The End Of The Year Is Here.

     In one week, it will be one year since I took my last drink. I'm pretty proud of that. I know quite a few people didn't think I could do it, and I have. I've told you I've had feelings about having a drink again, just so I can go out and meet people, but I'm still not quite there yet, and every day that I don't go out and have a drink, is another day that I get further away from the thought of doing it. With that said, let's get to the good stuff.

     I didn't like the footage I had of the making of the lift blocks for my workbench, so I scraped it all. There was nothing compelling or entertaining of even informative about it, so it wasn't worth going any further with it. I did however get out and make video Wednesday night. This is a short one, and I want your input on it. Should I do more short videos like this, or continue doing the talking head ones? There is also the third option of doing both of them, and just switching it up from time to time. I do really like this one. It hit all the marks for me, and I think it even brings a little emotion to it. That could just be me though. See what you think.

     I did find one location, but it was a planned one, and I got a couple of pictures, but they weren't all that great. Here are two for you to judge for yourself.

     Make sure you blow those up, to get a good look at them. Those just so happen to be the last pictures I took with my phone. That is because I got a new phone. I'm part of the iPhone upgrade program. What that is, is that I pay a monthly fee and I'm able to upgrade to a new phone each year. It came sooner than I expected, and the new phone got here the day after the making of that video. I opted for the new iPhone X (or 10 depending on what you want to call it). The X actually stands for 10 as it is the 10th year anniversary of the first iPhone. I was a little surprised that it was much smaller than the iPhone 7+ which is what I had. To be honest, that wasn't my favorite phone. I liked it, and all the things that it could do, but it was just too big, so I'm really happy with the iPhone X. It's smaller, but the screen is actually bigger, since the whole front side is the screen. It is a beautiful phone. Before you start in with, it's not the best phone out there, I don't care. I don't say that it's the best phone out there. What I do say, is that it is the phone that I like, and that you should get whatever phone you like. I'm not going to argue with anyone over something as stupid as the choice of your phone, so don't bother.

     I haven't really taken any photos with it, but I have experimented with the different portrait options. I'll get some pictures tomorrow when I make the next video. It's going to be a New Year's sunrise video, so look for it tomorrow. When I have it up and posted, I will make a short little promo on the Instagram page, so keep an eye out for that promo, so that you will know when it goes live. I chose a song already, and that gave me an idea for how the video is going to go. It should be fun. It's going to be a kind of, behind the scenes, look at a video, except that it is going to be a video. I know, that doesn't make sense, but trust me, if I do everything right, it should be pretty good. This is also going to be another short one, probably less than 5 minutes again. I'm really loving making these videos. Oh, that reminds me. I have news, I finally have over 1000 views on one of my videos. Not the one I would want to represent me, but it all will work out in the end. That just means 9000 more views before I can officially monetize the channel, and start brining in some money so we can do the charitable contributions. I would love for those 9000 views to come within the next year, but going on my current pace, it should take a few years instead.

     There are a couple of things to talk about before I wrap this final post of the year. First up is The Patchwork Knight. A little insight into the process. I have written far more dialogue than I have written for any other story that I've written. It's a whole new experience for me. I didn't know that it was going to go this way, but that is how it is coming out of my head. I like the way that it's going, and it is going in the direction that I wanted it to. The action is coming, so be ready for it. I've been looking forward to this upcoming chapter. I've had pieces of it in my head since the very beginning of the first chapter. This is going to be an important episode in the storyline, so make sure you read that one. I'm hoping I don't let you down with the action scenes.

     The second thing I wanted to talk about, was the movie I watched yesterday. I was completely tired of sitting around the house, so I opted for a movie. I already saw The Last Jedi, so that one was out. There was nothing I really wanted to see except one film. It's by the brilliant mind of Guillermo del Toro. The things that come out of this man's mind, is beyond impressive, and this movie was no exception. He created the idea, co-wrote the script, directed and produced the film, and it is magical. The movie is called The Shape of Water, and I highly recommend it. It does carry an R rating, for the reasons of violence, language, nudity, and sexual content. Don't let that keep you from seeing this movie though. There is a reason for everything in the movie. I had an idea of what it was about form the trailer I had seen, but it was nothing compared to what the movie actually was. I'm not going to give any details what so every except that it is a true modern day fairytale.

     Oh, there was one other picture I had for you. This was taken earlier on Wednesday when I was scouting my route for the Night Ride video. This was the location that I had taken the night time shots at, but in a slightly different area within the location. It's like a large parking lot, so there is a lot of space and many different shots that you can get, and this was one of them. Once again, this was taken with the old phone. I posted a version of this on Instagram, but this is the shot that was truly the best.

     Tomorrow is my final day of vacation, so I head back to work on Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it. All Ive been doing is sitting around and eating, and I'm over it. I'm actually looking forward to going back to work. 

     If you don't check out the New Year's video tomorrow, I will have it for you here on Tuesday night, so you can get your chance then. Until then, Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 10)

     "Do you leave for the Kingdom tomorrow?"

     "Yes, we are leaving before sunrise. We should make it to the Kingdom by nightfall, or shortly after."

     "I suppose you are going to become a knight then aren't you."

     "I'm only competing in a tournament for a chance to be accepted to the Knight's Academy."

     "You'll forget all about us in this tiny village."

     "I would never do that. This is my home. What has gotten into you Arial?"

     "Nothing, stop being so foolish. I made something for you. Consider it a good luck charm."

     Arial reached out her hand and a stone the size of a walnut laid in the center. It had a faint glow of blue light coming from it. It was something I'd never seen before. Stones don't glow."

     "What is that?"

     "It's a stone from the riverbed. I imbued it with power from the aether."

     "You can do that? I thought it was something that flowed within you, like when you were warm in the middle of winter."

     "Well if you ever came and learned what it was all about like I asked you to, instead of practicing with that old sword of yours, you would know what it could do."

     "It's very pretty. I'll put it in my bag."

     "No! No, keep it near you at all times. Place it in a pocket or make a necklace for it."

     "Why can't I just put it in my travel bag? I always have that close by, and I don't have time to make a necklace."

     "Well, you could put it in your travel bag, but it wouldn't be able to help you if your bag is not on you. The power of the aether isn't just there to make it 'pretty'. It's there to help you in the tournament."

     "What do you mean?"

     "It will give you strength as long as it is on your person. It won't be much right now, because you didn't let me teach you how to use the aether, but it will still give you a tiny bit of strength."

     "How does it work? Do I have to say something, or rub it."

     "No, nothing like that. Just keep it in your pocket, and when you get a chance, make a necklace or something to keep it on. When it is close to your body, the aether will flow from it into your body. If you had taken the time to learn how to capture the flow of the aether, you would be able to draw power from it, and gain even more strength."

     "It will do that? I promise that when I return home, I will sit with you and learn how to use the aether."

     "I've heard that before. You'll come home for a short amount of time, practice your swordplay, and then off to the academy with you. I'll see you in a few years when the mighty conqueror comes back to his humble beginnings to regale us with tales of vanquishing the enemy and saving princesses."

     "No I won't. I promise you. As soon as I get back from the kingdom, I will come straight to you and learn how to use the aether. Then I will go to the academy."

     "Very well Pitre, I will hold you to your word then. As soon as you return you will find me and learn something from a scroll for a change."

     I nodded and Arial ran off to her home. I still needed to practice the 3 movements before my day was over, so I headed to the forest.

     It was quiet and peaceful in the forest. I took the stone out of my pocket and took a good look at it. It was very smooth, it must have been in that riverbed for a hundred years, and although I didn't feel it before, I could feel an unnatural warmth coming from it. the light was dim but noticeable and when I cupped it in my hand and held it up to my eye, it radiated in the dark pocket. It was truly amazing. I would have to ask her all about how she made it when I got back.

     I put the stone back in my pocket and began to practice. The movements which had become rather easy with all my practice, felt even easier. I felt stronger with my slashes, and my feet seemed to plant more firmly on the ground. I decided to test the stone out a little, so I took it out of my pocket and placed on a stump near by. I ran through the movements again. The feeling I had just had, wasn't 'there. The movements were easy, but I didn't have that same feeling of energy flowing through me anymore. The stone really did work. I couldn't believe it. I believed that Arial had done something to the stone, but I didn't think it would do what she said it would, but it did. I picked the stone back up again, and ran through the movements again. It was the same as before. I felt stronger, and I didn't really feel like I had even done them. I ran through the movements 10 more times as fast as I could. I wan't the least bit tired. I ran another 10 times, and nothing. I did them 50 times in a row without stopping. At the end of the 50 I finally felt a little bit of tiredness coming on.

     I practiced until the sun fell. I must have done the movements 200 times, and I felt like I usually did when I did them 100. I was tired, and my breath was heavy, but I wan't exhausted like I should have been. The stone was a miracle. I would have to give Arial a proper thank you when I returned home. It was too late in the day to find her now. She would be reading by the heath waiting for dinner to be sat on the table. I needed to get home myself and prepare for the day long journey ahead of me tomorrow. I would soon be in the Kingdom and competing in a tournament.

My Year In Review For 2017.

     I know that I said I was going to do a year in review tonight, and I will. I just don't think I can fill the whole thing up with that. My year wasn't all that exciting at all. I do have a couple more things to talk about, but that can wait until later. Let's get on with the year in review.

    I guess we can start with New Year's Day. I was recovering from a hangover from one very wild New Year's Eve. I drank a lot, heard some stories that were way out there, and ended up doing coke with a gay guy in a bar bathroom. Not my proudest moment, but I can say I did it. The very next week, I stopped drinking. I still haven't had a drop of alcohol since, and I'm not sure if I miss it. Most notable answer, is that I don't, but I've had thoughts about drinking again, but only so I could get out and meet people again. The urge hasn't been all that great though.

     In February two things happened (no, I'm not going to go month by month). The first was that I got incredibly ill. I'm pretty sure that I had walking pneumonia, and I felt like death twice chilled. It took me quite some time to get over that. While all the recovering was going on, I did something really stupid and blew out my ear lobe. I tried to go too big too fast and I paid the price. I decided the best course of action was to remove the taper that I had shoved through and ripped my ear open with. When I did that and waited for it to heal, I didn't realize that it healed too well. the hole that was there, that was a full 7/8ths of an inch big, was no longer. It had closed completely up. That is something that is supposed to be impossible, but when I'm involved with something stupid, the impossible happens.

     Some time in the spring to early summer, I tried my luck at online dating again. I was well on my way to having a date, and she read this blog and decided that she no longer wanted to meet me, so the date was cancelled. That was a first for me. I was, for lack of a better term, dumped before we even went on the first date. I found it kind of funny, and still do. There was also a little pride there, that something I wrote could create a reaction like that. In some ways, I took it as a compliment.

     I got through that with no problem, and I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I had started making videos. I had already done a couple of them by that point, but the passion didn't really erupt until a few months later. I found that I really love making them. The creative process involved with the technical aspect is very appealing to me. It brings a great deal of joy to my life, even though nobody watches them. Well, I shouldn't say nobody. A few people watch them. I don't expect to get a million subscribers or anything like that, but it would be nice to have a thousand people watch one of my videos in a short period of time. That would go a long way to my goal of being able to monetize the channel and then start donating half of the money made to a charity. It's been a goal since day 1 of doing these videos, and it still holds true today. I will be fully open with how much money I make on the channel, so that way you will know exactly how much should go to a charitable contribution. I still have the plan that you will help decide the charity each time I donate as well. I want to do some good with it, not only in spreading a little joy with the video, but being able to spread the funds to those in need as well.

     Who could forget when one of my dearest friends was nearly wrenched from this plain of existence. It's a night I will never forget. August 17th of 2017. I was relaxing watching TV when I got a call, but it wasn't her on the phone, it was an EMT telling me that she was in a very bad motorcycle accident. I rushed to Orlando and the hospital as soon as I could. It took me a little over an hour, and then I waited, and I waited, and I waited. I kept gettin updates from people that had had some kind of contact with her, and that is how I found out, that I needed some secret information to get in the Trauma Unit. Once I passed along that info I got in to see her, and it wasn't a pretty sight. She was patched somewhat back together, but you could see the carnage surrounding her. Blood was spattered on the sheets and bandages, Her bag and things were sliced to ribbons, and she was so high on pain killers, it was a shock that she even knew who I was. I talked to so many people that I didn't know that night, trying to give them proper updates and letting them know that she was out of the woods, but hadn't full cleared the meadow yet. I stayed with her that whole night, until 5:30 in the morning. It was a long, lonely and reflective drive home. The first thing I wanted to do that next day, was make a video on the bike talking a bit about it. As you know now, she is doing quite well, and recovering ahead of schedule, but she still has a long way to go, to get back to what you would call, normal.

     That was a rough month for me, and her for that matter. In a very short span of maybe 6 weeks, we had both lost one each of our dogs, and then she was in the hospital for just under a month. I believe it was three weeks in total time she spent there. While all that was going on, I was on the search for a new canine friend, and I found one in Morty. You all know Morty by now. He has brought a bright spot of love into my world that was gone when Lily left. I had a dream about her the other day. She was right here in the house. It felt incredibly real, but then I woke up, and Morty was there to comfort me.

      Since then. life has been quiet. I've put all my focus into Saki, Morty, and video making, as well as fixing up the Lounge. Saki's Lounge is coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely. I did get in there yesterday and clear out a ton of the area on one side. I got a couple of pictures for you to see.

     Unfortunately, I don't have a before picture, so that you can compare, but if you look in that fist photo up there. See that throw rug on the righthand side, that the stool is sitting on. Before I moved all the stuff out, only about 3 inches of that rug was exposed, and the stool could not sit except two legs on it. Now as you can see, the whole thing sits on it, with a little room to spare. I still got a bunch of stuff to do before it will all be completed, but that is a big start. I plan to get rid of those selves on the lefthand side eventually, that will free up another foot or so fo room. Once those are cleared out, I can get that motorcycle lift that I've been wanting. There will finally be room for it. I do have one last thing I've been working on for the workbench. I have made some risers for it, so that it will lift about an inch and a half off the ground. That will allow me to tuck that stool under the workbench a little when it is not in use. Not a ton of room, but every inch counts in this. I did film the making of the risers, but I have a little more footage to get, and then I have to go through everything to see if I have enough good stuff for a video on the whole thing. I'll get there rest of it tomorrow, when I put the risers in place, and lift the workbench. I'll get started on the editing tomorrow, and see if I can get a video out of it. If so, I'm hoping to have it up tomorrow evening. If you know the channel, you will see it there. If you don't know it, just search Counterfeit Squirrel on YouTube. I'm too lazy to create link to it right now. Yes I know it's not that hard, but, ok I have no excuse, I'm just not doing it..

     Speaking of videos, I'm planning on doing the late night ride video tomorrow night. I have no idea what it's going to be, or what it's going to look like, but I'm doing it tomorrow, and hoping that it somehow comes together. It's going to be a bit chilly, so I'll probably break out the leather jacket for this ride. My goal is to be able to show you this area at night. I just hope the camera can pick up some good footage in the dark, and I'm pretty sure there are going to be some areas that I go to, that have no lights what so ever, so this should be real fun.

     I'm also planning on doing a New Year's sunrise video, but that won't happen until Monday morning. I'm hoping to put that all together and have it up by late afternoon on New Year's Day. It should  easy enough to do. Since I'm not drinking, there is no need to stay up and celebrate the New Year, so I'll go to sleep early, and wake up and get out to the beach before sunrise, and do a little time-lapse magic with the sun. I've done it before, but I have more tricks up my sleeve now, so it should come out quite a bit better. I'll let you be the judge of all that.

    I have one last thing to talk about, and then I will let you go in peace. This isn't about me though, it's about a friend of mine. He just put an album out, and If you could go check it out, and maybe buy it, it will be a fantastic thing. The music isn't your everyday pop music. It's a bit out there, but it has a good beat and rhythm to it. He has it available in two forms right now, but one is very limited. You can buy a digital download of t for $7, or you can by a limited edition vinyl version of it. The vinyl is limited to 500 copies, and then it is gone. The vinyl version is $15, and you get unlimited streaming of it with the Bandcamp app, and a digital download of it. More bang for the buck right there. Just follow this link: thenightbench.com and check it out. You have to do a little clicking from there, to get to the right page, but that link will get you started. Once you are on the album page, there is a player for you to sample the album by streaming. If you like it, give it a buy. If not, then pass it on to someone who might like it. It would mean a great deal to me if you just checked it out. He is a friend, but his wife is one of my very best friends, so I know it would mean a great deal to her as well.

     Ok, after that shameless plug, it is time to say goodnight. Keep an eye out for a video tomorrow on the YouTube channel, oh hell, if you follow me on Instagram I'll have a promo video up there with a link in my bio, so you will surely know when it is available for your visual perusing. Peace in and goodnight.

I Got A Lot To Do.

     It's the day before Christmas and as usual, I'm bored out of my skull. I have nothing do to other than watch TV at this point, and there is nothing enjoyable on. I'll turn on Netflix in a little while and watch some Trollhunters. I'm not sure I mentioned that Part 2 is out now. I really enjoyed the first part, and I've been holding off on watching the rest of the episodes until now. That will make the night more enjoyable to me.

     Tomorrow, I'm going to clear out a little more room in the lounge. I did some of it today, but I had to run some errands, so I had to stop a little early. I'm also going to make some 4in x 4in blocks to lift my workbench up a couple of inches. The plan is to cut those blocks out of a spare 2 x 4 that I have, then paint those blocks. That will have to wait until I can get some black paint, and then place those blocks under each leg. That should raise the workbench up just enough to be able to tuck my stool underneath the lower part. It will give me a few extra inches of floor space in the garage, not to mention the foot and a half that I'm going to gain by getting all the garbage out from behind my bench, so that I can move it closer to the wall.

     As part of cutting those blocks, I'm going to get the dual sander that I got and put it to some use. I want to bevel the edges on the blocks so that they aren't as sharp. Plus that will give them a decorative look to them as well. I want to make them look as if they were part of the bench all along, hence the black paint. I was tinkering with the idea of filming the whole little project. Let me know if you want to see a short video of the making of a table lift.

     Oh yeah, part of what I got done today, helped out my little photo area. I don't have any shots taken from it with the improved set up, but I do have one last picture that I took last night. I got a new Funko Pop Vinyl, and it is non other than Luke Skywalker from The Last Jedi. There was no way I wasn't going to find that one, when I knew it was out there. Luke has always been my favorite character in the movies, I know that he is many peoples favorite, and that is alright. It also helps that Mark Hamill is just a great all around dude. His version of the Joker in the animated Batman series is still the best version of the Joker outside of Heath Ledger. Check him out on his Instagram of Twitter pages, He is quite entertaining. Anyway, here is that last picture with a little artsiness put into it.

     I used the Philips Hue Go to give it that blue haze to it. I like the way that the POP! looks a little glow in the dark. It isn't at all. It's just a good old fashioned yellow word, but with the blue of the light it makes it have that fluorescent glow. I had a few other pics that were a bit different but this one is the best. I asked Elie's opinion, and this was her favorite as well.

     Thursday night I watched a new Netflix original movie. Bright stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as LA cops, but there is a twist. Joel Edgerton is a Orc. Yeah, you saw that right. It's placed in an alternate reality where Dungeons & Dragons is a real thing, and The Dark Lord was defeated a few thousand years ago, but Orcs are still treated like second class citizens because they chose The Dark Lord. Joel Edgerton is the first Orc police officer on the first, so he has quite a bit to get over. To give you a little background without giving anything away, a Bright is a being that can wield a wand. Wands aren't the things of magic as most know. In this world only certain beings can hold them without exploding. That's all I can really say about it without getting into the plot of the movie. If you are a fan of fantasy and D&D, then you will enjoy this. I did read that Netflix has already ordered a sequel which will also star Will Smith. I did find anything about anyone else in the film, but I could see quite a few characters coming back for another round. There are some characters that need to be explored more, and a sequel should give them that chance.

     I'm hoping to have a video up later tomorrow. I want to head out on Saki and get a Christmas morning sunrise over the beach. There is only one problem with this idea, and that is that I'm low on gas in Saki, and I don't know what gas stations if any will be open. I do know that a 7-11 near me is going to be open, but I don't know if they will be open before sunrise. I'll give it a shot and see how it works out, it not I'll just reschedule that video for a New Year's sunrise. Actually now that I think about it, that one makes a lot more sense. Ok, new plan, I'm not making a video tomorrow morning, and I'm saving that one for New Year's Day. I do still plan on doing a couple of other videos. I kind of want to do a late night video riding around the Space Coast at night. It could be risky with drunk drivers and all, but I'm up for the challenge. What's life with out a little daring excitement?

     I've been thinking about this whole year in review thing I was planing, and I have no idea where to start. I don't want to go and do a best of kind of thing and just rehash things that I've written about in the past, also there is the fact that I rarely reread anything that I write on here, so the best I can come up with at this point, is a remembrance of things that went on this year for me. As I think back now, it wan't all that exciting, but I have at the very least a few things to talk about.

     I've been doing some research lately. Hold on a second, this isn't anything groundbreaking, but it is research non the less. Anyway, I've been doing research on motorcycles, and I may have found the next bike I'm going to buy next. I've been thinking about this for a long time now, and I'm going to be thinking about it for a while longer. I'm nowhere near ready to buy yet, but when I do, This is the bike I'll be looking at.

     Those are the two trims that it comes in. The one on the right known as Camo is $200 more. That doesn't matter to me, because that isn't the trim that I want. I'm not a fan of Camo so going Team Green is the only way to go for me. I really like the looks of the standard trim, with the classic Kawasaki green. This is a street legal dual sport bike. It has the ability to go on and off road. Which will expand areas I can go to make videos. Even though it can go off road, it isn't made for doing anything crazy. It's not motocross, so I won't be doing any big jumps with it, but I will take it in some dirt and hit some tiny hills on it. The best part about this bike, is that I can make it a super moto by changing the nobby tires to street tires. I do think that I will get a second set of wheels, so I can switch them out whenever I want to. In reality, I can't see me buying this before sometime this summer at the earliest, but it is something to work towards. I still need to work on the drone and the handheld camera, not to mention things to straighten up the lounge to be able to have room for a second bike in there. If I can get the lounge in order, I can see there being room for 3 bikes so, goals. A lot needs to get done, so that is why I started working on the lounge today, and more to come tomorrow and later on this week. I won't get it all done, but I'll have a good start on it, and gain a little of that room I so desperately need. When it is all done, it should be your all purpose garage slash hangout. I can work on the bikes and sit and relax and watch videos I made on the bikes on a large TV. It will truly be a biker paradise.

     I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas. I'll get back to you on the New Year's part of that next Sunday. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 9)

     In the next several weeks since feeling the Swordsman's Euphoria, I had progressed greatly in my training. I had finished the first movement and learned two more. My father told me that there were 7 movements in all, and at the pace I was learning, I should have them all learned by my birthday. After my practice, I was to meet him in the forge for a review.

     "Ah, lad, you are done with your practice all ready?"

     "Yes papa, I've done each movement one hundred times."

     "Just based on your time, you have already showed improvement. I told you that we were going to do a review today, but I wan't honest with you. I wanted to talk to you about something."

     "What is it papa?"

     "I told you that you had to be high born to become  knight, but there is one other way. I didn't mention it, because I didn't truly know if you would show the dedication it would take in order for you to meet this chance."

     "I'm dedicated papa, I will be a knight."

     "I can see that now. During the King's birthday celebration on the odd number years, there is a tournament of sorts. It is only for children over the age of 10, which you will be this year. Just in time for the King's birthday I might add. It is by the King's decree that any child can enter this tournament for the chance to receive admission to the royal academy of knighthood. This being the King's 35th birthday, the tournament will be open."

     "Can I enter the tournament papa?" I was excited. I would be 10 only two weeks before the King's birthday celebration.

     "Seeing how you have trained faithfully, and have followed every lesson I have taught you to this point, I don't see why you can't enter. I still have a few more things to teach you, and we only have two months for you to learn it. Will you stay as dedicated as you have, and will you train even harder if I ask you?"

     "Yes papa, I will do whatever it takes." I was beside myself, I couldn't believe what my father was telling me. I was going to compete in a tournament to become a knight. Wait, what would I have to do in this tournament? "Papa, how do receive admission to the academy?"

     "I was wondering when you were going to ask that question. The child that wins the tournament is the only one that can enter the academy. There are three challenges that you must face. The first is an agility course. You receive a points total based on what place you finish. The second is a knowledge of weapons. The child that can name each weapon and what it's purpose is rewarded with a single point. The final test, is a melee. The five children with the highest points total will fight for the reward. Only 1 child can remain standing. All weapons are blunted, but it is still a very brutal competition. There have been no deaths, but there have been several children that spent quite a few weeks with the healers after tournaments in the past."

     I thought I was ready for an agility course. I ran from the forest to the forge everyday with two trees dragging behind me, and a heavy practice sword on my back. With my knowledge of the movements, I was ready for a melee, but I knew nothing about weapons and what they did other than what they looked like they could do.

     "I can tell by the look on your face, you are going through what you can do, and what you can't do. Don't fool yourself boy, you still have a lot to learn in a very short time. The children you will be facing in the tournament will undoubtably be high born. Even thought the tournament is open to everyone, it is not practical for commoners to train as you have much less like those of the high born. They have been in training since the day they could walk, and they have been studying weapons for almost as long. If you think you know enough to win the melee, you would be mistaken."

     "But papa, I know how to reach Swordsman's Euphoria. That should help me win."

     "Swordsman's Euphoria will help you, but it won't help you win. You need knowledge and practice that only comes from working hard over a long period of time. You have come a long way, but they have all come that long way, probably years ago. Don't let your knowledge of the Swordsman's Euphoria make you arrogant. That is when it will leave you. There is one other thing I want to tell you about the tournament. It is best to enter the academy at 10 years of age, but there is no limit on when you can enter the academy, but there is a limit on how many times you can enter the tournament. If you want to take your time and learn more, you can wait until the next tournament to enter. You will have more knowledge and more skill. You will be better prepared to win. If you enter this year, that is it. There are no other entries after that."

     I took a moment and thought about what my father had just said. It took me months to learn the first move of he first movement. In a few weeks though, I had learned the entirety of the first movement as well as the second and third movements. There is no telling what I could learn in two more months. I would learn what I needed to learn, and I would win that tournament. I was done thinking.

     "I will enter this year, when do I start learning about weapons?"

     "I was afraid that you were going to say that." My father's head dropped as he said this. "Starting tomorrow, I will begin teaching you about the different weapons and their purposes. For the remainder of today, I want you to be a child."

     Before he could finish what he was going to say, I chimed in with his very next line. "Spend your childhood being a child. I know papa."

     "Ha, ok boy. Run along and play. After today, you probably won't have any time to do that again."

     As I turned away, I noticed that my father dropped his head again, and was shaking it slowly from side to side. I should have paid better attention to that look.

Baby I'm A Star.

     I woke up Monday morning, and realized that I hadn't told you everything I wanted to on Sunday. I don't know how I got distracted, but somehow I did. There really wasn't much more, but I left one key thing out, and that is why it was such a long day.

     I forgot to mention that after the movie, I had to drive back home, but before going home, I needed to run my errands. That meant I didn't get home until around 6 that night. That set me back quite a bit for the things I do around the house on a Sunday, including writing the Sunday post before 7 PM. I ended up being late on the post, but not by much. One good thing came out of the long day, well other than seeing a good movie with a great friend. When I walked into Target to do some of my weekly shopping, I turned a corner and found these little gems.

     That is Kylo Ren the big baddie in the new films, and Rose. Rose is a new character that appeared in The Last Jedi, and she immediately becomes a favorite for me. She is the unassuming badass of the movie. She's not Rey, but she has her moments.

     Just before turning off the TV and coming in to write this, I was watching a year in review type of show, and that gave me an idea. I think I'm going to do a year in review of my own. It will be on next Tuesday's post. I have no idea what I'm going to fill the space with, but I'm going to put some thought into it. All will be revealed on Tuesday of next week.

     I only have two more days of work this year, and then I'm off for a week. Well, a slight bit more than a week if you want to get technical about it. I'm going to spend the time clearing some stuff out of the Lounge finally, and of course, making videos. If there is anything you want to see in a video, let me know. I want to try and get three videos out between now and the New Year, so any ideas would be much appreciated.

     I put a mount on Saki's windscreen, so that I can put the Session facing me. I still don't know what I think about the idea, but I'm going to give it a try. I did a little testing yesterday to see what camera view I want, and I'm leaning towards a wide view. I have 3 choices. Superview, Wide, and Linear. Superview shows the most. it is basically showing my from my waist up. Wide shows about mid stomach up, and Linear shows the view of what you would see on a bust. Shoulders and up. I was thinking about that view at first, but If I'm going to have the camera on me, I think it would be more interesting to see the wide view, so that you can see some things that might be going on around me. With the linear view, I fill up most of the screen, and that is just something that doesn't need to happen. I will do my best to synch the videos up, that way I'm not just putting some random image of me on the bike. I will put the actual image that corresponds with what I'm doing in whatever audio I have. There is still a very strong possibility that I will get into editing, and not like any of it, and just toss the idea of a rear facing camera out the window.

     I'm pretty tired tonight, so I'm going to cut this off, but not before I get to Favorite Song of the Week. This is going to be a very special FSOTW, in that there is a video up of this song. I don't know how long it will stay up, because in the past, this artist had taken all videos down. Sadly, this artist is no longer with us, yes I did a a very lengthy write up of him when he died. He is my favorite artist of all time. Just by saying that, you may know who it is, if you have paid any attention to this in the past. The artist is non other than Prince, and this song is from his Revolution days. Prince had several backing bands, but the one that will always stick in my heart is Prince & the Revolution. The album this song is on, is the first album I bought with my own money. I had to get my sister to buy it for me, because you had to be 14 or older at the time, and I was only 13 at the time. I played that record as much as humanly possible, I still have it tucked away in my closet for safe keeping. Before you even ask, Yes, I have had this album in every form it has taken. Vinyl, cassette, CD, digital. I was listening to it today in fact. When ever some asks that deserted island question, and what 5 records would you take with you. Purple Rain is the first album on my list, then I have a hell of a time coming up with the other 4. I could listen to this album everyday for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. For me, it is the perfect album. It's been 33 years since I heard the first song on that album, and I still listen to it like it's the first time, with the exception that I know all the words now, but every bit of emotion that I experienced then, I experience now. With all that, I guess I should finally get to the song. This is not only my Favorite Song of the Week, but it is my favorite song of all time. It has been for 33 years now, so without further adieu, I give you Prince & the Revolution with "Purple Rain".

     I don't know what you feel about this song, but to me, it is still the greatest song of all time. Whenever I hear that song, I run the entire seen from the movie in my head. It is the culmination of everything that The Kid had done to that point. He had been fighting the establishment the entire time, and this song was the ultimate "screw you". He was going to go up on the stage regardless of what the club owner wanted, or the crowd wanted, and he was going to pour his heart out, and forget about what everyone thought. The scene ends with him running off the stage and going to the dressing room, where he has an outburst of emotion. He figures he just threw everything away, but then he starts to hear the crowd cheering, and he slowly starts walking back to the stage. As he goes through the corridor to the stage, everyone is congratulating him on what he just did. he finally makes it back on stage and does one more song. Most people thing that Purple Rain is the final song of the movie but it's not, Baby I'm a Star is. He had finally achieved everything he wanted, which was to play his music his way, and have the crowd love him for it. The final song is a statement, and there was none more true. Peace in and goodnight.

The Weekend Was A Blast.

     Today has been a busy day, and I nearly forgot that I had to write tonight. I'll get to why later, but first we have to go back to Friday night.

     I told you that I was hanging with a friend that night, and that we were heading to the strip clubs. The best part of the night was going to Zarrella's for Pizza. We didn't stay very long at each club that we went to, and I was happy about that. I think my buddy was as well. It appears that the clubs have lost interest for him since he stopped drinking as well. We had a much better time at the pizza place. We ended up getting seated at what they call the Wine Bar.. All the tables were full by the time we got there. It worked out rather well. We got our usual server, which only happens, because my buddy knows there server. He gives us great service, so I don't complain about it at all. There was an added bit of enjoyment to our evening. There was a young woman that was working the bar. We were at her end so I was within earshot of her talking. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't nosy and listening in on her conversations, it was about how she sounded. She sounded exactly like Harley Quinn from Batman. I mentioned this to my buddy, so he got her attention and asked how long she had been there. She told him since day one. He looked at me and said I was right, and that she did sound like Harley. Upon hearing this, she turned to me and asked, "Do you really think I sound like Harley Quinn?" I of course said absolutely. She smiled and then started quoting lines from the animated show. It was incredible. She told us about how she was going to be Harley for next Halloween, and that she wanted to do it previously but her friend had gone as Harley the past two years. She not only sounds like her, she has the look to be able to pull it off to a T. The only thing she didn't do, is the line, "Ah pudding'." if she would have done that, I'm pretty sure I would have asked her to marry me. She would have said no, and then it would lead to an awkwardness between us, so it worked out the way it was supposed to.

     Earlier that day I finished up the recording of my latest video, with a little help form my buddy. Since his early plans fell through I used him as a cameraman. I can now finally show you the one thing I got recently, that I've been holding back. I wanted to do this video as an unboxing/reveal, so here it is.



     There it is, my new 121cBoard. I got pictures too, You didn't think I would just give you a video without some glamour shots as well did you?

     That last one is a little bonus. It shows the new GoPro Hero5 Session. I used it Friday by clipping it to the Afterburner for some shots at a low angle. It worked out pretty good. I still haven't fully decided how I'm going to use it on Saki, so any suggestions will be very helpful. I may try a few different things and see what I like best. I'm going to give it a try pointing at me on the bike, just to see if I like the way things play out. I still think it will take away from the whole idea of the video being your point of view.

     I got the editing done and had it uploaded on Saturday just in time to head off for my first Hanukkah party. It was a lot of fun. I went as the guest of the one and only Elie Wolf. I really enjoyed the party. It wasn't a knock down drag out throw down of a shindig. It was a much older crowd and more about eating than anything else. I had the best brisket I'd ever had. I was mainly invited because of Elie's accident.  I was a go between on that night for a lot of people, and I must have had an impact on some of them. A few of them were from her Jewish family, and they wanted to finally meet me, because they said I had a calming affect on them and they were very appreciative of that. I was honestly just trying to do what I could that night, and felt like I was really doing nothing at all. I just wanted to help out as best as I could, and in a situation like that, you never feel like you are doing enough. You are helpless when a friend that you love dearly is hurt very very badly.

     I can't remember anyone's name and I am so sorry about that, because I met the real life Midge Maisel. Ok, she isn't the real life one, but as I was sitting there talking to her, and listening to her stories, which were downright hilarious, I turned to Elie and told her that the is the real life Midge.  Elie then decided that when she got home, she was going to start watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. After 1 episode, she fully agrees with me.

     When we left the party, Elie had had a few drinks, so she wanted me to drive home. That meant that I got to drive her new car, which is a hybrid Chevy Malibu. It is a fantastic car. The ride is incredibly smooth and quiet. I told her today, that I love my car, but when I got in it last night and drove home, it felt like I was driving a brick. I could feel the vibration of the engine in my car, and it wasn't as responsive as the Malibu. It really felt weird.

     Now for why today was long. I had to do a turn around and drive back over to Elie's today, so we could go see the new Star Wars movie. It's an hour and a half drive for me, so I left the house at 9:15 in order to make a noon movie. We wanted to get there early, and the theater was like nothing I had ever been to before. All the seats in the theater were recliners. Oh, and we had reserved seats, that were assigned. There was no looking for a good seat, you went to the one that you picked when you bought your tickets online. It was great. I have never been that comfortable in a theater before.

     We both loved the movie. I like where the storyline is going, and I think I was wrong about who I thought Rey's parents are. There is a mention of who they are, but I don't know if that is the truth. There is a little bit of manipulation going on from many sources, so I think the parent mystery is unsolved at this point. There were a few things that I thought were unnecessary, but they worked out. I'm talking about the little things that they put in to see toys to the kids. Many believe that all started with the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. The movie is packed with action, with a good story. If you like the Star Wars films, you will like this one. It follows in the line of the first three movies that came out nearly 40 years ago.

     I nearly forgot about something I was supposed to tell you about above. This goes back to the Hanukkah party. As we were driving there, Elie had a gift for me. It's a necklace that she made herself, and although I can't remember the scientific name and everything about the charm, I will give you the sci fi version of it. The charm is a fossilized solar panel for an alligator, and it's really cool. I got a picture of it for you to see, but keep this in mind. This was made by hand by someone who 4-5 months ago, had her left hand, which is her dominant hand from her body. For all intents and purposes, she had only one hand attached to her.

     How great is that necklace? I absolutely love it. It fits perfectly. I don't want to take it off, but I can't wear it at work, so tonight I will have to remove it from my neck and hang it up until the weekend.

     That's all I have tonight. I'll see you on Tuesday. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 8)

     "Pitre, wake up."

     "Huh, what, why?"

     "Pitre, wake up now. It's time to train."

     I was slowly coming to when I heard that. It had to be in the middle of the night. I trained early, but never in the middle of the night.

     "What. train? It's still early."

     "Get up boy. You train now or not at all.

     My father was persistent and the tenor in his voice wasn't allowing for an answer other than "yes, and right away.". I did my best to get dressed in pitch black. My father hadn't even lit a lantern. The only light was starlight that shown through the window. The moon wasn't even present on such a dark night.

     I was still groggy when I opened the door as my father sat on a stool outside. The weather had started to turn warm, and the snow had melted weeks earlier.

     "Come on lad, we have a long way to go, so grab your sword and lets get on with ourselves."

     A sinister smile parted my fathers lips, and he took of in a run. I hastily grabbed my sword and began chase. He barely made a sound as he glided across the ground. I on the other hand crashed and rambled through like a drunkard after a long night at the pub. He would change direction without any notice and several times I had to stop and try to listen for him. He would only alert me to where he was with a sharp whistle. I never heard a branch break or the slightest crunch of leaves. When I heard that whistle, I would sprint off in the direction it came from, crashing through more brush. We passed through the clearly that was mostly created by me cutting trees down, and I finally knew where I was. I began to get an idea of where we were going. There was a river a few miles from the clearing in the direction that my father ran.

     I hurled myself through the tree line and onto the stone of the riverbank. I saw the silhouette of my father sitting on a large slab of rock. My breath had left me long ago, and I was trying to catch it back.

     "Show me what you have learned. Right side first."

     From the stern nature of his voice, I knew I wouldn't have time to compose myself. I readied as much as I could and began. The rocky terrain made each step treacherous, but I made it through with my right side with only a minor stumble.

     "Very good lad. I see you continued to practice your right side despite me telling you to work on your left. Let's see if that hindered your practice for the left. Left side now, and pick up your pace."

     I passed the sword to my left hand with a light flip of the blade. I took a deep breath, and as I let it out, I sprung to life. I felt more aware than I ever had. the sword wooshed as it sliced through the spring air of very early morning. My feet planted firmly despite the precarious terrain. As I finished the final step and block with the sword, I noticed a change. I didn't seem to feel the sword in my hand. It became as light as a feather, and the ground felt as if I was standing on flat rock. I took a deep breath in as soon as I finished and the world around me came back. I felt the weight of the heavy practice sword, and the bumpy stones under my feet. I began to hear crickets chirp in the trees, and even the river run. It wan't until that moment that I realized that I hadn't heard any of that until then.

     "Ah, you felt it, I can see it in your eyes. Tell me what you are experiencing boy."

     "I don't know how to describe it."

     "Nonsense boy, just tell me what put that look on your face."

     "I didn't notice the sound of the river, or the crickets in the trees. My sword was weightless than was full of weight, and the ground felt as flat as the stone slab you were sitting on, and then it was as lumpy as a bowl of porridge."

     "I knew you could describe it."

     "What was that? Why did everything change?"

     "That my boy, was what it feels like when you become one with your sword. That is what the first movement is all about. It teaches you how to let your body and your sword blend into one another. You aren't supposed to feel that until you know the entire movement, but when my Captain showed me, he did something very similar to what I just did now. For some reason he took a liking to me, and advanced my training faster than the others. That is why I ran you down here and put you on uneven ground. This is what my Captain told me back then. 'If you go to an extreme you can find things out about yourself that you didn't know you knew'. I had no idea what that meant back then, but a few weeks ago, that came back to me, and I understood. That is why we are here tonight."

     "What are you talking about papa" What do you mean tonight, isn't it just very early morning?"

     "As for the very early morning, no, it is only a couple of hours since you went to sleep. I needed you to be in an unusual state. It dulls your senses and I needed to see if you could focus, and you did. What I'm talking about is that by making you do the parts of the movement that you know while you are groggy from sleep, out of breath by running, and on an uneven ground that you hadn't practiced on, it put you in a different state of mind. One that would allow you to open yourself to a different type of feeling. What you experienced is known as Swordsman's Euphoria."

     "Swordsman's Euphoria?"

     "Yes, to someone looking upon you, it would look like you were in a state of pure bliss. Your eyes widen and a smile crosses your face. Your movements become graceful as if you are dancing and not slinging a sword around."

     "Did I look like that, really"

     "Indeed you did. I wanted you to feel that. That feeling may save your life someday. If you are ever in battle, that feeling will be the difference between living and dying. If you are set on being a knight, I will give you every tool at my disposal to help protect you, and this one is one of the best tools I know."

     "How does it work? How do I do it again?"

     "How it works, is it heightens your senses. Your eyes getting wide, is allowing you to see everything within your vision, and process it faster than you would normally. From what my Captain said, your heart and breath slow down. This keeps you from tiring too quickly. I don't know for sure if he is right about that, but I can tell you, that I was able to fight much longer than the average soldier after I learned how to do this. Doing it again is going to be a bit of a challenge. We can do this every time to get it started. The good news is, that once you have done it, it is easier to call upon it, and it gets easier each time. You are going to have to focus. Remember the deep breath that you take before you begin? That is how I learned to focus. That breath would settle me down and I would collect myself in that moment. That was the first step to getting you there."

     I went through everything that just happened in my mind. When I started on my right side, I didn't take that deep breath, I just went right into the movement. I stopped and took that breath before the left side, and I did feel myself come to focus. I hadn't realized it then, but I felt the weigh drop from the sword, and the stones smooth under my feet. Each lift of an arm or leg was effortless.

     "Come on now lad, let's go home and get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. You need to start practicing that focus, and you have some new moves to learn."

     We walked back to the village in silence through the woods. There was still a mild chill in the air in the moonless spring night, but it felt good. I felt good.

Nomad.

     I forgot to mention a couple of things on Sunday night. I ordered a new GoPro. They are on sale this week and I couldn't pass up this deal. I ordered the Hero 5 Session. It's much smaller than the Hero 5, but it has the same capabilities, as far as I know. I have a dilemma though. I was originally thinking about just mounting it on Saki and have it pointing at me riding, but then I got to thinking. I could use it as a true B camera and use it for all the stuff off the bike. I could set it up alongside the road to do some ride bys and things like that, or I can use it as my handheld camera when I go places. I could even mount it on a different location on Saki so that you get a whole other perspective of the ride. My problem with all these options, is that I don't know what to do with it now. This is where you come in. I need your help to decide what to do with it. Do I simply mount it facing me, or do I do one of the other options? Which one sounds like the best use of this new camera? Your input can help guide the future of the videos that you see, so let me know what you think. According to the tracking, the package is still being processed, so when it comes in, I will get a picture of it for you to see, but I still want that opinion of yours down in the comment section.

    I also got a new Echo for my own bedroom. It was on sale and it was also a Product (Red). If you don't know about Product (Red). They are an organization that helps out with AIDS research. Whenever I see something that is (Red) I will always try to make that purchase if it is something that I want, and I was planning on getting a new Echo for my room anyway. Quite a few years ago, I lost a friend to AIDS. He was one of the greatest people I've ever known. He was just a fantastic human being. He gave me my first tent, when he decided that his days of traveling the country from campsite to campsite were over. He could play the piano by ear. Any song that he heard, he could play, and play it perfectly. He gave me my sense of adventure. When he was in those traveling days, he would come into town and tell me all about the places he had been, and the culture that was there. That is why when I go someplace, I always want to know how the locals do it, and stay away from all the bright light touristy areas. That is why I support Product (Red) and why I always donate to AIDS research. I could go into a lengthy conversation about how AIDS is on the rise again, but I'll save that for another time.

     The Echo gives me the ability to turn on the lights in the house from my bedroom, which has already been quite handy. It also allows other things, but that is a very good reason to have it. Ok, I will use it for an alarm, and playing music, and asking questions, and getting random quotes. I could use it to buy things, but I haven't gone that route yet, and really don't plan on it. Maybe once my shop towels are used up, I can reorder a box from Alexa, but other than that, no plans to purchase things through the Echo.

    I'm going to be off Friday, just as I assumed, and I got my work schedule for the remainder of the year. Next week will be just like this week, and then I am off work until the 2nd of January. I should have plenty of time to make some videos for your viewing pleasure. I plan on getting the rest of the footage that I need for the video I told you about on Sunday, on Friday. I'm hoping to be able to use the new GoPro in it. I should be able to have everything edited and then uploaded on Saturday, so if you keep an eye on Instagram and the YouTube page, you will see when it goes live. I have plans on Friday night, so I can't get it down then (more on those plans in a bit), and I have plans on Sunday as well. Sunday is Star Wars day, so I'll have a non spoiler review for you Sunday night.

     Now for those Friday night plans. A friend of mine got a hold of me late last week, saying that he was going to be off on this Friday, and asked if I wanted to hang. I was up for it, then he told me the plans. We are going to hit up Zarrella's Pizza place. Great pizza there, and then he wants to bounce to a few strip clubs. That's where the plans head south for me. I'm not looking forward to going to the clubs. I'm sure we will have a good time, but going to the strip club is not where I'm at right now. I don't get to hang with this friend often because of his work schedule, so I go when he has the time off. He is an old player at the clubs and probably wants to see if he still has his game. It will be curious to see how that all works out. I don't think we will spend a whole lot of time there, but if I had the option, I would choose to do almost anything else. I'll let you know how it all goes.

     This is normally the part of the Tuesday night post where I would tell you a little bit about a band, or maybe some story I have that relates to them and then show you a video of their song, but Favorite Song of the Week belongs to a band that has been featured her quite often. In fact, they got a believe and entire month of songs dedicated to them before, so you've seen it all about them. When Walk Off The Earth as a new song, it immediately gets priority on my list for FSOTW. I don't put all of them up, because they do a lot of cover songs, but when they have an original, that almost always goes up. So here is Walk Off The Earth with their new song 'Nomad".




     I just love that band. Their covers are some of the best and most creative that I've seen, and their originals are just pure glory for your earhole. This song is no exception. It's a bit of a slightly different sound for them, but it is definitively them. The video is bigger than what they usually do, and quite a bit more stylized, but I like it, I hope you did as well.

     There you have it, all the news that's fit to print and then some. Don't forget to tune it for The Patchwork Knight on Thursday. I'm really having fun writing that. Peace in and goodnight.

A Netflix And Chill Weekend, Which I'm Pretty Sure I Did All Wrong.

     My day did not start out all that great. In the very early hours of the morning. Morty woke me up, by punching me in the face. Ok, it was more of a stomp than a punch, but he did break the skin just under my right eye. It hurt like hell too. There were much easier ways to tell me that he wanted out, but he chose that one. After I took a moment to collect my senses, I got up and let him out. I'm sure there are much ruder ways to get awoken at 1:47 in the morning, but I can't think of them right now.

     Other than that, it has been a very relaxing weekend. The weather was too unreliable to go out riding on Friday, so I don't have video for you, but I'm currently working on one right now. I'm hoping that it will be ready by this weekend. I have few more things to film to get it together, so I can't even tell you what it's about. If you follow my Instagram I did post a picture today of the subject matter, but I didn't mention the video aspect for it. It's going to be something a little different from the norm, but I think it will be fun.

     I did get out on Friday and hit up Harbor Freight for a sale they had going on. I got two things I've been wanting. The first was a dual belt and disk sander. That is going to help out with some projects I have planned in the future, things that will add to the Lounge. I also got a new roller chair. It is, in my opinion, super cool. It has drawers in it as well as two magnetic shelves on the side of it. In addition to that, and I didn't know about this, they have a caddy on the back of it for tools. Here are the pictures.

     This is going to make working on Saki just a little bit easier. I put my most often needed tools in this little tool seat, so I'm ready for action. The roller action isn't a smooth as my other roller chair, but it will do the job. I sits a little lower which actually works better for most of the maintenance that I do on Saki.

     I spent most of the weekend laying around and watching TV. I finished The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and it was great all the way through. It's one of the smartest comedies that I've ever watched and recommend it to everyone. It is really good, and really really funny. When the final moment of the last episode happens, you feel as triumphant as Midge does. She's the main character. My only problem with it, is that it is only 8 episodes long.  I could go for a hundred episodes, if they had them ready. I was talking to someone at work about it, and they asked a question that got me wondering about it. He asked if it was about Joan Rivers. I don't think that it is, but I do think that it might be loosely based on her life. If you watch it with that in mind, it takes on a whole other dimension. Trust me, I liked it before that thought came into my head, so you don't really need to think that way to enjoy it. Just go out and watch it. If you don't have Amazon Prime, I would suggest that you give it a try so that you can watch that show, not to mention that you get two day free shipping as a Prime member. Don't forget to set you Amazon bookmark to Amazon Smile, and set up that charity to donate to. A very small percentage of all sales goes to a charity of your choosing. I've been using Amazon Smile for a couple of years now. Remember, every little bit helps out.

     I finally made my ice cream float with that Pepsi Salted Caramel. It was delicious. I couldn't think of a more perfect soda for it. It tasted like a vanilla ice cream with a salted caramel drizzle on it, perfection. I took a pic, but it really doesn't do it justice.

     Yep, that's the way I Netflix and chill. I think I'm doing it all wrong, but I did enjoy it. I did make the mistake of putting the ice cream in first, which caused all that foam, but it was still really good. I do have enough stuff for another one, but I couldn't do it two nights in a row. I think I finish it off some time this week, and do it soda first then ice cream. If it looks any better, I'll get a picture for you.

     One final thing. My nose and ear are almost completely healed, or at least to the point that there isn't any pain anymore. I have this little card that can measure gauge sizes. Remember when I said that my ear opened up more than what the 6 gauge that the piercer put it in? From what the card says, it is a double 0 at the least. I could be more If I tried to stretch it out. I'm not going to try to do that though. I want to do it right this time, and that means patience. In a few more weeks though, I will replace the barbell hoop with a plug. I'll start with the 00 and see just how firm it fits in there. If it is quite a bit loose, I will put a large one in. The great part about all of this, is a have all those plugs from when I stretched up the first time, so it's just a matter of getting them back in there. I'll keep you updated on the entire process as it plays out.

     That is it for tonight. I have plans in order to see the new Star Wars movie on next Sunday, so I'll give my no spoiler review of it. I'm really looking forward to that. See you on Tuesday night. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 7)

     The winter was harsh, and made practice difficult at best, but I persisted in doing every move 100 times. There were days when I had to clear an area of snow before I could practice. I would often have piles of snow around me which created an eerie silence that would penetrate my ears. The left side was far more difficult than the right. I had to go very slow at first, but after a few weeks, something clicked and the movements began to flow. I started enjoying doing the left side more than the right.

     One morning while practicing, I began to have a strange feeling. It was an uneasy feeling. It was a small tickle at the back of my head. I finished going through the movements and quickly turned around. I saw a shadowy figure standing near a tree at the edge of the clearing I was in. It wasn't startled by my quick turn, and just stood by that tree. I squinted to try and make out any detail of who that shadowy figure was. I could tell that the hair was long and it was a small slim body. I knew who it was.

     "Arial, what are you doing all the way out here?"

     "I've come to see where you go every morning."

     "Why? You know that I've been training to be a knight."

     "Yes, I know all that, but I've never seen what your training is. I was curious."

     Arial began walking out from under the tree and into the clearing. She was only wearing summer type of clothing. A thin tunic and canvas britches.

     "You're going to catch your death in clothes like that. It is far to cold out here for a summer tunic and britches."

     She walked faster towards me, looking from side to side. She looked as though she was checking to see if anyone was spying on us.

     "Remember that scroll I showed you? The one about the aether?" I nodded. "I learned something it could do. It can keep me warm. I could be as naked as a goat and I wouldn't feel a sting of cold."

     "What, that's unbelievable." I reached out and grabbed her arm, and it was warm to the touch. "How, how does it work?"

     "It's all about the meditation, if you do it right, you can call upon the aether and tell it to keep you warm. You have to focus properly to do it though. It took me nearly a week before I got even close."

     "How early did you wake up to do that and then walk all the way out here?"

     "It doesn't take me that long now fool. I've practiced for months, like you have with that sword of yours. Not much of a sword by the way."

     "It's only a practice sword. Do you want to hold it?" I presented the sword to her, and she gingerly took it from me. As soon as I let go, the weight took it from her hand and to the ground. "I'm sorry, I forgot how heavy that bloody thing is." When I reached to pick it up and hand it to her again, she told me to stop. She closed her eyes and had this serene look on her face. It was so peaceful. She opened her eyes and for a brief second I saw a flicker of light in them, then she reached down and picked up the sword as if it were a feather. "How did you do that?"

     "It's the aether, I learned that I can do all sorts of things with it. To answer you earlier question, that is how long it took me this morning to heat my body up. I'd say I've gotten pretty good at it."

     "I'd say the same. I saw something in your eyes when you opened them, what was that."

     "I haven't the slightest idea of what you are talking about."

     "It was a small flicker of light."

     "I'm sure it was just the sun shining off my eyes when they opened. The scroll doesn't say anything about flickering light in ones eyes. How do you swing this hideous thing around?"

     "I've been practicing as well. It gets easier the more you do it. It felt heavy in my hands at first, and now it feels like nothing more than a stick to me."

     Arial handed the sword back to me. It didn't feel any different to me. "When you used the aether, did you do something to the sword or to yourself?"

     "I did it to myself, I asked the aether to give me strength."

     "What does it feel like?"

     "It just feels like energy flowing into my body, and then it goes to where I want it to."

     "Where does it come from?"

     "It doesn't come from anywhere, it's just there, you can't see it, but it's there. I can teach you if you want."

     "Aye, I have my hands full with this, I don't think I would have the time to sit still and do that."

     "It would help you in your training. You get use it to move faster. Form what I saw that would be very helpful for you."

     "Ha ha. That would be helpful, but again, I don't have the time to sit and learn that, I have to practice what I'm doing already. I'm not slow, you should have seen me when I started."

     "You mean you were slower? Now that's unbelievable. Any slower and you would be a worm inching your way across the trail."

     "Why did you come to watch me again? Was it to make fun of me?"

     "I'm only jesting Pitre. You are too serious sometimes. If you want the truth, I wanted to see what keeps you in these woods for so long. Also, you seem to be very good at what you are doing."

     Arial's head dropped and she looked at her feet as she said this last part. I'd never seen her do that before, and she'd never said anything that nice to me either.

     "I think your aether is wearing off. The cold is getting to you, you actually said something nice to me for a change."

     "You stupid prat, I'll make sure to never do that again." She began to stomp off into the woods.

     "Wait! Arial! You said yourself that I was alway too serious. I guess I need to work on being funny."

     "Indeed you do. You also need to learn how to be gracious and accept praise." Her face was stern.

     'You're right, and thank you for your kind words. I have a few more rounds of practice, do you want to stay and watch? It would be much better here in the clearing than over by that old tree." Arial nodded and took a seat on the cold hard ground. I went through the rest of my routine and when I was finally done, Arial clapped her hands together, so I took a bow to show how gracious I could be.

     "You really are very good at that."

     "Thank you. I've been practicing these same moves for months now. My father I had to be perfect with both sides before he would teach me any more moves."

     "That seems drastic. Wouldn't it be better to learn all the moves and practice them as a whole?"

     "I don't know. I never thought to ask him that."

     "Pitre, I know you have a brain in that thick head of yours, you should really try to use it once in a a while."

     "There's the Arial I know. Come on, I'l get you back to the village. It's easy to get lost out in these woods." I offered my hand to her to help her up. She just stared at it. I shook it to insist that she give me her hand and she finally did. I went back to get my trees, and then led her back to the village.

     "You know Pitre, I really can teach you how to use the aether."

     "I'll think about it, but I really don't know when I would have the time to practice sitting."

     "You don't have to practice sitting, you saw me do it while I was standing right in front of you."

     "I have to do it standing? That's even worse than sitting. You said it took you a week the first time."

     "I didn't do it all in one sitting. You really are a dunderhead some times. Maybe I was wrong about you having that brain."

     "See, no brain, so how could I even make contact with the aether?"

     "I can teach you." She was firm with her voice and the persistence was compelling enough to convince me to try it.

     "Ok, I'll try, but I won't make any promises about when I will do it."

     "Fair enough. You let me know when you are ready." I nodded in agreement.

     The village was beginning to poke through the trees. It was time to part ways. I had to head to the forge to chop the wood, and then help my father with making horse shoes. He started allowing me to help after he showed me the secret room in the cave. There was a lesson in that as well. I had to learn how to hammer the hot iron with both hands as well. I couldn't see any reason for that, but he was the blacksmith.

     "Do you come out to the woods every day Pitre?"

     "Yes, I rise before the sun and head out in the dark every morning. Why do you ask?"

     "I might just come out and watch you from time to time. It's good to know that you will be there every day. I won't show up one day and you not be there that way. Goodbye Pitre."

     I waved goodbye and made my way up the mountain. 

     I still run the last part of that conversation though my head. I just didn't understand what that was leading to, and if I had, I might have done things a bit differently.