Brrrrrrr

I took the boys out to get haircuts this morning. It's frickin' blustery-cold today. Strong winds and chilly temps. They were, as ever, good for their haircuts, and I was pleased to see the ace stylist at the place we usually go to in; she did a great job. I had the boys get lil' Britpop shags, so they're looking very sharp.

We also broke ice on the ground, where we came across it, various petrified puddles. I showed the boys how a good axe kick could break the ice, and they went at it, which amused me -- made me feel like we were doing a pint-sized "Goodfellas" kickathon on the ice. B2 said, after we finished, "Ice versus People!"

Now I have'em back inside and we're toasty, and I put out a lunch tray for them to nosh upon, while watching their favorite show of the moment, "Samurai Jack."

I've been blazing away on fiction -- after all, the cold months are my prime writing times. Love when winter sets in, and this winter stands to be my most productive, ever. Psyched about that.

Thanksgiving went well, although the boys didn't eat much of the menu, as I figured -- they nibbled on the bread and the chicken tenders, ate some carrots. Picky as ever, although I did what I could, and they had a lot of fun.

Again, I love holiday times in the city, when so many people leave. It just makes it nice and peaceful. I love not having to travel on the holidays.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! I have the boys today and tomorrow; I think Exene is running the Turkey Trot 8K today (I'm almost positive she is), which is fine by me, since the boys'll have fun with me as I cook'em a nice lil' meal. The game plan is (this is obviously geared toward the boys)...

Turkey with gravy
Chicken tenders with sweet BBQ sauce
Macaroni and cheese
Mashed potatoes
Steamed broccoli
Tossed salad
Sliced Honeycrisp apples
Crusty bread
Gingerbread cookies
Plum pudding with hard sauce
Apple cider
Calvados (for me -- haha)

I was going to bake some pumpkin muffins, but discovered that the pumpkin I thought I had in the cupboard wasn't there, after all.

I'm setting up shop in the living room, around a little table I'm going to cover with an Indian blanket we have. The boys should enjoy at least some of it, anyway.

Interesting piece on Thanksgiving.

It's all nice and toasty in the apartment, and with the Christmas tree up, it looks extra holiday-homey.

Light-Hearted

Sure, tomorrow's Thanksgiving, but I had to jump the gun a little; the boys were clamoring for Christmas stuff, so I set things up, got the tree up, all of that good stuff. I told them the lights around the window would help Santa navigate. B2 said that Santa would use magic to open our window and get the presents inside. He's got it all figured out.

The city should be quiet the rest of the week; so many people travel, it's actually really nice for folks who stay in town, like me, for example. No travel stress, and the city is peaceful and nice. I love it.

Things that go THUMP in the night

Thumper, the ghost I don't believe in, has been more active of late. The other night, in a cold apartment, I laid down and felt a throw pillow with my foot that was warm to the touch. Odd, because it wasn't anywhere near any heat source, but it was tangibly warmer.

A few nights, the computer switched on. It actually turned on, waking up from sleep mode. That's happened a couple of times, now.

Two nights ago, I went to sit in my favorite chair, and heard a creak of the cushion on the futon, like somebody was sitting down in it.

The other night, I woke with a start and slugged the wall beside the bed. I don't know what made me jolt like that, can't remember the dream context of it, but it hurt like hell, since I really nailed the wall -- and then, while rubbing my sore hand, I saw that the computer was on.

And just last night, in my left ear, I heard a woman's voice whisper "Daddy," right in my ear. Clear as can be. It was extra-weird, because B1 had been asking me questions earlier, saying "Daddy?" and then asking me his question. And then came that whisper in my left ear, even though I knew B1 was to my right, and I said "[B1], did you just say 'Daddy?'" and he said "No, why?" and I said "I thought I heard you."

We'll see what, if anything, Thumper does next.

I put up the Christmas tree tonight. It looks nice.

Two-Step

The Chicago late autumn two-step has commenced -- we had a blast of unseasonable warmth and a pile of rain (and thunderstorms), and then the temperature crashed 40 degrees and now it's blustery and cold, howling winds. Very typical Chicago fare.

I took advantage of the mild weather to bike out to the grocery store, load up on supplies, and get back before the storms rolled in and the temperatures dropped.

As ever, very grateful for steam heat in this building.

Wolfen

I love the look on this wolf's face. Like "Yeah? What?"

Sonday

Man, I woke up around 1:30 a.m., and couldn't go back to sleep for a bit. Just worrying about stuff. I took a shower and went back to bed, and eventually conked out and had odd dreams. One had this group of WWII-era OSS types, kind of like the A Team set to WWII, on these missions. Very "Guns of Navarone" in scope and presentation in my brain. That's "Guns of Navarone," NOT "Force 10 from Navarone," mind you!

I've got the boys today. They were very glad. Exene dropped them off with me a few hours earlier yesterday, said the boys were "clamoring" for me, so I took'em, and we watched episodes of "Samurai Jack" and I read stories to'em. We had a good time.

Trophies

Before I forget, I saw a junk truck that had a bunch of trophies in the back. It was such a great image, like all this detritus, and then a pile of gold sports trophies (like baseball, etc.) piled in this crate in the back. Sadly, it went by too quickly, before I could snap a shot of it, but it looked neat.

I mailed a book query to a publisher today. Hope something comes of it. In likelihood, nothing will, but we'll see.

Fast Forward

I can't believe November's nearly over. After that last six months kind of grinding along, this month has been hurtling toward conclusion. Man.

There hasn't been too much of interest that's jumped out at me, or that I've remembered enough to post and blog about of late. Part of the battening down of autumn, I guess. My boys keep asking whether Santa's dropped off gifts, yet, and I'm like "It's not even Thanksgiving yet, Guys; there's no tree up, either! It's too early!" But each day, they ask.

I'm sending a book query packet to a publisher today. I'm tightly targeting it to a particular publishing house, hoping they'll at least give me the benefit of a doubt. We'll see how it goes.

I'm going to have three books I'm a'pimping to publishers this year, if I can find suitable homes for them. Always the big IF in the mix. But I have to try, have to persist.

Argh!

Slow commute yesterday. Drives me bananas! Get me where I'm going! Argh!

I still keep waking up a bit too early (and going to bed a bit too late). Also Argh!

The radiators are kicking into gear. I always love that, their rattle and clatter and the wonderful warmth they bring.

I had a lot of odd dreams last night, although I remember only bits of them. Sometimes my dreams unfold in a documentary style, like I'm watching a movie. This one was about an intentional community for the rich somewhere, living in these Green eco-mansions, while the narrator was talking about the community. And I was trying to read some article about it, while these preppy brats were trying to take the magazine from me (which turned out to be SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN except printed on very high quality paper, very thick -- to the extent that I was musing while reading it "Is this a special issue or something? Must cost a fortune to produce this.") There was some section about composting, and some eco-wags had written a message like "Over here, Grandmother!" in some kind of stuff that drew honeybees, because that message was written in bees on the ground! That was particularly dream-weird, had me almost waking up from my dream. Then, at some point, I was in a cavernous building like McCormick Place and was talking with Obama, trying to set him straight, saying he needed to take moves from LBJ's political playbook and really play some political hardball if he had a hope of getting things done. He didn't appear to be listening, but I pressed on, at least until Michelle Obama turned up and some staffers of his. Then I just went my own way. That's about all I remember.

Oh, Io!

http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2010/11/15/D9JGTIU00_us_arrow_shooting/index.html

Lordy, lordy.

Going Ape

Another anti-Halloween dildo in action. And, of course, a faked story...

Gorilla Suit Attack a Fraud

Yawn

Winterish weather finally has arrived, although no snow, yet; that all appears to be north of here for now. But the blustery, rainy-cold thing is going on, now. Glad for steam heat, that's for sure!

I keep waking up around 3:30-40, legacy of daylight savings. I wake up early, anyway, so roll that clock back and it's super-early for me. Gonna take a bit to get back to waking up only crazy-early, instead of obscenely early.

Dino is extinct

Aw, Dino De Laurentiis died. The man who gave us "Conan the Barbarian!"



I loved that movie as a kid (which I first saw at a drive-in with my family, long ago). The above clip amuses me. *snicker*

Misfit?

Looks like Glenn Danzig pitched a diva fit.

The line in the above about him being little taller than the average dwarf made me snicker.

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2010/11/danzigs_cancele.php

And the line in the above about maybe the room not being big enough for his ego made me laugh out loud.

Oh, Glenn, what happened to you? You were amusing, once, long, long ago...


Misfits, "All Hell Breaks Loose"

Making Plans for Nigel

It's Nigel Tufnel Day, 11/11!

Make today go to an 11!

Big Bottom

Next year'll be a particularly Taptastic time, since it'll be 11/11/11!

; )

Trippy

Ever have a day like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00

Of course not. Nobody ever does. Bahahah! The babe at :34 is my favorite, busting some serious moves! That was from way back in 1972. Trippy!

Red Balloons

A moment on my commute that was odd and pleasantly so -- the light fading thanks to Daylight Savings and such, the lights at the display at Old Navy were vivid downtown. Lots of shoppers milling in the half-light, skyscraper shadows looming large, crazy constant black preacherman at the curb in a suit, like always, with his portable PA system, haranguing the shoppers as he always does, and as my bus turned, two gals in cranberry red outfits -- like slacks and sweatshirts, each holding a red balloon on a red bit of line, giving each other a hug as the bus rolled by, the lights a blur. It was a cool kind of snapshot moment, something I wish I could have filmed. The combination of the angle of the bus as it turned, and the tiny curbside tableau, it just momentarily mesmerized me, and then there was a feast of display lights, big and white, shaped like arrows, pointing back at the scene.

What the Fawke?

I forgot about Guy Fawkes' Day, yesterday. I always do. Not like it matters, being an American, but it's fun just because of the creepy masks and being able to say "Fawkes" with impunity. I had one of these masks a few Halloweens ago, but think it's been misplaced after the move. Or else it's sitting in some costume box somewhere, maybe in storage.

Chillin'

Man, Winter's here for sure. It's autumn-sunny, but frickin' cold over here. Chicagoans hunkering down as Winter looms. *brrrrrr* Glad for free steam heat in the building. Makes all the difference in the chilly months, but makes it hard to go out and about, just because the contrast between balmy and brisk is so great!

I need to do a grocery run of some fashion sooner than later; supplies are diminishing! I got used to using my bike for those runs, but as the weather gets colder, I'm less-inclined to do that, just because the PITA factor is that much higher for that.

Finished the first draft of the book I was working on, although it's somewhat bittersweet because I know that I have to revise it straightaway. Revision and rewriting is always a pain in the ass; it's easier to write a story out of nothingness than it is to wend your way through your words and rewrite scenes and so on. That'll keep me busy this month. Meantime, short stories beckon. I just log them in my journal and keep to the main project for now.

The boys are good, looking forward to Christmas and snow and sledding, all of that good stuff.

Sniper at the Gates of Dawn

Curious transit day. Gorgeous sunrise, just stunning. I tried to capture it, holding my breath with each shot, sniper-like.

And, counting my commute home, I saw three urban primitives today -- not together, yet all with the ear disc thing going (two men, one woman). All with nose piercings, all of them white. All with their urban primitive tats going, too. Tribe. Word. Beautiful sunset tonight, too. Wanna see?

Pretty. While on the El, I heard one of the urban primitives talking to a gay woman who sounded kind of like young Ralph Macchio, and had a Ramones-era Punkish look going (peacock-tousled hair, black Doc Martens, black leather jacket). She had apparently just lost her job working for one of the Chicago mayoral candidates, who dropped out. Then the urban primitive guy asked if he could photograph her, and she hesitated, then said "Sure." It was supposedly for some class the guy had (I was walking away, missed the rest). Then I went to the grocery store for some stuff, had a petitioner ask me to sign for a mayoral candidate's run. Then, while heading home, I saw Exene heading out to get the boys. She didn't see me, and I didn't say anything. There were other amusements on the commute, but I can't recall them all, now. The confluence of the ear discs on one day was kind of odd. Oh, I remember -- the gal urban primitive (from Portland, Oregon, I gathered) was loudly marveling about Chicago's skyline, and then talking about how geographically clueless some gal was (while her hipster guy friend was pointing out buildings to her as the El went on its way). Anyway, the guy said "The lake's that way." and she's like "What lake?" and he said "Lake Michigan." Then she went on about how geographically clueless that gal was. Irony dies a hundred thousand deaths in America.

Punkin

Another Halloween has come and gone. The boys enjoyed their trick-or-treat throughout our neighborhood. Chicago's often characterized as a city of neighborhoods, and that's always most in evidence during Halloween, which is always wonderful in our area, since there are so many homes there, and lots of Halloween enthusiasts (and who are of the socioeconomic group likely least-affected by the Great Recession). Anyway, it was, as ever, a good showing, and tons of great costumes and nicely tricked-out houses. The boys got a good amount of candy. As ever, Exene and I (her sister was in town, too -- she made a marvelous old-school Bumblebee Autobot costume for B2), anyway, we bring a diehard 1970s trick-or-treat drive to the mix -- I always joke that trick-or-treating is like a commando operation: you don't dawdle; you do good recon and you get to your objectives quickly, with a minimum of fuss. The boys are not particularly adroit trick-or-treaters -- we have to kind of prompt them until they get the hang of it. And, of course, part of that is living in the city -- you don't just walk up to somebody's house begging treats. Not in the city. So, they usually have to kind of be walked through that at first. But, it's a nice spectacle, the neighborhood looks delightful, and the kids all have fun. I didn't dress up this year, as B2 gets a little spooked by some of the costumes (he wouldn't go to some of the spookier houses unless I held his hand), so I was just Daddy this year. B1 enjoyed himself, and his rather unique costume (he was a ghost ship -- I'd made him a ghost ship hat he could wear) got him accolades and instant recognition from classmates. That's his fourth year running with an offbeat and memorable costume. Lord knows what he'll want to be next year. It's always a manifestation of him saying "I want to be X" and me trying to figure out how to make that happen.