Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’

Imagine this guy as an Orc
wearing a battered red beret.

Not much has happened that I haven’t bored my reader with before lately. We’re still awaiting a final loan approval on the house. This part makes me nervous. If, for some reason, we don’t get the loan, we have to come up with a Plan B. Which will be difficult. I’m sure the apartment complex we live in would let us withdraw our notice and stay here. But, then again…

It’s all made more nerve wracking because the guy doing our loan doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. He just asked me a question regarding my income last week that was exactly what he asked me a few weeks ago. And it’s not even a difficult question, and one he, as a mortgage professional, should already know. We were told he can be a bit eccentric, so I hope that’s all this is.

Things are interesting at the Doolan house these days. With my daughter there full-time, I get to see how she and her boyfriend interact on a more regular basis (you may or may not recall we rescued him last November from a very bad situation). For the most part, they have been very well-behaved. Expect that they tend to talk to each other like they are 12, and he can really be a smarmy ass sometimes. I sometimes have to bite my tongue, so they can work out their own relationship. But, it’s starting to affect the younger ones, so I feel that we are going to have to have a sit down with them.

Anyways, enough of that stuff. Last week I finally got around to watching Predators with Adrian Brody. It’s a sequel of sorts to the 1987 Arnold classic, and was really well-done. I thought this one was actually better than Predator 2 with Danny Glover, and I liked that one. But this brought to light that my daughter hasn’t seen some of the great sci-fi action movies that I love, like Predator and Aliens. So, we watched Aliens last night. I think she liked it, but it was so late when we were done last night I forgot to ask what she thought. She did get creeped out at the right spots, so that’s a good point.

Interestingly, when I was watching it, I realized something. One of my recent projects is a military sci-fi story featuring Orcs and other fantasy races in space. I’m building my own universe, but it’s highly influenced by Fantasy Flight’s Dragonstar RPG.  This story is based on a squad of Orc mercenaries. So, when I watched Aliens again, it struck me that I seemed to be basing my main character, Sgt. Gorm, on the character of Apone. And I’m cool with that, though it wasn’t a conscious effort. I worked on that story last week, and may work some more on it today, and this week.

Another note on this project, I recycled a snippet that I had written about an Orc sniper a while back. I might have posted that here, but I can’t recall. Either way, with a bit of trimming and tweaking, it fit perfectly into the story I was writing, and will serve as an excellent opening scene.

Yay for recycled writing!

Yep, still here

This one is still my favorite Punisher movie.

It's been over a week since I rambled on here, so I thought I should pop in.  Because I just know all of my devoted fans out there are hanging on every word I say, right?

Life is simply moving forward here.  Some days it feels stagnant, and others it feels like I need off this crazy train.  But usually, it's somewhere in the middle.  I just started my new term, and I had forgotten that I don't care for this instructor.  I had him for an Historiography class, and he gave me a C (but that's not why I don't care for him, let me make that clear).  I actually got an academic warning for that one.  Fortunately, haven't gotten any more since.  All A's and B's for me.  Anyways, this instructor comes across as rather conceited and self-important.  In his syllabus he states that it is vitally important for us to know his background, and provides a link to what is basically his CV.  I'm not really sure how it is relevant to a survey class in World History.  And I just found out today that he is currently teaching 24 online courses at once.  Either he has no life, or he is a glutton for punishment, IMO.  Anyways, I think I can do ok in the class, as long as I keep up with his odd scheduling habits.

Work is work.  And in the interest of not causing my readers to fall asleep, I will say no more about that.

Writing is still hit or miss.  With all of the personal stuff that is going on lately, writing has taken a backseat.  Plus, I'm just lazy.  I wish I could blame something or someone else, but the fact is I am just an unmotivated individual.  I'm not clear on why that is, but I'm sure a good psychologist could pick apart my past and my personality and tell me exactly what causes me to be a mental layabout.

I have noticed that most evenings, I just want to veg in front of the XBox, or watch a movie.  Unfortunately, even these experiences are often trumped by the fact that we have one good TV, and 4-5 people at any given time vying for its use.  Add to that the fact that most of the movies I want to watch are not age-appropriate for my son and younger daughter, so they have to wait until after the two of them go to bed.  Last night I watched the Extended Cut of Thomas Jane's The Punisher (which I reviewed today at The Action Elite), but it wasn't done until nearly midnight.  And with the alarm set for 5:30 am, you can imagine how I feel today.

Honestly, that's probably half my problem.  Life is kind of on hold in the evenings until after the kids go to bed.  So, in order to do anything for myself, I have to stay up late.  The lack of sleep tends to catch up with me some days.  Another big part is my fitness.  This cold weather always makes me lethargic.  I'm fairly certain I'm part bear, and need to hibernate.  I'm looking for ways around that, but honestly, until it warms up a bit, my options are limited.

But, despite all of the Resistance I encounter, I have managed to get bits and pieces of writing done; a few hundred words on this story, a few hundred on that one.  I figure in a couple of months I'll have a handful of completed works.  Today it's my Orc Vigilante story.  This is mainly due to my recent obsession with The Punisher, and the fact that I am currently reading a pretty good Mack Bolan novel.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring...

Rough weekend

So, because my work forbids the use of flash drives, I am forced to use email to transfer my writing files back and forth. And of course, Friday I forgot to email myself my NaNo project. So, because I am a slave to external motivation, I did not get any writing done this weekend.

Yesterday was bad. I was cranky from lack of sleep (I woke up at 2 am after a silly yet disturbing dream), and was on overload from two small children who both demanded a lot of attention. Well, I wasn't the nicest daddy. So much so that Michele noticed and called me on it. Anyways, that was just one part. It wasn't too good of a day, emotionally, and it carried over a bit this morning. But things are better now. We managed to work out the problems this morning, so I think we're good. I just need to actually get more sleep. I may have to try mild sleep aids occasionally (Tylenol PM).

On the bright side, I got a new pair of gloves to use on my homemade punching bag yesterday. I'll probably go pound on that tonight, though we are going to the gym after I get off of work. I need to get hopping on fitness. I've been slacking the last few weeks and I can feel it. I know I won't be in the shape I wanted to be when we hit vegas next month. But I'd like to be closer than I am now.

Ok, back to the grindstone. Keep punching, people!

Random thoughts and ideas

So, I figured I’d take a bit of my downtime here at my new job and update my blog.

Speaking of my new job, things are going good. For those who may not have heard, I started last week at the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Yes, I am a government employee. But I feel like this department actually does some good, as it takes care of children in need and their families. Oddly enough, the department would probably be where I would try to get hired once I finish my Masters in Counseling Studies (or whatever program I switch to). So, when the time comes, I already have an inside track on becoming a social worker/counselor for the State. It’s like there was this grand plan or something…

School is going ok. Had a bit of a hiccup last week involving deadlines for posting discussions. Apparently my new school sets mid-week deadlines for posting new discussion topics. This is fine, and pretty common. But in my past experience, it’s been more of a guideline in order to allow others time enough to respond. However, this school enforces it by not allowing new posts after Thursday. From then on, you can only respond to other people’s posts. So, my grade for last week will suffer, as I didn’t get to it until Saturday. Stupid rule, considering it’s an online school. But, meh. I’ll deal with it.

So, Sunday was my wife's first 5k. She had started running to lose the baby-weight, and found she really liked it. She looks awesome these days, and I often have a hard time keeping my hands off of her (not that it's really ever been different). But, anyways, she decided as a goal to runa 5k. Well, she did it. And faster than she expected. And now she's looking at marathons, triathlons and an Iron Man. I say more power to her! She amazes me with how much personal motivation she has sometimes. I am very proud of my honeys.

I’ve been editing my Ryvor stories based on some feedback. I like the edited versions better. So, I may try to submit them for publication soon. Speaking of writing, with a new full-time job and going to grad school, writing will be taking a back seat for a while. I’m not giving up on it. It’s just that supporting my family and stabilizing my life is more important right now. That being said, I am constantly barraged with new ideas. I need to carry a notebook around to jot stuff down in.

Yesterday I was reading a couple of articles by a friend of mine. Phil Elmore is a writer who runs a website called The Martialist. There he reviews and discusses all things pertaining to combat and fighting. Martial arts, knives, guns, etc… He also likes to expose frauds in the martial arts community, and one of his favorite targets is Ashida Kim. Without going into detail, the things I’ve learned about this supposed “ninja master” from the 80’s has me in stitches. The guy is a certifiable loon. The funny thing is, people buy his BS whole-heartedly. So last night I had this idea of creating my own martial art on paper, a persona to sell with it, and market it to unsuspecting saps looking for a fantasy. It would be a hoot, I think.

Other than that life is going as it goes. I got permission to take the last week of October off for my court appearance in Fresno. If all goes well, Faith will be coming home to where she belongs in Wisconsin sometime in December.

Generally speaking, life is pretty good.

Oh, and congrats to my Dark Master, Scott Oden, and his beautiful new bride, Shannon. They tied the knot on Saturday, and they looked great!