Here We Are Once Again

Here we are in the dying hour of the year 2010, and once again I'm writing a blog about it. I read my old post I wrote a year ago, and I must say that things did not come out like I expected them to. I remember saying that my birthday would bring one drink of vodka and then I would never touch the stuff again. While I may not be an alcholic, I do drink a bit (had a rum and coke with dinner, and will probably have another one here soon to ring in the new year). I said I would be at a four-year in Riverside by this time. Well, I screwed up my audition, so I'm still stuck at good ol' College of the Desperate...I mean Desert. I had said that I hoped to have a decent paying job and a girlfriend. Jobs were a bust and the girlfriend told me I was am a horrible friend and would have been a worse boyfriend not one week ago.

Wow...at least I can't say I didn't live life a little this past year. Sure, I haven't partied and gotten so drunk that I don't remember how I got into bed with some complete stranger (dodged that bullet earlier in the year), but I did drink. I've gambled a bit.

My year, save turning twenty-one back in May, was pretty dull until September rolled around, and I joined My Cross Connection. That has been my year thus far. In the time since, things have started to fall into place. I've changed churchs, actually found God this time, and found new possiblities that I didn't know were there until now.

So here I am...same place I was last year and the year before, listening to the same song. I'm still in the same place, the same room. I'm still single, hence sitting alone in a room writing this. Every year, I tell myself that I will be somewhere else, that I won't be single. And every time it comes down to the actual writing of these little things, I am alone in the same place.

So next year...2011. I don't know. I know that next year, I will hopefully be recording a few songs that I wrote. I would like to have Fourteen Days complete enough that I can start looking for agents by this time next year. I'd like to actually...

Yeah, key words..."I'd like" really do seem to show what kind of mentallity I have. I would like to have a girlfriend this time next year, a job this time next year, be in a school that's not COD this time next year. I know I can do the first and the last one easily enough. I know that if I suck it up I could have a job tomorrow. But I've had enough of crap relationships, nor do I really care to have another FWB type of relationship. I don't want to go back to them. And I would not be able to sanely pay off the loans I would need to get for just one year and all but one of the places I can get in to (ironically enough the place I'm feeling pulled to).

So where does that leave me?

A lot has happened this past year. A lot of crap things have happened this year. And yet, in a strange way, a lot of good has happened as well. There has been a lot of change happen for me in the past few months, really starting from the moment I walked in Desert Foursquare there in PDHS and met those people. Now yeah, there is still a lot of work I need to have happen. It's caused part of me to wonder if it means I'm truly meant to be alone like I've thought many many times over the past few years (ironically enough...on New Years Eve...probably why I barricade myself in my room).

A part of her parting comment to my a week ago was true. Part of me really does feel the need to be alone. Maybe it's to protect someone, I don't know. The way I see it, if I screw up and fail, then the only person who will suffer is me. There will be no wife and kids that I will be responsible for. And yet at the same time, I don't want to be alone.

Wow...believe it or not, I'm not drunk (yet). I'm still sober (for the moment). Don't really have enough rum to get drunk on rum and cokes, and I don't really care for OJ so there will be no screwdrivers in my immidiate future. Guess I could always drink the vodka straight up. Seems like as good a night as any to get completely shitfaced drunk and try and forget the past few years...months...weeks...

...days...

I don't know what the future holds for me. I know this house will be silent the next time my sister has to go to Loma Linda for something other than her remecade treatments because of my dog dying last week (Christmas morning, actually). I know that in my heart, I do believe 2011 will be a better year.

In the dying minutes of 2010, I find myself in shock. So much has happened in all honesty that I find myself surprised I'm still as sane as I am. And know that it has all just begun. The year 2010 had myself relying on myself to get things done, and in my pride I failed. I think it's time to change that.

For 2011, I plan to not rely on myself for things. I've done that, and it failed. It's time I start to live my life for God, and pray for the strength I need to get through the day. That is what I need to do now.

Last year, I was listening to Wish You Were Here as I wrote this, Pink Floyd's somber song. This year, I thinking I'm going to rock out with The Time Has Come by Hillsong.

Let that be my attitude for 2011.

Here's to 2010. The changes have started, and thank God for that.

Here's to 2011, where those changes will see fruit.

-Sean Arseo
11:58pm, December 31, 2010

First New Poem for Poetry and Stories, vol. 3

Below is the first new poem written for Poetry and Stories, vol. 3 (number 2 is still being worked on by Amazon I'm guessing). This was written starting Christmas night and just finished.

Alone Again
How Ironic

Alone I am once again
Terrible friend I have become
Lovers but once dead of night
Never again can not take back

Time and again I am alone
My own doing usually is
Have I learned from all this
Know I must or alone I'll be

Your parting comment still rings deep
Haunting me in sleepless night
Know it is truth you do speak
Hurts me more than yells and screams

Parting words I wish I had
Tell you my fault it was not
Tell you how it was yours
Strung me along like a fool

Maybe remind you of the time
When that trust first was broken
Remember then I'm sure you do
You yelled at me for helping you

Break apart we started then
Far more distant we became
Six months later it was over
Never again will we speak

Alone you said I would be
My own fault you said it was
Terrible friend I have become
Lovers but once never again

So what have I learned from all this
Can not change the past I know
Try and fix this several times
Never enough it was to late

Was it worth it after all
Knowing you all this time
My innocence with you I lost
Enjoyed it then and now regret

I did not lie to you when
Told you I was falling for you
Maybe that was what did it
Ended it for both of us

Always seemed to hit a wall
Come this closer but no closer
Emotions never given back
Always led to one conclusion

Fake emotions they must have been
Products of that lonely night
Constant reminder of my sins
Committed just to forget

Love you I could never do
Let me love you you did not
Refused to love me from day one
Friends with benefits instead we seemed

Wish those nights had not happened
Wish I had not taken that call
Wish we had crossed that line
Maybe then you'd still be here

Alone forever you said I'd be
My own fault you said it'd be
The truth I know is what you speak
Never a riddle comes from you

Do I care if I'm alone
Don't really know if I do
Seems to change day to day
With the setting of the sun

Loved by someone I so guess
Want to feel once again
Thought that maybe you were her
Seems I was wrong once again

So here I am once again
Alone but for pen and paper
How ironic I find that
Full circle now have I come

Forget you I know I must do
Make it easy I know you will
You say I ignored you all this time
When in truth you were ignoring me

Insomnia's a Bitch...

I don't care what anyone says, but insomnia's a bitch. Yeah, I may be trying to turn over a new leaf and what not, but I needed to say that.

Anyways, it's been far to long since I've posted anything. Tomorrow (provided I get it all set and finalized prior to 11:59pm PST/PDT/WhateverTimeZoneItIs tomorrow night), I will be publishing my second book for the Kindle. Yeah, I'm trying electronic publishing now.

Provided that service seems to go well, I have plans to release Poetry and Ethics on it in January completely EDITED. Note that I said edited, not rewritten. That will follow.

Sometime within 2011, I plan to release Ethics: Protector Edition. This book will be an extened version of Ethics and include more detail, character descriptions, and maybe a subplot I'm considering.

At this time, I am considering publishing all of the future volumes of Poetry and Stories to the Kindle for $5-$10 depending on just HOW their contracts work. I may also continue the storyline left open at the end of Ethics on the Kindle as well.

In other news, the band I joined is going well. Go and buy their first CD, Smile Meter by My Cross Connection. We're getting that first CD nailed down to perfection for concerts and possible touring, as well as ironing out new songs, two of which will be written my myself. Check us out and listent to songs from the CD over at MySpace.com/mycrossconnection.

More news will follow, including my Christmas post, as well as my usual New Years Eve rant where I complain about being single. This year is looking to be no different. Can always hope for next year, though.

Gearing Up

Well, it's only a few short weeks until November 1st, and with it comes the start of National Novel Write Month (NaNoWriMo) 2010. This year, I will be working on my first Christian novel, Fourteen Days.

In other news, it's an even year, so my insomnia is kicking in. Bad news is, it's starting far to soon.

Best Public Domain Song EVER

In 1978, Romero gave us Dawn of the Dead, his socio-comentary on consumerism in America. In that movie was a piece of music that has become known to zombie fans that world over for it's comical and almost child-like sound. This piece is of course "The Gonk" and plays during the end credits while showing the zombies retaking the mall.

Come to find out the other day that "The Gonk" is public domain. It is now playing on my laptop and will become the status-quo for writing zombie stories.

For those that don't now what it is, here is a YouTube video showing it:

"Hero"

Definition of “hero” (up to 9/10/2001):

1a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine decent endowed with a great strength or ability
1b: an illustrious warrior
1c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
1d: one that shows great courage
2a: the principle male character in a literary or dramatic work
2b: the central figure in an event, period, or movement
3: an object of extreme admiration and devotion
(from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Definition of “hero” (after 9/11/2001)

1: Any of the men and women who, as the towers were burning and people ran out, they ran in.


September 11, 2001
Never Forget

Valley of the Dead, Algebra, and Life in General

I'm going to go for something different and put my "postscript" first. At the moment, I'm working on "The Valley of the Dead" and finding it long. While it's only a fourth the length of Ethics at the moment, I have barely scatched the surface of the story. There is so much more to be written in it that I'm left wondering just how long it will actually be.

For example, Valley will be fifteen chapters, a prologue and an epilogue. If I put the same amount of detail from the first chapter into the second, than the second chapter will easily be fifteen to twenty times the length of the first. The first chapter covers a twenty-four hour span of time to introduce the main characters. The second chapter is where the action starts, with the first seventy-two hours being in a great detail. This second chapter ends about two months after it starts. The third chapter will probably be the shortest chapters. As for chapters nine through fifteen, I don't even have more than the extremely vaugest idea what will happen. It might be years before I even get a first draft done. I'm talking Stephen King's The Stand length (the uncut version), if not Under the Dome length.

I think I've bitten off more than I can chew.

In other news, my summer class is going well. I'm passing at least, thank God. It of course comes with a price, in that the rest of my life is falling to pieces around me.

Sometimes...I really hate my life...

Modern-Day NAZIs in America

All these political idiots wanting to commit political suicide by kicking out the illegals. All I can say to them is that when the prices for services that no American citizen wants to do skyrockets, and the prices for produce skyrocket because you don't want to get your soft hands hurt spending fifteen hours in the sun picking them, you have no fucking right to complain.

So, for those of the Nebraska/Arizona Zap the Immigrants Party, I say fuck you! None of you fuckers are legal here! You're just born here! Fucking NAZI bastards. Remember assholes, it was finding a scapegoat that came first. Then it was the trains. After that was the Showers and the Ovens. This time instead of "ARBEIT MACHT FRIE" the gates will say "TRABAJO HACE LIBRE" you suck fucks! All I can say is that Arizona is fucked, and it looks like Nebraska is going to be fucked as well.

Poetry and Ethics

Poetry and Ethics
Sean A. Arseo
$17.50
Half of my royalties will go to Loma Linda Medical University Children's Hospital
https://www.createspace.com/3457723

"...delve into my mind to see if there is any sanity to the madness..."

06/12/2010

Poetry and Ethics
by Sean A. Arseo
$17.50 via Amazon.com and my e-store
Half of all my royalties will go to Loma Linda Medical University Children's Hospital
Release Date: Midnight 06/12/2010

"...delve into my mind to see if there is any sanity to the madness..."

ETHICS FOR JUNE/JULY RELEASE

Following much pondering, I have decided to release Ethics as a self-published book. The book, titled Poetry, vol. 1 will contain about thirty to forty pages of poetry with footnotes on how they came to be, as well as the full novel-lengthed story Ethics. More will come as the time draws near.

Politicians: The Death of Us

On the television, they have all of the people who are running for govenor now that Arnie is finished. They all talk about sending troops to the border to stop illegal immigration. All they are going to do is get us all killed.

If they do that, I think I might actually defect...

The Wall 2010 Tour

I don't care what I need to do, but I'll be damned if I miss this concert. I may have missed the final NIN concert, but I absolutly fucking REFUSE to miss the final Roger Waters concert in the US.

Twenty-One, Part Two

Well, it's in the dying hour of my birthday, and I did get to have a drink or two. Came home from class to have a margarita with my dad. Just now, I finished a lemonade spiked with vodka (not Ketle One, sadly). I plan on having another drink tomorrow with dinner as well.

In other news, the protest between the Hispanics and the state of Arizonia are nearing the breaking point. With some Republican asshole here in Cali wanting to deport the children of immigrents who were born here, I see this only ending in anarchy. And since Hispanics and their family members outnumber the other people twenty to one, we all know how this will end. And you better believe I'll be right there marching with them.

In other news...I'm starting to feel a bit tipsy. I think I might have added a bit to much vodka...

Twenty-One

Well, I am now officially old enough to legally drink. Today's my twenty-first birthday, and already I've tried to find something to drink.

Yeah...I've had no luck so far. Hoping later today offers more.

SOC-004, Recording, and Sins of a Father

Well, it's Monday again. I've pretty much already failed my sociology class...again. I swear, whoever made that fucking class a requirement should be publicly executed for that crime against humanity. I would rather be forced to take astrophysics than be foreced to take that damn sociology class a third time. And I mean for fuck sakes man, it's the most pointless class in the world. First time I took it, he taught from the book which I couldn't aford to even go to the liberary and photocopy it, let alone buy the damn thing. This time, it's more like "Buhdism 101" than a fucking sociology class.

That, my "boss" never giving me hours or returning my phone calls, and having to take ANOTHER FUCKKING YEAR at COD, and I've had a bad month of April. However, May is looking better. I turn twenty-one on Wedenday and will finally be able to legally drink, I'll be applying for another job on Friday, and hopefully by the end of month have some form of a relationship.

Also at the end of the month, I'll be playing bass and maybe, MAYBE backing vocals for the first of what might be several Christian albums. I don't know if any of my music will be on it (maybe at another time). More will follow as the recording date gets closer.

Anyways, on to my writings (you know, the "postscripts" in my blog post). After thinking about it for a while (about five minutes), I decided to finish up my first original fiction story Sins of a Father and post it online on my website (link in profile in case you don't know). I don't want to give an acutal release date at this time, but I will say it will be around June. More will come on that as it gets closer as well.

Now if I can type "gets" without type "gest" or something like that. Damn dslexya.

201

Well, after a few days, I finally saw the censored version of episode "201" of South Park. Along with the constant bleeping of Mohummed along with the other cursing in the show, not to mention about a minute and a half of the show being nothing but one long bleep, this was easily the worst episode of South Park ever.

In it, they go back to the episodes "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" and "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" to say that Cartman's mom is not a hermaphidte like had been said for the duration of the series. She is in fact a normal woman whom just happens to be the biggest slut on the face of the earth. The old character Jack Tenoram's father is Eric's father as well, making him half ginger. This, not the fact that Eric killed his own father, is what scares him the most.

But for fucks sakes, come on! Probably sixty percent of the damn episode was censored, just like the walking CENSORED sign (which does come into play as a plot device in the end, but still). And all because some website threatened to kill Matt and Trey. Mother fuckers, I had death threats thrown at me for years from people who actually had the power to kill me at their leisure you pussies! So, if we're goin to censor Mohummed, why not everyone else. I'm a Christian, and I hate you guys treat Jesus, so censor him and his name! Same with God! Why not censor every other religious figure in the series why you're at it! You can, however, continue to make fun of the Catholics and the Mormans.

But I think the biggest thing that got me was making Cartman's father a fucking ginger. This would have been funnier:

*Cartman's mother WAS a hermaphodite, thus she was his father
*Sheila didn't answer in the negative to having slept with Lianne
*Cartman hates, above all else, the Jews, and espcially Kyle
*Thus, make Sheila (who does share physical and psychological characteristics with Eric) his biological mother

Now, Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone, THAT would have been funny.

I think 201 was the worst episode of South Park I have ever seen.

This is funny...

I was looking through my old post, and noticed that in my first post, I made a comment about how almost all of the post on this blog would be about my works since I don't have a life. However, the majority of these post have been on things that have happened in my life, and very few are actually on my works. In fact, most of the post about my writing are written as postscripts at the bottom of a past about something that happened in my life.

Don't know why, but I find that funny.

What an...interesting...weekend it has been...

Well, yesterday I went up to CBU (California Baptist University) to apply for a music scholarship. Being the senior bassist at my church, I figured I would be a shoe-in for getting the funding I would need.

Well, an amature mistake stopped that from happening. Instead of reading the actual bass line, I followed the chord progression like I'm used to. I did, however, get offered a $1,500 a year scholarship under my merits as a vocalist. He seemed surprised that I did so well without any training.

Needless to say, I will not be attending California Baptist University this coming Fall unless something happens between now and September.

And if that wasn't enough, I got home from the audition (I did cool off at Guitar Center by checking out some of the basses I'm looking at buying and finally playing Run Like Hell a bit more like the actual album) to have a message from Folio Literary Group. Opened it up...and saw it was a rejection letter. It upsets me, but a comment my father made kinda changed the disappointment in that. He told me that a lot of people never even get to the point of trying to get it published. Most never see a rejection letter because they never even try.

It actually made me feel like an author.

And then today, well...my bed is no longer safe to sleep in...so I'll probably be looking for a replacement tomorrow.

Yeah...and the weekend isn't even over yet...

Who the hell is THAT!?

Who is that person in the profile picture!? Who the hell is that guy in a suit jacket playing a nice Fender American Jazz-V bass!?

That is me dressed up nice for Easter. You will probably never see it again.

Happy Easter

Well, was up before the crack of dawn to go to Sunrise Service at the church I'm playing at. They had free food afterwards, so I figured why not. I had to be there at 8:30am anyways, so what was getting their two hours earlier. Played a set at 10:30am (actually one of the better Easter sets, three Christian rock songs and one that's a bit personal for me), sat around and the put my stuff away before leaving for home. Was wearing a suit jacket, much to the shock of everyone, and will have the picture up here and on Facebook as soon as it's sent to me.

Well, as I'm sure everyone knows, there was a 7.2 earthquake in Baja California today, and I did feel it. Felt like the foundation was on rollers (or as I so elegently put it, like I was a drunk who was on a cruise ship in the middle of a hurricane. Had a massive headache most of the day, so I missed dinner, and actually just ate not that long ago (around 10:30pm). Also got a job offer.

Well, school starts again tomorrow (insert teardrop here), and I have a six page paper due in sociology. I've had two weeks to do it, and I can't get past the first three lines. Last time that happened was in my English 1A class almost two years ago when I had to write a paper on Ghaundi (was told by one of the guitarist I should have titled the paper "Going Going Ghaundi"). That is a sign that I can not stand the subject, and that the subject is so boring that even as an English major who can bullshit a paper three hours before it's due and get an A with praises can't pull it off.

Like I said the other day...I am so fucked it's not even funny...

The Tears of a Left-Handed Man

One of the things about me is that I don't shave my beard. This has led to many comments, most of which jokes because my hair is black, yet my beard grows in red. Anywho, I do cut it using a pair of left-handed/right-handed scissors. The other day, I lent them to my mother (first mistake) and I haven't seen them since. I was going to trim my beard today since tomorrow's Easter and I'm wearing a suit jacket to church for playing. So my dad gave me a pair he found, and showed me they worked.

Only problem...they are right-handed scissors, and I'm left-handed. So what should have been a ten-minute max job, including clean-up, took me damn near an hour to do, if not longer.

In other news, I have not heard back from either of the agents I sent a query letter to. I was hoping for a least a rejection as to why, but there you go. Granted, Folio has till Wednsday and AH&A has till Friday, so there you go.

In other other news, I have once again started on a Valley of the Dead story, this time continuing the one I started in late 2008 in my Creative Writing A class. Between that and Fourteen Days, I should be busy enough. Through in my class, and I'm beyond fucked.

Yeah...I'm so fucked it's not even funny...

$40,000,000,000 And Nothing to Show

Just read that the "Big Bang" simulation testing device under Geneva has had its first successful test. Glad to see privet donations going to such good use. They proved they can crash two atoms together at a high speed. God forbid they use the money for something like stopping world hunger. When you throw in the money used to combat "Global Warming/Cooling" (depending on their mood any given day), and they could have probably put a large dent in world hunger, if not stopped it altogether.

But of course, than we would not know what happens when you crash two atoms together at some high fucking speed, nor would we be prepared for when the world melts and freezes all at the same time. Don't know what's worse sometimes...privet donations or the president making nine trillion USD magiclly appear out of thin air.

Considering my great-great-grandchildren will still being paying for his nine trillion mistake, I'm going to guess the president.

Health Care - A Sham

Well, I just heard on the news that Obama got his bullshit health care bill passed. With it, the free will of Americans everywhere dies a bit as well. With this, the idiot has only proven that the Dim...I mean Dems will not hold office again for a long time. I don't even know of anyone who wanted his shit bill to pass.

I can see his speeches ending with chants of "Sieg heil!" now...

Ethics Officially Longest Piece

At a current count of 78,098 words for Draft Three, Ethics has officially become the single longest piece of fiction I have ever wrote, just beating The Valley of the Dead online series prior to being pulled (around 77,000 words when all the parts were added up). By the time it is done, it could well be over 85,000 words or longer.

Just thought I would post that.

Excerpt Now Online

Well, despite it still being two hours till midnight here in California, I have posted the excerpt of my novel Ethics on my personal website. Feel free to go and read it (link in profile page).

A Jail Program that would ACTUALLY WORK!!!

Sitting at the kitchen table with Goodmorning America, and they are talking about the rapist/murder from San Diego not far from here. They are talking about what he had done and just how long he was in jail. Five years for two counts of rape and assualt on two teenage girls. He got out on three-years probation.

As I am sure you can all tell, out jail system DOES NOT WORK!!!

What we need is my jail system. It is as described below.



If you have commited a serious crime, you will have one of two things happen to you:

-Execution by torture within twenty-four hours of being convicted (this includes no last meal, you will be starved for those hours)
-Or if you would rather live, you will have a tattoo placed on your forehead stating what you crime was (descibed below) and let free

Tattoos/Crimes List:

R = Rapist
M = Murder
A = Assualt (Male/Male, Female/Female, or Female/Male)
B = Brutality (Male/Female)
C = Child Molestor
CM = Child Murderer
CR = Child Rapist
PT = Petty Theift (>$1,000)*/**
T = Theift ($1,000>X<$100,000)**
GLT = Grand Larcany Theift ($100,000<)**

Presence of a tattoo will void the owner of any and all rights. The murder of someone with a tattoo will not be considered murder and will instead be considered an execution. Should someone with a tattoo commit another crime of the same type, they will be publically exicuted (i.e. an R rapes another person). Should a CM or a CR commit the same crime to an adult or vice versa, they would still be publically executed. Committing two crimes of different style will result in a double tattoo (i.e. R/M/B/T, etc.)

For smaller crimes, use of public corporal punishment would be implemented in the status of being caned.

*For a Petty Theift's first offence, they may opt to not have the tattoo and choose the corporal punishment. After the first offence, any other theft will result in the tattoo.
**Execution will not happen. You will either be put in jail or tattooed and allowed to leave. Likewise, a double offense will not result in execution.

ETHICS Excerpt

At midnight on March 5, the prologue and first chapter of Ethics will be placed online on my personal website (link found on my profile page) as a PDF format file. Please feel free to go and read it.

ROCK 'N' ROLL!!!

Well, my older sister just left from having a late birthday dinner, and she had her two sons. Anyways, after asking me to play my guitar before they left, they begged me to play the "Blues Clues" song. After telling them that I only play Rock 'n' Roll, my oldest nephew Jayden asked me what it was. So I played American Pie
and told him to say "rap bad" and to stretch out his hand and put his fingers in a "V" while yelling "Rock 'n' Roll!" at the top of his voice. Now my sister is made a me.

Steak, cake, and annoying my older sister. A very good evening, in my opinion.

Back to the Grind

Well, I've just finished my second week of classes for the Spring semester. My sixth full semester at a two-year school. A two-year school that I will get no degree from.

I've applied to California Baptist University and am well on my way to getting things ready to go. Got an audition in a few months, looking up scholarships, doing schoolwork here to go...

...I doubt I'll get in.

So I'm playing a gig tomorrow...

...and needed to buy some new bass strings. So yesterday I took the strings off of my old Squire and cleaned it up real well. Polished it and everything. Was up at Loma Linda today and went to the Guitar Center to buy some strings. I ended up buying a set of Fender 7250M bass strings. Got home, started to put on the "G" string, and my hand slipped, causing me to cut it to short. So, I quickly ran to the local guitar store and bought a single string (Ernie Ball...hate their strings) before Rick closed (a live-saver, Rick is). Drive back home and put it on, only to get a terrible sound.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

From the nut to the fifth fret, it was buzzing. Not a good sign. I tried to put on the "D" string, figuring I'd play with the "G" later, only to have the damn string snap. So now I have a $25 set of strings, two of which are broken. I have a now worthless $5 Ernie Ball "G" string that I can't use anymore. And I bought a $10 string winder/cutter from Guitar Center for a bass that I can no longer use.

For that price, I could have just left the dead strings on the damn thing and bought a used BOSS Compression bass pedal. That way, I'd have a decent compression pedal for church (the Behringer one I bought is kinda broken), and a bass I could still play at home. Now I have nothing.

Piece of shit.

Oh the irony...

I have a tracking toolbar on my browser (ant.com), which list the ranks on just about every website there is. Anyways, as I've mentioned, I'm a fan of fanfiction.net where I got my start writing. The website rank is 1,072. That's the same page count as Under the Dome.

Anyways, in other news, I will soon be starting the editing process of Ethics, mainly due to the fact that I've been going through writer's block. Since I have a bit already written, I will print it and start editing most likely sometime tonight or tomorrow.

In other other news, my house is almost an island. The rain storms have battered this valley I'm forced to call home badly.

Oh, the urge to steal three million dollars...

Just found out that the murdering son of a bitch who beat my ex's son to death last year somehow got his trial moved to May 17th. Was supposed to be next Tuesday. At last I checked, the fucker's bail was three million. What I wouldn't give to have that kind of money on hand. Post his bail, then shoot him to death outside the court house. Maybe stab him to death. Tear him apart limb by limb. Electricute him, gas him, throw him in the ovens. KILL HIM!

I'll say this now, however. Should he be killed before his court date, I didn't do it. Nor did I have anyone do it for me. If I were going to have him killed, I would do it myself, then kill myself right there. Witnesses, police, and press bedamned.

That, and last time I checked, my bank balance was about $4.57, nowhere near the amount needed.

Son of a bitch...not even two full weeks into the fucking year and my year's already ruined...

A Tip For All You Writers

In case you're writing about something that can be readily looked up on the internet, meaning anything, MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST!!! Don't be like me and do it after the fact as a "Maybe I should throw this in..."

It's been too long...

Well, I know I'm behind on my Music in Worship blog. I will try and have a decent sized post up for it later on tonight. However, I thought I would come and give an update on my current WIP, Ethics.

Depending on which version you look at, there are two page counts and two words counts. The one I'm working on is at 90 pages and 57,233 words. That is in Times New Roman, 10pt print, and single spaced.

Then there is the version I will print out once it is complete. This one is 204 pages long and 54,636 words. It is in Courier New, 12pt print, and double spaced. It contains chapters 1-8 and 11-12, the prologue, and the epilogue.

For a comparasion, the original project I was doing last year at this time ended up being (first draft) 171 pages long and 52,126 words long. It was also in Courier New, 12pt print, and double spaced. It also had extra space after the chapter heading and the scene breaks. And I still have another forty to fifty pages to write for Ethics at least, and that's in 10pt print and single spaced. That also does not include the detail I will go into that NaNoWriMo didn't allow me to pan out with for the first few chapters on the second draft.

Busy busy busy my future be.

Under the Dome - A Review

A week ago, one of my Christmas presents was Stephen King's latest novel, Under the Dome. This thirty-some dollar, 1072 page bohemath was, sad to say, one of the most dissapointing reads since Deathly Hallows two and a half years ago. However, unlike the final Harry Potter book (the most overpriced piece of fanfiction in print), this one had its enjoyable moments.

Please note, that there are going to be spoilers throughout, so if you would like to read the book, then go and buy it. I promise, though I might not agree with how he went about it, the book is damn enjoyable and worth the money.

For the most part, King is taking for granted that the people in the situation that is presented would act like good people. Maybe they would in Maine. I, however, live in California. If that happened here, the elected officials would probably be hung after the first twelve hours and the police force publicly executed right after. That would be how it would go. King has them acting nice until a staged riot starts and even then they still obey the officials. I spent close to the entire book waiting for the general population to start acting like real people and tear the main official's head from his body and overthrow the police force.

The main cast (and it's a cast at least as large as The Stand, if not bigger), however, are well written. You have your main hero, you main villian (who I must admit, reminded me far to much of Albus "It was for the Greater Good" Dumbledore), the hero's love interest, a trio of young teenagers going through puberty and a spawning love triangle (again, shade of Harry Potter with the brains, the brawn, and the goof), and that's not even scratching the surface of the dome. The characters are given life and you start to mutter as you read it, cheering on the goods guys, booing the bad guys while telling them to go to hell, and telling the leader of the teenage trio to just shut up with the inner monologues and kiss the girl already. There are even points when you start to cheer for the bad guys when they have a change of heart.

All in all, I must say that, while the book was unreal, it was a great book. And it was most likely the aformentioned book that caused it to be hard to read at times.

This book has many shades of The Stand, only instead of the setting being all over America, the setting is reduced to a single town. Whereas in The Stand there was no government, there is one in Under the Dome. He has seemed to try and capture that, a story that takes place over the course of a year, and put it into a book that takes place over the course of a week. I'm sorry, Mr. King, but it didn't work.

Nevertheless, I still say buy the book. My biggest complaint could be written down to culture shock, and the dozen or so mistakes (while annoying as hell...that line about being an author and then reading a book is true), are forgiveable. So go and buy this book, read it, enjoy it, and cheer for the good guys.

So, Mr. King, while the idea is kinda...meh, this is one Constant Reader that you have not lost. So start writing again while I continue to catch up.