quickly texted Rogue after to warn her about these events, also gave her a couple good cover stories to use. She called me when I got home briefly to tell me th' sitch and that we ain't gonna be phonin' fer a good long while, strictly E-Mail. Yikes.

Between all this, I went up to Circuit City after work to pick up a copy of Blade II they had on sale. See, I had tried several times to get th' version with features, but ended up gettin' th' plain version. EVERY. TIME. Last time I said screw it and kept it. Now that this version was $5, I grabbed it as soon as I could. I also ordered Monster House and Jumanji in a combined sale from Best Buy. And to top it off my legs fer some reason were damn sore. Dunno why.

I've decided to go to th' party on Saturday regardless of what happens earlier. Figger I need to get out more. I'd love to wear my Scarlet Spider costume again, but it needs some major work. But, I do have th' parts to make a halfway decent contractor costume, so that may be it. With D incapacitated, I called Tommy to see if he'd wanna go with me. Figger be good to start him networkin'. So, guess we'll see what happens th' comin' days.

MORE DETOURS

Yeah, I was late to class again, but this time it wasn't entirely my fault. Yeah, I got held up in th' bathroom tryin' to leave, but today they decided to close off th' entrance to th' buildin' I go into to fix th' damn stairs. So I hadda go around to another entrance and went into th' first one I found...which turned out to be a big mistake as that building, and my building are apparently NOT connected. So I hadda descend th' five flights I went up, continue around th' block till I found th' right entrance, then climb back up 5 flights. Friggin' hell.

D's back, but worse fer th' wear. He got some kinda bug down in Peru as well as blew out his bad knee. Was gonna see if he'd come to th' party with me Sat, but doesn't look good. Got our haunted house thing on Fri, which he neglected to inform me his other friends (includin' th' guy I'd rather not be around) are comin' too. Th' only other friend we ever talked about bringin' was Tina, who of course was busy that weekend. He was shocked about his neglect. He's also game fer my summer plan, so that's all set. Now I just need to KEEP everyone game fer it as I try to find someplace I can rent a damn pop-up. Friggin' hard to find one in th' state of NY, best match I got so far was a place in Colorodo. Good rates, but a bit more of a travel than I was lookin' fer.

Thinkin' Sat I might go in costume. I don't have much, but with what I do have I could make a fairly decent contractor. Got th' gloves, a hard hat, and I can wear one of my work shirts with jeans and my boots. Just need to find some paper I can roll up as my "blueprints."

FOR SALE

Sent Rogue a text today which resulted in a phone call from her. Got to talk to her fer a bit, catch up on th' last week. Good, hope we can keep that up. Of all th' people I currently talk to she's at th' top of my list. Which mostly likely means she'll disappear one day soon, so I need to get what I can when I can, ya know?

Threatened to rain tonight, but luckily it didn't. Allowed me to get to th' store to drop off th' comics and see th' guys. Always a fun visit. I filled them in on th' latest developments with my ex, we talked comics, they had fun mockin' this Jesus-lookin' dude who works there...typical stuff. Stuff like that makes me wish I could get Going To Market off th' ground and made. Ah well, just keep tryin' I guess. Also snagged a couple more DVDs and a new lighter fer our grill. Wind on Friday sent them flyin' off th' porch along with other stuff. Total devistation.

Finally cracked down on my E-Bay sales. Put up a whole mess of comics on there to start it off. Gonna put up a bunch more then slowly graduate to other stuff. Gotta get Gma's apartment cleaned out an' some of this crap outta our hair. And don't think we can just wait until next spring when we do our yard sale. Plus a little extra money don't hurt, although with Ebay listin' costs I doubt I'd have much of a profit...nuttin' I got is that overly valuable.

FIXED AT LAST

Woke up later than intended, so hadda get things underway. Went downstairs to grab my laundry (which I forgot last night, ended up puttin' my whites in th' dryer at 2AM) and my bikes to bring 'em up. Showered, dressed, and hit th' road. Pretty damn hard walkin' with 2 bikes, pain in th' arm...and legs. Couple times I ended up catchin' myself on my sharp pedals, got some nice scratches to show fer it. I also hadda balance th' rim from th' Schwinn (by pops' request) on a handle bar to keep it from fallin' off or scratchin' th' hell outta my bike so it could be replaced.

Brought them all to th' Bay Ridge Bike Shop on 90th; good place, decent customer service, good work. I brought my last bike there before it fell apart on me last winter. And, ironically, th' bike I won from th' gym originally came from there as well, as th' lady at th' counter would note later. Also, one of th' employees turned out to be a kid I went to high school with. Didn't recongize him but he knew me by name. Ah well, not surprisin' considerin' I did run fer school prez my last year.

Came home to eat an' check my mail. Decided to e-mail Tina, D and sis about my plans fer us upstate 'cause I was just too excited to wait. Tina IMed me an' told me she loved th' idea, had spiritual reasons fer wantin' to go too so that's good. Also filled me in (a bit late) about her landin' a teachin' job at a jr. high and her extreme work habits. Sis IMed me a bit after to say she liked my EM. I had been talkin' about this with her fer th' past week, so I already knew she dug it. I just sent her an EM so she wouldn't be left out. Now, my only concern is if she's gonna be livin' in th' state come next summer. As fer D, gotta wait fer him to get back from Peru but I'm pretty sure he's game fer this.

Hadda take my leave to go pick up my bikes. Fortunately, they were pretty much done by th' time I got there. Not bad work so far (th' kickstand I had put on my older bike needs to be tightened, easy enough fer me to do) but I won't be able to test 'em till tomorrow. I had called Craig to see when he was workin' so I could drop off his comics an' we arranged fer me to go up as he's closin'. Even got a call from Tommy an' he said he'd stop by if I do go, so that works out. But, th' important thing in alla this is after all these months I finally got my bikes fixed! Booyah!

Came home, put that crap away, grabbed my jacket and breezed out fer th' train to make my meetin'. R ran express fer some reason (as well as goin' shit slow) so that was all well and good. As I rode I read over a treatment someone asked me to look over, and I gotta say it was hella good. Better than th' version I read before. Got off at Prince and headed fer th' Museum of Comic Art to find that, despite bein' late, I was th' only one there besides th' dude runnin' this meetin'. We sat and talked fer a bit until a couple noobies came in to check out what's goin' on before they join fully. We educated them on what's needed to put out a comic and how hard it can be, good lessons learned. Only one other guy showed up, and we were semi-kicked out as th' museum wasn't even expectin' us. Wild.

Kids headed upstairs in th' buildin'. Leader headed uptown fer a date with a Hooters girl after we had a quick exchange on past relationship woes, th' other guy waited fer his wife and I passed him as I headed fer th' train to get home. Sad in comparison, ain't it? I had planned to do some work on my own scripts, inspired tonight, and of course everyone decides to IM me. People only IM me when I wanna get work done, it's wild. Yeah, so got no writin' done but ah well, tomorrow's another day.

Next weekend's gonna be busy. Gotta study fer my test between th' haunted house, an eye doctor's appointment, th' possible Evil Dead movie marathon, and th' Psychosis! launch party at a bar in th' city. Those last two are questionable dependin' on each other as they fall on th' same day, but I'm thinkin' I'm gonna try my best to make th' party. Hafta be more sociable and these ARE my people. Finally. Oh, and on top of all that gotta find a way to conduct an interview with a guy who has completely forsaken th' internet. See if he responds to my E-Mail to his work address.

THE FUTURE

Unfortunately didn't get enough done fer my site, so I didn't get to upload it today. Worked on it most of th' day at home so I'll have me a massive update next week.

Good thing I check my E-Mails, 'cause a reminder came down about a CAG meetin' tomorrow. I knew there was one supposed to come up, but I lost all track of time. Yeah, so now I got somethin' to do which means I hafta try to get up earlier to get my bikes fixed so I can go. Ah well.

Went up to Circuit City to see if I could get a copy of Over The Hedge with th' free gift they offered. Of course it was sold out. I had an order placed fer one with their website anyways so I'll at least get it fer sale price, though without th' gift. At least I got me some exercise and to enjoy a nice, brisk fall night. Was really great out there, I tell ya. Especially loved goin' down 69th an' smellin' th' wood from Yianni's burnin'. Reminded me of upstate, much like this smell I got off my porch when I took out th' trash last night in th' rain. I wanna go back up there bad.

As ya know, I was promised use of our trailer up there eventually on my own, only to have it taken back in th' usual fashion of my 'rents. So I been tryin' to figger out how I can get my friend weekend to work up there on th' off chance I actually have friends to go. Considered rentin' a trailer up there, but they don't do that no more. Nope, if we go gotta have our own trailer, a tent or rent one of their new cabins. Other alternative is we stay in town an' visit around, but that takes away half th' experiences I wanted to share with my friends. At least I won't be TOO disappointed when it don't work out, which it won't.

Sis is talkin' about stayin' in Texas fer another half a year. Can't say as I'm surprised. I'd be surprised if she said she was comin' back here to stay. She don't belong here no more, her life's out there somewhere. She also filled me in on her and her BF's plans fer their futures together. Hopefully they work out as planned where mine failed.

One thing I hate about Fridays; my ma is off from work now, so she's home when I am. ALL DAMN DAY! And she STAYS UP LATE! ARGH! This is why I need to get upstate, I need a vacation free of these jackasses.

IT'S PASSING, AT LEAST...

Why is it whenever I wanna do somethin' OTHER than work at work, I have a shit load of work to do? Thaaaaat's right, no time to study at work today. Steve was in so I had my initial piles, then of course Eric dropped off his horded stack of cancellations. I managed to finish on time, but now I lost some study time. Ma got me some chicken nuggets fer lunch so that was taken care of. Got home, cooked, ate an' got to studyin' until I hadda leave.

Got there right on time and still had a few minutes to study as th' prof was late. Actually, she wasn't even there. Her friend who subbed last week was as well as this guy who assisted her th' first day and on th' last test day (I call him Mongo in my head fer some reason, dunno why...too much Mel Brooks, I think). Anyways, got th' test and I pretty much breezed through it. I mean, I thought it was fairly easy. I marked off my take-home answer sheet with what I thought I got wrong, turned it in, then headed fer home. Checkin' my test, I got a couple more wrong than I thought (and only 3 of them were ones I marked off), but with my bonus attendance point I managed to squeak by with a 79. Not friggin' bad fer no studyin'. Won't be till Tues till I find out exactly what I got wrong. Tell ya right now, was a couple I know I mixed up. Won't be surprised if they were th' ones that nailed me.

My romance group on Myspace that I frequent (mostly to give advice since I'm good at that stuff), someone started a story thread fer people to share their happy love stories. Conversely, someone started a sad story thread. I decided to share my entire relationship tale, and was thinkin' about it th' whole ride home on how to condense and word it. Now, usually, I'd be a depressed sack, right? Well, oddly enough, I got off th' train and felt surprisingly...not depressed. I even had some fun jumpin' around on my walk home. Came on, typed out my story, then finished readin' my comics.

One comment I got in regards to it was this girl sayin' she wanted to slap my ex by th' time she finished th' tale. Kinda funny how most of my girl friends had that reaction too. I mean, I don't try to villify her, I just tell th' complete story. Though this version was edited down to important parts to keep it short an' 'cause every aspect is not everyone's business. Those who were with me fer th' whole ride know all th' details, and that's all that need to know them.

I think th' more I tell th' story th' more adjusted to it I get. I mean, I still got this empty place inside that I had before her and I now have again, but when we met she did help me settle a lotta th' issues that plagued me... I probably wouldn't be as adjusted as I am now without her. I mean, 9/11 was just th' tip of th' iceberg fer me. Despite all th' shit she's put me through, despite all th' lies that have been discovered, she has done some good fer me and fer that I will always be greatful. Someone was th' cure I needed at th' time. Now it's just a luxury I hope I can indulge in again.

On another note, I love Jack FM. Not only do they have a good mix of tunes often, but I find out th' names of songs I've liked fer years and have never been able to identify. I downloaded 3 more today that I found off Jack. Good stuff!

BEST LAID PLANS

Why th' hell is it I wake up at a time I'm NOT supposed to be up, and my brain registers it as th' time I AM supposed to get up?! Happened again. Was up at 7:30 an' read it as 8:30. All set to shower when ma set me right. Gah!

Finished up my study sheet and stayed home from school so I could study (and 'cause that crap with th' trains yesterday I did not wanna repeat). Yeah, didn't happen. Went a bit long in readin' my comics, then almost fell asleep while lookin' up answers, then I got involved with friend stuff fer th' rest of th' night. I did spend an hour in bed studyin', but... Gonna hafta cram tomorrow at work (if I can) an' before I go. Fortunately there's a lotta common sense questions on this one, it's just th' specific crap I need to worry about really.

How's this fer a bitch; I got my tix fer Evil Dead on th' 11th. I get a message yesterday sayin' Bruce Campbell is gonna be at th' show on th' 2nd! Gah! Now that is freakin' messed up. That coulda made th' experience 100 times cooler. Although, it's not as messed up as this li'l tidbit I found out. Ya know th' apartment th' plane crashed into last week? Guess who it belongs to. Th' same chick who, 9 years ago, got put into a coma when one of th' Thanksgivin' parade balloons whacked a lamppost an' knocked th' light on her. Now that's some serious bad luck right there within a decade. I'm thinkin' maybe she should consider movin' outta New York...may not be safe fer her here.

DETOUR

Today things were back to normal at work, so got all but 3 renewals done. I did stay a bit extra to re-upload some pics to my site fer tomorrow, and 'cause I was 10 mins late due to ma sleepin' in 'cause she was sick and me oversleepin' as a result. Ah well.

Went to check my notes fer class tonight an' discovered our next test is Thursday. Well shit. She put that notice up on Friday. Does she REALLY expect people to check when there's no class? Geeze. So I printed out th' review slides, retyped 'em, and began to add in th' info so I could study tomorrow. Finished it up almost entirely after I got home, just a couple things I hafta look up elsewhere 'cause her slides don't explain 'em fer some reason. Speakin' of class, I also ended up 20 mins late. And I used to be so punctual...

Trains were a nightmare comin' home. First I hadda wait fer th' second 6 due to crowds (and cause some asshole cut me off goin' in...bastard), then when I DO get on they announce fer some reason won't be stoppin' at 14th, so I hafta transfer over to th' 4 or 5. And of course, first one comes it's too crowded so I hadda wait fer th' next which took forever and a day, much like th' N when I came to school. Of course that's not to discount th' 6 GOIN' to school bein' so crowded and assholes jammin' their way inside instead of waitin' fer th' next train. Morons. Think I'm gonna start experimentin' with alternate routes...if I can ever leave on time.

Of course wasn't helped that all day I had certain thoughts runnin' through my head. Just want that crap OVER with already. Gah.

THE TIES THAT ARE SEVERED

While at work, I got an EM from th' ex thankin' me fer th' package I sent her two weeks ago. She also nailed me that I was hidin' from her again, apparently she can see me in some places. So, I turned on my Yahoo (dunno why) and had come ot a decision due to my reaction of seein' an EM from her, ya know, th' heart flutters. I decided it was time to take a break. I was writin' th' EM when she decided to IM me based on my last EM response to her EM. She explained to me how she put her wagon back on th' road and benched th' Cruiser, and I told her keep that stuff in whatever car she drives. Then I finished th' EM, told her I sent it, and last I heard from her.

In th' EM I said I'd need the break we discussed my might needin', that Icouldn't pursue an active friendship right now, how things may've ended fer her months ago but fer me was a lot later as well as the things revleaed about us I wasn't too thrilled with, and to basically take care of herself and use her damn head fer once and if she absolutely needed me she can reach me. Wasn't gonna abandon her. Told Danielle and April after I did th' deed, both were proud of me. Me, I felt like crap and was shakin' like a leaf. Blah. Ah well, hopefully I haven't completely killed our friendship. Deal with that when it comes. I didn't come to this easily, you know. Not at all.

Work didn't fare much better. Someone shut off my comp so th' virus scan didn't work, which meant I couldn't do transactions or various other functions. So, basically, I did what I could and sat on my thumbs rest of th' time. Finally figgered out a way to fix it just in time to finish th' last of my work before I hadda go home. Always somethin'.

As I'm doin' stuff before school, pops calls me up to tell me to deal with th' contractor to fix cracks in our outside walls. Yeah, lovely. I hadda go down and point out th' cracks to these guys (not that I knew where they were myself) then I hadda move th' van. Like I have time fer this shit on Mondays. Be nice if someone even TOLD me about all this. Assholes. Not that it mattered, was still 20 mins late to class. As usual. Ah well, good thing it's college, right?

HUBS ON 4TH

Didn't make th' bike shop. Again. Got up too late to get there as they closed early. And was afraid I'd hafta go pick 'em up on Monday if I went too late and they were busy, I wouldn't be able to go back till Friday. So, Friday is it. Rain or shine. Unless I'm dead, I'm bringin' my bikes to be fixed. That's it.

So instead I went up to 86th street to check out Circuit City's sales. Heh which was what I was tryin' to avoid, but ah well. Ended up walkin' out with Lethal Weapon, Hitch, Jay & Silent Bob, Dave and A Knight's Tale, plus two fer ma. Also, on th' way I saw three hubcaps by Rite Aid, so I snagged them. Score! Two collections upped today.

Oh, an' Tina loved th' strip. Nice to know I still got it!

COME ON DOWN TO PROSPECT PARK

Well, I had intended to go to th' bike shop today.  Yeah, didn't happen.  Instead I spent several hours workin' on th' comic strip fer Tina.  See, today's her bday and she's a big fan of this South Park inspired strip I used to do about our school days and classmates.  So, on th' train th' other day I dreamt up a bday card to do fer her (only to later realize I already DID that card a while ago with different characters).  So, I came up with a new one which is actually a SEQUEL to that one.  Drew it out last night to try a new method of assemblin' it.

Scanned 'em in this mornin' after usin' crayon fer some layer effects then proceeded to color in Photoshop.  Then came th' colorin' by hand.  See, if even th' tiniest pencil is left th' comp won't color over it, so hadda plug in all those holes myself.  Then came letterin', to which I hadda re-download th' font to redo my strip title so I could make it bigger, as th' sample I had was way too small.  Then I hadda put it all together and voila!  Th' strip was done and sent off within 6 hours (granted one hour was spent tryin' a system restore to fix one problem and gainin' several more instead).  Yeah, takes a while since I started doin' 'em prettier.  When I started was just a piece of lined paper and a quick pen sketch on 'em.  Fun fer class. 

So, in case you were wonderin' about th' finished product, here it is:  In th' original strip, Nab (the clutz in this one) was in a bday cake fer TK (th' bday girl in this one) and came poppin' out th' top and splatterin' everyone as a complete surprise.  And now, th' sequel: 

Yes, all people I know in life.  And th' fat one is me.

Speakin' of Tina, usually on her bdays she asks me to hang out a bit before her real bday hangout with her friends.  This year she didn't.  Ah well, was a nice run I guess.  But Rogue called me, however.  Had a bad blow-out with a friend that caused her to delete not only her new Myspace, but her messenger as well so I won't be hearin' from her nearly as often unless she reverses this decision.  She's determined to stick by it, though, so I'm at th' mercy of whenever she wants to call (long story on why I can't call, and frankly NOYB).  Ah well, another good run I guess. 

And lastly, looks like Myspace's gotten some moderators...or hackers.  Dude I encountered in a chat while I was bored kept sendin' whispers that disabled a room an' forced people to leave and come back, clamin' he worked fer MS.  Kept abusin' his power if he did to "experiment".  Dunno what he was experimentin'.  You tryin' to fix a system you can TELL or ASK people to let ya, ya don't just do it.  If you were lookin' to see if people would wanna kick yer flamin' ass, then ya coulda easily gotten that answer by just askin'.  I swear, every web asshole should be lined up against a wall and stoned by all th' people who've hadda put up with their shit.

NIGHT RIDER

So, do I look like I belong to th' MTA or what? Yesterday, had some lady ask me where th' 3rd Avenue bus is (well it sure as hell ain't on 4TH!), then I had some guy askin' me where a train went on th' way home (I just love how people always manage to ask a person wearin' headphones insteada one without). Today, had another lady and her kid ask me what times th' B9 arrives. 'Cause, ya know, I'm a walkin' transit schedule. Oy.

Th' day cleared up, but decided not to rush to th' bike shop and back, save it fer tomorrow. Went to th' dentist, all is fine as usual. Came home an' did some work, which included designin' a logo my interviews would be done under (designed in 5 minutes, I should add). Decided to take advantage of th' day and went fer a bike ride. Although, when I went was already gettin' dark.

When I went a couple days ago, I had seen they had finished re-openin' th' path. Today, they had all-new sections closed off so they could do th' parts they missed. Why they didn't do 'em all in one shot is beyond me, but what do I know, right? Of course I learned th' hard way that they didn't close off as much as they SHOULDA, 'cause when I went back on th' right side I found myself eventually runnin' into a dirt portion closed off at th' other end. Idiots.

Then of course there's th' danger bikin' down there at night. I used to and it was brightly lit at one point. Now, it's darker'n ever. And on-comin' traffic don't make things easier as their headlights limit yer visibility on th' already dark path. I even hadda take off th' shades I wear 'cause was just makin' things darker (which normally they don't). And to make matters worse are morons who wear black at night. Yeah, there was a few of 'em, and I didn't see 'em till I was almost on them. Then of course ya got yer families of morons that take up th' ENTIRE FREAKIN' PATH like they own th' joint. And let's not forget th' people who like to walk on th' bike side of things. ONE SIDE people, ONE SIDE bikes. Izzat really so hard to comprehend? I hate people.

10/11

We had yet another case of plane meets buildin' today. A Yankee pitcher I never heard of was flyin' his single engine plane with passengers when they crashed into a highrise on th' upper east side. Th' kicker? It was mere blocks away from my school! X called me durin' class (which made it funnier that I didn't turn off my ringer 'cause I had thought about it before I left home, but decided against it since nobody calls me...usually) to tell me about it 'cause she didn't know if I'd be anywhere near it. Well, there's a bit of excitement fer th' day. Too bad I was on th' train when it all went down.

On th' train I was about to pass out when I got hit with two ideas fer this strip I used to do, Prospect Park. One's a bday card fer Tina, bein' her bday's Sat, th' other is a strip sis requested of me back when she broke up with her last BF but couldn't come up with a story fer. Well, needless to say I wrote th' rough scripts within 10 mins an' now all I hafta do is draw them out. Prospect Park is a rip-off of South Park starrin' people from my classes in High School. Was a big hit with everyone I knew. Tried to bring it into th' cyber age with a website, but without fresh material an' other projects kinda got left behind. But, a comeback has been demanded so let's see if I can provide it.

And if yer of a mind to check out my work, don't forget to read my Ghostbusters series or interviews on th' GWP website.

BABY YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR

I think th' worst part about breakin' up with someone after a loooooooong time is that you know so much about them that it's hard not to associate them with anythin'. Yeah, I hadda go be th' exception to guys an' be attentive and remember all that crap. Her favorite color, what cars she likes, her favorite music, her favorite movie, th' way she looks at me when she thinks I'm nuts... Yupp, I studied.

Case in point; I cut through th' police impound "lot" on my way home from th' train as usual, and one of th' cars there was a Mercedes. I purposely looked fer th' model outta curiosity and it was an E320, my ex's dream car. What's really funny about th' car is on th' 6 train to school, near me was this lady who looked like my ex as if she was a decade or so older. I swear, from th' hair to th' skin color to th' face to th' expressions she had. Damn clones.

Steve's outta th' hospital and ack to work. Although, there still wasn't a lotta work waitin' fer us. Probably 'cause of th' holiday...sure it'll be jammed up tomorrow. Came home to put th' finishin' touches on #12 before printin' my notes an' headin' out. I'll get that up tomorrow some time and then enjoy my break from th' monthly grind. Damn hard comin' up with new kindsa hauntings when ya already got 140 episodes of source material before ya.

And of course what day is complete without Myspace drama, misunderstandings and th' visit from Rogue? Answer? NONE! (Although that last bit is what I look forward to th' most...)

19 YEARS STRONG

19 years of writin' stories an' makin' comics. Wow. Was 19 years ago today I created my first character, an' it just exploded ever since. Here's hopin' one day all that work'll get me somewhere. I often credit my comic collection as my longest commitment; think th' honor really belongs to this. Where others would have given up years ago or reserved themselves to...ugh....fanfics, I'm still holdin' on to th' dream. I WILL be published. I WILL live th' dream.

I think I like not havin' school. OR work. Was off from both today fer th' holiday. Ma decorated fer Halloween while pops worked on that goddamn Kia again. Me, I tried to finish my damn story so I could get it up on Wed. Got it done well into th' night and gave my sis a section I wrote to see what she thought of it, bein' it was a romantic portion an' a girl'd have a better inklin' if it rings true than a guy would.

I did take a little break to go on a bike ride an' take advantage of th' nice an' warm day. Was a fairly easy ride, even with th' wind this time. Although, I dunno how much longer my rear wheel's gonna hold out. So, before I see another ad an' spend more money on DVDs I don't have room fer gonna take my bikes up to th' bike shop Thurs since class is cancelled an' hope I can have time to get back fer my dentist appointment. That should be fun.

Remember th' girl I talked about th' other day? Well, she responded to me an' apparently does remember me. Yay! We exchanged th' quick Reader's Digest versions of our lives over th' last 9 years. Find it funny she goes to my school currently, like small world type funny. Who knew? But she's doin' good an' that's good to hear. Busy, but good.

And then I had a helluva chat with Rogue tonight. That was a lotta fun. And I'm still pushin' Marisa fer us to get a hangout. She keeps insistin' she's borin', so I told her we get this hangout goin', I find out how borin' she is, and then I leave her alone. Heh think she liked that little twist of her protests. All good fun, kiddies. I tell ya, th' characters I have in my life right now are what keep it from bein' a total snoozefest.

HIT BY A TRUCK

Explain to me how they did all th' drinkin', but this mornin' I woke up feelin' like crap? I mean, complete and utter crap. Hit by a truck type crap. Probably did too much exhertion yesterday...I keep forgettin' I don't do that stuff fer 24-35 hours a week no more. Wish I did, miss that damn job. Ah well. Felt progressively better as th' day wore on so I got that goin' fer me. Since I got up so late wasn't gonna make th' convention where CAG was promotin' th' Psychosis! book, but I always said that was up in th' air anyways. Also not gonna make th' launch party on th' 28th as that's our Evil Dead Marathon day...unless that gets screwed up again.

Speakin' of CAG, put th' finishin' touches on that interview an' sent it off to th' editor. Gonna be a waitin' game now to see how badly I screwed up. Hopefully he finds more stuff to trim than I did. Sure, th' guy rambled on a lot, but I felt all th' information provided was important. But, what do I know? I've been asked if I came up with a regular name fer these contributions...haven't even thought of it yet as I'm not sure I wanna keep doin' these past a certain point. I prefer to write fiction over reality, as ya know.

Before I went to bed last night, I was skimmin' through my yearbooks to see if I could find those girls from th' party, just to refresh my own mind. In flippin', I came across th' name of one of th' people I was lookin' fer durin' my many Myspace searches fer people I knew. Since I had her full name spelled out there I searched it an' finally found her. Sent a message, but it's been 9 years so I sincerely doubt I'd be remembered. See what happens there.

PAR-TAY

Well my DVDs finally came. Saw th' box on my table when I got up (way too early fer a Sat, might I add). 'Rents left to take my gma to PA fer a reunion thing before headin' up to th' trailer to close it up, givin' me about a day and a half of peace. So I chatted fer a bit watchin' my DVDs and even took th' liberty of re-organizin' our videos and DVDs an' takin' out our duplicate VHS tapes we got on DVD now. Watch I get my head chewed off fer that. Danielle also called to rattle off countless Chuck Norris jokes thanks to a comment I made on her blog. Remind me never to ask her a question about a silly topic again...

Decided to bike before I showered, bein' I'd just hafta shower again fer th' party. Danielle called me again to shoot th' shit as I was bikin', helpin' me learn I CAN ride an' talk at th' same time. Cool. Also found out even with it's good placement on my bike I won't hear th' phone. Ah wells. Got off with her then headed fer home. Showered an' went to Rite Aide to find some shampoo fer my delicate condition. Best I could find was th' stuff I used a year ago. Considerin' how my hair was lookin' after usin' it, decided to give it another go. Got ma's paper, came home an' fed gma's and th' outside cats. After much debatin' decided to get McDonald's fer lunch, came back home to feed my kitties and myself.

10 rolled around an' I was outside her place. We headed over to th' 100s to her friends' place where several of th' guests had already arrived an' th' hostess was already sauced. I hung back (partly due to my not knowin' nobody, partly to th' cigarette smoke in th' air) an' played with their animals before we grabbed some supplies an' relocated to this kinda rec room in th' basement. Had a fridge, radio and pool table amidst various kinds of chairs, tools and work benches. Nice li'l hangout spot.

Few more people came till we were 12 in all. Two of th' girls I think I recognize from somewhere, most likely school. Not sure exactly where, though. Knowin' one was confirmed when I heard her name was Danielle...still can't place exactly where I knew her though. They were all boozin' an' smokin', me I was playin' pool with various partners and then watchin' th' games. They talked an' danced and laughed. I got a few licks in when th' hosts told me th' story about their pets and a couple that was there about th' guy's family history in height, but mostly hung back due to th' unfamiliarity of it all. In those situations I like to just sit back, listen, an' upon future encounters use what I've learned. I also got a couple "you look familiars" from people. Get that a lot, basically.

At some points smoke was gettin' to me so I'd hafta retire out to th' street through th' basement corridor. Back was hurtin' from me standin' th' whole time, so after people started leavin' I was able to sit fer a while. Half th' people also wound up in th' apartment fer a time before eventually returnin'. As th' convos started gettin' more buzz-influenced I started dozin' off. Figgered I'd stay long enough to take Danielle home. That was taken offa me though by th' arrival of her BF. So was about then I took my leave and headed home.

Was alright. Felt a bit outta place at times, but when don't I? Aside from th' fact I reek of cigs was fun to hang out on Sat night again. Only problem is gettin' older makes me have less stamina to stay out that late. Not to mention my legs which were KILLIN' me by th' time I got home. Good thing I didn't go to th' city today as I planned to, and fortunately callin' Tommy last night revealed niether he nor Lenny would be workin' so saved that trip as well. Nah, just nice an' tired from bikin' and all that walkin' and standin'. I hate gettin' old.

MOVING ON

Eric wasn't in today, so aside from what was there when I came in an' one endorsement put down, I had absolutely no work to do. I brought my walkman an' finished transcribin' my interview fer th' rest of th' time. When I came home, I got to work trimmin' out some of th' fat and breakin' up th' sentences and paragraphs. Now since so many quesitons were answered in one answer, I was debatin' about splittin' them up an' placin' segments where they belong. Since I've never done a phone interview before, I asked Bob to give it th' once over fer me and give me some tips since he's done so many before. This is all about learnin'; I know how to format it now thanks to Mark, an' Bob will help me fine tune what else I need so I can do it all myself th' next time.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was I wasn't able to sleep on Wednesday. I was upset, rightfully so. So, I replaced th' t-shirts I had hangin' in my room after givin' 'em a wash. But once that was finished I decided to do somethin' else. I gathered up everythin' she ever gave me (except fer two license plates and a Hotwheel type car...why should my collections suffer 'cause of this crap?) and dumped them all into th' box I've been keepin' from her first Xmas present to me. I got one more box an' gonna print up a buncha pictures she sent me and throw them all in before I seal up th' box and put it away somewhere fer years to come. Some say I should throw it out, others say I should burn it. Nah, there were some good times I wanna remember, an' with my memory needin' triggers I want those around when I need 'em.

Some would tell me I'm foolishly holdin' on to th' past. I'm really not. Those who forget th' past are doomed to repeat it. I don't want to repeat this. It was th' greatest time of my life, wouldn't wanna do it again.

IMPROVEMENT

Okay, I'm better today. Good night's sleep seems to've cured all my ails. As such, I'm thinkin' like a friend an' sent an EM to my ex expressin' my concern over her rushed relationship. Really is takin' things way too fast. Despite th' absolute HELL she's made my year, she's still my friend and I still gotta look out fer her. It's a thing of mine; annoyance to many, appreciated by few. Yeah, really not likin' th' new her that's emerged in th' passin' months.

Class today was taught by a friend of th' prof's. Somethin' about language learnin' or some shit. I had missed th' purpose of th' lecture 'cause after I had mailed off th' startings of an emergency road kit to th' ex (my final gift as her fiance`, but she can buy her own damn tools an' road flares) I hadda run back home to th' bathroom. Seriously, don't ya hate when yer on time fer everythin' an' get held up by that one moment? Annoyin'. Needless to say, I wound up 10 mins late. Not too bad considerin'. There was no attendance sheet as far as I could surmise, so hopefully I get credit fer bein' there that day.

Danielle was persistant in tryin' to convince me to come with her to this party Sat. Originally I was hesitant. First off, I'm gonna be clompin' around th' city tryin' to get updated shots fer my site before sunset, and then gonna be headin' to th' store to drop off comics an' visit...so was figgerin' I'd be pretty damn tired by th' time she planned to go to this thing. Then there's th' matter of my bein' a hardass against socially acceptable elements of a party. Finally throw in that I'm anti-social an' that's a trifecta of reasons not to go. But, I relented an' said I would, so we'll see how that goes.

Didn't get much time with Rogue as she was havin' one of her bad days, and got a message from Betsy with not all that good updates on her life. Gonna sound so wrong but glad to see I'm not th' only one who's havin' a shitty year that is '06. Not glad that shittiness is HAPPENIN' to people I like, but glad I ain't alone fer once.

BAD DAY

Well, yesterday was just a fluke. Yeah, I was late today by a good 20 mins. Really wasn't my faul, damn trains kept stoppin' in th' tunnels. Also, runnin' to catch it didn't help me too much as my left foot felt like lead fer th' rest of th' day...like it was permanently asleep.

Day didn't start off much better. See, our checks're comin' from a new company and they went an' delivered to th' wrong place. Since I had school early I couldn't wait around fer 'em. Fortunately, I had my credit card in my wallet so I was gonna use that on my comics. Unfortunately, I shoulda heeded Danielle's advice an' left 'em fer th' next day 'cause their devlivery was late. So, hadda wait fer them to get put up so I could take 'em an' go. Always fun.

One interestin' part was I ran into Cindy on th' train. She came in at 59th. I wasn't lookin' up so I didn't see her, but when my foot kept gettin' kicked I finally did an' saw her. She's my neighbor an' sorta friend. She's more of a friend of a friend than my friend directly, but we're friendly. Did that make sense? Anyways, we exchanged numbers with th' intent of hangin' one day since she's stuck back home too after her plans fell apart (hint: similar to my predicament) so we'll see how that goes.

And to round up th' night, talked to th' ex tonight who informed me how she's movin' out; 'cause she's movin' IN with her new BF, which she got 2 months after th' last time we saw each other. Thaaaaaaaaaat's right. I probably should've taken it better, but as it progressed I didn't end up that way. Parted with her as somethin' came up, then once I dealt with that I talked to my own people. Danille, sis, Tina an' X were big helps...good thing they were around. Now, I have a decision to make. Do I chance keepin' her in my life an' goin' through this again and again or do I call it quits fer now and resume when I'm stronger an' able? Or do I do what everyone wants me to and cut her out altogether? I dunno.

I think I'm gonna take some votes. So, anyone who wants to voice an opinion on what I should do, please drop a comment to this post an' tell me. Should she stay or should she go? I'm curious to see what you all think.

WORKING IN A COAL MINE

Steve's not even dead yet and already th' winds are changin'. Eric's taken over th' mail sortin' an' givin' us our things. As stated earlier, he doesn't like to make things easier fer us so we can be more efficient. Kathy even told me he told Jim once Steve spoiled us an' did all our work fer us. Um, no...what Steve did was highlight what needed to be done so we could just do 'em instead of wastin' time lookin' fer stuff. This son of a bitch doesn't even STAPLE shit together. He pairs everythin' off so we get a mountain of loose papers. What a dick.

I actually made it on time to class today. Was a Monday schedule since we were off fer th' holiday. Now let's see if I can do that again tomorrow. One thing I do like about this earlier class is I miss th' rush hour on th' trains so they're not as bad. Unfortunately th' N more'n makes up fer that on th' ride home. As I told Rogue when we talked briefly tonight way I feel after I get home feel like I should be all kindsa buff. Feels like a helluva workout on those damn things.

Had my second interview tonight. Went relatively painless. Dude was cool to talk to, very energenic despite his possibly long day. He rambled on so much I was able to get answers to questions without even askin' them. Here I was worried it'd come off way too similar to my last interview but now I can trim out questions an' just put th' full answers. Now, th' bitch; transcribin' off th' tape. I already started it, but was distracted by shows I wanted to watch an' Malice actually callin' me at a decent time (ie, when I'm not at work), so decided to save it fer tomorrow an' see if I can't do it before school. Anyways, I started an' already ran into a couple problems hearin' what was said, so looks like I'll hafta do some creative editin' fer whatever I can't find. Fer instance, th' name of his school. Luckily I was able to search a list of schools an' find it phoenetically. Sometimes it pays ot be a detective.

BREAKING

Work was fairly easy. I know when Steve gets outta th' hospital all th' work they AIN'T givin' us is gonna come at us in one big shot. Always fun when that happens. I actually coulda been done fairly quick, but lately I get so distracted that I can't focus on JUST doin' my work. That an' I tried to pimp GWP's comic comin' out soon, so that took up some time. My first interview's on th' GWP site, an' I had sent my next interview a message sayin' when I'd be callin'. So, if all goes accordin' to plan that should be turned in Wednesday mornin'. Of course, this is my life we're talkin' about so nuttin' ever really goes to plan. I had discovered I can make my 9 vacation days left really work fer me. With Xmas, New Years and th' days after, plus weekends, I could vacation on Dec 15th an' return June 3rd. How sweet would that be? Gonna wait till November to see how that sits with Kathy. As much as I'd dig all that time off don't wanna leave her in th' lurch. I don't play that game.

No school today an' I came home HOPIN' to finish th' story, but it's provin' more difficult each paragraph. Thinkin' Ben had th' right idea an' I should take a short break after this one. While I have th' ideas constantly flowin' it's hard to keep chrunin' 'em out at a constant pace without eventually runnin' dry on th' energy. I got th' series, other stories, school work an' th' GWP stuff to work on, so I'm pretty stretched. Let's not also forget my websites that, while I like to pretend I have a whole crew at my disposal, is just me doin' all th' writin', scannin' and buildin'.

Cam chatted with Rogue tonight. S'always fun, get to see honest reactions to things ya say. Only bitch was settin' up my cam to reciprocate. When we got th' new DSL boxes I had dropped it behind th' comp cart an' ended up breakin' it off it's base. Was like th' final nail in th' coffin of me an' th' ex's relationship bein' I bought that specifically fer use with her. But, I'm able to rest it on my digital cam an' angle it to catch me right. Not a pleasant sight, I'm sure, but thought it was nice to reciprocate. Also had an E-Mail chat with Danielle while she was at work. Always fun.

Speakin' of th' ex, she E-Mailed me tonight to tell me she was sick as a dog an' contemplatin' movin' outta her house. Considerin' she's barely able to keep her car on th' road, as well as took a heavy paycut in recent months, I'm tryin' to wonder how she'll accomplish this feat. Yeah, upstate livin' is a lot cheaper than by me, but ya still hafta make SOMETHIN' of substance. Also, don't it just figger she'd finally get a space we coulda been alone in when ain't no need fer us to be alone together no more? 'Course had things not ended up like they did I'd be workin' up in Binghamton right now an' we'd be havin' a place of our own. Yes, time to come clean; my plans to move were a lot closer to bein' finalized than I ever let on, but I put them on hold once March's revelation came about. And then came May...well, you know th' story from there. And if ya don't, I suggest you start catchin' up on some readin'.

So here's how anal I am in my stories...introducin' a new car to th' series and had wanted to do a 64 Impala wagon as I used to call my pops' Ecto as a kid. Only problem was th' sides weren't flat an' presented a major design challenge. While me an' Ben discussed design possibilities to get around it, I decided to make our lives easier by findin' a suitable replacement. Took me a long while, but finally found it in a 65 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Looks just like th' Impala but more design friendly. Reference pics were comin' up seriously short, but Deb helped me get what I needed. Rogue also got excited 'cause apparently th' car belongs to a character on That 70s Show...which she loves. Alrighty then.

3RD AVENUE FESTIVAL

Last night I done somethin' I ain't done in a looooooooong time; I sat out on my stoop. Just sat and thought. Used to do that all th' time when I was an artist, an' got me to thinkin' about th' times hangin' out with friends at 2AM like I was. Was a perfect night fer a hangout. I need some early AM friends I can chill with...ones whose ideas of fun aren't restricted to bars and clubs like every other BORING person out there. Live in freakin' NYC and that's all anyone can think to do. Puh-leeze.

Anyways, today was th' 3rd Avenue festival. Usually comes after th' Ragamuffin Parade th' day before (which Danielle's son was a part of, so told me in a phone call Friday). It's just a piddly little parade, gets worse every year. I stopped watchin' or gettin' up in time to see it years ago. This time I was actually able to go to th' festival (usually worked Sundays) so headed out after talkin' to Rogue an' sis fer a bit.

Was th' usual fare; tables of merchandise, toys an' lots of food. Rides fer th' kids, bands and even KTU. An oddity was a prayer stand at almost every corner. Don't remember there bein' so many...damn religion takin' over I guess. One thing that surprised me was seein' a new cafe on 73rd Street. Was surprised, 'cause I was there back when we got Carvel after Jekyll's an' it was still a vegetable store. Weird.

As expected, I didn't see Diane there. Maybe she came earlier, maybe she came later, maybe not at all. I wasn't holdin' my breath about it, usually how things work out. But, I was surprised I DID see Kristen from my old job there. She was with some friends, was gonna meet up with more friends later. Didn't get to say much more'n that as we got separated by th' KTU stage an' I just went on my way 'cause I had things to get done.

Went to th' 90s then came back to 86th to go to Radio Shack. Guy I work at CAG with, Rob, told me about a device he used to do phone interviews so he could record 'em easier. Since I got a phone interview comin' up figgered it'd make my life easier than tryin' to type as I listened. Soon as I walked in was helped an' found it fairly easily. Popped off by Burger King fer a drink an' headed back down to th' maddness. Made one more trip up 76th 'cause I heard th' Helen Hunt movie was filmin' there, but musta missed it. So, it was off to home fer me after a quick stop to pick up a die-cast Checker cab I eyed earlier.

Called D an' finalized all our plans. End of th' month gonna go to Hauntedhouseny.com's haunted house followed by a day of Evil Dead with Nelson (which hopefully won't be interrupted by th' first eye doc appointment I was able to get). Also, with all I've been hearin' about th' Evil Dead Musical I was afraid tix would get sold out so I decided we should buy 'em sooner rather than later. So, that's arranged fer November. Groovy.