Between the Ticks

WARNING EMO Weight Post

2009-07-04T11:56:00.003-05:00

I don't normally get to personal in my blog generally I limit it to things of interest to me. Instead of talking about feelings my real life. I have to get this off my chest so I can work through it and figure out just what I am going to do about it. In a lot of ways I am hoping it will help to just get it out as well. So this post may not be for everyone and if your not interested just skip past it.

Friday was awful. I had over slept and grabbed some clothing that I had only recently pulled out of storage. They had fit just fine when I put them away last year. Now of course I was running late so I didn't really stop to think to hard about what I was wearing or how it fit. after 30 minutes on the bus I knew they were tight a lot tighter than I had orginially thought. They pulled in odd places, which included the fly that would slowly work itself down as I sat at my desk. I felt so fucking FAT! it drove me nuts all day and I wanted to burn the damn shorts when I got home. To make matters worse as part of the Canada Day Celebrations they had these tubs of Jelly Beans all around the office. As I walked past I knew I shouldn't have them but every time I would always end up with a handful. As if my body didn't listen to my brain.

I'm a big guy and I have been for a long time. But I rare feel really fat. I'll feel heavy, I'll feel out of shape, but never fat. It was a really unpleasent experience but one that I am hoping will stay with me and be some amount of incentive towards working on weightloss again. lately it has felt as if it has been going in spits and spurts and I need to figure out some way to make it through and lose weight. I'm not happy at the weight I am and I have to do something about it.

So expect to see more on weightloss as the blog goes on.

Transformers 2 Special Showing to cap off the weekend

2009-06-22T07:22:00.003-05:00

So tonight I am lucky enought to have a couple passes to the special showing of new Transformers movies that opens this Wednesday to the general public. Considering how much I enjoyed the first movie I am hugely excited about tonight and can't wait to see it. All in all it is a great way to cap off a really amazing weekend.

Friday was pretty laid back as I ran some last minute errands to prepare for my Wife's 40th Birthday on Saturday. People started showing up shortly after 4 o'clock Saturday Afternoon, and they where still there when we woke up the next morning.

Sunday was both Mid-summer and a toned down fathers day celebration. To top it all off the temperatures up here where in the high 20's celius and very humid. So it made sleeping very difficult.

First Review on Web Fiction Guide

2009-06-20T00:27:00.002-05:00

So I logged on to my e-mail with the intent of doing one last quick check before heading to bed. In my in box I find my first every Review of Carpe Arcanum posted at the web fiction guide. I'm completely excited check it out at http://webfictionguide.com/listings/carpe-arcanum/review-by-lschoales/ or you can just head to Carpe Arcanum and read it for yourself at Http://www.carpearcanum.com

Silence can be deafening

2009-06-18T11:16:00.002-05:00

Wow it has been a while since I've posted anything here. In the past month I have thought about posting a number of different times and on a wide variety of subjects. The thing that has stopped me each and every time is would people be interested. It has nothing to do with Paganism and aren't there more pagans that read my blog then none? Other times I've felt like posting Pagan related topics and turned away at the idea for other reasons. Effectively I've talked myself out of posting each time I've even thought about it. Yet still the urge continues to crop up from time to time. So it is time to do something about it and hopefully you all enjoy what I have planned.

So you can expect to start seeing regular updates on the following. My writing, weightloss, my garden, my own spiritual practice, continued Wordless Wednesday posts of things I find humourous, and whatever else strikes my fancy. If something strikes your fancy as well feel free to comment as always. In the mean time you can look forward to new daily posts starting tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-27T07:04:00.001-05:00

Keycon 26 - Review Part 2

2009-05-20T14:28:00.005-05:00

Keycon 26 Review Continued

Hospitality AKA- the 15th Floor:
Right Photo - The Staggering Penguin as seen from the entrance
Left Photo - Carved sign at the entrance of the Sleeping Dragon

If I had to pick one place to be the heart of Keycon it would be the 15th floor and its assorted Hospitality rooms. This year offered up seven different suites each with a different theme. Most people end up finding one or two that they like early on and spend most of their evenings visiting with friends, drinking and just generally socializing. This year I found myself hanging out more and more in the Sleeping Dragon it is something of a 15th floor gaming area. There I could drink, play games, and socialize what more could you ask for. I also liked Dorm 1701 which held a graduation party Star Fleet Academy style as a room they stayed open the latest for the Sunday night Dead Dog Party. They created a really interesting look by covering the windows with printed out images on massive sheets of paper.

At opposite ends of the 15th floor we had two very different suites The Staggering Penguin Tavern and the Poisoned Apple. The Penguin was a dimly lit Tavern went heavily for the décor look covering both the walls and the ceiling. While at the opposite end was the Poisoned Apple which was a bright and cheer room, going more for the inviting welcoming look.

Videos & W.A.C.
Also on the 15th floor was the official Video Room showing a wide range of old favourites to movies that have only recently been released on video. It didn’t seem to be running the same all night scheduling that it has for the past few years. I’m not really sure what caused the change but was impressed by the videos they did show. Which included a vampire film entitled Let the Right One In which in the minds of many is the best vampire film of the past year. If you haven’t seen this you really should get out and find a copy. W.A.C. the Winnipeg Anime Club also had it’s room up and running although they were not up and running by 3 o’clock Friday like they have been in the past. I was surprised to not see the DDR out this year it has been a popular past time over the past few years in their room. They also had some of the more valuable prizes in their silent auction including a wide range of Anime and two of the new Nintendo DSi.

Programming:
I attended more in the way of programming items this year then I have traditionally. That has a lot to do with my blossoming interesting in writing and the work I am doing on Carpe Arcanum and other projects. Regardless of the reason I made it out to about 5 or 6 discussion / programming items. The variety of programming was pretty good and the panels I made it out to where very well attended for the most part. It seems more and more people at Keycon are interested in writing this time around as the convention offered up a number of writing focused panels and discussions.

Two observations about programming first the moderators need to moderate. If the discussion is about a certain topic and the author guest is there don’t let the crowd take over the discussion and turn it in to a Q&A session with the author on whatever topic they like. I saw this happen a couple of times at panels over the weekend and the moderator never stepped up to bring things back on track. Second is that there is a fair amount of over lap in panels so on more then one occasion I found myself wanting to be in two places at once.

I haven’t commented on the Read Off since I was involved in setting it up. I would be interested in any feed back on it. So let me know what you thought so we can make it better next year.

Dealers Room:
The Dealers room was moved up to a nice and brightly lit room right beside the restaurant and the cash machine. Hopefully this brought about some more foot traffic for the room. Sadly I found the room didn’t offer much that I hadn’t seen before. The majority of the things I picked up where books that I could have grabbed any day of the week. It would be nice to some new dealers to go along with the traditional ones.

Gaming:
Gaming was another part of the convention that found a new home this year in the large open area in the space beside registration. This was by far one of favourite changes at the convention. While I don’t like to spend a lot of time at cons gaming I do enjoy walking past and checking out the various games. This new space offered my plenty of opportunity to do just that. It also made gaming more apart of the convention and less a separate thing. I think that was a big part of the reason it was as busy as it was all weekend long.

General Impressions:
Over all I think the convention was really good, I had a great time. Events at the convention kept me busy all weekend long. The small problems I have mentioned during the review can be easily over looked and overshadowed by the success and good times. The department heads put on a good show, and the convention went really smoothly for guests and fans alike. One thing about the weekend that really stood out was the number of younger fans in attendance. This increase is something that is important to note for future conventions. It also offers a good sign for the long term success of Keycon as more and more younger fans start attending the convention.

Keycon 26 - Review Part 1

2009-05-20T14:12:00.005-05:00

Keycon 26 Review

Well another year has come and gone, so it is with a little bit of sadness that I write this review because I know I won’t be at another one for about 360 days. Like I have done each other time I’ve written a review of Keycon I will run through each of the areas of the convention and touch a little on each of them. Afterwards I will end it with some over all opinions and thoughts about the convention as a whole. If you have a copy of the program book feel free to follow along.

Registration:
We checked in fairly early on Friday before any of the lines arrived so I personally had a pretty good experience when it came to checking in. Others were not so lucky 2 friends who I saw in the line as opening ceremonies began where still in the line as it ended. They had about a 45 minute wait to register and get their badges. I guess it pays to register early and whenever possible check in early as well.
They did do something that I think was a little different this year or at least I don’t recall it from past years. One side of the check in was for registration and the other side was where you could buy T-shirts and they offered a wide range of those. I don’t know how well this worked out since I didn’t buy any personally but anytime I walked past it didn’t have to much of a line up. However the pile of T-shirts did certainly shrink over the course of the convention and I did see a large number of people wearing them.

Guests:
Photo Left - Liana K posing for the figure draw jam, hosted by the artist guest John Kaufmann
Photo Bottom - Liana K Pin posing Tamile at the Pin-up panel

All of guests where very friendly and out going. You could often find most of them floating about on the 15th floor in the evenings with a drink in one and a good conversation around them. The best thing about all of the guests is how approachable each of them where. I spoke with each of them at various times during the con. I will touch on a couple of them one on one because I had more interaction with them, this isn’t to say the others where not as good I just didn’t see them as much.

I spoke with John Kaufmann http://jek2004.com a couple of times during the conventions and he was always pleasant and fun to talk with. In addition he also ran several different art focused panels. Which while I didn’t attend any of them because I have enough trouble drawing stick figures I did hear that they were very well attended.
Kelly Armstrong was one a number of writing panels that I attended and she offered up a number of interest insights. Sadly I didn’t see her at many of the other events or on the 15th floor. I would have enjoyed chatting with her. Of course it is very likely that she was on the 15th floor and I just didn’t see her among the crowds.

We were the liaison for two guests this year Liana K and Ed the Sock. Both are wonderful guests to work with. Liana ran a number of popular panels during the course of the convention including a how to Pose like a Pin up Model that had a packed room and a professional photographer on hand to take the pictures. She also hosted a number of woman empowering panels that were well received.

Children’s Programming:
For the first time ever we had a room dedicated to Children’s Programming. Parents were of course expected to be there with their little ones, so the room was not a daycare service. What it did was offer things that would be of interest to the kids. It was a good idea that certainly got some positive feedback in the post-con bitch session. Hopefully this bit of programming will continue in the up coming years, because there were a lot new born babies this year and there were also a few pregnant woman about the convention as well.

The Art Show & Auction:
The Art show was tucked away in a bit of an out of the way spot this year. But they certainly did have a decent selection of art available. One thing that struck me as I walked through the art was many of the pieces were smaller low priced items. It seemed like the artist knew their markets because the majority of the smaller pieces seemed to have been sold. The convention also introduced some new types of panels a wire rack design that I thought worked out pretty good. Only problem with them that I saw was that they have hanging space right to the ground so some pieces may end up being hard to see.

The auction seemed to go fairly smoothly despite a couple of problems. I did find it a little hard to tell what pieces were charity pieces and what was going to the artist. Also a number of the pieces were really small making it hard for the runners to show the piece to everyone. The runners also seemed to be very inexperienced and hard to be reminded from time to time that when the bidding gets down to two or three people just to show it to them and not try and show it to the whole room. My final comment with respect to the auction is that if you are a runner and you are planning to bid on a piece don’t run it as well. It really is just bad form. I wouldn’t put any of this on the Art show Director she had several experienced runners pull out at the last minute. In the end the art show was profitable for both the convention and for the artists and that is the important part.

Masquerade:
I’ve seen a few pictures of this post con and it looked like it was a fair small masquerade compared to recent years. Although I really couldn’t say to much about it because I didn’t get to see it. See the Programming Grid list the Children Masquerade as starting at 630 and the Regular Masquerade at 7:00. We didn’t have any interest in see the Children’s Masquerade so we showed up at just after 7 expecting to have just missed the intros and a bit of banter. To our surprise because of lack of entries in the Children’s Masquerade it was decided to start the masquerade at 630. So it was all over when we arrived. I’d love to hear some feed back from the people who took part.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-20T07:04:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-13T07:04:00.002-05:00

World Horror Con - Part 3

2009-05-07T21:55:00.003-05:00

After the Gross-Out the dinner crew ended up in our room sitting around chatting and drinking. Somewhere along the way we did lose Josh rumours of his whereabouts differed widely and included the possibility of being downstairs in the bar or up in his room recovering from the gross out. Again the intimate nature of the convention shined through. The 6 of us were able to relax and talk about pretty much every topic under the sun until the early morning out. Art show director Phy even joined in the fun of the evening. By the time people left it was nearly 3 or 4 in the morning and was a wonderful way to end the day.

Saturday had a bit of a downer feel to it, everyone knew it would kind of be the last day of the convention. A fair number of people had flights to catch early in the day on Sunday. The wife and I slipped out of the hotel to do a quick run home and check on things, and also to grab an extra change of clothes we had packed really light for the convention.

I got back to the hotel to join in briefly on a impromptu post pulse discussion and adventure being led by Tommy Castillo. It was a basic what would you do in this situation. Apparently Rhonda was insistent on heading west to Edmonton to get to her children. Scott was more then willing to travel with her. While Gavin wanted to get to the ocean and Tommy wanted to head south. I think he was heading home to his post apocalyptic jeep. I didn’t stay with the group long my own use was pretty limited to the time we spent in Winnipeg. Also the panel on Odyssey was about to start.

Tamile, my wife had taken a number of the guests on a bit of a ghost tour of the city. We have a number of haunted locations in the downtown and she knows most of them. Thankfully they made it back in time for the panel since one of her passengers was hosting it.

Sherry an Odyssey grad shared her experience at the well known writing school. Touching on how the classes where formatted, several of the different assignments she received and the work that was done as a group. As someone who already listens to the Odyssey podcast it was a really interesting discussion and I enjoyed the opportunity to hear from a grad first hand.

After the discussion was kind of a blur until supper. I had numerous little discussions with a variety of people. Now earlier in the day Sherry, Tamile and I discussed dinner plans. We didn’t want our last dinner as a crew to the disasters our first two dinner attempts had been. This time reservations were made, we were smart, or so we thought. We even made reservations for 10, counting on the fact more people would want to join. What no one counted on was the sheer number of people who wanted to come. It seemed like one of those situations where 1 person would tell someone and they would tell someone and so on and so on. So at one point it seemed like we had about 20 plus people planning on coming along. This would have been great if the restaurant could handle a group that size. Then I would hear some people were not coming and it seemed to go back and forth. In the end a group headed off to a different restaurant, and we had 14 people spread across two tables. Mental note next time reserve a bigger table and avoid all of the problems that go along with making reservations.

At dinner we learn that Nicole had popped the big question to Shad and he said yes. I was discouraged from telling the staff and getting them to sing for the happy couple. In the end dinner was the best one for our little crew of the convention. The food was good, the service was quick, and we didn’t have to wait to be seated. Score one for Winnipeg Dinning. It was at dinner that we got to meet Toni as well an interesting woman who whose clone I happen to know. We ended dinner with a trip to the Basilica a local landmark and cemetery. Nicole video taped a lot of it, but I’m not sure if the video will get posted or what will happen to it.

The happy couple

Once we got back a lot of people got together to listen to Edo read from some of his books. A card was also circulated through the Con as quickly as possible to get as many people as possible to sign it and draw something cute for Nicole and Shad. Mean while Josh and I got together in my room for a few drinks and to talk publishing, writing and the industry. It was a couple of hours well spent in my books and he gave me a lot of really good insight in to what I should be looking at and a few different directions I should be considering. There was also a lot of interesting bits of information I’d never considered before. So a big thanks to Josh for his time. While we were chatting the rest of the crew had gathered in the room Edo had used for his reading and were having there own little party.

By the time we got down there it was wrapping up, so we all headed to Regal Beagle in the lobby. Karaoke was well underway star Scott, Kelly, Rhonda, Tommy, Gavin and others. Kelly was the only one of the group I heard personally, but apparently they all have great voices. Next time you bump in to Tommy ask him to sing you Rainbow Connection, in Kermit’s voice. I didn’t last all that late but apparently the rest of the group closed it out.

Sunday was an odd cross between packing up the convention, saying bye to new friends, and having fun. Half the convention had left by 2 pm to go home. What remained continued on without them as best they could. Conversation took place wherever space could be found and much found and drink was finished in the con-suite. For myself I ended my con in the hot tub with the chair and a couple of other local friends.

It was a great weekend and I have a lot of fond memories from it. I honestly don’t know if it would have been the

World Horror Con - Part 2 - Gross out Story

2009-05-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

Since I didn't finish reading my Gross out story I decided to post it. If you have a weak stomach then just skip this post.

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I’m an old man and I’ve lived a full life. My wife beat me to the grave a by ten years, and both of our children followed her shortly after that. Death of a loved one can have two effects; you curl-up and wait to die yourself or you fight it. Most people choose the first option. You can see it all over. Every city has them. Senior’s life style homes they are called. Tombs with windows is more accurate in my opinion, walk through one and the stink of pending death is oppressive and depressive. It was in one of these that I decided to fight back.

An unhealthy obsession my late wife had called my interest in the occult. I’d troll the used books stores in search of old books, heck I even read a lot of the new age and self-help books. You wanna know the secret, I’ll tell you. People like Deepak Chakra are lining their pockets with your cash and feeding you shit. The real knowledge was in the old books, the ones bound in real leather carved from the back of some dead animal. Other men my age were out playing golf and drinking Shantey in the clubhouse while pretending to still be men worthy of the name. I was reading and trying some of it out.

It didn’t take long to decide that what I needed was potential, life force to some. The books all hinted at the topic. Yet none went so far as to tell you how to get it or where to take it from.

It took a lot of experimentation and wasn’t cheap, the books offered ideas on harnessing energy. So I started out small, the woman down hall offered up my first source. She had a fat old gray cat that was forever escaping between her legs and slipping out to the hall way to shit. Of course it wasn’t allowed in the building and she denied even having it. I lured it in with a dish of moist food. An altar was ready in the bathroom being the only place that could easily be cleaned. Wearing an old jean jacket that had belonged to my son and my wife’s garden gloves I cradled the cat. A jerk of the wrists and its front little paws snapped like twigs in my hands. The jagged bones tore through its thin skin and ripped through a vein blood sprayed across the ugly off-white tiles. The thing let out the most pitiful mew as its blood ran down the walls. I almost felt the slightest twinge of guilt as it died in my arms.

The symbols were drawn in the tub with its own blood and the animal carved up. I ate well that night don’t ever let anyone tell you that a cat isn’t a good meal. The Vietnamese have got it right. The only problem with eating raw uncooked cat is the sinews they are such stringy things. As I leaned over the tub and slurped up the little bits of meat I tried to imagine pork chops or anything more appetizing to make it easier and keep from throwing up what had already gone down. I couldn’t hold it down and threw up all over the tub. A mixture of over easy eggs, toast and cat spewed out. Chunks floated around the half eaten corpse everything turning a odd shade of orange as it mixed. It had worked. I could feel the slightest of surges even with that first bite and I wouldn’t, I couldn’t let it get away from.

I leaned over the sink and spat out my blood stained dentures. The cup that I used to soak them was the only thing nearby, holding my nose I scooped like a ladle and drank deep. The toast soaked in gastric juices and cat blood was the hardest to swallow. In the end I had proof of concept I had the idea right but the source wrong. The next day I spent lounging in my chair and moving it with the sun. I would need something bigger, younger that had more potential left.

A week later I had found my next target. I had known the little punk since his parent had bought the house down the street from my old home. He’d even been my paperboy for a few months. Bastard kid was always late. It had been a few years since I had last seen him but he was pretty easy to pick out walking home from local middle school. Following him home by car wasn’t an issue I didn’t care if he saw me. On the second pass I pulled right along side of him, rolled down the window and waved him over.

The idiot walked right over and leaned in through the window. I gave him some story about how my wife had always had a soft spot for him in her heart. He nodded that he knew so I kept going and explained that she wanted to see him succeed. So I was going to put some money aside to pay for his college. His eyes lit up and I did my best not to roll mine as he excitedly got in the car. I’ve got to give one thing to those senior death hostels; they keep a good select of drugs on hand. The door had barely closed when I jammed the needle into his chest. He wolud never wake up.

Eating a cat is a lot easier then eating another person let me tell you. The problem has nothing to do with taste at least not at first. Little jerk really did taste like pork, it was a matter of volume. I ate as much as I could in a single sitting, but it barely put a dent in him. Perhaps if I had been fatter I might have been able to but I doubt it. Even washing it down with his blood didn’t help any. By the early evening the bathroom was starting to smell, the body was starting to bloat a little. None of this did anything to improve his taste. In the end, I made it through about half of him before I just couldn’t stomach any more. I carved off what I couldn’t finish and flushed it.

The whole thing left me feeling pretty good. I knew it wouldn’t last. Any time I moved I could feel the youthful energy fade away. I had to find a better source something small, some fully untapped life force energy. The feeling was like a drug. As you grow old you forget how it feels to be young and when you get that reminder you need more and more of it. I considered smaller kids as the days passed, might I be able to eat a four or a three year old in a single sitting. Less then a week later I realized that unconsciously I was driving past play grounds like some sick sexual predator. What was I becoming I wondered. That night I packed up and threw out all the candles, the knives, and even the books. I wanted to put it all behind me and I did for three months. That was about how long that little jerk’s boost lasted.

The next day I found myself back in the parks I had been avoiding for months. I kept my distance from the playground but watched it, watching them play filled me with hunger. Then I saw her power walking down the trail, swinging her arms, her belly bulging with unborn life. I nodded to her as she was almost coming past me. When she was right in front of me I jumped at her from the bench the last erg. from the little jerk almost gone.

My attack took her completely off guard and I knocked her to the ground bashing her head in to the pavement. It cracked open with a sicken split. I didn’t take me more than a few seconds, to drag her into the tree line. As soon as I was deep enough in the trees, I straddled her. Digging my fingers into her swallow belly I tore her open. Little stood between me and my meal… her unborn child, it true potential completely untapped. I tore free the umbilical from my prize and sucked down its life giving fluids made for the sweetest of nectars. The baby flesh was the softest and tenderest of meats, Grade triple-A Alberta Prime beef doesn’t even come close to the taste.

It was a small simple meal alone in the woods that I had that day, but it changed my life forever. I wouldn’t be the man you all see before you today if it wasn’t for that woman and her unborn child. To all of you I say, youth is wasted on young…. so let’s take it back.

World Horror Con - Part 1

2009-05-07T21:27:00.005-05:00

Wow four days after the World Horror Convention and I am still recovering. I should be back to normal just in time for Keycon our local convention which is coming up next weekend. Thankfully after that I have the week off, but let’s talk more about World Horror.

I attended as a favor to the chair of the convention as a volunteer. Honestly I am not a big horror fan in fact slasher type movies just don’t do it for me. What I was interested about the convention is helping a friend and meeting the writers and editors who would be in attendance. As things turned out I got all of that and a whole lot more.

Out weekend start Wednesday night right after work. I headed straight to the hotel to help with some unloading. My wife joined us after work and we visited with people for a couple of hours afterwards. That was where we first met Scott http://www.sgbrowne.com/ the author behind the Zombie story Breathers. It was also the first time I heard about the gross out contest at the convention. Then it was off to the Airport collect Edo Van Belkom www.vanbelkom.com a guest flying in out of Toronto. Unknown to any of us at the time was the fact he would end up playing a much larger role in our convention experience than any of us might have guessed.

The next morning we packed up for the weekend and headed for the hotel in time to enjoy a quick bite to eat and to lend a hand with some last minute set up. Afterwards it was off to the airport to pick up the last of the guests, well known artist Tommy Castillo. If you’re not familiar with his work stop by his website http://www.tommycastillo.net/ it’s likely you will recognize something he’s done.

Then it was time for Opening Ceremonies. I had heard the con was going to be small beforehand but there were maybe 20 people in attendance. The reality that this was going to be a small con really struck home. A lot of people described it as being an intimate convention, which I think was really taking a positive look at the experience. Minutes after opening ceremonies we met Nicole and Shad, Sherry, and Josh the small group of us made dinner plans.

Sherry is a local Winnipeger, Nicole and Shad were a couple who had come up from Detroit and Joshua Gee www.JoshuaGee.com was one of the guests who had traveled up from New York City. We all agreed to meet in the lobby and find somewhere to eat, on the way out of the hotel we were met by Edo and invited him to join us. It only made sense since all of us where heading for his reading in a few hours anyways. The small crew or posse as some would come to call it headed for a nearby restaurant that I had been to many times and knew was good. What I didn’t was that the restaurant had become a teaching school. It took over an hour to get our food and when it did finally come out it came out one or two people at a time. This would be bad dining experience number 1. After least the food was alright in the end.

Edo’s reading was our last official event of the evening. He told a lot of good stories, several of which we were hearing for the second time. Over dinner we all share stories so some of Edo’s slipped out early. He didn’t hold back on his experiences as a full time writer, which some authors do. It was the start shit with Edo some good some bad all of it pretty interesting. Tamile had to take Edo and Conrad to a radio interview and the two of them did a great hour long discussion on live radio. I had planned to spend the rest of the night working on my gross out story but the reality is that I stayed up till three in the morning chatting in the con suite.

The next day was a bit of a blur. Tamile had to work in the morning and I ran some errands for the Con with John. Once we got back to the hotel I collected my laptop and set up in the main room to write my piece for the Gross out Contest. Once it was finished I left it with a friend to proof read for me while I went to the pool. Normally I’ll finish something and leave it for a few days to stew in the back of my head before editing. To edit something right after I finish writing it would just be too fresh in my mind.

As a quick aside the pool had a hot tub and waterslide both of which were a heck of a lot of fun. As a big guy I don’t normally get to ride waterslides, so I made the most of it. Again the crew headed out for dinner and this time we decided upon the Elephant and Castle. It would have been a great idea had there not been a hockey game. 30 minute wait time just to sit down. Boston Pizza had a 20 minute wait time. We ended up in a food court eating McDonalds. Winnipeg restaurants didn’t shine on this weekend.

The Gross-Out for me was one of the highlights of the convention. Anyone that entered had to step up and read something they had written before judges and a live audience. The focuses of all of the stories was horror obviously with particular attention being paid to the gross factor. The bar was set pretty high right from the start with Edo reading one of his. Toni read her story inspired by some real life events. Gavin from the Canadian Maritimes read a torture piece he wrote. Then came mine, it was basically my first time reading up in front of a group of 20 some people. I was doing alright up to the point I heard the one minute warning and knew I wouldn’t make it. Suddenly I found myself trying to edit on the fly only to end up losing my place and getting more and more lost. In the end I didn’t finish reading it to my disappointment. Tommy Castillo came after me and awed the audience about an ex-wife and his then unborn son. Nicole closed out the contest with something that was much subtle, but very good. It was some great storytelling and a lot of fun watching the audience groan and grimace. In the end Tommy’s story took the win and was award a one year old gummy haggis.

That brings part one of my World Horror Con experience to a close.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T07:04:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Quote the Raven

2009-04-16T21:51:00.002-05:00

Alright I'll admit it I have been super quiet as of late. Things have been hugely busy and exciting around the household, which I made a decision at the start of it all not to bring it up on the blog. In all honesty I just didn't see the point in sharing it or making a big public deal about it. Needless to say things have calmed down and is in the past. So hopefully I'll be able to get on here more regularly and talk about the things that matter to me. Now on to the reason and the inspiration of the post.

So for about two years now I've had a couple of fairly consistent companions who followed me around in the form of a couple of Ravens. I would leave my house in the morning and walk through the park and they would be on the light standards Cawing at me. Later they would be on the power lines near the bus stop. Then I'd see them again in the park lot as I got to work. This of course would repeat in reverse on the way.

At first I thought nothing of it. I can be a bit oblivious at times. After a few months I did start to wonder what the hell was up. Then over the summer a visiting Psychic was in town and my wife and I went for a visit and to get a reading. Out of the blue she brings up these Ravens. I was completely dumb founded and impressed all at the same time. She flatly informed me that there was something important to me that I was neglecting it. The Ravens had taken it on themselves to remind me and get me back on track. I was fairly certain that they were there to get me writing and working seriously on a project or two.

Of course I didn't get to work on anything and largely ignored the message for about another year or so. But since this past NANOWrimo I've been working pretty steady on a few different projects and making a point of writing a couple of times a week to the best of my ability. Two weeks ago I noticed something, or to be more exact the absence of something, the ravens were gone. At first I wanted to blog about it right away, but I held off. I had to be sure that it wasn't just a fluke and it wasn't I haven't seen them in weeks now.

I'm happy to announce that I am on the right track with my writing and with my study of writing.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

The future of gaming

Rock Band night with friends

2009-04-04T21:08:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T11:03:00.001-05:00

If only she had gone to the Dark Side. There has to be one hell of a sweet fan fic story in this picture...

I could call it "bring your daughter to work day"

Plurk vs Twitter just left me Bitter

2009-04-01T09:43:00.004-05:00

So I've recently started to explore the exciting would of http://www.plurk.com. Its like twitter accept that is much more interactive then Twitter is. It basically works like a timeline of your life, and those of your friends. You post what your doing, what your thinking, feeling and whatever else you want to share including links, videos and pictures.

You might be wondering why plurk is winning out over twitter in my opinion. With Twitter I post something but no one can really comment on it, all they can really do is twit a reply of their own which I might or might not see. The @Randilin system of replies and seperates all of the different users and limits the interaction of the users. With Plurk it is completely different, I post a plurk and people can comments and discuss what I've shared if they want to. It promotes a sense of interaction, and inter-connectivity. I think that because of the level of interaction it will prevent things like the Ghost-Twitters that are popping on Twitter.

So if you haven't checked out plurk swing by and check it out, sign up for it and be sure to friend me.

http://www.plurk.com/randilin

Riddle me this....

2009-03-30T08:39:00.003-05:00

I would like someone to explain this search association to me.

Step 1 - Go to http://www.amazon.com
Step 2 - Search 'Girl Scout Cookies'
Step 3 - Look through the first page of results
Step 4 - Explain the association here as a comment...

Thursday Thirteen - 3

2009-03-26T12:58:00.002-05:00

Thursday Thirteen

13 Enviro Tips from
Reader Digest

1. Q. Should I turn off the lights every time I leave the room?
Let your bulb answer that. You save energy with the lights off, even for a few seconds. But flicking that switch shortens every lightbulb's life. Incandescent lightbulbs are cheap, so turn them off when you can. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) aren't cheap-about $4 each-but one will save you about $30 in electricity charges throughout its life span over an incandescent. And don't worry, turning on a lightbulb doesn't burn a lot of energy. The Department of Energy's office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says that the amount of electricity needed to turn on a bulb equals a few seconds of its burning brightly.

Reader's Digest Version: Turn off incandescents if you're leaving the room for more than five seconds; CFLs, if you'll be gone at least 15 minutes.

2. Q. Do I really have to unplug my TV, phone chargers, CD player ...?
Even when they're not on, electricity courses through the plugs of your electronic gadgets so that they'll jump into action more quickly. This "vampire electricity" sucks up $4 billion a year in energy for things that aren't even on. Your laptop alone, turned off but plugged into the wall, will cost you $9 a year. Cell phone chargers that aren't connected to a cell phone cost 14 cents a year. With some 260 million chargers out there, it adds up.

Reader's Digest Version: Unplug. Even easier, plug everything into power strips with on/off switches.

3. Q. I know cold-water washes are greener, but will they get my clothes clean?
For a hot-water load, about 90 percent of the energy used to wash clothes goes to heat the water, not agitate your clothes. The good news is, washing your clothes in warm or even cold water will get rid of almost any grime, except for the worst dirt or oily stains.

Reader's Digest Version: Switch from hot to warm water to cut energy use in half; cold, to cut it even more.

4. Q. Dirty dishes: by hand or by machine?
By the time you wash a sinkload of dirty dishes by hand, you'll go through 4 to 5 gallons of water. Modern dishwashers use as little as 2 gallons. Sure, dishwashers require electricity, but new ones use 95 percent less electricity than machines built 30 years ago, and they clean well enough that in most cases, there's no need to pre-rinse.

Reader's Digest Version: Stick to full loads, use the pot-scrubber option only if necessary, and hit the no-heat or air-dry option.

5. Q. Peanut butter jar: a simple rinse or a full-on scour before recycling?
A small amount of food won't gum up the recycling works, so don't waste a lot of water making that peanut butter jar pristine. You should do it mostly to keep pests away. And that lime in your empty beer bottle? Leave it.

Reader's Digest Version: Rinse out what you can, then recycle.

6. Q. Soda bottle tops: on or off before recycling?
It depends on where you live. Some localities insist on no tops; others are more laid-back. Leave them off because 1) the caps are not always made from the same plastic as the container, and 2) they can jam the processing equipment.

Reader's Digest Version: Off with their heads!

7. Q. Paper or plastic?
A key ingredient in plastic bags is fossil fuel, and making them-from drilling and refining oil to actually manufacturing the bags -- is a messy business. Turning timber into paper bags isn't exactly clean either. Paper mills contribute to acid rain, global warming, and respiratory ills. Plus, they demand loads of energy and water. Even bags made from recycled paper are six times as heavy as their plastic cousins, so trucking them across the country means more gas consumed and more noxious fumes. But, you cry, paper bags decompose in landfills and plastic doesn't. Wrong! Virtually nothing decomposes in a landfill, where garbage is kept from air and water to prevent bad stuff from leaching into groundwater. The stuff that does biodegrade can take tens, or even hundreds, of years to break down -- and in the process, it gives off methane gas, which contributes to global warming.

Reader's Digest Version: Paper and plastic are both lousy choices. Take your own reusable canvas bags.

8. Q. In public restrooms, paper towel or electric hand dryer?
Far less energy is needed to heat and blow air at your hands than to make paper towels and haul them around. One study found that nine trees are cut down to supply an average fast-food restaurant with paper towels for a year; the tossed towels then create 1,000 pounds of landfill waste.

Reader's Digest Version: If there's a choice, go for the hot air.

9. Q. Should I turn off the computer when I leave for the day?
At the Department of Energy, if an employee goes home for the night without shutting off her computer, the DOE network does it for her. Take that as a sign that you should too. According to Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach, only 34 percent of employees power down their computers. Americans would save $4.3 billion in energy costs, and avoid 32 million tons of CO2 emissions, annually by turning off office computers and lights. Don't worry about wasting energy powering up your computer. The only extra juice needed is in the first two minutes, and even that's barely more than any other two minutes of use. The real problem: Repeated rebooting is a pain.

Reader's Digest Version: If you won't be using it for 20 minutes, turn off the monitor. If it won't be needed for more than two hours, turn off the computer.

10. Q. What exactly can I put into those blue recycling bins -- the ones that say "White Paper Only"?
Good news for all of you who neglected to read your blue bins and tossed in anything remotely papery: Technology has progressed enough that most recycling facilities will let it slide.

Reader's Digest Version: Toss in newspapers, cardboard, magazines, envelopes with the plastic windows, and even the occasional staple.

11. Q. Let the car idle or turn it off?
As the California Energy Commission (CEC) points out, "Idling gets zero miles per gallon," so why waste the fuel? The old thinking was that starting up the car took more gas than letting it sit and run awhile. Yeah, if you're driving a Packard, but not so with modern, fuel-injected autos, where ten seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning on the engine.

Reader's Digest Version: Idle for 30 seconds if you must. Longer than that: Turn it off.

12. Q. But I should still idle my car in really cold weather before driving, right?
Cars warm up faster when driven, says the CEC.

Reader's Digest Version: Turn it on and go.

13. Q. Air conditioner or open window: Which costs me more gas?
One school of thought insists that air conditioners are a drain on the battery and gas.
Another claims that open windows cause aerodynamic drag, forcing the car to gulp more fuel. Yes, while sailing along a highway, the air conditioner does steal power from the car engine, but Consumer Reports and Edmunds.com found that it amounts to only about a mile per gallon, worth it on a scorching day. On the other hand, open windows do cause a drag on the car, making it work harder, but not by much.

Reader's Digest Version: On the highway, do what feels most comfortable. But around town, try to drive with the window down. Your hair will be a mess, but you'll save some gas.

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Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T11:02:00.000-05:00

A Writer's Space

2009-03-23T13:37:00.003-05:00

So I started a new book called "A Writer's Space" the basic idea of the book is to help the reader create a physical and a mental space that is conductive to write within. I've only read the first chapter so far and it seems like it will be a pretty interesting book. The biggest challenge about it so far for me is some of the questions at the end of the first chapter. See each chapter comes with a set of questions to help you develop the space you need so what I'll be doing is posting those questions and my answers to the blog as I work my way through them...

Answers to follow later when I figure them out..