Sunday, December 26, 2010

post-Xmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone for another year. Can’t say I’m sad to see it finished. Besides the expense and aggravation, it depresses me because I always think of those who are gone. I recall the great holiday gatherings we used to have here and the fine meals Mom cooked. Now, everybody is busy with their own things and no big family dinners; hell, I didn’t even see either of my brothers over Christmas, though I saw one a few days before.

Did hear from my kids and my sister as usual. Guess I should be happy I was still around for another Christmas--that gets more uncertain every year and, in truth, always surprises me somewhat.

Anyway, I made a less-than-traditional Southern Christmas dinner this year -- fixed enchiladas, Spanish rice and refried beans. Damned good and plenty left for today, so about halftime of the Titans/KC game, I’ll make a kitchen run (not counting my runs for beer). Judging by the game thus far, it’s going to be a long day for Titans and their fans...if they have any left.

Book is still selling. I saw associate editor of the paper at the store Friday and she said about half of that last shipment I took down there was gone. Maybe I need to start ordering a couple hundred at a time. Sure as I did, sales would probably stop and I’d wind up with an excess of books. Strange, but the Kindle version is selling better than the paper on Amazon. Noticed this morning that I’d sold another one in the UK. That’s cool, get full 70-percent on those, unlike those in other places where the royalty drops to 35 percent.

May sound mercenary, but a book like this is all about money, not arty-farty jive. Next one I write will be all about money as well. Living in Obamanation as we do, it’ll come to that for everybody. Course, those of us on Social Security don’t get a raise again this year because inflation hasn’t increased. Maybe not by the measures they use, but if you buy anything today you won’t have a problem realizing it’s more costly than it was in the past.

Meanwhile, Obama is on his umpteenth vacation of the year, this time 11 days in the state (allegedly) of his birth. I don’t regard myself a “birther,” one who is firmly convinced the man isn’t an American citizen, but it’s odd that he wouldn’t clean things up for all those who believe that by simply allowing release of his original birth certificate, and not some short form little thing with a 1986 laser print notice on bottom and no evidence of a fold.

It’s the same story with his college transcripts. Could be that he, like John Kerry, just doesn’t want it known that George Bush made better grades; that kind of thing has to be embarrassing as hell to elitists who regard Bush as a moron. Of course, some speculate on more nefarious problems with the refusal to release university records and even think that perhaps they show Obama was a foreign student who gained some perks (beyond plain old affirmative action) because of that status.

No President of the United States, no matter what political party, should be able to hide anything about his or her past. That should all be an open book. And it is in most cases, because the media don’t give a pass to regular old folks in office, or at least not those of the Republican persuasion. Indeed, they go out of their way to dig up every little doubt available. And that wouldn’t be a problem if it were applied evenly, but it’s not.


Friday, December 10, 2010

Still rocking on!

Got a call from the Banner moments ago. Yeah, they've already sold out the last batch of books I took own there and they need more. Fortunately, I got a new shipment in yesterday so I'm ready for them. All I can figure is, placing all those little ads throughout the paper is causing people to notice it. Also, sold one of the vampire books on Kindle couple days ago. Things are looking up in Jazzboville!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Cold!

Man, we’re seeing some brutal late fall weather here in Dixieland. Lows in teens, highs barely above freezing. Some of the prognosticators said we were going to have a mild, wet winter but I think they screwed the pooch. Course, it’s not winter yet so things could change. I wouldn’t hold my breath until that happens, however, because I don’t look particularly good in blue--especially when it’s my complexion we’re talking about.

Still nothing new creatively in the hopper. Truth is, I’ve been too busy caring for a sick woman to even worry about it. She’s been bed-ridden for most of a week with a shoulder pain problem...result of a childhood injury. What the hell, an evil stepfather slung her into a wall when she was three and shattered her shoulder...I’d love to get that bastard in a small locked room for about fifteen minutes. The asshole is dead now, which is good--saves me the bother of having to located and kill him. People who treat kids that way are the lowest of the low, the scum of the earth. I was a drunk, evil sumbitch much of my life, but I never mistreated my kids or anyone else's.

Sold a Kindle copy of the murder book in the UK. I thought maybe a poet there who earlier bought Parallel Blues might have purchased it, but he said he didn’t. Guess people everywhere are interested in murder, since it’s a universal happening. Some folks need to be killed, but many times it happens to those who don’t.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Sudden Upsurge

Big run on my murder book locally all of a sudden. I took a batch to the Banner last Tuesday and Friday they were calling me to bring more. The paper has been running numerous little ads for the book the past couple of weeks and it seems to be paying off. I had to order another shipment last night and will likely be out before they get here.

Meanwhile, noticed that another sold on Kindle yesterday evening. I also got the vampire thing on there now, not that I expect it to set the world on fire. I'll be satisfied if it sells 500 copies a week. . . Hell yeah, I'd be way more than satisfied. heh

Temp dropping now and more cold weather on the way. This winter is getting off to a shitty start and can only go downhill from here.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A first...

No great roaring success as of yet, but I've sold the first murder book on Kindle. Hasn't been live there long, so maybe things will kick into gear. Good royalty, 70-percent of the purchase price in fact.

Got couple more things to put on there when they're ready, then move over and format some stuff for B&N's similar download service. Hell, a guy could screw around with this shit and make beer money.

Course, he'd probably be someone who drinks a hell of a lot less beer than I can hold.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

One with my sweetie

I damned sure don't deserve this fine woman. She's as sweet and kind as she looks, too, got a heart of gold.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Jazzbo w/Visitors

Ric Taylor, Liz Kilgo and me. These musicians/singers/songwriters came from Nashville yesterday for a visit.

Friday, November 19, 2010

New project

Started the process yesterday to convert my books for Kindle. Not terribly difficult, but a bunch of little hoops to jump through to get them in an acceptable format. Several programs to download for use in such as well. I do them in Word.doc to begin with, which is a necessary part of the process. The saving them to filtered HTML was something of a surprise, though, unlike the PDF required for the paper versions.

I"m in no big hurry because most of them won't sell in that format either, but it's just another opportunity. And, the writer gets 70-percent of the revenue in that market, which is better than the conventional route.

I'll have five or six books in that format when I'm done, including two that are very near finished. One a book of short stories and the other poems written since Smoke & Thunder. Not sure I'll bother converting the new poetry book, probably be a waste of time. Maybe not, S&T is still selling a few copies along and it's 8 years old now. Freaking royalty is miniscule, however.

Chilly this morning, but it's supposed to get up in the lower 70s again by Sunday. West Tennessee weather is always a mystery, never know what it's going to do here. I saw some predictions where we may have a warmer/stormier winter than normal.

Hope that's true--the warmer part anyway, though I don't want any of those severe winter tornadoes to come tearing through town again. Can't recall exactly, but the last one we had was either in late February or early March. Very unsettling to see all that debris whirling around a couple hundred feet in the air two blocks from one's house.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Winter arrives just ahead of a visitor

Winter seems to be making a bit of an appearance here on the rolling plains of northwestern Tennessee. Not brutal, but when that thermometer dips below freezing my old ass begins to suffer in serious fashion. And, to complicate things, if I turn up enough heat to keep the bod warm, I can't breathe worth a damn. Catch 22 for damned certain, but what can you do.

Have a visitor coming to see me this weekend after four years of conversing on the Internet and by phone. Liz Kilgo, a singer/songwriter, is coming down from Nashville with her manager to meet up with me. Liz is a good singer/songwriter and a lovely person. I've also done some conversing with Ric, her manager, who's a hell of a nice guy and good musician...he's her guitar man as well. Should be a fun time.

A friend recently tipped me off to a good, but cheap, bourbon he discovered, "Benchmark." Being on SS, I no longer drink the Johnnie Black and more expensive shit I used to buy without thinking twice. Lately, I've been drinking Kentucky Tavern, which is OK but not quite as smooth as it could be.

I bought some Benchmark in Paris Friday and damned it was everything Mike said it was; I wound up drinking half a 1.75 bottle Friday night, all in shots with no mixer. Had a little bit of a head problem Saturday morning, but nothing an Advil couldn't kick. At $15 a big bottle, can't beat it.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Life goes on (barely)

Got the cleanup project done, or at least enough of it to suit my purposes. Threw away some things, but a little judicious rearranging also helped. Still some clutter, but the floor is basically clear. Soon I'll have to start filling up the cleared space with some "organized" clutter. Sorta self defeating, eh? Oh well.

Got my annual bill from NoMonthlyFees (HA!) for jc.net this morning, due by next February. Bastards have almost doubled the annual fee, so I'll probably drop the domain when it comes up for renewal. Same with TS, which is due in April. They started out as a good deal back a decade or so ago, but have tacked on all sorts of "maintenance fees" and bullshit until now it's a rip-off. All my shit on there is old and hasn't been updated in ages anyway. Just hate to lose my domain names, but what the hell, doesn't really matter in the long haul. I have the whole Thunder Sandwich archive on a disc anyway and I'll do the same with my personal site. TS still gets several hundred visits a day even if it hasn't been updated in about 5 years. Well over 8 million total from all over the world. It was a good run, but all things pass finally.

Haven't done any writing in some time. Keep thinking I'll finish one of these projects underway or start a new one. Then I think how little the effort amounts to in the long haul. Shit, of late I've done well to get enough oxygen to keep me going.

Saw Dr. Holancin at the grocery the other day. I was telling him about my breathing problems. He said he was having knee replacement surgery, but for me to call in January and get an appointment. Said he might be able to give me something to help with the breathing. Told him I might do that, and I might. Shit, at some point I'll have to have oxygen and I'll need medical shit for that. I recall chatting with Ben Hiatt, who had COPD bad and was on oxygen. Don't think old Ben beat me out of the barn by much.

Truth is, it's all been fun. But you have to pay the piper at some point.

Sometimes, I feel like the payment is overdue.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The mess, the mess!

Some rain finally to wash away all this damned pollen collected over the past couple of months. Don't know how much we got yesterday and this morning, but surely more than an inch, inch and a half. And possible severe weather on tap for tomorrow as a cold front comes through. We didn't get any extreme weather with this first round, although there were tornadoes spotted some distance southeast of here. Screw those whirly winds, I can live without them.

Plan to start the back room cleaning project today. The operative word there is "plan," since it's 10 AM and I haven't started on it yet, although I've been up since about 6. Oh well, maybe I'll get a surge of energy after while and go after it. Or maybe not, depending. The problem with letting things get so cluttered and out of hand is that it seems futile to even tackle them. That's the case with the back room--which is actually a miniature third bedroom, but which I've been using as a book storage and "junk room" for years. Needless to say, I've collected much more junk than books, although the latter are numerous, too.

Some of the stuff I plan to throw away is not actually junk. There's my old portable typewriter, which I will never use again. There's one of those electronic typers with the thermal tape, almost new and seldom used since I bought it many years ago; the freaking tapes cost a small fortune and last a very short time. (Some years ago I threw away 3 electronic typers and an old word processor.) And, there is an antique home copy machine, one of those made years ago by 3M, which required all those chemicals and produced shitty copies on very thin, shiny pages. I never used it, just bought it at a yard sale about 15 years ago and stuck it on the metal rack that's bending under the weight of mucho bullshit.

Boxes and suitcases full of papers and correspondence. Old broken tape machines, answering machines, radios, all sorts of electrical switches and wiring. Early Nintendo game. Xmas wrapping paper, foam stuffing, collectible bottles. Fishing tackle boxes, window shades, hats. Cooler chests, hard and soft-side. 200' feet of 12-2 Romax w/ground. Assortment of electrical junctions, fixtures, etc. Motorcycle helmets (2), variety of tools (router, Skilsaw, drills, miter boxes w/saws, et al), CB radio w/whip antenna, numerous computer components along with an old early 90s Sun DOS computer, cigarette stuffing machines (old and worn), variety of cigarette tubes. Large metal wardrobe filled with clothes, sweaters, books. Two electric guitars. Card table. Folding buffet table. Folding wheelchair. Ironing board, mops, brooms. Christ, big string of homegrown peppers that have been hanging about 4 years.

This barely skims the surface, but of course I won't be throwing all these items away. Figuring out what to save is the big problem.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Not much happening

Haven't posted in some time. Not much going on and I've felt poorly of late. Same old same old, breathing problems foremost among them. I suspect part of that is caused by this drought and all the pollen that has collected on everything because of it. But some rain predicted for tomorrow and slated to extend into late next week might take care of that, if it happens. I wouldn't bet the farm on it. . . if I had a farm.

I'd planned to start on another book by now, but haven't. Just don't have the motivation at this point. Not sure when I will have. Or maybe IF I will have, I should add. I had also planned to have the back room cleaned out by now and that hasn't been done either. Again, no motivation. It's so much easier to just sit here on my ass and browse the Internet. Or watch TV. Haven't been reading either.

I gave splake the option to retrieve some of these publisher's copies of his books that I have--on his nickle, of course. He responded with enough to acquire 4 of those largest flat rate USPS boxes, so sometimes next week I'll load those up and get them in the mail. I'm sure that won't take them all and the rest will go into the trash bin, unless someone wants to pay postage for them. Course, I'm keeping a copy of each, since I edited/published them. But I don't need a ton of them and truth is, I have yet to sell the first copy of any one of them.

Must go to Camden this afternoon for Gwen's doctor appointment. Only good point about that is I'll pass right by the liquor store in Bruceton. Be surprised if that van doesn't make a turn there.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Just call me rev

Approval of Ordination

Thank you Reverend Jimmy Lee Chandler

Effective 09/24/2010

I, Douglas E. Hickman, Ordaining officer of the Universal Ministries, do Ordain, Anoint, Appoint, and Select you for placement into our Registry of Ministry as a minister, and member in good standing. This is an important date in your faith so keep this date with all important dates of your life. Even as you read these words now, I have already said them, and with your request accepted them in the Milford, Il., church in a physical, defacto service on your behalf. You, as with every member/minister of this church, were ordained in a ceremony this date with full rights of minister in the UM. Through your request to be ordained we have granted the legal authorities of the church in the world that faith grants you in spirit.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Brutus in de house

This is my new partner, Brutus. Or, I should say Gwen's, since I bought him for her birthday Wednesday. Had to drive to Henderson to get the little yorkie poo and he was a bit worn out by the time we got back home (AC not working on van). But he perked up yesterday and today he's been lively as all get-out.

I'm not the biggest dog lover in the world, but I suspect I'll get real attached to this funny little shit. He's just 10 weeks old and has been trained to use those "puppy pads," but I wanna get him to the point he can go outside to do his business. Had to leave him on a leash while we went to Camden this morning and he was ready to run wild by the time we returned. I think he can eat more than I can!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Little improvement

Gwen is somewhat better, but still far from being totally well. She has begun eating a bit, which is one hell of an improvement over days with no food at all. I didn't pick the best time to smoke a pork butt Saturday -- she's had one sandwich of it and it didn't agree with her -- but I'll eat most of it and freeze the rest. Matter of fact, will have some later and then freeze what's left; quite a bit, considering it was close to 5 pounds to begin with.

Weather has improved as well. Warm today, but not overly hot and the humidity is low. I sat on the porch drinking boilermakers all afternoon and evening yesterday, watching Titans kick Raiders ass. Dozed off at some point and woke up at 2 A.M. and came inside. Browsed around until 5 and then slept for a couple hours. Damn, forgot "Mad Men" was on last night and will have to watch the missed show at midnight tonight.

Apparently, the Vols are going to have a rough year if Saturday's game with the Ducks was any indication. Looked damned good until a couple minutes remaining in the first half, then they went complete shitsville. Matt Simms seems to be a decent QB, but getting the ball to the target doesn't help much if the target can't maintain a hold on it. I think their next game is with the Gators; I'd love to see them beat Florida, but if the past is any indication, that isn't likely to happen.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Onward, if not upward

Not much has changed on the personal front since my last entry. The woman is very ill; I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t end up in the hospital before it’s over. No appetite, losing weight rapidly. And there are some other ominous symptoms as well. She wasn’t feeling well for some time, but has really gone south in the past couple of days.

We’d planned to go to a big house party being thrown by a Facebook friend this coming Sunday but, unless there’s some dramatic improvement, that’s out the window. I was looking forward to that, too. But hell, way things stand now I’ll be lucky to get out and pay bills tomorrow.


Speaking of bills, the bathroom work was a help with the water bill. It’s down about 40-percent over the last one. The shower obviously requires a lot less water than did that old claw foot tub, and the leak he found and repaired added to the positive side. Not to mention this new commode with the 1.6 gallon siphon flush--it has dual flushes and the first one doesn’t require that much water. Anyway, a $59 bill beats hell out of a $99 one.


Supposed to cool down over the weekend. Highs in low 80s and low 50s at night. Low humidity. I’m ready for it. This summer has worn my old ass out.


On the other hand, a hot, miserable summer beats no summer at all.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

UGH II

Things not good at this time. Personal shit that I don't intend to get into here, but suffice it to say some big changes may be in the wind.

Wish I could say the same for this weather. Freaking heat wave just goes on and on with no end in sight. Not only that, most of the storms that have blown up lately in the afternoon heat bypass us. No relief, not even a brief respite from this humid shit.

I suppose I'll forget this misery when winter is upon the land and it's colder than a well-digger's ass in Montana, but maybe not this year. At least in the winter, you can put on enough clothing to stay at least semi-warm. Can't take off enough in the summer to do the same.

Weird problem yesterday on this old desktop. I installed Microsoft's batch of usual bullshit updates as always and then restarted to put some of them into action. Got a blue screen checking files and folders, which seemed to freeze up at one point about 4 percent into one of the actions. Had to kill the machine with the off/on button and try again.

Went through that process about 10 times with same results. Tried to start in safe mode but it ran the directories and then froze. Finally, went back to the blue screen and just let it run without doing anything. After many long minutes, the 4-percent finally went up to 5 and then on to a conclusion. Several other processes then took place over a matter of several minutes and the fugger finally rebooted to the login screen. Put in the password and it's worked fine since. Apparently, according to text on the screen at one point, I had a corrupted folder in the boot sector, which was repaired. Don't know what the hell caused that.

Anyway, I normally back things up but have been a bit negligent lately. That will be corrected today, because I got a taste of losing some stuff I intend to keep and the regret that came with that possibility. Not funny.


Friday, August 13, 2010

UGH

Freaking heat just goes on and on with no break or rain. Indices in the 110-115 range the past few days and that's expected to continue through the weekend. Possibility of a cool down next week, but nothing drastic, just back to the lower 90s. Screw summer, I'm ready for fall. Haven't been fishing one time this summer simply because it's way too hot.

Got the camera but haven't been able to really give it a workout. Seems to take decent pictures, judging by the few I've taken here in the house. Has lots of modes, from fully automatic to manual settings, so I'll have to play around with it some when I'm able to get outside and find something to photograph.

I wish it shot video in AVI instead of that MOV shit, but then I think I can convert it in Sony Vegas--a power-robbing, clunky ass POS if ever there was one. I might install it on the new laptop, which has enough power to deal with its demands, although I'm not sure it will work properly with Windows 7. Find 0ut, I guess.

For that matter, Windows 7 has no native mode to transfer video to the computer. There is no Movie Maker as comes with XP and ME (though the ME version is real shitty). I've checked around and some folks have apparently taken the old Movie Maker and converted it to where it's supposed to work on 7, so maybe I'll download one of those and give it a try. But hell, I've got several video editing programs on disc and surely some of them will install and work, at least enough to siphon content into the computer. (I just recalled that the laptop has a card reader, so I can probably get it in that way, though that wouldn't allow for editing options. Editing is available in the camera, but that would be very limited.)

Well along with the project to publish a collection of short stories -- my thanks to Carter Monroe for his close reading and spot-on editorial suggestions. Christ, I've got tons of stories bound up in rough copy that I've never transcribed to the computer. Others piled and stacked in old footlockers, suitcases and boxes. Probably never will transcribe most of them, and many are likely not good enough to bother with anyway. And that doesn't count three huge garbage bags of manuscripts I tossed when I left St. Louis in 1985. I've regretted that a time or two, but it's a done deal.

So is this batch of BS.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

What can I say

This fucking heat wave continues from last week. It was a heat index of 120 today after 117 yesterday. No real end in sight, though it's suppose to drop down a bit Saturday for one day.

I hate this shit. Bring on winter. I have warm clothes. 50 below, I don't give a rat's ass. At least I can breathe cold air. I can't breathe this hot shit. Or not very well, that is.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

This damned heat wave seems endless and, according to weather forecasts, will only get worse next week. Actual air temps will be around 100, so that will drive the heat index way the hell up. But what the hell, all we can do is run the air constantly, stay in for the most part and say hell with it.

Had the family gathering last Sunday, all went well. At too much, but then I'm prone to doing that anytime. Good barbecue (bought) -- way too damned hot for me to fire up a smoker. Haven't done any smoking in some time, but looking forward to doing some when this evil ass weather breaks.


Made run to Camden Monday, stopped and got new auto registration on way home. With the county additional fee to fund the new 1000-acre lake, ran the fare up to $79. Probably not a lot to some folks living in other states and urban areas, but significant increase over the past around here.


I had intended to vote while at the county complex Monday. But of course, I switched to a new wallet recently and left my voter registration card in the old one. So maybe tomorrow I'll head over to Huntingdon before my normal Friday outing and cast a vote on the last day of early voting. Don't even wanna think of standing in those long lines August 5.


Expecting a new digital camera in the mail in the next day or two. I didn't need one -- have two good video cams and three still digital cams, but Amazon had a deal on one of those Kodak 10 mp, 10x zoom camera too good to pass, at $99 for a bundle. Camera, case, rechargeable batteries, charger. Another $11 for a 4-gb card. I checked the reviews and most folks raved about the thing. We'll see.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Heat wave & more

Got that freaking painting finished up yesterday afternoon. Only problem was the stooping/sitting required; actually, the getting back in an upright position after that was the problem, since the old joints and bones don't work like they used to. But things look much better with a fresh coat of paint. Maybe when cool weather comes I'll do more general painting around the house.

Hot as hell again -- we're under another heat warning and it's expected to continue through the weekend and probably most of next week. As luck would have it, Gwen has a doctor's appointment in Camden at 2:15 this afternoon, so I'll get to enjoy the warmth. My sister and her daughter and family will be in sometime this afternoon about that time. [Change in plan. Gwen called and canceled appointment today, reset for 10:30 Monday.]

We're having a big get-together out at brother Jerry's Sunday, sort of a combined birthday celebration for me and him. Sunday will be his BD, 62nd I think. We're all getting old -- which is what happens if you live long enough. (Inane babble, that.) Way my breathing has deteriorated the last few weeks, figure I'll be damned lucky to see 70.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Life goes on

Just back from town. Had to pick up a gallon of trim paint, gonna do all the bathroom trim and doors today. Ah, the joys of home ownership!

Fairly uneventful 69th birthday passed the 19th. Got about half lit. No. Got completely lit, if truth be told. Hell, 30 years ago I would have given long odds that I would not be alive today. So, no complaints. I've dreamed many times that I live to be 77. Don't know what the hell the basis for that is, those particular numbers, but if I do that would be cool, too. If not, well what the hell can you do about it?

Hot as hell. The heat index was 106 yesterday and may surpass that today. Humidity so dense you can almost swim through it. Not the optimum weather for a guy with breathing difficulties. Christ, I came in from the store yesterday afternoon to find my brother Edd mowing my tall-ass grass. I don't see how he did it, but he mowed the whole freaking yard and weed-ate (huh?) as well. Course, won't take a penny for it either. I'll take him and his wife back to Carmack's Fish Barn again before long as a repayment of sorts. I took them for the first time a couple or three weeks ago and they were impressed by the food and the ambiance.

I see Mike Boyle has shut down Bohobait. I hate that, I dropped by there frequently and always enjoyed Mike's posts. Certainly, this sort of "blogging" I'm doing is a waste of time for the most part, something that would fall under the "who gives a fuck?" column. I don't know why I bother to do it; truth is, I had a blog back in '98 on one of my domains, long before blogging became "the thing" to do. And I did the "Blogmouth" thing on jc.net for about five years before giving that up.

I'll no doubt quit this shit one of these days. But until I do, I'll keep posting such mundane BS. Such is life.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Not much happening

Haven't posted lately, been sort of under the weather with allergies and what is apparently a chest cold. Woman has been sick too, so it's been the blind leading the blind around here. Morning heavy rain has ended and the sun is shining at the moment--all working toward tomorrow's heat warning. That sun will soak all this rain out of the earth and the humidity will be beyond awful.

Expecting another delivery of books tomorrow. Sales have been decent -- one elderly woman from Yuma showed up and bought 12 the other day, 11 of those orders from her friends and neighbors. I need to find an outlet out in the county, one of those rural stores that would stock them. Also need to explore the possibility of setting up a sales booth at the new merchant's mall they have here now. Might give it a try one weekend and see what happens, could offer both novels and the murder book in combination for a good deal. That outfit collects and pays the state sales tax, so that would solve a big problem.

Today is my routine "afternoon out." Banking, mailing, coffee shop chat, bit of shopping. Damn, what an exciting life I lead!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Stormin'...

Sitting on the porch for hours earlier, watching the lightning flash and the rain roll. Electricity went off numerous time as lightning hit this transformer and that one. Damn, it was exciting and we needed the rain more than I can say. We had a mini flood.

Okay, now things are cool. Lightning has moved to south, so has rain. Just another humid night in Dixie.

Nice review

A decent review of Smoke and Thunder can be found here.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Porch is lookin' good, thanks to my woman




Gwen has been sprucing up my sitting area on the front porch. Also I've added blinds and gotten rid of the old plastic tarp I've had hanging as a sun shield. This is a great place to stay when the weather is nice, reading, writing or browsing, watching TV or a DVD. Too damned hot now to do much out there, however, but I'm looking forward to a lot of Saturday and Sunday football view come fall.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Getting close....

Getting down to the nitty gritty now. Just a bit of trim work, shelving and paint tomorrow and it will be wound up. He figures he'll be done around noon or shortly thereafter. Sounds good to me.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Work progressing

Have the new floor in and level and the rolled goods down. Gerald is now working on the shower enclosure--which has proven to be a big pain in the ass because the surround panels didn't fit right. Or, I should say, the cap part around the top wouldn't fit as is. Of course, a little creative Afro engineering can take care of a problem like that and has at this point. Now he has to set the enclosure to the drain and build walls on each side. He'd hoped to be done by tomorrow afternoon but with the holdup and aggravation today, that may not be the case. Whatever, just have to take it as it comes.


Monday, June 14, 2010

Minor change of plan

Woman decided to wait and leave this morning instead of yesterday evening, and drove herself. So, she left about a half hour ago and it's about 20 minutes until workmen are scheduled to arrive. I've done everything but shut off the water meter, which I'll do when they get here.

I made a futile attempt to remove the gas heater, but only had one pipe wrench small enough for the job and couldn't break the union loose without turning one of the pipes. I suppose they will have something to do the job with. In fact, the heater is un-vented and illegal and hasn't been used in years, not since it almost asphyxiated me. Last time dude from the gas company came and lit pilots and checked things years ago, he noted that he was supposed to shut and lock the meter after observing that stove. He didn't, on the condition of our promise not to use it. Also have a 220-volt wall heater, but it burned out years ago, so I just use a space heater in the winter.

Freaking hot again, under a heat warning. Some places nearby got rain and a bit of cooling off yesterday, as will happen again today most likely. But we didn't, and probably won't.

Ah well, gotta have something to bitch about, eh?

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ah, hell

Been busting ass today getting the bathroom cleaned out best as I can. Carpenters coming Monday morning to tear the floor out and remodel the thing somewhat. Gonna lose the old claw-foot tub and put a shower in and also replace the commode, among other things. Also, gonna insulate those plumbing lines real good while there is easy access to them. Job is supposed to take a week, so the lady friend is going home until it's finished. I'll take her tomorrow afternoon.

Book is still selling some copies. In fact, Banner called Friday and they need more, so I'll take a batch Monday morning. Haven't done much writing lately because I've been occupied with other things.

Damned hot. Heat indices in the 105-110 range through Wednesday, according to the weatherman. Not very pleasant and hell, it's not even summer yet.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Checking in

Things progressing along. Woman got out of hospital some weeks ago and has been here since. Doing okay, though has number of medical appointments I must take her to on continuing basis. But no problem. That's part of life.

Brooks murder book is selling briskly, if not with the "bestseller" rush I had hoped for. Certainly doing better than anything else I've ever written and getting accolades for the way I told the story--from local people who know firsthand of the story. Course, the vampire book is not doing as well but that is to be expected; the same could be said of the book of short stories and the book of poetry I'm preparing. Few will read them, but that's okay, too. Who in hell can afford to buy books in this economy?

I'll keep writing them anyway, simply because I don't have anything else to do.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Counting chickens...

Well, hell. We all recall that old "counting chicks before they hatch" thing. It's not a good practice--even if you think something is iron-clad. Sometimes, the trickster monkey gets in the works.

I'm talking about my done publishing deal. I thought it was a done deal. I was wrong obviously. Not going into reasons or whatever, but they deal just didn't fly like it was supposed to. But what the hell; the book will be published anyway, one way or the other. I just need to learn to keep my mouth shut until things are a fait accompli, eh.

The woman is still in the hospital, in Nashville. A problem with heart valves, which has been at least partially corrected. A problem with a doctor having one on too much medication, which is now being corrected. I'm not sure how much longer she'll be there, probably a week or two. I talk to her about every day, though I told her yesterday I was going to have to change that to every other simply because of expenses involved with such long distance shit. Sad fact of life.

Fucking lawn mower almost killed me a couple times since I last reported in. Saved by nitro and a plastic bag to breathe in. Panic city. My brother Edd was mowing it when I came in from store last Friday. Told me to keep my ass away from mower, to which I heartily agreed. No wind power left, none for any real physical exertion. It's a damned shame to get old and worn out, but it happens to all of us eventually.

What the hell, cool, gloomy weather. And more storms in the forecast for the upcoming weekend. Tornado season has been delayed somewhat this year. But it seems to be making up for it now.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

If not one thing, then the other

Girlfriend is in Nashville hospital. She went home yesterday for a few hours to conduct some business and had a medical problem arise. A stroke or seizure or something of that nature. She was with her cousin at the time. Taken to Camden General and then transferred to Centennial in Nashville. I've talked to her three times, latest couple hours ago, and she seems to be much better. But tests and all that shit. Don't know if I'll go up or not, just depends on how things continue to unfold.

Hell, I'm almost disabled myself. Tried to mow yard yesterday and had breathing/heart episodes that had me taking nitro twice. Fuck it, just fading away it seems. If' I'd dreamed I'd live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. Didn't, and didn't.

Book? Some sort of problem with the printing company apparently. Not sure what. Not going to worry about it at this point. Whatever. It will happen when it happens.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Getting close

Getting close to publishing the book Murder Along the Midnight Road (subtitle: The death of Dennis Brooks, Jr.). Going down this afternoon to go over final details on royalty, distribution, promotion, cover. From the looks of things (and if it sells like it might) I could wind up making a few bucks this time around. All I can say to that is, it's about time.

Been on the wagon since last Sunday, nary a drop of anything. I'd like to be able to report that I've seen some great benefit in the way I feel, but that's just not true; indeed, I felt physically better when I was drinking every day. And, making no great commitment to lay off the sauce permanently. Hell, I may have a drink before the day's over, if I decide I want one. But I just haven't wanted one lately. That is bound to change.

Beautiful day, with a week more of them in the forecast. This after an overnight low in the mid 30s. I still haven't gone fishing, but hopefully in the coming week can work in some time to dip a hook.

No company at the present time -- we decided to wait until next weekend, then she can come over and stay a while. She loves to fish (says she baits her own hook and takes her own fish off), so I may have a built-in fishing buddy.

We do talk on the phone every day. Sometimes twice. I'm somewhat torn between this love I have for solitude and the enjoyment I get from company of the opposite sex.

If push comes to shove, I'll probably take the company.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

If it weren't for bad luck...

Got into the old ride yesterday to leave Camden and noticed that the small rock blip in the windshield had turned into a crack about 8 inches long. Dammit. I didn't see when it happened, but I suspect driving through a deep drain groove just inside the apartment complex driveway did the damage. Anyway, I eased through it coming out and managed to avoid most potholes on the way home, because another good rack of the frame might cause the whole damned thing to pop out.

Now, I'm debating whether I should go to a junkyard and try to find one and then fight the physical battle of trying to get the son of a bitch in and sealed good, or just hire a windshield outfit to come replace it; I think the latter would cost about $250 judging by some Google research. I could probably get a junkyard replacement for $50 or so.

I'm not going to do either one right at the moment. I stuck a piece of transparent Scotch packaging tape on the inside that will do for the time being. Course, the crack is long enough to be illegal, but it's real fine and not noticeable at all unless you're up close to it, so I don't think a passing cop would spot it.

Nice Easter weekend otherwise. I got hammered Saturday. Must have been a positive thing, because I didn't have a drop yesterday and don't plan on having one today.

When I get out on a sidewalk preaching to people I don't even know (or hell, KNOW for that matter), you gotta figure I've gone around the bend on the sauce. What the hell, had a great conversation with some black dude, who seemed to dig what I was laying down.

Jeez. Maybe I should change my name to Billy Graham Cracker. Start a TV ministry. Buy myself a Rolex and a Rolls Royce.

Nah.

Friday, April 2, 2010

When the house is rockin

I'll be heading out in the morning to Benton County to spend the weekend with the lady friend. Supposed to rain and storm, but what the hell. I won't melt. And maybe some foul weather will deter those THP roadblocks they're bound to throw up everywhere, although it's not unusual to see those dudes with their yellow raincoats and Smokey Bear hat covers stopping cars in a flood.

Fuck 'em. I may be hauling something, but it won't be open and I won't be drinking. And the pistol and cartridges will be in separate compartments. Won't be packing Condition One in my rear pocket as was case last time I was busted. I tried to get a permit years ago, because of anonymous death threats. Somebody left me messages that I was going to "disappear." Said they would grind me up and put me in Big Buck Bottom. And, they mentioned a few things nobody would know if they hadn't been following me. Made a believer out of me. And the chief of police, too. He heard it on answering machine and thought it was serious.

Course, my crime writing offended a lot of people back then. Being threatened wasn't out of the ordinary. A couple time, I invited the "threatener" out to the beer joint parking lot, if they were really intent on settling scores. They declined, as those who are all talk and no action usually do.

I paid my money to the TBI for a records check and all that shit. The idiot at the sheriff's department couldn't get a decent set of fingerprints that the fuzz would accept. He smashed my fingers down on the card so hard there was nothing but a black blob. So much pressure it actually hurt.

"Here, let me do it myself," I said, rolling on a perfect print. The TBI would have loved it. Hell, the FBI and Interpol would have swooned over it. "See, that's perfect."

"That ain't allowed," the idiot replied. "I have to do it myself 'cause I'm in charge of prints."

So, after three trips over there, I gave up. As the sheriff at the time told me, "Hell, just stick one in your pocket. It's better to be tried by 12 than toted by six." That's a notion I can get behind easily enough.

Next thing I have to buy is a large keyboard, Casio or Yamaha. Gwen had been telling me she played the piano, but I didn't pay much attention. I figured maybe she played it about like I play the guitar. Lots of people claim to "play" instruments when they know just about enough to get in trouble.

But I broke out the little Casio board I have last weekend and she wasn't shitting me -- she plays great. I've screwed with that thing for years and can barely plunk out a little half assed tune on it. She played the fucker like Liberace or somebody and in all styles. Gospel, rock, blues, whatever I mentioned.

Course, I had to break out the guitar and, after a little tuning, we were getting down. And I had to croon a little too, coming across a bit like Leon Russell with terminal throat cancer, or Little Jimmy Dickens with an old cold tater lodged in his windpipe. AND, I can play guitar like Clapton, too -- IF you beat on his fingers with a four-pound shop hammer for an hour beforehand.

What the hell, it's all in fun. If you ever get too old to have fun, might as well lie down and let somebody cover you up.



Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Not to beat a dead horse, but. . .

The media made a big to-do about threats to Democratic lawmakers who passed the health care bill. But when a Philadelphia man is arrested after threatening the life of the number two Republican in Congress, it doesn't get a mention on two of the four major networks.

If this doesn't show media bias, I don't know what the hell could.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Changes

Woman left today around noon. I just figured up that she's been here 24 days this month, but what the hell, we had a good time. I'll be going over to her place either Friday or Saturday (probably Sat. morning) to spend the weekend and have Easter dinner Sunday. Nice ham, which is always good. That was her idea, since I normally don't celebrate Easter. But I'll eat a good baked ham anytime, holiday or not.

Got about half of my tomato garden spot spaded up this afternoon. Started turning up so many earthworms that I went and found my worm bucket. It used to be a gallon ice cream bucket, but it works well for keeping worms. Have to sprinkle a little cornmeal in occasionally, and a sprinkle or two of water when it gets too dry. Temp is going up near 80 the last 3 days of the week, so I may hit the fishing hole. I intend soon to get on revision of the vampire thing, but I can throw in a little fishing before that gets too serious.


Bought a new laptop since my last entry. I've been checking reviews and found this 17.3" Acer that seemed to be a good machine; I've had an Acer laptop for almost 4 years and never had a moment's trouble with it, it's just too small and underpowered for my current needs. The new one has lots of hard drive and RAM and a lot of bells and whistles. Built-in web cam and mic, wide high def screen (video looks fantastic on it), HD TV connection, Dolby sound system, card reader, Bluetooth, lots of USB ports. I no sooner had it out of the box and turned on until the wireless found my network router, so getting online was no problem. (I'm having a problem on my router firewall, however. Got Port 21 forwarded, but the son of a bitch won't let me FTP. I thought it was the domain provider's server blocking me, but I gave login info to a friend in a distant town and they were able to open my server on 21 with no problem. I'll get it figured out eventually.)


I don't like Windows 7 worth a shit, but I'll get used to it. Amazing how they left a mail program out of it, not to mention Movie Maker. But they do have enhanced security and a DVD burning program.


Friday, March 26, 2010

The Lying Left

Progressives are such crybabies. A few people say nasty things about them and suddenly they're whimpering about being threatened and harassed. And certainly the media jumps about and makes mountains out of molehills, with blaring headlines designed to make the opposition look like ogres out to do in the good health care providers.

We've seen an article about a coffin being left on the lawn of one Missouri democrat. As it turns out, that was a lie; the protesters took the coffin with them when they left. The coffin was representative of all the dead babies to come because of the recently passed legislation. Yeah, sure, Obama signed an executive order. But executive orders can't override legislation.


A Seattle paper had a big deal about someone throwing a rock through the office window of one of their representatives. Some major league team needs to find that rock-thrower -- the woman's office is on the 30th floor, so that was a pretty good toss.


Oh, and we've heard all about the abuse heaped upon legislators, many black. as they ran the gauntlet of evil wingnuts while walking (parading) back to Congress. Big headlines about being spat upon and forced to listen to racist chants of "nigger!"


Odd, that one. There were a number of cameras covering that piece of constructed drama, private and professional cameras, and yet not a one thus far has recorded the word nigger. And, the only thing close to a spitting incident was one protester with his hands cupped around his mouth screaming. Apparently, some spittle hit Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver -- who described the incident as a man "who allowed saliva to hit my face"

Sounds real evil, eh? The guy he described that to, a black columnist, sounds a whole lot more racist and violent than the crowd, as you can see by reading this.


The Left seems to have a short memory when it comes to violence and threats. George W. Bush lived through eight years of malignant outburst from these kooks. Here's just a small sample of the calls for his death. There are thousands more.


The old pot calling the kettle black cliché comes to mind with all this. If you wanna read some nasty, violent shit directed against everybody but progressives, just check the forums at places like MoveOn and Huffington Post. And a lot of other leftist boards and forums. Nobody could equal the nastiness displayed by these pea-brained thugs.


Let's not even get started with some of the horrid things voiced by the Hollywood in-crowd. Certainly, it's okay for someone like Sean Penn to say he hopes all his critics "die screaming of rectal cancer" because, well, because he's Sean Penn. There are many more such examples of verbal diarrhea from the Hollywood Left, but why bother, nothing will convince a dyed-in-the-wool extreme Dim-o-crap.


I actually had no intention of getting into political shit on this blog. But I get so sick of reading some of the crap I've been reading, comments that bear little resemblance to the truth.


There's nothing wrong with having a strong opinion and voicing it. Hell, there's nothing wrong with saying you'd like to see some folks screaming from cancer of the asshole, if that's what you believe; I'd probably like to see/hear some of that myself.


But don't do it and then pretend to be some pristine, reasonable fellow who takes all the abuse from the other side.


In short, don't be a fucking hypocrite.




Monday, March 22, 2010

Book done

Cold, rainy morning with talk of the possibility of a little white stuff. Crazy. It was in the 70s a couple of days ago, bright and sunny. I sat on the front porch enjoying a few Greyhounds in the good air. Now, soggy and miserable again, but the nice weather is alleged to be on its way back later this week.

Finished the murder book last Thursday. I'd originally planned to immediately leap on another project. Change of plans. I'll kick back a while before tackling something new. Not sure what it will be, but I've changed my mind about never again writing a nonfiction book. Have an idea for one in mind, but not ready to talk about it. Just a thought.

My lady friend is back. She left Tuesday morning and came back Thursday afternoon. Not sure how long she's staying this time, but it doesn't matter. We have a good time together and I enjoy the company. Had the best pot roast last night that I've ever made. . .or eaten. Browned it, put it in the pressure cooker for 25 minutes, then into the crockpot for about 4 hours, with a gravy made of mushroom soup, mushrooms and onions. You could cut it with a blunt fork. Throw a pile of that and mashed potatoes on bread, cover it with gravy and go south. And I did, long and hearty.

What the hell if I eat too much and get sick. We have socialized health care now, don't we? Well, almost. I'm sure an old guy like me can get a new heart on somebody's nickle if I need one, right?

Yeah, sure I can. What a bunch of shit. One funny thing: all those young flaming liberals who voted for Obummer will whimper and whine now when they're forced to buy insurance that, in most cases, they don't need. Poetic justice.

I suspect the real justice will come in November. These dudes have changed all the rules, apparently believing they were going to stay in power forever. They won't and they'll whine and cry when the same tactics are used against them in the future. And they will be, you can rest assured of that.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Old poets die

I see Todd Moore has died. All the poets are writing about him, as poets are wont to do when some popular figure passes the scene. Well, if they identify with his slant on things. But not always.

I published some of Moore's stuff over the years. We had a bit of contact over the years, always cordial and friendly. I was sorry to hear he was gone and he was a very good poet. But I won't be writing any elegy poems for him because we weren't that close.

I did write such a poem when Ben Hiatt died. I had a close connection with Ben, who went way back in the little circus. Ben was a trailblazer in that world in the way most of us are not--I know lots of poets but none who reaches back as far as he did. Ben hung with the real Beats, the ones everyone today tries to emulate.

Ben didn't get a mention in these circles. So here's one for him.

Elegy to a Tall Man Gone
(for Ben Hiatt)

I was sorry to hear that you
had dragged up, old friend,
packed your bags for that
long last trip.

We had a lot in common.
Same age, both of us
rural redneck types who
somehow found the urge to write.

We both came from
families torn by strife,
had fathers who could become
monsters in the shade of alcohol.

Men rattled by the Depression
and the War, men who never
learned to love enough to
equal the hate they bore.

We grew up rough and tough,
lived life hard and fast, out on
our own young, learning
all about survival.

Too much booze, too many women,
it all became a circus
with descending rings, emptying
faster than it refilled,

A reservoir drained through
all those broken rifts, the
run-off of time spilled
out the broken edges of life.

You lost your breath finally,
after years of breathing from a tank,
the heart gave up, couldn't carry
the burden any longer.

Put you down to silence, where
the mountain winds and
the spring sun you loved
never find an entry.

We all go finally to dark quiet.
Some call it eternal rest, this
withdrawal from the quest
to find our place here.

Smoke rattles in
my lungs this morning.
I have no tank-yet-but
I am not far behind.

I raise a cold beer to you,
Tall Man, one a head above
most of the crowd in
more ways than one.

You now know the answer
to the mystery. Soon, I
shall know it too.

May we laugh in heaven
or hell, or in the blank space
of nothing, if that is

our destiny.



The late Ben Hiatt



Friday, March 5, 2010

Next couple of weeks....

Woman coming over later today to spend 10 days at the Jazzbo abode. I'm looking forward to it, needless to say. I enjoy the company.

Today's one of my "coffee with the boys" days, so she's meeting me at the store around 4:00 so we can do some grocery shopping. She'll stop in Bruceton on the way over and pick up a couple jugs of my favorite libation. I'll stock up on grapefruit juice today. Hold 'em tigers, boys!


I am now a member of the local VFW post. My brother (who's an officer out there) put my name up for membership last week and I was approved; that never would have happened had one enemy there not died some time ago.


The old dude hated me because I wrote about his son's DUI arrest, and then wrote about it again a year later when the son never had faced the charges in court--the "fix" had been put in by a local big shot, according to what the guy's wife told someone. My call to the assistant DA and article about the talk we had greased the skids and he received the regular mandatory sentence a week or so later. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.


As I told the DA, they put my ass in jail twice for it and nobody waited a year to do so. That "it fell through the cracks" shit didn't fly with me. It was stuffed through the cracks and then covered up. For a while, anyway.


I don't plan to spend a lot of time at the club. Too damned expensive for one thing -- I can buy a whole jug for what 4 or 5 drinks cost out there. But it's good to have an occasional place to get a mixed drink, and, with the exception of the country club, it's the only place in this part of the country where that's possible, short of Jackson.


AND, I'll only drink out there when I have a ride home. I've learned that lesson the hard way.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Pointless update

Spent the weekend in Camden again, came home yesterday. She'll be coming over here Friday for a few days. I think it's supposed to get up into the sixties this weekend, so I might fire up the smoker. Probably won't, but it's a thought I've had recently. Might be pushing it a bit, because Monday is predicted to be rainy and that might move in early. Storms, too.

Speaking of storms, February was the first since records began when no tornadoes happened anywhere in the states. Locally, it was our third coldest on record.


Waiting to get the edits back before I can progress in that direction. Damn, I'm sick of that book. Think I'll take a considerable time off before starting a new one, or finishing one of those already started. All work and no play....


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hardhead

I fell full length Friday and struck my forehead on a commode rim. It didn't knock me out, but it did stun me somewhat. I've only been knocked out once in my life, though I've carried some mighty blows to the head and face. I was stunned once in similar fashion when I slid a motorcycle off into a ditch at about 75 and was ejected. Over the handlebars. Over a fence. No helmet. I landed about 50 feet out in a field, on my face, and for about five seconds I was addled. I always figured the only thing that saved me was the fifth of Johnnie Walker I'd consumed in the couple hours before the accident. Limber and all, you know.

I don't count the time I was knocked out by electricity. That was aboard ship. I grabbed an electrical connection while we were washing down the ship. I was soaking wet and standing in about two inches of water. It was a 440-volt cable. I was out several minutes after that mishap. Had weird "visions" or something during that time, like a strange dream. I don't know why it didn't kill me, it should have. But then, lots of things I've done should have.

Anyway, had a great weekend visit with my lady friend. Even found the time to finish the afterword; well, not finish it actually. What I did was shitcan what I had written, about 2,500 words, and wrote a new one. About 1,100 words that say what I needed to say.

So, taking it easy for a few days, until I get the next edits back. May do a little housekeeping; God knows, it's due. Or, I could sit here and look at this fucking 35-degree gloom outside the window.

This weather is wearing me out. I'm yearning for those first warm days of spring, so I can unwrap the smoker and fire up some hickory. Maybe pop a beer or three. Wet a fishing line. Just sit on the porch and breathe fresh air, instead of this lung-clogging fog of smoke I'm perpetually surrounded by in here.

Oh well, all things come to pass. And that's good.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Weekend is here

Heading out soon to spend the weekend with the lady. I'll stop at the county offices in Huntingdon to pay bloodsucking property tax, ease in before the deadline end of this month. Already paid city.

Actually, at my income level, and being a "senior" I could take advantage of a program and not have to pay
any property taxes. But I'm too damned proud. I've never asked for, or wanted, any form of charity from the government or anybody else. Damned if I'll take it at this late date.

Finished first edits on the murder book (except for the afterword). Another run-through coming up soon and probably one more after that. Then the fucker will be done. And I will be glad, really tired of it at this point. As with Parallel Blues, I probably won't even read it after it's published.


Weather has turned a bit warmer. Supposed to go up to low 50s today. But rain coming later today and for most of the weekend and a chance it might change to snow Monday.

Let it rain, that won't affect my weekend plans. I'm up for some indoor sports.


You get the drift.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The beat goes on

About halfway through the first markup returned by my editor. Many suggestions I have used, some not. We've decided to go through this process twice more and call it a day; no point in fighting it six times as we did last time. I've discovered the end is where you say it is. Anything else is pissing into the wind.

Valentine's Day. Oddly enough, won't be seeing my woman today. She came last Sunday and stayed until Thursday, although she'd planned to go back home Monday. Weather, icy roads. We sort of agreed that I should get this book done before we get together again; I just can't work on it when she's around. Well, I agreed to that anyway. She wasn't real happy.

I suspect we will get together again before it's completely finished. Although I treasure solitude (always have), I miss her when she's gone. Not just the sex, though that's part of it. I miss that smile, that odd little giggle. The way she gets all excited about certain things and, like a child, doesn't try to contain that excitement. The way she can discuss almost anything, because she's very smart. She thinks I'm a genius, but she's the one with the college degrees. As I told her, the fact that I can answer most of the questions on "Jeopardy" before the contestants do just means I know a lot of trivia, not that I'm intelligent.

It's a fairly settled fact that I will never marry again; twice is once too many. But I have lived with a couple of women since my last divorce and that is not out of the question.

I'm pondering it now, that possibility. Indeed, I could clean out the "junk room" (years ago the back porch was enclosed and converted into a very small extra bedroom) and make an office back there. A place where I could write without being disturbed too much. Clearing all the clutter out of that space would be a daunting task, but not impossible. Not fun, though, and most of it would have to go into the trash because I have no free space.

This desire to have someone else around may be more of a product of age than anything else. As I've grown older I have become much more reclusive. At some point, mere solitude wanders over into loneliness. I think that's where I'm beginning to find myself, venturing into that territory. From what I can see, it's a hostile land, a place I don't care to explore too deeply. I don't want to wind up like another old codger I know, pretending that "art" replaces what he really craves--companionship and the love of a woman.

We'll see. I've lived long enough to know that things frequently don't work out as we wish. The best laid plans, many a slip twixt....

All that jazz.


(Later, 3:45 p.m.)

She called around noon, after I posted the above. Wanted me to come over today and spend the night. I wasn't prepared to go anywhere today, so begged off. Said I'd come over tomorrow and stay the night.

Sometime later, saw the weather forecast. Winter weather advisory, snow coming in tonight; indeed, the drizzle has started already. Tomorrow it won't get above 30 so the roads will be screwed. I called her back, postponed things until Tuesday. Warming up a bit then (upper 30s anyway) so I should be able to make it without a problem. It's only 30 something miles.

I said we'd likely see one another before the book was finished. I was right.

I should have said, "several times" before the book is finished.

That would be right, too.


Saturday, February 6, 2010

Just stuff

Not a great deal to report. I did speak with one of the lawyers involved in the murder case I'm writing about, a defense attorney for one of the guys, but he couldn't clear up the problem I've run into. So, I suppose one day next week I'll head over to the courthouse and spend some hours pouring through transcripts. Not fun, but what the hell is nowadays.

Shitty weather. The inch of snow we might have gotten last night didn't materialize, but today is a cloudy, cold bitch. And, there's a possibility of more of the frozen stuff Sunday night into Monday. I realize climate and weather are two different things, but when I hear some of these assholes talking about global warming it generates the killer instinct. It had better happen before the damned natural gas company gets all my money.

Sitting here waiting to hear something from a friend about when another mutual friend's viewing and funeral is scheduled. He died of pneumonia yesterday afternoon, though he was in the hospital for cancer of the thyroid; been having throat problems for a couple years and it was just diagnosed a month or so ago. Not the kind of situation that builds much faith in the medical profession's diagnostic abilities.

What the hell, he'd had his feeding tube disconnected a few days ago and had requested that a green DNR bracelet be placed on his wrist. Had a trache to assist his breathing and couldn't talk, couldn't eat and had a couple months of such a nothing life left at best. I'm sure he was ready to check out.

Lady friend didn't get to come over as planned yesterday. Problems with boarding the dog. She's supposed to come Sunday afternoon for a couple days. We'll have some Mexican food and watch the Super Bowl.

And well, you know....

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A tiny bit of progress

Finished first revision with the text part of the new murder book, although I'm still working on the "afterword" portion. As I said elsewhere, this is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning. Much more to do and that's bad, because I'm already sick unto death of it.

I'm taking a whole other approach with the "vampire" book. One time through it and screw it, that will be it. I'll publish it on Amazon or one of those freebie things and forget it. No big deal. I have some other things I wanna write/finish, but they won't be a big deal either. You won't see me announcing it like it's the fucking second coming or something, as some are prone to do. It's laughable almost.

I do want to plug a book, but it's not mine. It's Tim Peeler's new collection, "Checking Out," published by Hub City Press. Peeler spent some time working in the hotel business and has transformed those memories and characters encountered there into some of the best narrative poetry you're apt to read nowadays.

As I said in a blurb, it's rare today when I read poetry and wish I had written it. I did that on almost every page of this book.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Ah, hell

I haven't updated this blog in some time. Been busy with other pursuits.

I played nursemaid to the woman for nine days; she fell and cracked a rib and couldn't do much for herself. She's back home as of yesterday and I have much catching up to do.

About two-thirds through the first revision of the murder book. My goal is to finish completely by the end of February.

That may not be realistic. Got the first 10 pages back from my private editor and they were marked up fairly heavily. Only briefly scanned it, but saw several places where recommended changes were valid. Some other suggestions I will ignore.

Now, preparing to go to a funeral in a couple hours. My brother's mother-in-law. Few of us will live to be 94, up and active through most of it.

Few of us would probably want to.