Chagrin

Back in the saddle. Looking for a fresh start on things by the end of the month, meaning hitting all the pledge goals needed for the halfway point. Crucial few check-in's for December.

Quick Note: I've used the word "Chagrin" for most of my life without knowing what its true definition is, and now that I've looked it up, I'm surprised I don't use it more. "The feeling of annoyance or frustration over a disappointment or failure." Perfect. One of my four major feeling food groups.

Haiku of the Day:

Oysters and laundry

mark the highlights of the day

Mellow and milquetoast

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Abbreviate" from MW's word of the day.)

Today's "365" Project (Make a kit for something that usually doesn't need one. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Emily and her family, but I certainly needed a little kit for between the afternoon and when work starts tomorrow...)
"Kit for Thanksgiving Aftermath"

Baby Post

Vacation Day. Will resume regular duties tomorrow!

Haiku of the Day:

Frigid winds wailing

in the cracks of woolen cloth

chill the living flesh

Today's Drawing and "365" Project (Do something with homophones! I decided to draw representations of weird homophone combos!)

WitchPair/WhichPear?

BearPaws/Barepause

Weeknight/WeakKnight

"Lightning Brain"

I've been getting a thing I've been calling "lightning brain"every so often when I'm feeling particularly overstimulated. It's like a mild headache with foreboding, uncomfortable itching pressure that permeates throughout my entire body. It doesn't last long in real time, but it feels like an eternity until it passes. I remember having them in classes in high school and college and having to excuse myself to dry heave and flip out in the bathroom for fifteen minutes. There are only a few people I know who have witnessed these fits, and I don't have very distinctive memories about having them. There's something about most of my emotional episodes that gets overridden in the memory department, leaving my past a swiss cheese of true recollection. I'm forced to fabricate a lot, and people are often surprised at what I've managed to forget. This makes me unreliable as a witness and a storyteller. But I'm great at faking it to a point and living in the moment comes naturally to me.

Haiku of the Day:

Second Thanksgiving

with all the classic fixings

Max Deliciousness!

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Heterodox" from MW's word of the day. It means unorthodox.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something that can support your weight. I put together a shelf that the Kuehns brought for us!)
"Elf on a Shelf!"

Thanks

A bizarre Thanksgiving. The Kuehns were planning to come up and have a big meal with us today, but as they were driving, the weather deterred them a day so we're doing Thanksgiving tomorrow. So Today was mostly waiting and cleaning and some conversing...the snow was nice. Went for a 6 mile run. I tried giving thought to what I was thankful for, through some obligation to the holiday. I used to love coming up with the clever unexpected things to be thankful for. Toilet paper. All my fingers. A sense of self. But the ones you always gravitate to are tried and true: Health. Family. Food.

Haiku of the Day:

Ambient lapping

tickles the pale white bellies 

of the docked rowboats

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Nostrum" from MW's word of the day. It's a questionable remedy or scheme, a panacea)

Today's "365" Project (Put something on a T-shirt and wear it all day!)
"THANKSGIVING!!"

Ride and Ramble

Weekly Watch (Week 22)

Stats:
Running Mileage: 403.03/1,000
Push-ups: 3,500/10,000
Sit-ups: 3,500/10,000
Pages Read: 4,785/10,000
Books Completed: 13/25
Words Written: 40,863/100,000

Fasts (Days without)
Internet: 43/100
TV: 57/100
Gaming: COMPLETE 136/100
Meat: 53/100
Junk: 44/100
Booze: 30/100

Awash in amicable conversation
I ride the high of human synapse
And relish in the casual comradery
Of my blinking fellow man.
Mumbled announcements and knowing nods
Percolate the mindscape
And ferment fondness in open vats
While I grin in supreme composure
Over all that I have seen and done.
Hands fumble and waste
On the ergonomic handles of svelte modernity, 

I gaze into the common likeness of strands of hair and grips of fingers.
A garbled voice announces:
"Please make sure you're holding on in this weather" and I lurk about the bowed heads, damp and shivering in their endeavors. And I cannot help but cry among the plummeting specks that soak and sting the eyes of my brethren.
Carelessly, I weep on multicolored plastic seats. Between sobs I massage the spring and metal catch of my glistening black umbrella.

Haiku of the Day:

Buzzed at one o'clock
Vacation vibes coming in
Down the brainstorm wire

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Crabwise"from MW's word of the day.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something with pencils. I tried to turn a pencil into a pen. Ended up with this monster.)
"Frankenstein's Pen(cil)"

Ocean Owls

Solid day of work. Bought a couple of 2DS's for Em and I as an early Christmas gift cause the deal was too good and we'd been talking about it for a while. Planning to not open mine until I get caught up with all my goals and fasts.

Hard couple of run days, pulling in 6mi yesterday and 7mi today. Broke the 400 mark and planning on clocking another hundred for the month of December.

Haiku of the Day:

Bathed in peach streetlight
a shadow-faced child shifts weight
on uncertain legs

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Pelagic" from MW's word of day. It's something having to do with the open ocean.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something with toilet paper rolls. I made an owl!)
"Hoots MaGillicuddy!"

Devs and Dets

So I've been doing some writing for my upcoming show and I haven't been sharing it here for many reasons, but I realized that I should be counting it toward my ultimate writing goal. That'll explain the spike in writing for this Wednesday's check-in. Had a great weekend with Emily, centered around food and watching cool things, which I think went over pretty well! Now we're facing some intense sprints at work in lieu of the upcoming holiday.

I'm still experiencing what I've been describing to myself as "ON/OFF" time. I'm either super tapped into whatever I'm doing or completely disassociated from everything. It all seems heavily tied to my media/junk consumption but I haven't been able to break it. I start feeling good and I decide to watch something or surf the web and some threshold is crossed and suddenly I'm physically and mentally inert. Big culprits:
-Facebook: my click-baited mouse brain cannot resist its infinite scrolling.
-News sites
-Any 20 minute comedy show...the minute I sit down to watch anything I'm rolling some loaded dice out of my favor.
-Any sweet junk food. I just cannot stop eating once I start.

I may need rehab from half of my life to get over these compulsions.

Haiku of the Day:

Started listening
to the Serial podcast.
Recommend for all!

Today's Drawing (inspired by the phrase "Job's comforter" from MW's word of the day. It means a person who depresses under the guise of comforting.)

Today's "365" Project (Make a portrait with finger/thumbprints.)
"Ridge Visage"

Registry Woes

Had a day of relaxation and wedding registering. Prepping for the crazy day of payroll submittal I have to crank out tomorrow. Will see what sort of update I can muster at that point. Turns out I'm always going to feel like I need another day as an adult.

Haiku of the Day:

Registering for

wedding gifts is both taxing

and quite baffling.

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Recusant" from MW's word of the day. It's refusal to submit to authority.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something light seem heavy. I froze a wet paper towel.)
"Cold Hand Shadows"

All Things On Hold!

Journal:
It's Emily's Birthday! Spending the day brunching, fish watching, fish eating and then the annual tradition of seeing a hunger games movie on its opening weekend. I'll be sad when it's all over next year.

Haiku of the Day:

A beautiful day

to be out celebrating

another great year!

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Shrive" from MW's word of the day.)

Today's "365" Project (Do something with crayons)
"Rainbow Runs"

150 DAYS!!!

Journal:
Well well well...150 days of recording, fasting, scribbling, hand wringing, and running my ass off. I'm surprised it's gotten this far, especially with all the things that could have gone awry, and how wildly busy things have been. Did a whole slew of writing below for the project today so I won't dwell here.

Haiku of the Day:

Quiet chills quiver
to the crests of mountains
that tower the vale.

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Facade" spoken by the lovely Erin O'Conner. It's french for face and typically means the outside of a building.)

Today's "365" Project (Make a basic game. I decided to write up the rules the version of power hour I invented.)
"Power Hour Plus!"

POWER HOUR PLUS

Most people understand the basic rules of a power hour:

-One shot of cheap beer every minute for an hour.

But I’ve introduced a new way to do it that doesn’t kick your ass, if you play it well!

What you’ll need:

-A 30 pack of cheap beer. Or craft beer if you’re feeling classy.

-Shot glasses (one per person)

-A way to play music

-A 6-sided die

-Something that you can use to resemble tokens. We used a deck of cards the first time we did this and they worked great. but you’ll need at least 30+ depending on the number of people.

Here’s how it works:

Set-up:

• You’re given 3 tokens at the beginning of the game (this number can be altered depending on how you’d like to play)
• Designate the three roles. If there are disputes as to who gets to be what, they are settled democratically within the group. If this fails, the terms are settled over thumb wrestling matches.
• Designate a pourer. They are responsible for making sure everyone gets poured a shot of beer before “Drink!” is called.  They receive a bonus token under the stipulation that they will have to take an extra shot for each time they mess up in their pourer duties. For groups larger than four, the pourer receives an additional token for each additional two people.
• If you don’t have a phone app for this, designate a timekeeper. They are responsible for shouting “Drink!”  on each minute for an hour. They receive a bonus pass under the stipulation that they will have to take an extra shot for each time they mess up in their timekeeper duties (failing to call DRINK within 5 seconds of that minute.)
• Designate a DJ. The DJ is responsible for the music. They can take suggestions, but have ultimate control over the music. If there is no music playing at any point, the original DJ must take a shot for failed duties and his/her position is forfit to the first to call “Dibs!” At any point, someone can spend a token to become the DJ.
• At any point immediately after a minute marker, the pourer or the timekeeper can spend a token to force the duty to another person. NO ONE CAN HAVE MORE THAN ONE JOB.

The Game:

• At every call of “Drink!” you must take your shot. “Stalling” is when someone fails to take a shot within the five five seconds of Drink! being called. Stalling is prohibited and will be punished by having the staller remove a major article of clothing. The shot still must be taken, this just buys them more time. If the staller stalls through to the next minute, a token is taken from them.
• You spend tokens to “pass” on a shot. In the last ten minutes of the power hour, shot “passes” double in price. If you are in the restroom during the shot call for “Drink!”, you lose a token if you haven’t already paid for it. YOU CANNOT PASS THE FIRST TEN SHOTS. YOU CAN ONLY PASS ON POWER HOUR DRINK SHOTS AND NOT PUNISHMENT SHOTS.
• You can earn tokens by doing a variety of things. Only one token can be earned per minute. Players settle disputes for earning tokens through a quick game of rock paper scissors.
• Doing a solo dance for one minute to the music of the DJ’s choosing. You are the only one who can dance. You must keep moving for the entire minute or you do not receive a token. Other players are encouraged to holler, clap or berate in any manner they choose, as long as its in good fun.
• Tell an embarrassing story about your life that no one has heard before. If someone has heard it they must stop the storyteller and the storyteller receives no token. If it is not deemed embarrassing enough by the other players, the storyteller receives no token. The story must can take more than a minute, as long as all other rules of shot calling and taking are observed. No token is received if the story takes more than three minutes though.
• No smiling! A person can opt to not smile for an entire minute by declaring “Guys! This is SERIOUS.” If the other players can get the non-smiler to crack one, the non-smiler receives no tokens. OTHER PLAYERS MAY NOT TOUCH THE NON-SMILER.
• You may also do an extra shot for a token at any time. This sort-of defeats the purpose but you’re entitled to it, and can use it for strategy or something.
• Tokens can be gifted. If you’re the gifter, roll the dice. On 1 or 2 you take a shot. On a 3 or 4 nothing happens. On a 5 or 6 the giftee drinks. THESE ARE UNPASSABLE SHOTS.
• Feel free to create your own rules for token earning as well!

End Game:

Once the hour is up, you’re done!

Just kidding.

If anyone has any tokens left they can force others to take additional shots for each token spent. TOKENS CANNOT BE USED TO PASS. TOKENS CANNOT BE EARNED AT THIS TIME. The big exception to this rule is if you managed to go through the power hour without spending any tokens to pass the 60 original shots, you are a “TRUE POWER HOUR CHAMPION” who is immune to being forced to take extra shots and can use your own tokens with impunity.

Tranquil Cutlery

Journal:
Cold house and cold sniffles. At least we're not buried under 60 inches of snow. Feeling intense, creeping fatigue tugging relentlessly on my spine's nerve sprouts.

THE SUN IS SET AT 4:15 TODAY AND I AM FURIOUS ABOUT IT!!!!

Free Write:
Cackling men with full, wiry, beards
carouse about the gutters,
blowing warmth and snotty flecks
into their hands and baying
like hounds in the moonlight.
The sanity is visible,
weeping openly out their ears.
It splashes to the pavement
forming oily black wells
where scraggly rodents
writhe blissfully.

Among a metropolis' worth of
paper detritus emerges a pocked
hairless creature with pink incisors
and lithe bony limbs.
It hobbles over to the men,
like a drunk on roller skates,
and plants an angular ass to the ground.
Its legs crumple up and protrude like kindling
while a gossamer strand
of oozing spittle hangs
out its chapped and swollen maw.
The men pause in their revelry
and even the rats stop squirming
to watch the fleshy spider loll about the earth.

In an instant, four bulbed eyes contract
and scurry alive in a fit of cunning.
Gasps light in the sewage mist
as the men recognize
the shape of terror.

All too late.

Not even the rats escape.

Haiku of the Day:

High-octane planning
with spreadsheets and calendars:
Adulthood Funtime!

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Weal" from MW's word of the day. It's means a sound, healthy or prosperous state.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something with utensils. Oh dear...)
"Picky Eaters"

Cold in Bones

Time for the Weekly Watch! (Week 21)

Stats:
Running Mileage: 379.61/1,000
Push-ups: 3,475/10,000
Sit-ups: 3,450/10,000
Pages Read: 4,548/10,000
Books Completed: 12/25
Words Written: 38,295/100,000

Fasts (Days without)
Internet: 42/100
TV: 54/100
Gaming: COMPLETE 131/100
Meat: 52/100
Junk: 41/100
Booze: 27/100

Journal:
I've honed a centering and even with the poor weather, managed to keep on my running. The threshold becomes easier to puncture and if you fill it with some kind of initial purpose, the whole thing rides out smooth. Controlling my "edge" keeps the juices pumping. Odd to think there's only 5 weeks left until the halfway point. Going to try to shoot for that sweet, sweet 500 miles by Christmas...

Free Write:
Aches abounding,
the broken muscle cells cry out
as the body redistributes
blocks in the ether.

Haiku of the Day:

Whistling earth breath

rages through the steel pylon

ribs of the scraper. 

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Officious" from MW's word of the day. It means one who volunteers services when they are neither asked nor needed.)

Today's "365" Project (Do something based on your favorite movie. This caused me great unrest, as coming up with a favorite movie is a tiresome affair, with so much to consider. But I went with my gut.)
"Clever Girl"

Purple Falls

Journal:
Fried. I hate Tuesdays. I have to run payroll for four different venues and it can be a logistical nightmare. There's a 3 o'clock deadline and there's only so much I can anticipate.

I fell pretty hard running home today. Nailed my knees and the heels of my hands. Getting up from something like that makes you feel both weak and powerful. It's all in the getting up,

I made a pretty hilarious noise when I hit the pavement. Like a grunt-squeal, a piggish monstrosity I cannot begin to replicate. Shocked some passing walkers. I hope they laughed about it later.

Free write:
Wretches and ringers!
Dig out tendons with the blunt end
of a butter knife.
Like so many quivering hairs,
the edge of my personage
trembles with static underpinnings.
I taste a volatility I've only now begun to resent:
Metallic, sour and harsh.

Fountain tinkles of the humidifier
put ease on joints and breath.
The dark is a smooth velvet
that I can draw my thoughts in
if I run my fingers in the right direction.
There I ponder my nomadic ancestors
and how much the dark was to them
both a home and a mystery.
Blind and naked they would sit on hard earth,
with nothing to do but wonder.
I imagine it was where God was first etched
in the dark velvet of those first waking dreamers
and how safe that made them feel.

Where has that fear and comfort gone?

Haiku of the Day:

Knotty little lump
at the crest of my left thigh
will bloom to a bruise

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Leitmotif" from MW's word of the day. It means a dominant recurring theme. The whole comic and each panel encapsulate my general leitmotif.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something with the color purple.)
"Approximate Kuehn/Damnit Marie!"

Dual Nose

Journal:
I'm thinking about dividing this writing section into a journal section and a free write section because I've been flip flopping between the two. I've been reluctant to start any new things as it has been difficult to keep up with the demand of this project while doing all the other things that real life requires. But I think splitting this up might prompt an easier entry to writing rather than the open page. I'm trying to find that sweet spot in creating that goes between restriction and freedom.

Rainy day all day here in Boston. Horrible 40 degree rain. Weirdly enough it was wonderful running weather.

Today's also a funny day for my fast/exercise challenge because my calculated goal comes out to an even 400 base for everything. (40 fasting days, 40,000 words, etc.) It's neat to see it line up so nice and recognize where improvement needs to happen. More talk on that on Wednesday.

Free Write:
Archaic hurt in the deep of nasal passages
sears a chain of earlier pains.
And in that reactionary intensity,
I squirm and flail
like a captured rodent.
No escape from the touch
of the old film reel,
spooling out hangnail travesties,
shins skinned and cold popsicles
on tender teeth.

Ouch.
 

Haiku of the Day:

Mediative silence
permeates the core membrane
and stops the bleeding

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Rife" from MW's word of the day. It mean abundant or common.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something that fits in or around the nose. A return to fun with paper clips!)
"Paper Clip Pince-nez"

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

The creature of habit has returned with a voracious appetite, tearing up my well-kept home every time I try to make the place look nice. It just consumes and excretes and screams for more. And each opportunity I get enough strength to beat him down I give him one more chance to do it right this time. Maybe it'll be different. But it's never different. That bastard will sneak in and wreak havoc where ever he goes.  Ugh. I'm not having it anymore.

Haiku of the Day:

Return to Minecraft:

A lesson in the dangers

of game addiction

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Meliorism" from MW's word of the day. It's the believe that the world continues to improve and that humans can aide in its betterment. How nice!)

Today's "365" Project (Do something with your hands as feet or your feet as hands. I went Daniel Day Lewis in "My Left Foot" and drew a picture with, you guessed it, my left foot. It exemplifies the true-to-life story of struggling to draw anything discernible with just a foot for 20 minutes. Total Oscar bait.)
"Broken Alien Communication"

Fixing it in Post

Day spent trekking home and then meal cooking. Public transit was particularly horrid on the way back. Discomfort in smell, temperature, space and body positioning make for a terrible human rage/agitation/panic attack cocktail. Took a shopping trip and a couple beers to shake out that mess.

Haiku of the Day:

Celestial ball
blasts fusion emissions out
to her followers.

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Execrable" from MW's word of the day. It means detestable, very bad, wretched.)

Today's "365" Project (Do something with the sense of taste involved. I made a kale, pasta and white bean soup with parmesan.)
"Soup"

Cat Auction

(Was at a charity auction for cats in Maine all day. I feel like exhausted death. Must sleep. Will post all the things in the morning as that are in my phone but I am too tired to anything. Much love world.)

The parenthesized passage above it what appeared the day of this posting. Not much else is written for the course of the day due to the madness and exhaustion exemplified in the above message. To expect one to create under such circumstances is cruel, and still I impose guilt and shame upon myself that there is not more to show for this day. I will, of course, be sure to catalogue this malfeasance in my "Book of Sins" that is going on its 7th volume.

Haiku of the Day:

There's something scary

about driving to the end

of a narrow pier 

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Devise" from MW's word of the day. It means to invent or plot.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something incongruous.The book uses the examples of a stool made out of sponges or a feather made out of wood. I wasn't sure what to do with this one sooooo....)
"Foil Canoli with paperclip filling!"

In Remembrance of The Craw

(On a small hilltop in North Dakota, a  huddle of four or five people stand in a line facing a gravestone. One man, in a tattered peacoat and round sunglasses steps forward and begins to speak.)

H. C. Crawley.

(Silence.)

What do you say about The Craw?

(Stifled laughter)

Herbert C. Crawley kept a leech between his shoulder blades to cleanse the humours....

And it reminded him that his life was never truly his own. He was a stoat man with an unkempt chin strap beard. It is said he scarred the flesh around his mouth over the years to keep the hair from growing back, so nothing would impede him while he ate. He gait was brandy and he often swayed while standing, like an uneasy drunkard. But Crawley had to be of constant wit, so he rarely had a drop to drink. His vices were large bird eggs, poached in a vinegar and fennel seed extract, and the cactus jelly of the Acatama desert, poisonous in large doses but capable of a constant dull buzz and burn on the skin, a combination numb goosepimpled flesh and the itch of a mosquito bite. The man would reek of the foul paste, and the whafts of stomach bile and nutmeg followed him into every room. His hands were immaculately pampered, soft and radiant, with nails that gleamed like glass in firelight. Few had seen the scofflaw's glorious hands, for he kept them hermetically sealed in his otter skin gloves. It was said he lined their insides with Egyptian sand oils, Chinese mountain herbs and the muddled husks of Ecuadorian water beetles. His penchant for conversation was vast and infectious and he could pull the most intimate details out to the tongue's tip. There was a comfort in his smiling eyes that invoked the warmth of home, and many would fall deep into the stringed starburst of light and emerge as weathered beasts with bloody stumps for limbs, wailing the gurgles of tongueless piglets. The horror encased behind the warmth took scores of curious souls, including my hapless step-brother Quincy on a blustery night over orange-peel tea in the open fields of central Wisconsin. I never did get to avenge my brother for the damage ol' H.C. did him, as Charna Pennyworth beat me too him first, with cunning, an oboe and H.C.'s own machete. May that filthy, enigmatic, smug son of a bitch stay in his grave. In Jesus' name and all the jazz. Amen.

Haiku of the Day:

Soothing tones and tea

in the mind's sanctuary

create a peace guise

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Threnody" from MW's word of the day. It's a song of lamentation for the dead.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something inspired by a random word. Since I've been doing this everyday, I'm going to defer to the weird eulogy above!)

Set

Watch Wednesday (Week 20)

Stats:
Running Mileage: 357.59/1,000
Push-ups: 3,300/10,000
Sit-ups: 3,100/10,000
Pages Read: 4,325/10,000
Books Completed: 12/25
Words Written: 36,611/100,000

Fasts (Days without)
Internet: 39/100
TV: 50/100
Gaming: COMPLETE 127/100
Meat: 51/100
Junk: 38/100
Booze: 24/100

Proud. Weary and jaded, but proud. I could very well this week be ahead in my fasts for everything except booze. May try for a sober spell for most of January like I did last year. Perhaps I'll be a tad more proactive and after the full fast try for a weekend only type of thing. That could push me through on to Feb I think.

Haiku of the Day:
Considering scope
and the distant grappling
of comets in space

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Hallowed" from MW's word of the day. It means sacred, bro.)

Today's "365" Project (Make a pop-up with paper. This was my favorite way to make thank you/christmas cards when I was little. I loved all that paper-crafty shit.)
"Devil Comin' At 'cha!"

Particles in the Water

Missed my post deadline yesterday. It's my third one to date...not bad for 140 posts.

I want the snow flurries that blot out suns
I want the dark mystic orange overhang
I want the blood fury of naked apes
I want to rend wet cloth in a tub with teeth
and squeeze out mango juices from the source
and dirty my nails on damp earth
and fill my belly with wild greens
and questionable mushroom scraps.

I want to feel the hide on my back
where the under-skin had once married flesh.
I want the fresh, iron, sticky, water feel
of a prominent cut and how striking it lies on skin.

There is a peace somewhere deep
in the core of this withered fish.
Just need to shuck off the scales,
debone and swish the meaty
without tearing the gills.

Haiku of the Day:
Plucking the mind grapes
to slurry into purple
contemplative mash

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Anodyne" from MW's word of the day. It means serving to alleviate hurt or it describes something that is unlikely to offend or cause any sort of discomfort.)

Today's "365" Project (Do something with cutting up a book or magazine. I began cutting and then blacked out and this was what was left. Title speaks for the whole thing.)
"What Amounts to Nothing"

LATE LATE LATE (Because of reasons, I swear!)

Feel the powers of old intensities creep up from the shallows. I was a feeble old man one minute and than the ghost incarnate of Ernest Hemingway the next, brimming with fervor and gravitas and deep masculine wisdom. Where does the fire originate? I has no basis and must resort to the assumption of magic and the passing fancies of universal forces. But the coals in my belly cry out that it is not chance, but my latent prowess, the ancient poetic beast rearing forth from genetic codes since unknown. It is predestined, my assent to stardust and flighty gazings. I am what I've always been meant to be. A grand and powerful shaman at the edge of a massive flood of dull slosh. The world shall know my name and contemplate self in light of my proclamations.

Haiku of the Day:

Radically transformed
From misfit into maven
In one twitchy blink

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Egregious" from MW's word of the day. It means conspicuously bad!)

Today's "365" Project (Make a rebus. It's like a visual word puzzle.)
"A Puzzling Correspondence"

THE

(I've emailed you all my time off for the holidays.)

Heart Stop?

Creatively drained from a three hour writing workshop for show. Played SO MANY boardgames this weekend. Also went on a brew tour. Feeling good.

Haiku of the Day:

5 margaritas

way too much guacamole

We need to pass out

Today's Drawing (inspired by the word "Injunction" from MW's word of the day.)

Today's "365" Project (Make something that will decay. I decided to document this avocado seed, in the hopes that I will be wrong and it will survive and sprout.)

"Hope with Corn Holders"