Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Halloween Tale

It was a dark and stormy night (don't all fireside tales start with that) there was a rocking vampire. Night's special daughter, hair streaked with purple and blue eyes that would remind you of the Atlantic Ocean. She ran through the rain looking for shelter.  A man chased her with a stake in hand to rid the world of one more blood thirsty creature. She didn't choose this life, she was a victim but she grew to love the night and the never ending feast of flowing blood before her.

A church loomed before her, the man closed in. She tried the red door and she slipped in. All the penny candles were lit for it was All Saint's Day and the church glowed with serenity and peace. She ducked into a confessional.

"Good evening miss, what is troubling you?" the preist asked.

"There is a man chasing me. I think he is in here. He watched me come in."

"Be still." She heard his door open. Then heard both men talking.

"Father, there is demon blood in the church."

"You will not harm anyone in the house of God."

"I am doing God's work. The girl is a vampire, she feasts on the living. She is Satan's daughter."

"And we feast on the animals of the world. And we are all animals. Go or I should call the police. And I don't think they will believe you especially over the word from a preist."

"You will be sorry when she takes your blood. Then who will be your savior?"

She heard the door slam. "Miss you can come out."

Slowly, she left the booth and gazed into the young man's eyes. His wolf eyes glimmered in the candle light. And if there is ever a thing of love at first sight, this would be it. A man of the cloth and a daughter of the night. Sometimes love has no reason just answers to a soul's contentment.

So they lived secretly, he broke all the vows but it didn't matter. She wanted to turn him but he didn't want that. After many years they had a daughter, who was blood thirtsy as well but in a different way. Years went by and the hunter came back with the witch who discovered the unlikely family. She cursed the family and they would suffer.

He died shortly after the witch cursed them. Both the vampire and the daughter anguished over his death. Yet, he came back. He broke from the simple wooden casket and dug his way out the earth and made his way home. Not a vampire nor a zombie just a dead man, doomed to walk the earth forever. He always had pain from decomposition and his face had no skin. His bones were brittle and he hurt all over.

They made do they were happy to have him home again but now they had to go into hiding. Their daughter played dress up one day in the bright sunshine. She wore a lovely white dress and pretended she was a bride. A car from nowhere came down the street and smashed into her. The vampire and the preist knew she would come back and she did.  Now they really had to hide.

Now the only night they can go out with out fear of being caught or cursed was Halloween night. They spent all night walking the streets sometimes getting candy but  most of the time they enjoyed their one night of pure freedom. Maybe you saw them tonight, maybe they came to your house. Maybe you thought they just had great costumes on but they are the real deal.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Gingerbread Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver

On average, I spend more time browsing through Netflix and adding titles to the instant queue than I do actually watching things. I do watch quite a bit but some are Hollywood movies like the Hellraiser series or they are not even worthy of any one's time.

Last night as the very disappointing remnants of Hurricane Sandy meowed through, I watched Gingerbread Man  3: Saturday Night Cleaver. Three words: HOMICIDAL GINGERBREAD MAN.  I was intrigued, curious, and all other adjectives about this movie. I already knew going into it the cheese level would be off the scale but sometimes it is just plain fun to watch a stupid somewhat gory horror/comedy movie.

I never saw the other 2 but I don't think you need to (hell, I am not even sure they exist, I am sure they do but who cares anyway). So the bad ass gingerbread man is freed from his prison, some how finds himself in this laboratory where they are experimenting with a time machine. And he gets his doughy ass sent back to 1976. Not just any old place in 1976 but a disco roller skating rink. The movie just gets better from there.

The movie spoofs Silent of the Lambs, Carrie and even Porky's the spoofs are cheesy but also a little funny. Though this is not a Troma movie, there are some of the same elements. Raunchy sex scenes and sex jokes (definitely the Porky's spoof scene), there is some gore (hey for some reason a roller skating rink just happens to have a giant tub of hydrochloric acid and there is a nail gun) but it is totally fake and funny. The storyline is stupid as hell but look at the title of the movie, really how serious can you be with a HOMICIDAL GINGERBREAD MAN.

Sometimes a movie like this (check back into Poultrygeist ) is reminder that we need to just watch something for stupid's sake. And as writers it is a gentle reminder that it is okay to have fun with writing and that we all don't have to be serious all the time. There is plenty of time for serious movies, serious story lines and serious character development.

With that my little chickadees, may your trick or treat bags hold steady and the candy plentiful.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

What About Sandy?

I am glued to Hurricane Sandy.  Perhaps because it is a big storm and I have a thing for storms. Give me a hurricane any day, tornadoes I am deathly afraid of. Anyway, my family who is lucky enough to live in eastern PA (Philly and Allentown area) will be graced with her presence and she will come knocking at their door pretty rough from what I understand.

I, on the other hand, have no idea what kind of action we will see from the store. The Weather Channel isn't all that helpful. If Sandy hits closer to Philly then New York, we will definitely see some action. If it hits further up the Jersey coast then we will see less. According to one map, State College will have more weather then we will. Good news is, that snow they are talking about should be in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virgina and North Carolina in the Appalachian mountains. One less thing I have to worry about.

This is exciting, I love a hell of a good storm (except for tornadoes, unless I am watching them on TV and they are hundreds of miles away). And yes I did some preparation. I bought some propane cans. These are the little ones that fit in the camp stove. I do have a camp stove but I got them for our propane heater. Our power did go out last night for a time, more than likely a transformer blew and they fixed it pretty quick, it is nice to have alternative heat source since our furnace uses electricity to turn on.

There is a slight panic in the air because I went  to Wal-Mart to buy the propane and they were sold out. Tractor Supply was also sold out completely. My brother in law's Wal-Mart was also sold out. We found them at True Value. Lucky for us, they had quite a bit but people were coming in to buy them.  We actually had to go to the grocery store not because of the storm but because we needed stuff. Save A Lot was out of milk save for skim. So went to another store to get the milk. Unfortunately, we had to buy wheat bread because they were out of regular white. 

And I got some batteries for our flashlights. Again, our power went out last night and we used our cell phones and candles for light. 

I am ready for the storm to hit. I want to sit back and experience all that nature has to offer.

So for now, this is the end, may your sandbags be plentiful and your roof stay over your head.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Photos from the Corn Maze

Well I got some pictures from the camera from last weekend. If you need a refresher check out Pumpkins and a Corn Maze. I know there is a storm coming up the east coast and of course I have some thoughts about that but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Enjoy the pictures before the world goes to hell.


Before the entrance, douglas fir
Pirate flag flying proudly above the corn
Pay your respects with a bit of blood

I heard blood is good to keep the bones shiney
An alien autopsy now we know the truth






Friday, October 26, 2012

Sunny Friday and Bad Moods

I was planning on writing about Egg Hill but I am not in the mood right now because I am a little annoyed so I don't feel like writing about that topic.

So I am supposed to go through this employment service for this new job and I show up this morning for work and guess what- they had no idea I was supposed to be there. It is like anyone's worst fear coming true. Now, I have no idea what is going. All it seems like is a lot of phone tag and I feel like a damn puppet.

As you can guess, my mood is a little sour. Let me go into further detail about the past events pertaining to this job. I went to emploment agency over a month ago to apply for this job it was temp to hire. After 90 days I would be hired on. Sounds pretty good right. Anyway the employment agency says the company is pretty quick but I didn't hear anything. I even called the agency two weeks later and they never called me back.

Then I come to find out the company I applied for through the employment agency was participating in a job fair. I went with resume in hand and actually talked to one of the human resources people. She gave me her card and told me to call her. I did call the following Tuesday after the job fair.

Here's where it gets weird... the employment agency calls on Thursday and says the company wants me to start right away. And it was supposed to be this coming  Monday. Then they say they want me to come in on Friday. And all this happens.

So damn annoying...  No one seems to know anything and there is nothing I can do at this current moment. Maybe I should just cast a spell or read the tarot cards and see what my future holds.

This is where the story falls, a light in the dark goes out.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Tonight is the End

At 5 tonight I will leave home and I will drive down the mountain one last time. I will work for some hours and then I am done. Oh yeah, I got another job. No more 12 hour shifts, no more leaving work at 6 am, no more waking at 4:30 am (or earlier depending on if it snows and I hear the Penn Dot truck), no more only enjoying sunshine on day shift when wintertime is here. Oh yes, such a wonderful day. I hope tonight goes quick.

I got another job in a field in which I prefer (soldering and assembly), a nice 40 hour work week, done early in the day and here's the best part off every weekend. I am so ready to work a normal time. I would actually have more time for writing because my work will be regular, I would have more time to work on my jewelry and on my store. And of course more time for camping with out taking time off of work, more time to spend with the family.

Where I am at now I work 3 days on and 3 days off and at first it was great but really I spend my first day off napping because I don't get much sleep on working days. I was here for almost 2 years and it is time for a change.

I start at the new job Friday morning. I am a bit nervous (who wouldn't be) but I am also excited to start something new, I can't wait until Friday! And I must be excited because I used an exclamation point in the last sentence.

Aside from getting a new job, I got a reject for my poetry book yesterday. I sent the manuscript in June and I was kind of hoping since they were taking so long to get back to me that they were really pondering my book. And maybe they were. I have gotten rejects within weeks of sending something and sometimes I wait for months before I hear anything back.

As of now I still have a story out to one publisher, a batch of poems to two publishers and a haiku batch to Frogpond. Now back to the drawing board to find a book publishers. Maybe I should do the contest thing but they cost more money then I really want to spend.

Well that is all, my home time is dwindling down. Until we meet again on this gravel road through the haunted forest.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Pumpkins and a Corn Maze

The sky promised a typical autumn day filled with chilled gusts and maybe some rain but with the days quickly coming to the second best holiday in the world (Halloween) we had to get a pumpkin. I remember those days when my parents took me to a pumkpin patch to pick out my pumpkin.

I've only lived in the area since I was 20 and I didn't have a huge desire to go to  a pumpkin patch because if I really wanted one I would just go to Wal-Mart. Anyway we were supposed to go to Way Fruit Farm and lucky for us, it was closed so my husband mentioned Harner Farms. And that is where we went to. Good thing too because they also had a corn maze which was really fun.

The brown stalkes reached to the sky and the sun decided to come out and shed some light on the maze yet the wind blew. The stalks smacked against each other and there was a quiet in the corn eventhough you could hear other people in the corn. There was also a fall festival there and my daughter played some games, we bought some baked snacks and of course we got the pumpkin.

Halloween is my favorite holiday right up there with Christmas and July 4th (I've always July 4th don't know if it is the beer, the fireworks or a little of both. Maybe it is because that is our Independence Day.) And this year the three of us will be dressing up.

My daughter will be a zombie bride. I have to start making the costume. I bought this really nice white dress at the thrift store so all I have to do is rip it up, make it dirty and throw some blood on it. I am going to make a bouquet out of brains ( don't fret, I am using cauliflower and some red food coloring). I am going to take the brains and make a bridal bouquet with it. In my opinion it is going to be freaking awesome.

I am going to be a vampire punk rocker chick. And my husband is going to be a dead preist. Yeah and if there isn't a bizarre story to be told here. I was thinking about making one anyway when the day comes.

If we are lucky we can hit two different towns for trick or treating. That way I can get plenty of snickers and peanutbutter cups. Yummy....

And there it was, a perfect fall day one to be recorded to remember always. Until next time...

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Hey Man, I Need Some NBA Tickets

Jake's phone rang while he was in the middle of fighting with his wife. He looked at the caller id, it was JJ, his pain in the ass brother.

"JJ, this is not a good time. It better be important," Jake said. Hi wife stormed off into the kitchen.

"I need some nba tickets."

"Yeah could you be more specific? And when the hell are you interested in basketball. Is it a girl?"

"No, I wish. I want to impress a prospective client."

Jake shook his head, he knew prospective client was just an euphimism. His brother was trouble and Jake always got him out of trouble. The very reason why he and his wife were fighting. "Where are you?"

"How about los angeles lakers tickets? Everyone loves the Lakers, right?" JJ replied.

"Against Philly or New York?" Jake knew some people and he could get decent seats in either in Philly or New York. He hated helping JJ but they were family and he couldn't turn him away. And maybe this time JJ was on the right path.

"No, I want staples center tickets. That's where they play right?"

"Your in LA?" Jake asked.

"No but I will be landing there soon. I knew I should stay with you guys and I know my parole officer will have a field day but I had to do this. I have a chance at something real here. I could make a lot of money and I bet I won't have to steal or set fires."

"I don't understand, what are you getting yourself into?"

"I met this guy who is a private eye and he wants to hire me and my  illegal skills to help him out. Anyway, I am supposed to meet up with him in LA do a job and see if I am the guy he is looking for. Well he loves basketball and I told him I have connections. Well I want to prove it to him by getting some awesome seats at a game."

"JJ, you get caught," Jake said.

"Yeah, well not all the time, like twice. I just don't you tell everything I do. This is my straight and arrow path just like you wanted for me, except this is my path and it is a little crooked."

Jake exhaled, "all right, I will see what I can do."

"Thanks little brother."

"I'll call you in a few hours but first I have to make things right with Sandy."





Tuesday, October 16, 2012

A Very Good Idea in the Works

One thing that I want to do on this blog is create a serial web novel or whatever you want to call it. A very long story written especially for here, where I would try to make a new chapter every week or so. And of course, I want to write something long (50,000 words or there abouts is a novel) because I would like to write (or I should complete the two I started) a novel in the near future.

I've been thinking about vampires. I know vampires are over done or maybe not. Don't get me wrong, I love vampires. I love vampire books (except for Twilight but that is a story for another time), vampire shows and vampire movies. I don't write much with vampires because I wanted to be different. All right I am not dumb either vampires are really popular and there is a lot of good (for me of course) to come from writing a vampire story. Hopefully, I will get more readers. More readers equals more fan base. And let's go all the way with the good so maybe it will be so popular, someone from Hollywood would contacting me for the rights to make a movie or television series. How awesome would that be.

I think most writers would love to see something of theirs on a big screen, either at the movie theater or at home just some don't want to admit it.

In a perfect world, I would have a schedule where every week I would religiously post a new chapter. Ha, the world is not perfect and I don't do well with keeping schedules. But once I start it, I will finish it regardless of how long it takes me. Why? Because I have this belief there is this one person (all it takes is one fan) who only comes here to read the new installment. That is the thing that will keep me going, that one reader (fifty is better though). I know I should write for  myself but I need a bit of ass kicking to stay motivated.

The excitement is starting to build and my mind keeps wondering to this place where the story will be born all I need is a few names, an image or scene and the rest will fall into place.

Wait for it all because it will great, you'll know when it hits...

Sunday, October 14, 2012

And Its the Writing...

Yesterday, I came home from work and there she was sitting on the couch writing. No, not me but my daughter. She sat there very focused as she created her story and drew corresponding pictures. And I remember someone else who did the very same thing with the same kind of fervor.

I have been writing for well over 20 years. I've been obsessed with the written word for a lot longer than though as I am an avid reader and always was. I started writing poetry when I was about 10. When I went to 6th grade I had a teacher who encouraged journal writing. Except I didn't care for writing about the going ons in my life. Really, I had much better ideas. So I wrote stories. My teacher loved them so much. I loved doing it as well. My stories were written as if they were a radio show, I even included some really odd advertisements as well. And this was where it all began all those years ago...

Years that followed, I always some kind of notebook on hand with a pen in the other. I would write on long car trips by flashlight if needed, while on vacation and even visiting the relatives. And everyone around was okay with it. They encouraged it. I wrote because I was driven to write. There were voices in my head (metaphorical voices, I am not really that insane. I am but I ignore the other voices) and stories that had to be told. I wrote all the time. 

My mom would tell you about how I jumped out of bed in the middle of the night just to write a poem I was thinking about. My grandmother would tell you about how I was so involved in writing a story, I didn't realize I fallen off the couch and got wedged between the sofa and the coffee table (I am still not sure how that really happened. All I know is she had to rescue me.) I thought like a writer and I still do.

It wasn't utopia in the writing world. I put myself through hell with writing. I know or think I am going to be famous but as of yet I am not. I am rejected constantly but I keep sending stuff out. I even quit writing all together. Or at least I tried quitting, soon I would find myself writing a poem or a story because I have come to realize that I can't turn off the writer mode even if I wanted to. I could try ignoring it or beating it into submission but it always comes back. Always. I have so many excuses now for writing as much as I should. And that is what they are excuses. There are no good excuses for not writing. Probably just trying to avoid it or maybe some other unknown reason.

Maybe I am afraid of being great or taking a chance. I might not be working hard enough. I might not have faith in my work. Although the faith thing is improving. I am just still lost in the body of work I have and where to send it to. See above to taking chances. I think I follow very little rules about the publishing game. I don't read the magazine only because it doesn't help. I do send simultaneous submissions. The only rules I follow are format rules. I just tempt the fates and I hope they bite somewhere.

But what I should be doing right now is actually writing because I do have so much joy in the act.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Meet Juniper

Since seeing  The Karate Kid a million and half moons ago there is always one thing I wanted ( sure I wanted to be a black belt in karate and do that crane kick with precision but then again I was a young kid when I first saw the movie) a bonsai tree.

I always thought they were cool. Who wouldn't though it is a tiny little tree. I could never find one. Really, I could have put more effort into it since I used to go to New York City all the time, I am sure I could have found there or even used the web. Last week, I went to Wegman's and I saw a customer carry one out. I really got happy because now I could buy one but I had to wait for payday.

Payday came and went and yesterday I made a special trip just to Wegman's and for $17 plus tax I got a lovely Japanese Juniper. 

Isn't she lovely. Since it is a Juniper tree the name is Juniper. I never had one before so I have to get a book from the library in the near future to learn how to prune it and how to repot it when that time comes. According to the little tag that came with the tree, bonsai means "tree in a tray" and this particular tree is 4-6 years old.

My main character's  name in my novel that I am working on is Juniper Laurel, so this is a nice little reminder that I should be working on my novel.  Yeah I am cool.

Other than my tree there is nothing new going on just working and enjoying the awesome leaf changes. I love the fall.

Until next time may the pizza on your plate be overflowing....

Friday, October 5, 2012

Desert Marquee

Big Dreams on the marquee,
cutting through the dark curtain on the
desolate desert,
an enzymatic catalyst
for failing.

For some people who are expected to succeed, fail;
for some people who are expected to fail, succeed.

Late winter stars fall behind the marquee,
where do we go when we die?

To know the answer, will always be too late.

The lights of the marquee shine on
until the bulbs break and the solemn,
courteous stars meet once again with the desert.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Tis the Season for.... Politics

Yeah, it is 2012 and the time for presidential election but lets zoom in. Zoom way in to state politics. Don't worry though I will have plenty to talk about when it comes to Obama and Romney.  So the incumbent in my area Bud George is retiring from office and he has been there since the we became a commonwealth (for those who don't know Pennsylvania is where I hang my hat). With this opening there are two persons who think they are worthy.

Obviously, one is a democrat and one is a republican. I just want to make on thing clear I am  registered democrat only because in this state you have to pick one or the other to vote in the  primaries (oddly, I rarely vote in the primaries however, I voted 4 years ago when Hillary was against Barack). When it comes to voting time I will choose candidates because of their ideas regardless of their party affiliation.

Almost everyday I get a piece of mail from candidate Sankey, he is a republican. Really, I have so many fliers I could make an impressive political pyramid. And the big thing he is really playing is how he is small business owner and he wants to create jobs. The catch phrase is something like a real job creator. He owns a business but I don't really recall him hiring a lot of people. I have fliers showing his work shoes and his past accomplishments. Oh yeah he loves the area and cares about us.

I care about the job market. I want America to keep jobs here, I believe in higher minimum wages and all that because I want America to be self sufficient as much as possible and rely less on other countries. The one thing I do know is since it is getting expensive to ship from overseas to back here, some jobs are coming back to the states. He wants to create jobs as does everyone else but you know what he never says how he plans on creating jobs. Obviously, being a republican he wants to lower taxes and things like that.

I don't want to argue about party platform. And maybe sometimes certain ideas work and other times other ideas work. Ideas must change and adapt just like the people have to. But honestly, I don't think it is enough. Cutting taxes may help business "a" and business "b" hire maybe three or four people but does that mean that these people will make more than $7.25 an hour? Does that mean they will have benefits that won't slaughter their paychecks? No it just means 4 people now have jobs and really if we want to dive in semantics he did get jobs created.

I can go around saying I want to create jobs and it sounds so nice. But I am the voter and I want to know how he will create jobs. What are his plans to encourage a more diverse industry to come his voter area? And not just job creation but what about jobs that are quality in pay and benefits.

So here's my thought, send me one letter with all his ideas and thoughts. With all money spent on fliers, he should have saved the money and hired someone new for his company.

Oh yeah, love this time of year...