Trees

As promised, here is one of the short little pieces of writing I've written as a means to clear my writing block. It's about trees.

They found him leaning against the oak tree with a smile on his face. Was I surprised when I heard? No, not really. That's where I would've looked if I was in their shoes. It was fitting, really. Only place he didn't feel like a freak.
The kid had been dealt a real bad hand. The drunken asshole he had for a stepfather always gave him the kind of grief that left bruises. He deserved what came to him. His mom, well, let's just say she had time for everyone else but him. School was no different. The freaks and geeks, jocks and beauty queens. He was everyone's personal little punching bag. Not even the teachers liked him. He wasn't smart enough for them. And me? Well, he was family. What could I do about that?
I'd find him sitting there on my way home from practice. Always had that coke can box with him. "That's where I keep my orc army and my paints," he would tell me. Bunch of overpriced plastic if you asked me, but I never told him anything. It didn't seem right.
Something was up that day. I had missed the bus that morning, and things just kept going from worse to shit. I didn't see him there. No carton box, no slouched figure with a paint brush in his hand. Didn't think much of it. All I could think of was how coach had run us like dogs.
He was dead when the hounds found him with his late daddy's war pistol in hand. No cuts, no blood, at least none that belonged to him. Nothing. Heart just stopped beating. He used to say the shade protected him. Said he felt nothing could happen to him so long as he didn't step outside of what the leaves covered.

B-B-B-Baaack!

Okay, so I haven't posted here since before the Metalocalypse, and truthfully, I've been working on so many independent projects that I haven't had much time to update, so for that I apologize. If there's still any readers left, then, thank you for not leaving. Seriously.

Part of my overextended hiatus can be attributed to the fact that I never really established much of a cohesive theme. It was just a space where I wrote and ranted about whatever struck my fancy. I'm going to continue to do that. The theme is that there is no theme to this bloggity blog. Just a bunch of random shit, now with more rants!

Since my last post, I have also been working on several writing exercises with a good friend of college where we write short 300 word segments about a specific theme each week. Since only she and I are reading them, I figured I'd post the best one of the week here.

Anyway, to summarize. I've been gone for too long, but I should be writing here more often.

I don't wanna grow up

I'm a worrier by nature. What can I say? I can't help it. If I'm having fun, I worry that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and vice versa. My most recent source of concern has been how old I've begun to feel. I know, I know. You're probably thinking its absurd to be under 25 and question whether I'm past my prime. Well, any other day I would have agreed with you, but today is unlike any other day. What makes today different is  that I ran across a blog titled 'wanna feel old'.

Personal staples that make me feel old:

1. The Matrix came out over 10 years ago 

2.  Gmail is 5 years old

3.The last time the Dallas Cowboys won a Super Bowl was 13 years ago.

4. Starcraft first came out in 1998 when I was 12.

5. My parents first bought a dvd player in the summer of 1997, the year of its availability in the US, for $300 dollars. Today, you can get one for as little as 20 dollars.

Good times.

Opening Day!

Holy crap! It's opening day!  Cubs v. Astros. Will this be the year?

In other news, Michael Jordan was inducted into the basketball hall of fame. 

The Brilliance of Jon Stewart

I've been slipping lately. To make up for it ,here's a Jon Stewart standup bit from 96.

Old Time Baseball, Conan Style

Conan O'Brien hosted his late night show for the last time a little over a week ago. His comedic stylings were such an integral part of my teen years. In his honor, and because baseball is in the air (Spring training is around the corner) and in my dvd player (Ken Burns' Baseball), here's a video from Conan's show. It's stuff like this that made him so funny



For those of you who live abroad, try this link.

Absurdity of the Week, The Shabby State of the Republican Party Edition

Question: How desperate are the Republicans?

Answer: So desperate they're rallying behind a 14 year old kid.