Pimpskins Win BWB VI! In a hard fought victory the Pimpskins edged out the Commies in a 5-4 mud bowl at Commie Field, giving the Pimpskins a 4-2 lead in the series. The Pimpskins’ five scores came on five different players and the victory was sealed by the defensive pressure by MVP Shaun “He Hate Me”’s three sacks, two forced fumbles and pressure on the quarterback leading to two key Commie turnovers late in the fourth quarter.

Go UVA! Uh, you got a little Hokie left on your cleats…

I have to be moved out by Sunday night. I have a ton of school work to do by the end of next week. I have to find a new apartment. I have to pick out a recipe for Jenn for tomorrow. I wrote a novel this month. That is November. And December. That is my life. Right now. I guess.

THE END - Nanowrimo Day 25 - 3592 words (53950 words)

Okay, slightly different ending than I had anticipated but only because there’s an actual ending. I initially wanted to leave it open ended where nothing was resolved. And while a lot of things still aren’t, well, there’s an ending of sorts. You’ll see.

And, of course, this may all change. But I think that for the most part the first draft is done. Now it’s time to edit. And woo, doggie, are there edits.

But I’m done. I feel a sense of accomplishment greater than simply breaking the 50,000 mark. I’ve finished the story (somewhat). That’s a good feeling. I mean, I could have his 50k and said that’s it, I’m done. But, no, I wanted to finish. And even if it’s only about 4k over the Nanowrimo mark, I think this is a greater accomplishment.

Now to clean it up.

***

You don?t remember if you dreamed or not.

You just feel like shit in the morning when you wake up.

You are sore all over, a side effect of restlessly sleeping on a couch and too much alcohol and not enough water consumed the night before.

Your head is killing you.

But your stomach is thankfully fine.

You sit up and blink the sleep out of your eyes, looking around and trying to recall where you are, stuck for a moment in that freshly awake daze where you are unfamiliar with everything.

Then you remember you are at Lynn?s.

You look at your watch and see that it is just after ten.

You hear a voice from the kitchen say heads up and turn face first into something flying through the air.

Your forehead takes the brunt of the impact, but it?s not much of one, and a bagel bounces off your head, the armrest of the couch, and then tumbles to the floor.

Lynn apologizes as she walks into the den and you bend over to pick up the bagel.

You look it over, decide that it?s clean, and bite into it.

Lynn plops into her chair, dressed and ready for the day, tearing into a bagel of her own.

She asks if you slept well.

You say you?ll get back to her on that.

She pats you on the knee as she says poor baby in a coddling voice.

She asks what time you have to be at work today.

You say three, you?re working another late shift.

She asks if you want to do lunch.

You think about it for a second as you chew another piece of your bagel and then shake your head. You say you should probably go home, take account of things.

She finishes for you, says that you will also eagerly wait by the phone for an oh so important phone call. Right?

You feel like you should smile there, at least smirk, acknowledge the joke, the absurdity of the comment.

But you know that?s exactly what you?ll be doing.

So you don?t say anything, you don?t do anything, just eat your bagel.

She says she has to go out, run some errands. That she?ll try and stop by the diner tonight if she can find that tape for you.

You say that would be great as you stand up and stick the bagel in your mouth, using your teeth to hold it there while you pat yourself down and make sure you have everything you came with, keys, wallet, the usual.

And you do.

Lynn gets up and follows you to the door, opens it.

You thank her for the bagel and the alcohol and the talk.

You say you really appreciate it. That it was good. You needed it.

She smirks, says yeah, just try and think about what she said. Think about what you?re still asking for, wanting. Please.

You nod but aren?t sure what you?re going to do.

She says to have a good day at work.

And she wishes you all the best with your girlfriend.

Sap.

You smile a bit there, you know the humor in that, you acknowledge that much.

You say you?ll see her later as you step out into the hallway.

She says that we?ll see about that.

And closes the door.

(Read more…)

Nanowrimo Day 24 - 4855 words (50225 TOTAL!!!!)

Whew. Nanowrimo goal met. Now I just have to meet mine.

So I broke 50k but I’m not jumping up and down in joy. Not yet. The story has yet to be finished. When it’s done, THEN I will celebrate like a fool.

And it will be done. Soon. Tomorrow I hope.

I’m looking forward to it.

I just hope I’m not so disappointed with today’s writing that I feel the need to edit out 3,000 words and have to fix it tomorrow. But we’ll see.

The end is in sight.

***

You wish it was raining. Not that it would make you feel better, but it would be more appropriate for your mood. That and it hasn?t rained for a while, so it?d be nice to have just a little rain. Especially tonight.

Especially as you find yourself standing outside in a too rapidly for your tastes sobering haze, staring down at your feet instead of up at the building in front of you.

Rain would make the mood complete. Would make the scene complete.

You don?t know why you?re here except that you have no idea where else to go.

This isn?t what you want. Not what your mind wants. You know this is wrong, this is bad, this will not help.

You know that there are a million of other things you can do, should do, other than this.

But what is so wrong with stopping by.

Stopping in.

Saying hello.

You don?t want her to see you like this. You don?t want to dump this on her.

She told you not to dump this on her.

That?s not what she?s here for.

Hell, Lynn might not even be home.

You go into her apartment building, slowly taking the steps up to her place, your mind racing over what the hell you?re trying to do, trying to think, trying to accomplish.

You just need someone to talk to. Someone to lean on. Someone to offer a sympathetic ear.

You just need someone.

You are dependent upon that.

You stare at her door as you stand there for a few moments, staring at the patterns the paint made as it dried, the beads and the lines. It?s something else to think about, something else to focus on.

You raise your hand to knock on the door but hesitate, reconsider.

Why are you here?

You pull your hand away and shake your head, no, this is not right, this is not good.

She won?t want to hear this. This is not what you do to friends. To her.

You hear voices, you hear sounds behind the door, movement.

The door opens and you didn?t even knock.

Lynn?s smiling, looking back over her shoulder at first but then turns her head, sees you, stops, smile still wide.

She says hey.

She asks what?s up.

You say nothing, that you were just out and around, thought you?d drop by and see if she was in, what she was up to.

You see someone come up behind her, another guy, one you have not met yet, and you suddenly find yourself inexplicably embarrassed to be here.

As if you?ve caught her in the middle of something.

She says that they were just heading out to meet up with some folks.

She introduces you to the guy.

Jeff. The guy who owned the guitar.

You say that it is nice to meet him and wish you meant it.

Right now all you want is to leave.

You say that you?re sorry to have interrupted anything.

Lynn says no, that you haven?t interrupted a thing, that you should come along, they?re meeting up with Rachel and Bobby and others, Shannon will be there when she?s done with work, it?ll be a good time.

She?ll buy you a drink.

You say no, that you?ll be alright, that they should go on and you?ll be fine.

She tells you not to be an ass as she closes her door, to come along, and she puts her right arm through yours, her left through Jeff?s, and she starts leading you towards the stairs, towards the outside, towards company that you?d rather not have right now.

And you wish you never came here, never came up those steps and stood in front of her door.

You wish you were at home.

You wish she was at home.

You wish you were with her and that everything was fine.

But you know that isn?t happening.

Not now.

Maybe not ever.

And Lynn?s offer for that drink sounds better and better.

(Read more…)

Man gets “spam rage” over penis ad

Call it spam rage: A Silicon Valley computer programmer has been arrested for threatening to torture and kill employees of the company he blames for bombarding his computer with Web ads promising to enlarge his penis.

In one of the first prosecutions of its kind in the state that made “road rage” famous, Charles Booher, 44, was arrested on Thursday and released on bail for making repeated threats to staff of a Canadian company between May and July.

Booher threatened to send a “package full of Anthrax spores” to the company, to “disable” an employee with a bullet and torture him with a power drill and ice pick; and to hunt down and castrate the employees unless they removed him from their e-mail list, prosecutors said.

He used return e-mail addresses including Satan@hell.org.

In a telephone interview with Reuters on Friday, Booher acknowledged that he had behaved badly but said his computer had been rendered almost unusable for about two months by a barrage of pop-up advertising and e-mail.

“Here’s what happened: I go to their Web site and start complaining to them, would you please, please, please stop bothering me,” he said. “It just sort of escalated … and I sort of lost my cool at that point.”

…

The object of the Californian’s anger was Douglas Mackay, president of DM Contact Management, which works for Albion Medical, a firm advertising the “Only Reliable, Medically Approved Penis Enhancement.”

“This went for a long, long time. He seemed really dedicated to this,” Mackay said from Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. “He seemed like a guy just crazy enough with nothing to lose that might actually do something.”

He said his firm does not send spam but blamed a rival firm which he said routes much of their unsolicited bulk e-mail through Russia and eastern Europe. Mackay said such firms gave a bad name to the penis enhancement business.

Nanowrimo Day 21 - 6543 words (45370 total)

Today’s goal was to break 40k, maybe 42k. I tore the hell out of that goal. The shit hits the fan, the end is in sight. Holy crap, I broke 45k. I can go into the weekend with a feeling of accomplishment.

Whew.

***

Lynn says something about you and the guitar. That you mentioned you could play

You smile, waive her off, say no, that was a while back and you don?t even want to try.

Bobby?s already on his feet and holding the guitar out to you.

He says go ahead, give it a go.

You try and waive him off but Shannon and Lynn join in the insistance.

You?re embarrassed.

You take the guitar.

You pull it too you, hold it like you used to, you remember doing this years ago.

You wonder why you ever stopped.

The last time you played was two years ago.

Almost two and a half.

You didn?t play much to begin with.

You cut back seriously when she moved in.

You cut back seriously when it bothered her when you played.

A bad relationship with a bad ex who played the guitar.

Reminded her of him.

Made her feel bad.

She didn?t like that.

So you didn?t play.

You try to remember if you did that on your own or if she asked you to.

A few months later you were pawning it, your guitar. It wasn?t much. It was an acoustic you picked up in high school. It was a good guitar. You learned to play on it.

It was a piece of shit car that needed repairing.

It was her piece of shit car.

It was her bank account that was empty.

It was you helping her out.

You try to remember if you did that on your own or if she asked you to.

You look up as you hear your name. You realize you?ve been sitting there, holding the guitar, doing nothing but thinking while they waited. Anxiously anticipated.

You give a sheepish grin.

You say you don?t even know where to begin.

You say you don?t even remember any songs.

Bobby says just strum. It?ll come to you.

He holds out a pick. You take it. The feel of the smooth, thin plastic familiar.

You wonder where you put yours to.

Maybe you threw them out.

Maybe she did.

Maybe there?s one still in the pocket of an old pair of jeans somewhere.

Maybe.

You strum a chord, rough, unsteady, uneasy.

You can?t get past thinking of her.

You shake your head, say you?re embarrassed, too much attention, you can?t just jump head first in like that.

You pull the guitar off your lap, hold it and the pick out to bobby, say thanks but you really should practice first.

Others insist, Bobby asks if you?re sure, you say yeah, you?re too rough to really be trying.

He shrugs and takes it.

Shannon slaps your knee, calls you a wuss.

Lynn just shakes her head.

The girlfriend in your mind breathes a sign of relief.

(Read more…)

Nanowrimo Day 20 (19 rehash as well) - 3772 words - (38827 total after deleting scene)

I deleted a whole chunk of yesterday’s work and did this. I may count yesterday to my total if I need to. We’ll see. I like this a bit better, but not much. (Italics is from yesterday leading up to today’s new stuff.)

***

You get to work a little early and find Flo and Tina working the floor which is already starting to pick up.

The dinner rush begins around five and you?re busy with more tables than you?ve served in your entire first week. Or it feels that way.

It?s about eight when things start to slow down, but not by much.

It?s about eight when they come in.

Lynn and Shannon walk through the door and wait patiently to be seated, something you find yourself with the opportunity to do.

So you go to them, play your role, and ask smoking or non.

Lynn says smoking of course, and you lead the way to a booth in smoking.

You ask what they?re doing here, you thought they were going to catch that band.

Lynn says they were but they don?t start until nine so they had time to kill. She says just coffee for her as she waives off the menu you try to hand her. Shannon does the same.

You say coffee it is.

Shannon comments on the volume of customers.

You say it was worse earlier.

She says to get used to it.

And you laugh with her as you turn to go get their coffee.

You serve them no more or less than you serve any of your other customers, or at least you try. There is a little more talk from you at their table than others, but that?s because you know them.

They leave shortly before nine, Lynn repeating her invite to join them afterwards to which you yet again decline and say you?re going to be spending time with the girlfriend.

Again she says your loss.

And she and Shannon leave.

And you have trouble watching both of them at the same time as they walk out.

And you go back to work.

(Read more…)

New look at JSKOnline

Nanowrimo Day 19 - 3542 words (36138 total)

I’m not too pleased with today’s section. I’ll get over it.

***

You go back into your apartment and hear the alarm clock screaming from the bedroom.

And then it stops.

You expect to hear it again in nine minutes when the snooze wears off.

You are finally feeling tired enough to go to bed but you wait until you are sure your girlfriend is up so you can reset the alarm clock to wake you up in a few hours.

You go into your room and look at her as she lies there in a futile attempt to get a few more precious moments of sleep.

The alarm clock blares again.

She doesn?t move.

She?s trying to ignore it.

You walk to the bed and hit snooze yourself, lean over and kiss her on the cheek.

She smiles.

You tell her it?s time to get up.

She looses the smile.

Mumbles about just a few more minutes.

You tell her that she really should be getting up now.

She opens her eyes, blinks as she comes to, blinks as he looks at you, focuses on you.

She asks why you?re dressed.

You say you never undressed.

She sits up slightly, the look on her face now concerned. Briefly you think it?s accusatory.

She asks why.

You say you weren?t tired so you sat up all night.

She says oh, and her face lightens.

You tell her to rise and shine, time to face a new day and have another fun filled day at work.

She gives a short, breathy laugh, almost a snort, throws the covers off and climbs out of bed.

You tell her you love her.

She says yeah, yeah, gives you a tired, dismissive waive, and she plods out of the room and off to take a shower.

(Read more…)

Nanowrimo Day 18 - 3531 words (32596 total)

Considering I only write on the weekdays and I probably won’t write at all Turkey day or the day after, I only have 6 days left to complete Nanowrimo. With 32,596 words done, I have 17,404 to go, which means I have to write at least 2,901 words a day (on average) to meet the 50,000 word goal. That’s a lot of words. I’ve only done that many or more four times all month. Guess I gotta keep it up.

***

All you can think is how defensive she was. That?s what you think as you sit on the couch and watch television late at night.

You forgot that there was nothing on this late in the day. Early in the morning. With the nine to five job you never stayed up late.

Now you don?t have to be into work until three.

Now you can stay up until dawn and still get a full amount of sleep.

Now you can stay up all night and wonder why she was so defensive, what she was hiding.

Who the hell Ray was.

You don?t remember a Ray ever being mentioned by her. Come to think of it, you don?t recall her ever speaking of the folks at her job in any manner beyond simply saying how her day has been.

She never gave the impression of being close enough to anyone at work to give them support during their time of need.

And she?s had two and a half years to give that impression.

No, wait, you?re just overreacting. You have to take a step back, look at it from her angle, realize that this is not out of the ordinary, this is not bad.

Besides, if it is so wrong for her to have done this then isn?t your time with Shannon and Lynn just as wrong?

Yes, and you feel guilty for those visits, those times out.

You also feel guilty because you are aware of another level that exists with each, something you are unable to avoid, unable to alter.

Does she have that level with Ray?

And is that really a problem?

There is absolutely nothing on television and you tire of thinking about something you have no control over.

Though you do have control.

It is all in your relationship with her.

Which you don?t have control over.

So, no, you do not have control.

You go to your room and undress in the darkness, climb into bed and resist the urge to curl into her, instead lying on your back and trying to tell your mind to stop thinking, stop racing, calm down and let you sleep.

You are only there a few moments before she rolls over, curls up into you, give a small sigh, a sigh that sounds happier than she has seemed for a long time.

You know she?s asleep.

You know she can?t here.

You know you don?t feel it.

But you say you love her.

Close your eyes, go to sleep.

(Read more…)

Let me know if you have any problems with the new look. Or even if you like it.

Nanowrimo Day 17 - 2256 words (29065 total)

There is a little finger on the hand of your girlfriend. Well, there are ten little fingers on her two hands, but on one hand in particular there is a pinky that is the smallest finger on any of her hands.

It is around that finger where you find yourself wrapped.

You don’t realize it all the time. Every now and then you come to your senses, wonder where you went wrong, how you got to where you are, how you allowed yourself to become so entwined into another person.

Her emotions are your emotions.

There are two emotions, happy and sad. There is no in-between. And each of those emotions are played off of her.

Whether you want them to be or not.

You are only allowed to be happy if she is happy.

You are only allowed to be sad if she is sad.

If you are happy when she is sad you are insensitive, cruel, uncaring about her life, her emotions, her needs. You must be sad as well. How can you care for her if you are not miserable with her.

If you are sad when she is happy then you are too wrapped up in yourself to see the world outside of you. You have to realize that it is not all that bad. That she is happy.

Or perhaps you are sad because she cannot make you happy. There is the ensuing guilt trip.

Nevermind that something else could be making you sad. That there is a world outside of her and your relations with her.

If you are sad when she is happy, then she becomes sad and you feel guilty and remain sad, the circle closed, the cycle continues.

You feel guilty when you are sad independent of her.

You feel guilty when you are happy independent of her.

You feel guilty now.

(Read more…)

Captain Obvious