Nerves.

I joined the Online Writing Workshop for SF, F, and Horror a while back, intending to get feedback on my novel, Gods of Gray Hill. As they say, "you get what you ask for." Most of it has been really good, but I have to brace myself every time I see a message in my inbox letting me know I have a new review.

I've had only one "I don't get it" review; the rest have all been painfully helpful. The story really is coming out of my head and forming on paper, finally. I've still bitten off more than I can chew, but if I can pull this off, I should be able to do pretty much whatever I want to.

Anyway. I finished a particularly agonizing revision of an early chapter and decided to reward myself by going over an old short story and posting that to get feedback.

The story is called "Things you don't want but have to take." I wrote it one day while sitting in a systems class for work, because the instructors have to repeat everything they say six times and then answer questions. I originally submitted it to Weird Tales. The guy that read it sent a short note, stating in no uncertain terms that he didn't get it and that it was too weird. No strong language, no gore. Go figure.

I reread the story, and it gave me the creeps, so I decided to do a little editing and send it off. A week later, I just posted it.

Tell me why I'm positively twitchy about this story, having spent all of maybe ten hours on it both then and now, when I've spent years on GH but only need a little bucking up to face crits on it.

Dude.

I was reading a book of Tom Waits interviews the other day when I saw that he did the voice of Tommy the Cat on the eponymous song by Primus. Looked it up on the credits. TW's there, as "voices."

Cooooool.

A P.S. of Duh.

Tommy the Cat. O-kay. It took a while, but I put it together. Tom Waits. Tommy the Cat. How often is it you get to sing on your own hommage song?

The Scientist.

I had just banished Ray to her room, and "The Scientist" by Coldplay came on. She'd been eating the covers off her books, after everything else she'd been doing for the last hour.

A line from the chorus:

Nobody said it was easy/but no one ever said it would be so hard.

--So I let her come out.

Zen monks shave their heads, don't they?

The new Disturbed album, "Ten Thousand Fists" is out.

A quote from "The Gateless Gate," a very old Zen text:

'Joshu went to a hermit's and asked, "What's up? What's up?"(="Have you any Zen?") The hermit lifted up his fist. Joshu said, "The water is too shallow to anchor here," and went away. Joshu visited the hermit once again a few days later and said, "What's up? What's up?" The hermit raised his fist again. Then Joshu said, "Well given, well taken, well killed, well saved." And he bowed to the hermit. '

All this and lots of guitars, too!

P.S. I thought I should mention that I went to Borders to buy the album with what I had left on a gift card, but then I saw the Strangers in Paradise 3rd pocket book. Zen Schmen.

P.P.S. Lee, the sweetie, bought me a copy of "Ten Thousand Fists." There's an excellent cover of "Land of Confusion" by Genesis. Ironically, there's a verse in the song:
"I won’t be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We’re not just making promises
That we know, we’ll never keep."
Sigh.

P.P.P.S. Because I took the new album to work and telling the story of how Lee found out I wanted it, I ended up trying to explain to someone what a koan was, and what this koan in particular meant. This did not go so well.

"My brain hurts," she said. "Thank you."

D--- it.

I finally got to see Kaylee.

I brought my camera.

I took 0 pictures.

This speaks volumes of my ability to focus on anything except the cuteness that is Kaylee's little head, which still smells like baby head.

Bush

Every time I see one of those ubiquitous "W" stickers, I ask, "Did you get what you wanted yet? Or are you just getting what you asked for?"

Commentary on Katrina by the wise and wonderful Marn.

It's going to be Bugs Bunny in the carrot patch. Again.

Fictional Truth.

Just as when a character says "the plan is..." it indicates that things will not go according to plan, when a characters says, "we know that..." whatever follows is wrong, wrong, wrong.

This goes double (for six wrongs) if anyone agrees.