Monday, Monday…

November 14, 2011 ~ Bon Steele ~ Leave a comment

You guys.
Dude, you guys.

What a fantastic weekend it was! Well, except for the part where I had an argument with Mister Man on Saturday morning. Oh, and the part where my best friend came down the Venusian Death Cold Sunday morning. But other than that? A FABLOUS WEEKEND WAS HAD BY ALL.
Sorry I didn’t update all that much¹ this weekend. I haven’t been anywhere near a computer since Saturday morning. (The one at work doesn’t count – too much actual work stuff to do to really have time to write.)

Source: http://www.clipartof.com/interior_wall_decor/details/Chubby-Brown-Vampire-Bat-Flying-Forward-Poster-Art-Print-59430 — The Love Bat.

Friday, after my three thousandth and fifty-second time ²checking the application update for Texas State, I saw that my status had changed to “Admit.” To say that I was excited was an understatement on par with saying that Tolkien writes longish books. The sounds that I was making probably attracted every single male bat in a 4-mile radius around the homeplace. EE! EE! EE!

Saturday was work all day at the day job³. However, that evening was a house party with a large group of friends. I had not been to their house in …well ever. They live in the middle of the country. Kind of like I do but on the other ass-end of nowhere. You know those directions where someone says things like, “After you cross the river, drive forty miles. You’ll see a cow. Turn left at the cow and start looking for the grain silo.” Yeah. In the country. I did fine though, even though I was driving out there by myself, after dark. Their house is beautiful and oh, my god! There were so many people at it! I think the count wound up being like 60 adults, 10 kids, and 8 dogs. There were people I’d never met, people I hadn’t seen in far too long, and people who I knew but only from online. Putting names and faces together is an awesome thing. I wish I had remembered to take some pictures. Ah, well.

Sunday morning, we got up and meandered around the house for a bit. They were continuing the party in a low-key sort of way. Mimosas, backrubs, and food. I had fresh-ground coffee and great conversation until I had to leave. I hated to go but I was really looking forward to seeing my gaming buds. We haven’t had a chance to get together in weeks and weeks.

Back in town, I spent Sunday afternoon running a Talislanta game. As we were a major character short, I didn’t get into any plot points. Boo.
But I think a fun time was had by all. I have so many Evil Things plotted out for those guys. You just don’t know. EVIL, I say.

At any rate, today has started off by being a Monday through and through. Amongst the errands that must get done today, I have to go to the bank⁴ to take care of a credit card that has disappeared. Why they won’t simply cancel it over the phone is beyond me. One of those errands is taking the Girl to her ortho appointment this afternoon. Poor kid gets painful apparatus manipulations today, I believe. Joy and trumpets.
Also? I got a nasty-gram about one of my kitties from one of the neighbors. I don’t know which one and society frowns on the whole giving-the-finger-to-everyone-on-principal thing. Eat me, unknown person with cat-hatred.

I guess what I am saying is that Monday is really a letdown after such a fantastic weekend. To combat the Monday blues, I’m just gonna hold on to the happiness that this weekend gave me. I’m also going to throw away the mean little note. Because every time I look at it, my blood pressure creeps up a notch.

“I’ve been thinking Hobbes –“

“On a weekend?”

“Well, it wasn’t on purpose…”
– Watterson

¹ – At all.
²– I’m not obsessive. Really.
³– And by “day job” I mean the job that I work every other Saturday. J
⁴ – Like a motherfucking adult.

Flash Fiction: Julia Child, Zombie Hunter

November 11, 2011 ~ Bon Steele ~ 5 Comments

Today, I wanted to do a tiny bit of fiction. And again, I am taking my idea for it from Chuck Wendig’s site. This particular challenge has long since passed its expiration date. Further, I am not following the rules precisely – the below is only 350 words.

I do hope you enjoy this snippet. I may come back to this story later. I do like the idea of it. 🙂 Happy reading!

The rules, as outlined by Chuck:

See that photo?

That’s your challenge. Take a good long look. Think about what you see. And leaping forth from the flames you will find a story inspired by that photo. Whatever story it is, whatever genre you find it in, write it.

Let that image be your narrative guide.

You’ve got 1000 words.

Post it online at your blog.

Then link back here.

Then drop a comment below and point us to your story.

That’s all you gotta do.

One week to write it. By Friday, September 16th, noon EST.

Julia held the sputtering torch over her head, trying to get an accurate count of the student chefs. The light failed after about ten feet but the room was mostly illuminated. She tried not to think about the dark corners.

“One … Two … Would you people hold still?” Nerves made her already warbly voice crack. The torch dribbled sparks across the back of Julia’s hand and she bit back an imprecation. No need to frighten the poor kids any more than the situation called for. “Simone, hold this for me.” The older woman took the torch and stepped up behind Julia. “Alright now, line up everyone. We need to check to make sure no one is hurt.”

There was a shuffling noise as they all moved to do as she instructed. Even though they were all in class together, at 36 years old, Julia was one of the eldest students, along with Louisette and Simone. She certainly was the tallest of the entire group, including many of the males. All of them respected her for her efforts in the war.

Julia walked down the ragged line, checking each person for injuries. Most of them were still their whites, so if they had been bitten there would be no way to disguise it. Blood – really any stain – showed so easily on those darn uniforms! It was a wonder that they weren’t continually doing laundry. Speaking of which…

Julia snapped her mind back to the matter at hand. Really! Letting her mind wander like that. “Now, we all know what we saw. Gaspard – and God knows why he did so! Gaspard used the forbidden snails. That is to say the escargots interdite.” Julia turned to look back at Simone. “And I’m not sure why we ever trusted that mad-scientist in the first place. We all knew it was just a matter of time…” She trailed off as she reached the last student in line. Poor little Louisette was staring at the ground, drooling slightly. A reddish stain was spreading up the arm of her tunic, elbow to shoulder.

Oh, dear.

Lunch as Love

November 10, 2011 ~ Bon Steele ~ 1 Comment

I am a firm believer in food being a way to express love. Not in a reward-for-good-behavior that I have seen some parents use. More in an I-care-about-what-goes-into-your-body sort of way. This is part of the reason that I get up a little early to pack lunch for The Girl, every morning.
For example, today’s lunch:

It isn’t a terribly complicated lunch. I mean, there aren’t even any secret messages in it! However, it is more or less healthy with the added bonus of being full of things she likes.
Sometimes OFTEN Things a Kid Likes ≠ Healthy. I am lucky in that she digs vegetables (most of them) and fruits (all of them.)
There are people out there whose children will eat a set list of things – and only those things. Apparently, this has been going since the beginning of time, as evidenced by this book from my own youth (see: dinosaurs, earth-walking.)

If your kid is one of those who only allows say, peanut butter, sliced American cheese and hotdogs to pass their lips – I am truly sorry. I know that watching your skinny noodle of a kid push away yet another plate of food is frustrating. There is are some very good resources out there to help you get nutrition into your bébé nowadays.
YAY, internets!

Now, I wrote all this so you’d understand that when I went downstairs to get my 3rd cuppa of coffee¹, you would understand the eyeroll I allowed myself when I saw The Girl had left her lunch on the counter. At first, I was thinking it was because she had simply forgotten. Until I looked up her school cafeteria’s offerings for the day.