2018: July 28th

I listened to True Widow's AVVOLGERE all the way through several times yesterday while in the midst of an outstanding writing session. Many props to Keller, who I met with on Thursday and who gave me invaluable notes on T12, which he is currently editing. Super charged by that, I sat in my writing nook for a straight two hours in the late morning/early afternoon yesterday and really made progress on Please Believe Me. I know it was two hours because one of the things Keller recommended to help me was a time tracker app that I downloaded and used for the first time. ATracker Pro should be good for me, as previously I've tended to either write for a nebulous two-three hours, or, as was the case during the T12 sprint, by word count; Scrivener has a Project Target feature that allows you to input a due-by date and a desired end word count, and then calculates a daily word goal based on that. I dig this function, as it inspires me to write everyday (thought I don't really need external incentive any more) so the daily targets stay relatively low, however it can create scenarios where you end up consciously or unconsciously word-stuffing, just to make the daily requirement. This is then felt during the editing process. I don't know that I ever consciously word stuffed on T12, however, on days when I would write and edit at the same time, I'd build up a daily count and then anything I would remove would be subtracted from that. Thus, there were a few occasions where I would write, let's say 2K words, edit out a large swathe of material further on, and be back to near zero again. THAT can be a morale killer.

Playlist yesterday:

True Widow - AVVOLGERE
The Veils - Total Depravity
The Misfits - Collection Two
Ministry - Dark Side of the Spoon
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Drab Majesty - The Demonstration

Card of the day:

From the Grimoire: "Attainment/Success through Effort. Result from hard work. Solid foundation. Balance." - Fitting, based on the topic of today's entry, eh?

2018: July 26th

I am kind of becoming excited for the Sandman Universe comic line, despite absolutely hating the most recent Neil Gaimen Sandman series Overture. I have to give it another try, if for no other reason than JH Williams III's absolutely mind bending art.

The penultimate edition of my Drinking, Fighting, F*&king, and Crying is up HERE. Like last week, I didn't think I'd have one for today, as I've been so busy at work and have been nearing the completion of my short "Please Believe Me", however in the midst of my strange, heat-inspired sleep deprivation, I lay down for a nap yesterday after work and found myself once again unable to drift off. After about thirty rather frustrating minutes of this, I picked up the book I'm currently reading, Norman Mailer's The Deer Park, and read for a while. Prose like this always inspires me, and it wasn't long before I was up and seated at the desk in my writing nook. I put in my headphones, cued up Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's brilliant OST for The Social Network, and disappeared into my story for two hours. And this was the first session where I really nailed it. I mean, I'd been fretting over this story, because after several weeks of immersive work on it, I just wasn't nailing the tone I wanted. I didn't feel it coming together the way I'd felt all of the stories in A Collection of Desires come together, and as writing is a blind walk in a dark room - complete with a lot of bumping into things that smart - I was unsure if this one would ever get 'there.'

It's there.

I'm not all the way through it yet, but I'm halfway through a mostly polished piece, and hope to have it wrapped within the next few days.

Playlist from yesterday:

Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Rollins Band - The End of Silence
Jimmy Scott - Greatest Hits
Miranda Sex Garden - Fairytales of Slavery
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network OST

Card of the day:

Ready for some financial breakthroughs, that's for sure.

2018: July 25th - New Video from Nothing

New Nothing! The album drops on August 24th and you can pre-order it from Relapse Records HERE and on their bandcamp.


Playlist from 8/24:

Killing Joke - Nighttime
Grimes - Visions
!!! - As If
NIN - Ghosts I-IV

No card again today. I' buttonholed at work with extensive logistics for the importation/exportation of live cells from South Africa into the U.S. and I have barely had time to do anything. Couple with this a pervading exhaustion, and a somewhat frustrating preoccupation with getting >60 seconds DwC clips on youtube to try and drum up views (of which we get no where near as many as I feel we should based on the amount of work I put in on editing), and I'm running on mental empty, so I can't even remember to pull from the Thoth Deck before I leave for work, and it takes all the free time I can muster in-between tasks at the office to even type this much out, let alone pull a card and attempt to interpret it.

2018: July 24th - Deadly Class Trailer!!!

Holy cow. One of my favorite comics turned into a show that looks this good? Count me in! And kudos for using my favorite Killing Joke song - perfect match.


Playlist from Monday, 7/23:

James - Wah Wah
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Sqürl - EP #1 - EP
Marilyn Manson - AntiChrist Superstar
Andre Previn & The London Symphony Orchestra - Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future
NIN - Ghosts I-IV


No card today.

2018: July 23rd

Joup's Amy Riley reached out to me with a link to her nephew's band, and pretty much from the moment I hit 'PLAY' I was hooked. Waste Man is fast and frenetic, reminds me of Blue Meanies, Mr. Bungle, Dyslexic Apaches and one of my own former bands, Universal Product. Good stuff. Their band camp can be found HERE, click on over and support a great indie band.


Playlist from Sunday, 7/22:

Beak> - L.A. Playback
Johnny Marr - Call the Comet
True Widow - AVVOLGERE
Boy Harsher - Country Girl E.P.
Boy Harsher - Yr Body is Nothing
Deafheaven - Sunbather
John Carpenter - Lost Themes

Card for the day:

New journey, new story.

Drinking w/ Comics #42

With special guest all the way from the Philippines, Karen Kunawicz! We talk Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple and Chris Fucking Burnham's new book Die! Die! Die! and opinions are divided - I LOVED the first issue of this unannounced series, Chris and Karen... not so much. Other topics of discussion include but are not limited to Imaginary Fiends, which has some fantastic creature designs (see below), Her Infernal Descent and Holly Interlandi and Sally Cantirino's Last Song.

2018: July 21st

I just realized Tennis System has a new E.P. out the other day, and not long after Keller messaged me to ask if I was down to see them at a Part Time Punks show at the Echoplex next Sunday.

My response? Fuck. Yes.

Per my previous blog, we watched Triangle on Friday night. Fantastic film. I was a little worried that the thumbnail image on Shudder - which was the widespread poster image for the film - had ruined the twist of the film for me (I was so concerned about this that I doctored the thumbnail I posted here the other day, so as not to ruin it for anyone else), but the good news is that particular twist is inevitable right from the start and not at all the point of the film. So definitely worth a watch.

Oh! And speaking of Shudder, one more reason to love these folks - they surprised me with a free 30 days! How great is that? So, let's check the boxes on why Shudder is awesome (and, btw, not an affiliate):

1) They Sponsor Beyond Fest every year.
2) Great selection that grows every week
3) Hosting the Joe Bob Briggs Last Drive-in and leaving it up in perpetuity
4) Their live-streaming Shudder.TV channels are awesome and remind me of how I discovered horror back in the day (John Carpenter on WGN channel 9's nightly movie).

Playlist from Friday, 7/20

Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked for Death
Daughters - Satan in Wait (Pre-release single)
Beak> - L.A. Playback
Lake Trout - Another One Lost
Ministry - Dark Side of the Spoon
Converge - The Dusk in Us
Emma Ruth Rundle - Fever Dreams (Pre-release single)
True Widow - AVVOLGERE
Uniform - The Walk (Pre-release single)
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Johnny Marr - Call the Comet

I spent about twelve hours yesterday editing, uploading and post the new episode of DwC. Possibly the fastest turn-around I've done on my own, but it cost me my Saturday. I mean, I didn't do anything else, as reflected by my playlist, which was what we listened to while we made and ate dinner.

Playlist from Saturday, 7/22:

Footloose - OST
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

I watched Slither last night for the first time since my initial viewing, many years ago. Great little horror flick. Between that and Super - which I loved - I'm pretty sure James Gunn will have no trouble re-acclimating to making movies again. I'm sorry for the loss of such a huge contract and opportunity at the hands of adolescent-like immaturity, and I'm even more sorry for those MCU fans that will be subjected to GoG without Gunn at the helm, but I'm excited Mr. Gunn will once again be making movies that I will actually see.



Card of the day:

From the Grimoire: "All troubles and disruptions have been necessary to grow. That growth is a Victory, as not everyone makes it out of the strife and chaos of the fives."

The story I've been working on, "Please Believe Me" is so far outside of what I've done before, as far as character and overall tone, that my writing sessions have been strife and chaos. It can't be underreported, the feeling of sitting down during my daily ritual space for writing and coming away two or three hours later with nothing useable, or merely sketches of the tone and ideas that I want. Please Believe Me is meant to be a contemplation of Dread, which is far and away a different tone and emotion than horror, and finding the parameters of that tone inside of how I would normally write, how I would move a character or set a scene to progress, it's just not easy.

But it's rewarding, I'll tell you that.

Is today the day I finish it? Maybe.