http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/ Storytelling. Creativity. ADHD as an adult. Don't Worry Be Happy. What's wrong with education today. Being a good person in a world/society that ain't always the best. en 2009-11-20T18:48:49-05:00 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/11/no_comparisons.html Struggles Red Monkey 2009-11-20T18:48:49-05:00 Pain. We all have it at some time or another. But the funny thing about pain, whether it's mental, emotional, physical ... whatever ... it's not something you can compare. I see people all the time saying things like how much something they're going through hurts and then they stop and say, "Oh but so-and-so has it worse." As if their pain is not as bad or important. And the problem with this is there is no way to compare pain. You are feeling what you are feeling and it hurts. You are not feeling whatever the other person is feeling....<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/11/contemplations.html Struggles Red Monkey 2009-11-18T16:51:48-05:00 It's been an odd 24 hours. It started when I was going through my iCalendar. Turns out that Monday, November 22, 1999, I was sick and tired of being tired and sick all the time. The doctor I'd been seeing for two years was obviously ineffective and I was beginning to fear that something was really wrong, systemically wrong. The kind of wrong I really didn't much want to think about considering the fact that I had just finished grad school, was working in my field full-time (even though it wasn't officially full-time enough to qualify for...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/11/wootcom.html People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken Red Monkey 2009-11-17T06:21:07-05:00 So I love Woot.com - they have some of the best copywriting anywhere. Case in point - the copy for Homeland Security Wireless Day/Night Camera Kit – 2 Pack: A sign was painted Said: Private Property Chorus: This land is homeland This land is my land From the chain-link front fence To the back fence I’ve planned From the Coxes’ driveway To the Hingles’ swingset This land’s surveilled for me to see Well, they say a man’s home Is that man’s castle Where he won’t get harassed And he won’t get hassled But thugs are out to get me And they’re...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/11/where_the_wild_1.html Red Monkey 2009-11-05T22:01:21-05:00 So, despite the ridiculous amount of silence here, I've been way busy. I have a project due the 10th, but which will probably not get completed until the 14th or 15th since I have so little time during the week. My lunch hours are my play hours ... despite the fact that it takes 10 minutes to get lunch and then park so that I can eat hurriedly and then break out my sketching kit. It actually only gives me about 20-30 minutes a day that I know I'll have sketching time. A new sketch concept popped into my head the other day and I've been...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/10/where_the_wild.html Storytelling: She was, of course, supposed to be sleeping. Red Monkey 2009-10-18T18:50:51-05:00 1963. Maurice Sendak. Where the Wild Things Are This is a children's book iconic, so well-known, so beloved ... and so short ... it's hard to believe Hollywood would even attempt to make a movie out of it. Of course, they're making re-makes of re-makes, so I suppose they've totally used up all of their creativity anyway. I could rant, but why waste the energy? We all know Hollywood's been sucking for a long time now and that they're making movies designed to be understood by people who've done so much crack and huffed so much paint they can...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/10/when_i_was_just.html Storytelling: She was, of course, supposed to be sleeping. Red Monkey 2009-10-18T03:41:00-05:00 When I was just starting school, we moved to a very magical place. The north side of Austin, in a little subdivision called Balcones Woods. You got there via the highway, passing a couple of active quarries - the subdivision was marked by a large stone wall turned into a sign ... that was Balcones Woods Drive, a long, winding road into the subdivision with little branches coming off of it like tiny creeks fracturing off a slightly larger river. Having just come from the frozen northlands of Indiana and townhouse living, I was mesmerized with...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/10/the_man_who_kne.html Never Underestimate the Power of Human Stupidity Red Monkey 2009-10-09T22:41:03-05:00 September of 1990 ... I'm taking a sophomore English lit class that I'd been excited about prior to the semester's start. I'd checked out the books in the bookstore for the class and we weren't using an anthology - and I had not read all of the books on the shelf. Hey, I was an English major after I realized I didn't have enough time to work full-time and be a drama major. First day of class, no teacher. In walks the department secretary. Oh hell. For a moment after she spoke, I thought we'd lucked out. Our professor had gotten some...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/dear_santa.html Sketches Red Monkey 2009-09-29T18:51:09-05:00 Oddly enough, I was working on a project and saw this tweet: Dear Santa: I would like a Kitchen Aid Mixer for Christmas: WalMart has them for $198. Thank you xoxox ~ Rachel Well, I had to give Southern Fairy Tale what she asked for! <br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/doodle_dude_han.html Sketches Red Monkey 2009-09-26T12:09:57-05:00 I haven't posted a Doodle Dude in a while, but Hank here won my heart. Other half rolled her eyes at Hank, but I rather enjoyed working on this one.<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/stepping_forwar.html Struggles Red Monkey 2009-09-24T22:18:49-05:00 Life is a constant cycle of struggle and complacency. We struggle to establish ourselves, to define ourselves ... and then somehow we allow others to label and box us. (You don't need to go to college. You can't run fast or sing well. You shouldn't have kids. Whatever the stories they tell us.) If we're lucky, we wake up from that dream imposed upon us and strike out, fight back, look to establish a re-defined self with others. We fight to say, that is not who I am ... listen to me ... watch me ... understand who I really am. And at...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/health.html Struggles Red Monkey 2009-09-20T19:21:42-05:00 This is part three. For part one, please read "When I Was 30." Sorry, folks, didn't mean to leave you hanging for a week for the next post, but it's been a crazy week. I probably shouldn't take time out to write this post ... but you've been waiting long enough. I am good at getting by. I should probably be grateful for that talent, skill ... luck, whatever it is. But I'm not. I'm tired of it. You see, that skill at getting by was what kept me going with cancer for two years before the diagnosis. Perhaps if I'd not been able to get by,...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/would_you_like.html Struggles Red Monkey 2009-09-16T21:31:30-05:00 As I've said many, many times before, I was an odd child. Instead of listening to Guns N Roses and Beastie Boys, I was listening to the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary. Tonight I am beyond crushed to hear that Mary Travers, who had been battling leukemia, has passed after the effects of chemo and a bone marrow transplant were just too much. It's especially poignant since I've just been discussing that it's been 10 years since I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma - kind of a cousin of leukemia. (Hey, it's the Leukemia/Lymphoma...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/nightsweats.html Red Monkey 2009-09-04T05:03:36-05:00 This is part two. For part one, please read "When I Was 30." By the time I was finally diagnosed with Hodgkin's, I had turned 31 and was on the outside edge of the typical age of folks with the disease. Hodgkin's generally strikes young people - Wikipedia says between 15 and 35, but I thought I recalled my oncologist saying it was more like 13-30. It spikes again in the 55+ crowd. I had no risk factors for it other than age - it's more common in those who have a history of it in their family (although the risk between siblings is higher...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/09/i_didnt_feel_we.html Struggles Red Monkey 2009-09-02T18:00:42-05:00 I didn't feel well. I was tired and run down. I'd been feeling that way for a while, but I thought I was just getting older. I was 30. I'd actually been going to the doctor for the last two years. One little dorky infection after another. Nothing big in and of itself ... but I was not a sickly person. So I was confused at this continuous roll of illness - it just didn't make sense. But, I figured I was just getting older. I threw myself into my work - I was teaching college writing at the time as an adjunct. That's a fancy way of saying...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008 http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2009/08/puppies_chew_th.html Never Underestimate the Power of Human Stupidity Red Monkey 2009-08-22T16:44:57-05:00 Puppies are fun. They're cute. They can be snuggly. They ADORE you. They also make messes and, if they are dachshund puppies, they are adorably curious about everything. Including my very happy Panasonic Slimz headphones that I use to listen to my Sleepmaker Storms app to go to sleep at night because they're very low profile and great quality. Tieg the dachshund puppy is very curious about these weird things I put over my ears and especially that interesting looking thing at the end that goes into that black glassy thing. He chewed the...<br/> <br/> Check out the rest of the article @ Red Monkey (c) 2005-2008