I Don't Have a Work Ethic. I Just Have Work...

Hey, what are you doing here? You're not allowed in here without the Official Blog Badge and Hat! And you didn't do the Secret Blog Dance of Greeting and Subservience! Plus, there's the $5 cover charge...

Oh, that's right, I won't implement those rules until December. Never mind...

Thursday Highlights Include: Breakfast with dad; a pumpkin spice frap (you never call me "punkin'" anymore!); a quick mall browse; interview formatting; Torchlight and Left 4 Dead; pizza dinner and some World Series.

That's it! Such is my jet-set, A-list, no-holdin'-back lifestyle! Are you green with envy? Or are you just wearing your HULK costume? Oy vey, that would be ironic!

Yes, I pulled the trigger on Torchlight today - I've read nothing but good stuff online about it, including a rather glowing endorsement from the dude from Penny Arcade himself! He's a great writer, and he plays games... so he must be right. I took it for a spin, singing a gross aberration of the Niel Diamond ET song in my head ("turn on your torchlight... let it shine wherever you go..."). Basically, the game is a highly polished version of FATE, if that makes sense to you. In fact, if that makes sense to you, congratulations... you are as big a gaming nerd as I am... Come on, just give me your hand. I'll pull you back over...

Don't ask... ok, fine, you can ask... but I'm not tellin'...

If you like music and/or the Beatles, you have to check out this link, and listen to the three "multi-track analysis" narrations for the Beatles songs "She's Leaving Home," "A Day in the Life" and "Come Together". Very, very cool.

Trying to scramble and get things done before the weekend - Sunday is the first! Novel time! Honestly, I'm already anticipating potential storyline conflicts about halfway through, but they're hard to resolve ahead of time, since I just KNOW that a lot of the story will be morphing on the fly. If past performance is any indication, when it comes to writing fiction, for me, a lot of it unfolds and takes direction as I'm actually writing it. This process of trying to outline the story ahead of time is new, and I hope beneficial. I do have a good amount of it set, but really, the last day or two have been spent nailing down a map of the storyland, and setting in stone who starts where and heads where, and why. But there's discovery in the writing, and I'm looking forward to the process... I'm trying not to lock myself into anything for any of the characters.

Still, there's comfort in having a clue ahead of time. I've made at least one fairly major modification that I wouldn't have made if I'd just started writing and winging it when I first had the idea.

Boring, Dave! Get to other stuff already!

Here's a cool "electric chair" haunted house prop...



Kinda freaky. If that's an attempt to earn clemency, I spit on it!

And here's Darth Vader conducting an orchestra that is playing the Imperial March music from Star Wars...

There, that should keep you happy for a few minutes, anyway...

Rug Shop Day tomorrow. More web work, I presume. Then to church for the Christmas Drama Meeting I mentioned a day or two ago... still no clue, vis. a script. I hope someone else has some ideas... then we've got the costume/birthday party on Saturday. Sunday I start writing. Full steam ahead!

By the way, I may give the Movie Quote Contest the month off for November... just a heads-up. No clue who will end up winning October - it's so exciting, I'm about to wet myself! You've come to the wrong shop for anarchy, brother...

Until tomorrow, remember, this dock is off-limits to civilians.