Week of Stories - July 12

Stories read this week from over at A Year of Stories, Pirate.

Monday: “Utriusque Cosmi” by Robert Charles Wilson * * * * *
Tuesday: “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson * * * *
Wednesday: “So Far from Anything” by Benjamin Percy * * * * *
Thursday: “Wind in a City” by Italo Calvino * * *
Friday: “Ma, a Memoir” by Lynn Freed * * *
Saturday: “McHenry’s Gift” by Mike MacLean * * * *
Sunday: “N.” by Stephen King * * * * *

My favorite story of the week was: “N.” by Stephen King

From the review: “The story does include the “Pandora effect” that many horror stories suffer from – that curiosity that always leads to disaster. Here it fits the story – the curiosity created for the characters is overwhelming – and the results, while tragic, make the story enjoyable, and a little scary.”

Carpet Cleaner, Carpet Cleaner

Carpet cleaner, carpet cleaner, carpet cleaner. I hate that once an idea gets in my mind I can't let it go.

I went to grab what I thought was an empty can of Diet Pepsi and managed to spill some of it - not a lot, I think - on the floor. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

Now I've convinced myself that if I don't clean the carpet - with carpet cleaners - I'll have ants and centipedes and other crawlies invade my living room. (I don't know where these thoughts come from, but they are the first thoughts I always have.)

So, I guess I'm off to the store to buy some carpet cleaner.

Week of Loss - July 5

This week I gained 1.4 lbs., and am within 58.2 lbs. of my goal weight.

Continue to monitor my progress and other health and wellness information over at A Year of Loss and Health, Pirate.

Week of Stories - July 5

Stories read this week from over at A Year of Stories, Pirate.

Monday: “Ten True Things” by Miranda July * *
Tuesday: “The Moves” by Miranda July *
Wednesday: “Mon Plaisir” by Miranda July * *
Thursday: “Birthmark” by Miranda July * * *
Friday: “A Kidnapping Story” by Deb Olin Unferth * *
Saturday: “How to Tell Stories to Children” by Miranda July * * *
Sunday: “Popsy” by Stephen King * * *

My favorite story of the week was: “Birthmark” by Miranda July

From the review: “What a difference a touch of narrative can have on a story.”

WOW!

I have a comic book on my shelf that is selling for $400 (or more)!


Holy shit, how rich am I?

What else do I have on my bookshelves?

Buzzed Again

I hadn't had a haircut in over two months...I feel so much better.

Cool Stuff I Found on the Web II

Even more cool things I found...

A "transformer" laptop:



A trailer for Dead Snow, a foreign movie with Nazi zombies:

Watch it here
And I guess that's it for now. The other things I found interesting are long gone, forgotten for now, but there's always something cool to find tomorrow.

Cool Stuff I Found on the Web

I've been collecting these pictures and links and articles for a few weeks now with the intention of posting them on the blog. I'm tired of the open tabs and cluttered desktop, so here's a batch of stuff I found interesting...

A cool tattoo:


A couple of comic book illustrations, the first a Batwoman pin-up by Jock, and the second a Powergirl cover by Adam Hughes:



A link to an interesting lawsuit regarding Captain Crunch's Crunchberries:
Read about it here
A long forgotten, but awesome line of toys - Battle Beasts:


And a great history of the Battle Beasts can be found here

Week of Loss - June 28

This week I lost 0.8 lbs., and am within 56.8 lbs. of my goal weight.

Continue to monitor my progress and other health and wellness information over at A Year of Loss and Health, Pirate.

Week of Stories - June 28

Stories read this week from over at A Year of Stories, Pirate.

(And every story this week was a 5-star – excellent – example of the form.)

Monday: “Happy Fish, Plus Coin” by Scott Snyder * * * * *
Tuesday: “The Museum of Whatnot” by Kevin Wilson * * * * *
Wednesday: “Julie in the Funhouse” by Jincy Willett * * * * *
Thursday: “Pompeii” by Leslie Pietrzyk * * * * *
Friday: “Abraham’s Boys” by Joe Hill * * * * *
Saturday: “The Flints of Memory Lane” by Neil Gaiman * * * * *
Sunday: “Everything’s Eventual” by Stephen King * * * * *

My favorite story of the week was: “The Museum of Whatnot” by Kevin Wilson

From the review: “Whimsical, romantic, and just strange enough to completely capture your attention.”

The Impressive Power of Water

It's amazing what water can do in just four minutes time.

Daybreakers Trailer

Whoo, boy! Before you say, "Oh, another vampire movie," you need to watch the trailer. Looks fantastic. Almost everyone on the planet is a vampire, and they hunt the few remaining humans for their blood. Only they are running out of blood. And all kinds of crazy stuff happens after that.

Click through to watch the trailer.

Scarred for Life?

I doubt I could have handled a toy like this as a child.

Created by Elmer Presslee.

Biking: Revenge of the Bird

A little over a week ago I hit, and most likely killed, a bird with my vehicle while driving over to Ankeny for a bike ride. I felt bad; though not a huge fan of animals (or birds), I don’t deliberately go out of my way to kill them.

So it seems only fitting that while out on my bike ride today a bird attacked me. I could see it coming from behind me, its shadow soaring along the highway, gaining on me.

And then it struck.

The bird hit my helmet and nearly knocked me off my bike. It then followed me. I was cruising along at 17 or 18 mph and the bird kept pace, just to the left of me. Apparently not satisfied with its first unsuccessful attempt, the bird tried three more times while I shouted and flailed one hand over my head trying to shoo the bird away.

Eventually the bird retreated to fight another day, and I put the pedal down to get some distance between us.

Now I’m sure the “incident” had nothing to do with my entire ride being so much faster than my previous record, but you never know. Maybe subconsciously I rode faster in an attempt to finish and hide from my new worst enemies.

Because Everyone Needs A Little Classical Art in the AM

Andy Helms watched too many Blade movies over the weekend: