UPSTATE OF MIND

Upstate was pretty fun, even if I didn't get to do as much as I planned. I lost Friday to being tired and Saturday cost me a bit of time to a nap after I finished opening up the trailer.

I went to Walmart and found they raised the price of Pop-Tarts, so I didn't stock up like I wanted. I did get a nice supply of drinks, so it wasn't a total waste. I had to wait till Sunday to go to Peck's for some of their DE-LICIOUS hamburger patties as they closed early for the holiday weekend. Maybe if I didn't decide to have Burger King for lunch before going, but who could resist?

I didn't get to do much biking or the hiking I wanted. Just no time. I DID get some work done, though. Mostly did some research for a story I hope to write and some Ghostbusters comics for my eventual site relaunch. I also came up with new submissions guidelines for this project I inherited. Liam successfully resurrected the prose project idea proposed to CAG several times before, but had to drop out after all the stress from Iconic and people's negative reaction to his attempt at a contract. So, I did it my way; put it in simple terms. Hoping to get that out on Wednesday.

Sunday night the campground had a karaoke night. I worked on scripts and chatted as I listened. Lotta good singers there. The kids, though, all sucked but they get that cute-factor thing. Although I was planning to bring my PSP, I got plenty of game-time in with the machines there. Spent most of it playing Addams Family and Hurricane pinball, with a game of Marvel vs. Capcom for good measure. Know what's sad? When pinball went digital, getting a million points was no longer an accomplishment. Hell, ya got a million points after a few volleys on the bumpers! Plus, the machines up there when they have the extra higher flippers always seem to have one or both of them broken. Ironic.

TC didn't enjoy the traveling too much. I let her ride outside of the carrier the whole time but she was a big chicken shit. Stayed on the floor most of the time. But she loved it at the trailer. So friendly and lovey...especially around feeding time. Very not-TC-like.

CATCHING UP

So here's what's been going on in my life.

The supplemental CAG meeting went off about as well as expected. Only half the people I was expecting, Rachel and Alex, the reason for the meeting, showed. I also got one other attendee in Wilson who was a complete surprise...but I'm not complaining. We met at pier 45, did our thing, had the writer's workshop and then went off to lunch at the Bus Stop Cafe. The service there was lacking this time, and the waitress was a bit of a bitch. If we go back to 45 for the summer meetings, I think I'm gonna hafta find us a new place to dine. After eating, Rachel had to bail but me and the guys hit a Blicks so they could get some supplies and then St. Mark's Comics. Yeah, I raided the 50 cent bin for over 60 books again...but at least I finally got my missing issue of Marvel Adventures Avengers that nobody seemed to have. Even if I did overpay by a quarter... Alex also got me the four Taco Bell Marvel comics that came out. Nice to have a hook-up. Alex keeps saying he wants to hang outside of CAG. I'm trying to oblige him best I can, but at the moment I'm keeping pretty damn busy. But, looks like we'll be doing a run to Fudruckers out in Jersey sometime soon.

I busted my ass to finish my latest Estella articles on time, and found that it's very late in being posted up this month. Reason being, Estella's being cancelled. The creators just don't have the time to dedicate to the project anymore, so they're calling it quits. So, my May Wolverine articles will be a month late in the final June issue of Estella's Revenge. Ah well, it was a good run. One less thing I HAVE to write a month.

The Marvel Index numbers keep dropping. We're now a few hundred below 6,000 copies as of #4. Everyone was hoping we'd get to do additional series in future installments, but unless sales improve DRAMATICALLY it looks like my Marvel career will be a short one. There's always the hope that these guys will pull me on to other projects if and when they can, but it's not a given. Still have plenty of non-paying comic work ahead of me, though, so at least I'll be keeping busy and my name in print. But, it was nice to be a paid comic writer for a while.

Ma's latest doctor says there's some kinda infection in her lungs and prescribed her some oxygen. They gave her this big-ass unit and a small carry-along which seems to be doing the trick. She doesn't cough as much and has an easier time breathing when walking. Still no idea what the cause is, though.

School is done for the semester. I had my final this past Monday, which I feel I did infinitely better on when compared to my mid-term, and then I had to pop into lab one last time to finalize my class portfolio for my grade there. The last 2 Thursdays we did a podcast lab. Basically, we were paired up with classmates and given digital recorders and asked to do a 14-minute interview with each other. I had this guy and I gave him a few laughs during the retarded process. The next objective was to splice the thing down to 2-3 minutes to post on our sites. I did it, but ended up having to re-splice it together this Thurs as the sound just didn't line up right. Well, I got it fixed, got it published, then bailed to try and finish packing so I could go upstate this weekend.

Yeah, you read right. We opened the trailer up the day after the second meeting so this way someone could make use of it for Memorial Day. Since it wasn't gonna be the 'rents, it's gonna be me. However, my plan to leave after work today was thwarted by the fact I was just too damn tired. If I didn't hafta finish up my portfolio for class I coulda napped yesterday and been good. But, as it stands, I decided to sleep today and leave very early tomorrow since I still have to drain out the antifreeze from the trailer.

Work is as stressful as ever. I've gotten the hang of working within company policies in doing my route, however having the slow elevator operator on Wednesday killed me. He takes too effing long and I have no shortcuts I can use anymore. Luckily, I was able to cheat some and save all but 3 packages. Like I said before, I can either do it their way, or make service. The truck parker's on vacation next week so I'm being tasked to come in earlier and do the job. Joy. At least I'll know what trucks are getting parked in a timely fashion. But, we're not doing so good with the trucks. We've got too many going out of service and not enough to replace them. Our biggest problem is the bigger trucks. Some routes need them, but all our extras are small ones. We've got maybe 1 or 2 bigger ones to use. So, when lots of big trucks go out, we've got problems. But hey, what do we need new trucks for, right? We don't drive anywhere. Short sighted thinking is exactly why we're in a recession.

In other news, I'm digging this new gay marriage movement sweeping the nation. FIVE states have already made it happen. FIVE. That's what happens when Bible-thumping morons aren't running the show; progressive thinking can shine through. Look, religious people, NOBODY CARES BEING GAY IS AN AFFRONT TO GOD! Is it hurting you? Is it ruining your chances to go to heaven? No? Then shut the fuck up and worry about your own lives. You know what really pisses me off about these people? That they can say God loves gay people and that they're a blight in his eyes in the same sentence. Make up your mind. Can't have it both ways. Either God loves all people, even gays, or being gay is a sin. Or, is it that God is just bi-polar? That would explain a lot...

DISRUPTION

Today's CAG meeting was supposed to have a helpful little lecture on how to format the scripts as you write them. I spent all of last night working on it, and pretty much had it ready to go. I knew Bob'd be there so I was relying on him to let me know if I missed anything. Well, Mark came and I didn't even get out the first line before he had a problem with what I said. I said that there's no right or wrong way to write the script, meaning the script ITSELF, and he was coming out with that it's bullshit, that you need to put your name and contact info and page numbers and... We all tried to explain to him what I meant (which other people seemed to get) but he wouldn't stop. Meanwhile, if he let me CONTINUE, he'da seen I had his precious contact info listed there. There was a method to my madness

The result was my new friend who I convinced to come ended up walking out with the friend she brought, made uncomfy by his tirade which was done in front of 5 potential members, and two brand new members. James and Bob talked to Mark about Atlas stuff while I broke off with a couple of the n00bs to give a mini version of what I was gonna talk about.

We were supposed to go see Wolverine, but since everyone already had they decided on Star trek. I was gonna go, but they picked too early a show considering I didn't get to my lunch too promptly as I was trying to convince my friend, Annie, to come back. She ended up at the bar across the street, funnily enough, with her friend for a time. Also tried to convince her to come to the movies, but with Mark around she wasn't having it. I was trying to make up for the clusterfuck it became 'cause I felt bad. I got her there, and then Mark goes and acts like a prick.

I held my cool, though. I let Mark rant and rave and kept quiet, letting him further sully his good name. He said at the end that we'd talk, that he was taking something that had nothing to do with me out on me. This is his pattern, it's what he does; he goes off on someone, apologizes and expects it to be gravy. No, not this time. When he inevitably calls me I'm gonna pretty much lay it down that he's welcome to contribute whatever he can, but if he does that shit again so help me he will NOT like the results. I am not some doormat or bitch off the street, you disrespect me or my people there will be trouble.

THE RESULTS

Went to the doc today to check out the results of my MRI. Apparently, my spur has bore a nice hole into my hip muscle. It shouldn't get much worse, but I'm a prime candidate for arthritis in the next decade or so. Greeeeeat, always knew I was gonna end up an invalid. He gave me the name of some surgeons I can talk to if I wanna go the surgery route. Otherwise, I finish up the pills he gave me and can just rely on Advil or the like possibly for the rest of my life if the pain is bearable.

Oh, yeah, and I've FINALLY mastered the swallowing of the pills. Which doesn't mean I WANT to be on them forever.

THERE IS NO I IN MRI

I really hope MRI machines come bigger, 'cause if ever I need a full body one I'm screwed. Got sent to this joint I always pass, and I couldn't get my arms into the machine. Just wasn't big enough, so hadda keep 'em up the hole time which got painful after a while. No circulation. I did get a little nervous when the machine shifted slightly to pull me in a bit more, hoping that shift was it and they weren't gonna try to cram me in. Plus, a half hour to run? Always seems to go so fast on TV... Now I'll just hafta make an appointment to go back and show the doc the results.

I went home and took a nap, since I hadda get up at 8 friggin' AM for that stupid thing. I did get a little surprise later in the day when Tina called me. I was just thinking about her yesterday and I get a random call from her. Weird. And that only happens like once every couple of years. Think her last random call to me I was still working at Waldbaum's... Nothing earth-shaking, just shot the shit a little. I could barely hear her at times which made the convo slightly interesting. Cell-to-cell sucks. Anyways, she says she wants to try phoning somewhat frequently so I said sure. However, Tina does have a penchant for not keeping up with plans (a topic that came up in regards to another friend, not I) and I have a habit of calling people at the WORST times. Which is why I rarely call anyone. We'll see.

By the way, if you ever watch Regis and Kelly on a widescreen TV, goddamn it makes Kelly look buff as all hell!