I Finally Did It

     Ok, time for a more fun post. The first thing I want to talk about is what I watched over the weekend. Since it is still October, I still wanted to maintain my spook, creepy viewing habits on Netflix, and this past Friday, a new show premiered on Netflix. It's called Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. It is done by the same team that is doing Riverdale on the CW. I spoke about Riverdale before. It is based on the old Archie comics but it is a dark twist on it. Sabrina is no exception. Although I still have only watched the pilot of Riverdale, I sat down and watched the entirety of Sabrina. This show is also an adaptation of an Archie Comic, that being Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but this isn't that show starring Melissa Joan Hart, this is dark, and goes deep into the occult.

     It takes place in the fictitious town of Greendale which neighbors Archie's home town of Riverdale. As you may have guessed, it is about a teenage witch, but in this one, she is about to turn 16 and take part in her Dark Baptism. That is when she will choose between being mortal or a full witch. I really enjoyed the show, and do plan on watching it again soon. If you have a problem with satanic rituals, verses, and satan portrayed in tv, then this is maybe not the show for you.

     What I liked most about it, is how the production team not only bends morality, but also reality. They bend morality by making evil not evil and good not good. It is a device that is seldom used, but when it is used, can be very intriguing. They bend reality by, setting the show in current times, but all the visuals seem to be from the 50's and 60's. It is a definite style choice, because they do the same thing with Riverdale. I still need to sit down and watch what they have on Netflix. Anyway, if you want a fun, yet spooky type of show to watch for the Halloween build up, yes I know there isn't much more time in the build up since it is tomorrow, give Chilling Adventures of Sabrina a try.

     Ok, that is out of the way. Now time for a quick Morty update. He is now 5 days in on his 14 day dilemma of wearing a cone, and he is handling it well. I do give him some free time from the cone, but it is only when I can watch over him, and normally right when I clean his wound, and feed him. It's easier for him to eat without the cone. I did get him a new cone. It's called a Comfy Cone and it is pretty fantastic

     He looks pretty miserable there, but trust me, he enjoys that cone much more than the old flimsy one that he was wearing. This one is vinyl and padded, so it is comfy when he lays down.

     I got the new tires for Saki, I even made a video of it. Yes, I am going to share that momentarily. I put the Tire Ink on them, so they have been fully customized now, and are looking really good.

     Looks pretty good right. They are going to look even better when the new reflective rim tape I ordered comes in. Any guesses on what color the rim tape is? The tires have grip within grip. They are so much stickier than my other tires, and I still have a small amount of break in time, before I can really get on them. The tires are much more aggressive than my old ones as well.

     This is the rear tire. The side wall is about an inch less than what I had on there, and that means it will be much easier for me to lean the bike over and get my knee on the ground. If you can see the slightly worn area on the tire, that is where my old tires tread stopped and the side wall began. I'm loving these new tires.

     The video was shot before the new Tire Ink was on, so you won't get to see that in there. Speaking of videos, I did shoot one yesterday for Halloween. Normally on a week when I have a TPR launching I wound't have a video for you, but since it is Halloween, which happens to be my favorite holiday, I had to make a special. It will be available at 9 AM tomorrow, so if you get the chance look it up. If you're on Facebook, I will have the link up right after it goes live.

     I also made a video today, and that is going to go up next week. It's about the photo shoot I did today. This is the one I didn't really want to do, because I had already done the girl on bike shoot, and really had no desire to do it again. I changed the location we were supposed to shoot at for a few reasons. The first one is that I got new tires, and didn't feel like running them through a bunch of gravel, dirt and who knows what could puncture them. There were a lot of things wrong with this shoot. I don't like shooting later in the day, which this was. I don't like doing the cliché model shoot, where they dress in sexy clothes that are out of place for the location and the shoot, which she wore, and I don't want to be the guy who shoots girls on bikes. With all that to get over, I made the best of the situation, and got some pretty good shots, and they aren't the shots you would expect.

     Those are of course the shots you expect to see. I like those shots, but they aren't what I want to be known for, other than the laughing shot. I really like that one. These shots below, these are what I would rather been known for.

     Out of all the pictures I took today with this model, who is an old friend of mine. I like these the best. These pictures tell a story, of a mother's love for her child. Of course the top one is more of a portrait style photo of  young woman out on an adventure. Those are the types of shots that I like. but those aren't my absolute favorite.

     My absolute favorite comes from my deep hearted desire to be a landscape photographer. I am generally terrible at it, and no matter how hard I've tried in the past, I just couldn't get my camera to capture the scene that I was looking at. I did that today. I finally have a landscape photo that I am proud of. One that finally represents what I want to show the world as a photographer. I am happy to now present to you. that photograph (of course you have already seen it if you are on Facebook).

     Yes, there is some editing involved. A little cropping to get exactly what I wanted, and a little tweaking of the color saturation, but this is a photograph that I am proud to say that I took. I don't know if I can repeat this ever again, but this does give me hope that my dream of being a landscape photographer is possible. I am most proud that I managed to capture that bird, because as I was framing the shot, I saw him fly through and had to hurry my settings to get the shot. Thank you bird for just being slow enough for me to capture you.

     This has been a very photo heavy post. I have only one last thing to talk about. Remember when I wanted to do that video about Burger King's Nightmare King? Well the sandwich is finally available in this area, and I was thinking about doing a quick video and getting it up later tomorrow after I go and eat it. What I really want to know is, would you like to see me trying that sandwich.? I'm going to go try it anyway, but would you like to see it?

     That's all I got, and since the mid-terms are only a week away, Get Out and Vote.

It Never Stops

Joyce Feinberg, 75

Rich Gotfried, 65

Rose Malinger, 97

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66

Cecil Rosenthal, 59

David Rosenthal, 54

Bernice Simon, 84

Sylvan Simon, 86

Daniel Stein, 71

Melvin Wax, 88

Irving Youngner, 69

Once again, here I am posting the names of victims. Each time I hope that it is the last time I have to post the names of the victims of a mass shooting, but I'm never surprised when it's not. That is something I find sad. I should be surprised, we should all be surprised, but that isn't the world we live in anymore. We now live in a world where you should absolutely expect to die in a mass shooting. Your life expectance is only as long as the sociopath with a gun next to you wants it to be.

But that isn't all. On Wednesday another vile took a weapon in his hand, and sought out select people. When confronted by a white man with a gun, he said, "I'm not going to shoot you. Whites don't kill whites." Then he walked into a grocery store and proceeded to shoot more people. That vile took two lives on that day.

Maurice Stallard

Vickie Lee Jones

Two more names for you to read, look up, say out loud. Learn their stories. They have them and they need to be told.

I have so many things I could talk about tonight that related to my life and what is going on with it, but this is far too important. I have been saying this from time to time, but I'm going to end every post each night that I write until the election with four simple words. Go Out And Vote!

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 50)

     When we returned to Darius and the rest of the Knights with the ramshackle villagers, there was a silence as we walked into the small burned down village. Darius began walking towards us with an alternating smile and frown.

     "I see you found some villagers Pitre. How did you do this?"

     "I will not lie to you. We did as you asked and found the war band that had destroyed this village. They were near a small lake and they were mistreating these villagers. I instructed Rolf to go try and free the villagers and I engaged the war band."

     "Then you did not do as I asked. I expressly told you not to engage, only to find and report. Pitre, I am very disappointed in you."

     "We saved all the remains villagers, and we rid the Realm of a war band."

     "It went the right way this time, but you are far too reckless Pitre. What would have happened if you had been slain? What would be of Rolf? What would be of those people over there? If you would have done as you were told, we could have engaged the war band as a unit, and those questions would not need be asked. You are a Targen Knight now, and part of being that, is following orders and working as a unit. We are knights, not a single person. No matter how strong, or fast you are, we will always be stronger and faster when we are working together. Do you understand me Pitre?"

     "Yes sir, but there...."

     "Yes sir is all you need to say. For the rest of our time out here in the wilds, you will oversee those villagers. You will get them food and water when needed, and you will see to their safety. You will no longer go out and scout. Those are your orders, and I expect you to follow them."

     "Yes, sir."

     "That is more like it. Don't worry, you won't be seeing to them alone. Your partner in crime over there will be right there with you. I was hoping he would be the difference in you following orders out there, I was wrong."

     "Yes, sir."

     "Now that discipline is taken care of, tell me what happened out there. I want to hear it from you first."

     "It was as I said. We came across the war band. The villagers were changed to a wagon, and were being mistreated. The war band was sitting around laughing and enjoying a meal, while the villagers were being starved. I couldn't take it any longer, and I was worried that they would leave the area before we could make it back to you. I told Rolf to sneak over and work on freeing the villagers as I rushed the war band. I remember entering the area around the campfire, and then it was a blur of blades and blood until Rolf walked up to me when it was all over. I rinsed myself in the small lake as Rolf helped feed everyone. Once everyone was taken care of and seen to any injuries, we came back here."

     "Pitre, you took on an entire war band by yourself?"

     "That is what Rolf said, but I'm sure that once he freed the villagers, he assisted me. He was right there at the end with the villagers."

     "I will hear his side later. Pitre, you are remarkable, but that was a risk not needed to take. You are the best sword in the Realm, and we are going to need you if we are ever to see the Kingdom again. Please do not take a foolish risk like that again. If you can take an entire war band down, then we all could have taken that war band down."

     "I'm sorry Darius. I just felt a rage come over me at how those people were being treated, and how those Raiders were just laughing. I had to do something before any more harm could come to those villagers."

     "I understand Pitre, I do, but if you had been killed during that fight, it would have done none of us any good, and those villagers would have paid a price that you would have been the cause of. Their were no consequences this time, but that won't always be true. No go over and take care of those villagers, until we get back to the Crystal Palace."

     "Yes, sir."

     "Oh, and send Rolf over to me, it's his turn."

     "Yes sir."

     I told Rolf to see Sir Darius and I watched as he stood in front of the man with his head hung low. He simply nodded and shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. I saw to every need of the villagers. Each one continued to thank me for saving them. I would tell them all that Rolf was the one that freed them, I was merely a distraction, so that he could do it. It was as Rolf said though. I stayed near them and I could hear the muffled voices, telling the tale of The Patchwork Knight that fell from the night sky and vanquished the foe. His reached out as if their true home was in each Raiders chest, and they wouldn't be happy until they entered their home. A river of blood filled the lake by the clearing until The Patchwork Knight enters the lake and cleared the blood from it. He washed the stench of the Raiders from the land. I have no idea where that last part came from, but that was the story that was being told.

***

     The journey back to the palace was long. We couldn't ride had with the villagers in tow. I surrendered my horse to an old woman, so that she could ride rather than walk, and I filed in with the rest of the villagers as Sir Constance led the woman by reign on his horse. 

      I heard the harrowing tales of the Raiders assaulting their village. They were a small farming village before it was destroyed, so they had no defenses. The Raiders rode in with torches blazing. Lighting every house and stable on fire, burning the crops. Any man that stood up to them was stuck down before they could even swing a hoe or shovel at their attackers. The Raiders rounded up all survivors and then killed anyone that looked like they were capable to fight. They were left to burn in the ruins of the village. 

     The villagers were told that they were going to work for the Mudwood, in order to earn their lives. No work, no life. They wouldn't last long, and would die off in a short time with they way they were being mistreated. They would live, but for only a short time. The Mudwood would work them to death.

     I would see the King back in his Kingdom, if it was the last thing I would do. The Targen Realm would be free again.

Oh Me Oh My, I'm Going To Poke You In The Eye

     Morty is doing fine after another surgery. It took him longer to get back to being himself this time though. He was very lethargic and wouldn't eat for the first part of today, and he had the surgery yesterday. He has bounced back though. He is going to have to wear his E collar for 14 days this time though. They think that even though the took the stitches out in a normal amount of time, that maybe they should have stayed in longer and that is what caused his hematoma to come back. I'm hoping this one sticks, because I don't want to fork out another $500 bucks or so to have this done again. Here are a couple of pictures of Morty right after he got home, you can see that he is still dopey from the anesthesia.

     He has a new E collar coming tomorrow that should be more comfortable than the old ratty one that he is wearing right now. Since he has to wear it for two weeks, I want him to be as comfortable as he can be. He did manage to get his current collar off last night, but he was calm and didn't remove his stitches in the middle of the night. That would have been a disaster.

     I released another Remember When yesterday, and I know you haven't watched it, because I only have a very small number of views, so yes, I am posting it on here for you to have a chance at viewing it.



     I still have not found a location with the Nightmare King, so I have given up hope of making that video. Tomorrow however, I'm going to make a short video for Sunday about getting the new tires for the bike. It's going to be a little talk, and a whole lot of cinematic type stuff. I want to get shots of new bikes in the dealer, and then footage of me riding on the new tires, in a way that I probably shouldn't be riding. There is supposed to be a break in period of around a hundred miles for a new set of tires. The reason is, that when tire manufactures mold the tires, they use a silicon spray on the mold that seeps into the tire, and causes it to have a slick film that has to burn off. Here is how I'm looking at it. I have been riding on some somewhat slick tires for a few months now, so the new tires will probably have better grip than the old ones, but I'm sure there will be a different feel to them, and I will actually be taking it easier than I normally would.

     I did quite a bit of writing this week. I stuck with my plan to commit to writing The Patchwork Knight. I got a quick chapter done on Monday, and then Tuesday before heading out to do the TPR, I got what I thought could be a chapter. I decided that I might be able to expand on it more, so I didn't schedule it and just left it a draft so that I could revisit it. I did that today, and I was right, I was able to expand on it and I'm happy about that. I did only get two chapters done this week so far, but that is two more than I did over the last two weeks. I also wrote the review for the TPR, but you won't be able to see that until Nov. 8th. Oh yeah, you won't be able to see the two latest chapters I finished until the later part of Nov. I'm back ahead of Medium again and that feels good. It's not way ahead, but it is once again ahead. I want two more chapters this week. I'm not sure if I will get one done tomorrow, since I will be out getting tires, and then making video magic, not to mention I still need to  start the Halloween video, since the is less than week away, but I already know what that is going to be, I just have to film it. I should be able to do that either tomorrow or Saturday.

     I did have something planned for Saturday, but I had to cancel because of Morty being back on the mend. I have to stay around him while he is going through this, so I can't help out a friend, and I feel pretty bummed about that. I let them down, and I hate myself for that, but Morty comes first. I can make it out of the house long enough to shoot the footage that I need for a Sunday video, and my Halloween video. I already have the following Sundays video ready with another Remember When for that day, so I am back ahead, kind of, on videos.

     I keep meaning to bring this up, but always forget when it comes around to writing this at night, but here it is. If you are no Twitter, do yourself a favor and follow Tim Curry. He is a very good reason to have a Twitter account. If you don't have Twitter, you should get one, just so you can follow Tim Curry. Here is a link to his page Tim Curry Twitter . He is done right fantastic. He is forever correcting people that say he is dead, or if they say that he was once upon a time sexy. For the latter, it is that he never wasn't sexy. The man is an icon, and he really knows how to take the piss out of someone. Ok, so you don't want to get twitter just for him, that is ok, just click on that link above and read some of his tweets. They deserve to be seen by as many people as possible, and you won't regret it. You will get a laugh out of it.

     Before I go for the night, one last plea to get you to go out and vote. The election is right around the corner, and in most states, if not all of them, early voting is in progress. If you can voter early, do it. If you can vote by mail, do it. If you can only vote on election day, do it. If you aren't reregistered an ineligible to vote in this election, register and vote in the next election. Seriously, go do it. Peace in and goodnight.

Good News Bad News

     Before I get to anything, I want to talk about the show I just finished watching. It is called The Rookie, and it stars Nathan Fillion. You may know him from Castle, or if you go way back, Two Guys A Girl And A Pizza Place. Yeah, they later shortened that one to just Two Guys and a girl. Anyway, The Rookie is about a guy in his mid 40's who has a life changing experience and he decides that he wants to be a cop. He gets rid of everything and moves to LA and joins the police academy, makes it through and starts his life as a police offer with L.A.P.D. and it isn't going well, because the Sargent is out to get rid of him. There have only been two episodes so far, and they have been great. I do believe the creators of Castle had something to do with this show, but I'm not sure. If you are a fan of Nathan Fillion, and who isn't, then you will like this show.

     Now on to the show that is my life. I buckled down so far this week and have tentatively completed two chapters of The Patchwork Knight. I say tentatively, because I finished chapter 54, but then I thought that I might be able to expand on it, so I left it as a draft and haven't scheduled it yet. It is at a spot where it would be a smooth end for that chapter, but I feel there is more story to tell there. I'll take another look at it tomorrow and see. I had to stop today, because I had to go and do another TPR tasting. I got some news for you, there is going to be something in this video that may surprise you. I won't say what it is, but you can watch it on Nov. 8th. I'm telling you, this one is different.

     I got some bad news Sunday evening. Morty is going to have to go back to the vet for his hematoma. I noticed on Sunday evening that it had come back. I was hoping to get him in on Monday, but the first available appointment was 9:30 tomorrow morning. He may have to go through the whole thing all over again, and that means more time with the E collar. I'm really bummed, because this is going to be another costly visit to the vet, so I guess it's a good thing that I decided not to buy that other motorcycle. Things have a way of working out sometimes.

     Speaking of the motorcycle, I did get a few Remember When videos put together. The first one will go up tomorrow. Just a short little hit of a video. These weren't my plan. I wanted to do a review of the new sandwich from Burger King. It is called the Nightmare King. It is a beef patty, a crispy chicken patty, bacon, onion and mayo on a green sesame seed bun. They call it the Nightmare King because it induces nightmares. No, not because you are eating a ridiculously heart attack inducing sandwich. They supposedly did actual studies on the sandwich and people that ate it, and due to the high protein content of the sandwich, it interrupted REM sleep and caused nightmares. They haven't released any documents about this study, but they claim it is legit.

     Burger says that this is in limited locations, it turns out that none of those locations are anywhere near me. I had hoped to do the review of that sandwich so that none of you had to actually try it for yourself. I was going to fall on the sword for you, but alas, poor Horatio, I do not get that chance. I think it could have been a fun video, that could have gotten me a few views, but it is not meant to be.

     Oh yeah, because Morty has to go to the vet tomorrow, I won't be able to go to Universal. I was really looking forward to it too, since the weather has finally broken from being a blazing hot sun, to what should be a Florida summer day. Temperatures in the mid to upper 80's. It's been down right pleasant these last couple of days. Maybe I will change it up and go on Friday. I don't believe I have anything to do, but that of course could change, depending on Morty's vet visit tomorrow. I'm hoping that they can just remove the scab from his ear and drain the blood from the hematoma, but I think that may just be hopeful thinking on my part.

     Time for the most important thing of today, and that is Favorite Song of the Week. I have been hearing this song quite a bit lately, and it's catchy enough that I had to find out what it was. I of course found out what it is, but I want to see if you know where this song is from. I will give you a hint, it has been featured on a commercial of a well known product. Tell me what the product is, and i will give you a bonus point. The groups is Young Fathers, and the song is "Toy".




     If you know what commercial that is from, then you know that the video is quite a bit different from it. That is the end of what I have for you tonight. Until Thursday, peace in and goodnight.

Oh The Spiral, How I Hate You.

     Today has been rough. I haven't gone down this far in the spiral for a very long time, and it is hitting me hard. I think it's a culmination of things. The cough is still being persistent. I released a review for the TPR that isn't seeing good numbers. I released two other videos of my own this weekend, that aren't seeing any kind of numbers, and I still haven't written The Patchwork Knight this week.

     The last one is what I believe is the biggest part of this. Yesterday and today were my goal days for getting chapters done, but I couldn't bring myself to write. Every time I would sit down with the intention, instant dread would come over me. That uncontrollable panic that is the cornerstone of anxiety is attacking me. I wanted to just lay in bed all day today, but I just couldn't do that. I had to get up and do something.

     I promoted my video today when it released. I uploaded the video that I launched yesterday on Facebook to see what kind of reaction it would garner (which is little so far), and I practiced guitar for an hour or so. That was even frustrating. My fingers are still fumbling in areas that they should be starting to find their path. I'm going to blame it all on today, and start over again tomorrow. I need to get out of this.

     Getting out of this will only come with time and effort, that is why I'm writing this now. I had the thought of just not writing at all. Skipping the whole thing. What would happen if I just took a day off from doing this blog? Nothing right? I doubt that. It would set a precedent of me allowing the darkness to win, and I don't want to do that. Keeping with the pressing forward mentality. Let's just get those videos out of the way now. The first one is a very short one, only 28 seconds. I normally wouldn't post clips like this, but this one was funny to me. While I was out getting a video together for today (that's the second video by the way), a guy was trimming some bushes with a bladed weedwacker. As I was approaching him, he turned suddenly into the middle of the road with the spinning blade towards me. I had to swerve to the other side of the road so as not to get hit. I know he wasn't gunning for me, it was just a simple accident, but I found it funny and thought it would be fun to share, so here is that video.



     The second video is just a little update on what is going on, plus I offer a question up to the viewer, so give it a watch and give me an answer, I'm doing to know.



     One bright spot of this weekend, was watching DareDevil. Season three is out now, and it is fantastic. Wilson Fisk gets his monicker of Kingpin, and the reveal the new big baddie of Bullseye. If you haven't watched it yet, take the time and watch the newest season. There are 13 hour long episodes and they go by fast. I got them all in in two days time, and I wish there were ten more episodes.

     Hopefully I will being filming a new video for Wednesday tomorrow, and it should be fun and a little disturbing. It all depends on the release of a certain product, and whether or not it is available close by. I think this video could be a bit of a PSA for anyone interested in trying this product. I'm going to bite the bullet on this one, so you don't have to. I also have a TPR to do on Tuesday, which means I will be busy editing video and writing a review for that. I'm going to work on my Halloween video this week as well, and then I have to get a video ready for Sunday. I still have to do some more Remember Whens, so I may just get those ready so I can have one for Sunday, instead of a big video edit to do. Although I am getting new tires for Saki on Friday, so I could conceivably do a video about that, that could be fun.

     I have a busy week planned this week, and that should take my mind out of this spiral, but the one thing I haven't planned for is, time to write The Patchwork Knight, so I need to commit myself to writing every morning this week. I need to force this. It isn't writer's block that has me, it is me getting in my own way, and forcing the issue is sometimes what it takes to get things done. Depression isn't easy, and I'm not trying to say that if I just focus and push it will be gone, because that isn't how this works, but it is something that works for me. If you have depression, you can give it a try, but I won't promise you anything will come of it. You have to find the things that work for you, and today has been a never-ending failure for me, so it doesn't always work like I want it to. I can just hand on and hope that tomorrow is better. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 49)

     It took two days, but I did see those villages standing in the soft light of the Crystal Palace. I even saw to it that Vincent got his audience with the King. The villagers began spreading stories about Black Blade and how he was slain by The Patchwork Knight. I tried to quell the stories with the truth of all the men in the party taking part in that small battle, but despite my efforts, the tale grew bigger with each telling.

     It wasn't long before I was ready to be back out in the Realm to find more villagers and bring them back to safety. A few days was all it took and then we were heading down the narrow pass again. Scouts had told of us of villages to the east that had remained intact, but war bands were heading in their direction. It would be a race to get there before them. We rode as hard as we could for 5 days straight before we entered what was left of the village. We were too late. Everything was gone, only bodies and charred homes remained.

    "We should spread out and see if we can find any survivors. They may have hid in the surrounding forest. Be cautious and take care where you step. I need two volunteers to keep riding east to see if you can locate the Raiders that did this. Only report, do not engage."

     I stepped forward and Rolf was right behind me.

     "We'll go."

     "Pitre, do as I say this time. Only locate and return. Do not engage a war band on your own."

     "Yes, Sir Darius. We will locate and report on where they are."

     "Pitre, no tempting your fate. I can already see the rage in your eyes. This village looks not unlike your own, so I understand, but please do as you are told. We will get who did this, but we will do it the right way, so that we win."

     "I swear. I will not engage and only return with where they are camped."

     Rolf and I turned on our heels and mounted our horses. We rode out at full speed to the east. In half a day we found the war band. It was camped near a small lake. There were fifty Raiders with a few prisoners chained to the back of a wagon. They looked exhausted and dirty from their trek. The Raiders were laughing and enjoying a meal while their captives were dying in their chains with no food or drink. I couldn't stand it. I stood up from behind the trees that we were hiding and began to walk towards them. A hand fell on my shoulder and pulled me back.

     "Pitre, what are you doing? You told Darius that we would locate and report back."

     "Look at them Rolf. They are acting as though they didn't just destroy a village and were dragging what was left of it behind them. Not caring if they live or die."

     "I know Pitre, but it's fifty men we can't beat them by ourselves. We need to tell the others where they are and then create a plan of attack."

     "I already have a plan of attack. I'm going in there and killing each and every one of those men. You watch and make sure no one comes from behind."

     "But Pitre..."

     I wouldn't hear any more. I drew my swords and began charging at the camp. I entered the Euphoria and gathered the aether as I ran. I was at the outer edge of the camp when I heard the first shouts of "Attack!". I didn't stop. My sword slashed through he first man I came across. He was beginning to get to his feet when my sword cut across his face. He fell in the spot he had just been sitting in. I stabbed the man next to him through the chest, and slashed my sword across a third man that was sitting with them, who had managed to stand up and was beginning to draw his dagger from his waist. When he fell back he threw the dagger from his hand and it flew true into a man behind him. That man doubled over in pain. I drew my sword from the body of the second man, and began my rampage.

     Raiders came running with weapons in hand, but it didn't matter. They would all die at my hands. I avoided their blades, as they ran into mine. Others tried to grab me to control me, but my arms and body were so slick with blood, that they simply slid off and were greeted with my blade. I raged through the onslaught of Raiders like a storm. I saw them move before they did. I knew where each of their weapons would land, and I deftly stepped to the side. My blades would cross and then lash out to taste their blood. A blade would come towards me, I would block the blade with one sword and remove the offending hand with the other. A Raider would step close only to find his leg missing soon after.

     I don't know how long the fight lasted, but when I was down to the final three Raiders, they began to run. The cowards that they truly were had come out. I chased them all down and turned them to face me before removing their heads. Each one tried to beg for their lives, but they had forfeited those when they destroyed that village.

     I looked around for any remaining Raiders and saw none. I only saw Rolf standing with blade in hand and the villagers standing behind him.

     "Pitre are you unharmed?"

     I hadn't thought at all about my safety. I didn't feel any pain."

     "I think so. I feel no pain, are you alright?"

     "I'm fine. I never met any one in battle. I freed the slaves while you did, well, did this."

     Rolf gestured with his hands in a way to look around. The ground was slick with blood and bodies were strewn about. There was a clear path through the middle of them where I must have passed.. I then looked down at myself and saw that I too was covered in blood. There wasn't a spot of clean armor anywhere on my body, and began to notice the metallic taste in my mouth.

     "I will get these villagers some food and drink, you need to clean yourself up some. After, we will get theses villagers back to Darius and then on to the Palace."

     I just kept starring at myself and all the blood that was coating me.

     "Excuse me sirs?"

     "Yes."

     "Who are you? What I mean is, who do we have to thank for our rescue?"

     "I am Rolf and that over there covered in blood, is non other than The Patchwork Knight?"

     "The Patchwork Knight?"

     "Indeed good sir. That is The Patchwork Knight. If you could see his armor you would know why, but it is a bid difficult at the moment."

     "Thank you sirs. We were surely heading for our graves with this lot." The man then spat in the direction of the large bloody swath of land.

     I could hear a murmur from the survivors of the village. I couldn't make out what they were saying. I only starred at my bloody arms.

    "Pitre, there is a lake right behind you. Clean yourself. You may want to remove the armor and just jump right in."

     I looked up and saw Rolf walking towards me with a calming look in his eye.

     "I understand Pitre, believe me I do. Be thankful you didn't have to see it from our view. Now clean yourself up and we will leave this place behind us. You saved all those people, Darius isn't going to be very happy about you doing it on your own, but we will take care of that when we return."

    I slowly turned and walked towards the lake, stripping off my armor as I went. The water was cold, but soothing. I began coming back from where ever I had gone, and could see massacre that had taken place at my hands. I could also see the joy and life that had been saved from that massacre. The villagers were eating and laughing. They were telling stories about a man that had just killed their captures as if they hadn't just lived it, each and every one of them.

     After an hour of starring and soaking in the lake, I made my way back to dry land. Rolf had gathered my armor and was cleaning what blood he could off of it. I sat next to him and began doing the same.

     "What happened to you Pitre? You looked like you were in some far off place, and only your body was here."

     "I'm not sure. I was just focused on killing the Raiders."

     "You did that, and then some. You scared me a bit Pitre, the villagers too."

     "I'm sorry for that. it wasn't my intention. I only wanted those that did the village harm to feel harm themselves."

     "Aye, the tale is already quite large. I was standing right there watching with the villagers, and the way they are telling it, you fell from the sky and let forth a quake that toppled the war band and shook the earth for miles."

     "That isn't what happened."

     "I know that, you know that, and they know that as well, but they are still telling it that way. When we get to Darius, there is no way that we will be able to get away from that tale. He will know that you took on an entire war band by yourself. He will be happy we are alive and the villagers are safe, but you are going to get quite the tongue lashing."

     "I don't think I'll face that tongue lashing alone. You'll be getting it as well."

     "I suppose I will, but in my defense, is there any man that can stand in your way when you don't want them too."

   

I Need To Write

     It feels like I have done pretty much nothing this week. Sure. I did the write up for the next review that is coming up on the TPR, and I did some location scouting for another photo shoot, but I have done no other writing. I have been dead to The Patchwork Knight this week, and I'm a little bummed out about it. The last chapter was a difficult one to write, but I knew it was coming, and I think I am just feeling a little bit of trepidation about writing the upcoming chapters, because they are going to be hard as well. A few things have to happen to drive the story forward to where I want it to go, and those aren't pleasant things to do to my characters.

      That is the problem with writing some times. You get very attached to the characters and even though you already know their fate, it becomes difficult when their fate arises, and I think that is where I am right now. I just have to sit down and write what needs to be written. I should do it tomorrow, but I'm planning on making a video tomorrow for Sunday release, so that is on the top of the "to do" list. If I'm done with the video in a normal time, I'll try writing tomorrow, otherwise it will more than likely be Saturday that I get it done.

     Speaking of videos, TPR put out a new review. Exciting news involving the TPR. We are heading to Orlando for our next review. I found out a little bit of information about this next place that could play in our favor, if it is as good as we have been hearing. We would normally like to go to the original location of a pizza place has more than one. This one is having the second anniversary of their second location at a time, that we could put our video out on the same day. If I work this right, we could cross promote each other and both benefit from this. I just have to figure out the right way to initiate a conversation with them to make this work. Normally we don't contact a place before we go, but in this instance, I think it would be the best course of action. Other problem, that is not my job. I am creative and production. I'm not supposed to do the outreach, so that means I have to get my partner in all of this to do that. I just have to have him on board for this to work. We have had issues in the past when it comes to promoting things in a timely manner. We are working to correct those problems, so that we have a fighting chance at this being a success. This is another one of those "make us" moments. At least it is in my head. What I see is an opportunity to get more viewers and subscribers. Those are what we desperately need for this to work. So far, we are batting below the Mendoza line on that (baseball reference meaning that one is batting at a subpar average).

     We get views on the videos, but the blog does a lot better. Video views are easily only 10% of what we get on the blog. I have seen several other pizza blogs checking us out, and what they do is nothing compared to what we do. Our write up is more complete, and we add the video aspect, which none of them have. I think we have something very unique and we are striving to make it better with each time out. With all that in mind, please watch the video below, and if you by chance have a YouTube login or channel, give us a subscribe. We need you.



     I think I need a visit to Universal next week. I got that itch to visit Diagon Alley again. I was planning on going this week, but things got in the way. I've been hovering over Morty, because his ear is still a little messy, so I didn't want to leave him for such a long time, but I know he is fine, it is just be being an overprotective pitdaddy. I'll do it next Wednesday after we do the TPR thing in Orlando on Tuesday. Yes, I know that is a lot of driving to Orlando and back, but it's my life and that's how I roll.

     I never heard back from that motorcycle dealer about an out the door price, so I decided that there is no reason for me to go over there and check that bike out. It would have been fun to get it, and I know it would have added to my bike adventures, but I don't want to drive over there, and have them try to get me into payments. I wanted to have an idea of how much money I needed to bring and then wrap it all up in one visit, but now I would have to go, look at it, talk things over, then drive back on another day with the money, to get the process going. That would be too much driving back and forth to North Orlando. I don't want to do that, so the bike is a no go. I get to keep that month of free time to work more on The Patchwork Knight, and TPR, as well as whatever other project that I decided to tackle. That means I'm more than likely looking at January as to when I need to start looking for a job again. Hey, anyone know of any openings? It never hurts to get a jump on these things.

     Alright, I'm out of here. Peace in and goodnight.

The Life Of An Amateur Photographer

     I figured that I would write this a little early today, since I have the time, and don't feel like staying up to midnight writing it tonight. I have another model that wants to shoot with me on the bike. I agreed to do it, but I have my reservations. The first of which is, that I already got the shots that I wanted with the bike. Second of which, is that I don't want to be the guy that does girls on bike pictures. There is nothing wrong with that, and quite a few people make a great living doing just that, but that isn't why I got into photography.

     When I started a while ago, I played around with different types of photography, and the one that always caught my eye the most, was landscape photography. I love the beauty of the land and all the it holds and wanted to capture that and share it with people. There is a problem with that though, I'm terrible at landscape photography. It is the one type that I can't translate what I see into photograph from. Because of that, I have moved on to another style. It began mostly with taking pictures of plant life and insects, and I enjoyed that for a while, but when I started taking photographs of Saki with old buildings in the background, I found that I could turn my love of old buildings into the type of photographs that I want to take. I'm pretty good at it too.

     This model will only shoot at a certain time, and it's not the time that I like to shoot, so I have decide to go ahead with the shoot, but it isn't my shoot, it's her's. I will get good pictures, but they won't be the ones that I want to take. The lighting will be wrong for the type of pictures I want, and it will more than likely be hot. Although I have checked the weather app, and it says that it should be in the upper 70's the day of the shoot. It was in the mid 90's today when I was out scouting locations.

     Speaking of scouting locations, I wanted to share with you my test shots. These are with my phone and only to get the idea of the locations and what I can expect in shadows and what not. I would love to hear which location you think would be the best. I already have the model's choice, I want to see if you line up more with my thinking of a good location or her's.

Choice A

Choice B

Choice C

Choice D

Choice E

Choice F

     That's all of them, and what I spent a good portion of the day doing.  I had to travel around and find locations that fit the needs of the shoot. Had to be somewhat private so that we won't be bothered by looky lous. I don't want interruptions when I shoot. I'm focused, fast, and efficient. I don't expect to be shooting for more than a half an hour. I can already see the shots in my head, and I only have to recreated them with the camera. I'm not going to tell you either the location that I would have chosen, or the one that she chose, just that we defiantly differed on our opinions. I did make sure that I picked places that I would be able to shoot properly, so I have no worries that I won't get really good pictures. I would just prefer to do it my way, and not someone else's, so I made sure the locations were ones that I found.

     With that out of the way, I got new glasses. That's right, they came in, and it is a whole new look for me. I took this little old vs. new shot so that you can compare them yourself.

     I'm really liking the new look, so it doesn't really mater what anyone else thinks. I think this is me from now on. No more black frames, and Ray Ban Wayfarers all the way. I do need to go back and have them adjusted a bit. They felt really comfortable when I put them on at the store, but after a few hours, they were digging into my nose, so I will go back tomorrow and get that little adjustment taken care of, and they will be true and proper.

     It's time for Favorite Song of the Week. I saw this artist live for the first time, when I saw Twenty One Pilots at the first House of Blues show in Orlando that I went to. He opened for them and his stage show was truly amazing. He creates samples so that he can play live, and he programs Nintendo joysticks and all kinds of other things to make the sounds. In this video, it looks like he has finally added a band behind him, but that first show I saw still tops most other shows I have ever seen. He even used marbles on a snare drum to get a particular sound for one of his songs. Incredible. His name is Robert DeLong, and he writes great songs, and this one is no exception to that rule. Here is Robert DeLong with "Revolutionary".

     That is good stuff right there, and if you ever hear of him coming to your town, go see him, you won't regret it. I'm out of here. I have my TPR partner coming over soon to see the new video that will come out on Nov. 1st. Don't forget that we have a review going up this Thursday. Find out what we thought of Michelli's. That was my shameless plug to get you to check it out. Did it work?
 Peace in and goodnight.

Dig That 70's Appeal

     The Morty is doing good. He got the stitches out Friday morning, and is doing well. It only took them a few minutes to get them out, and he was happy as can be to be done with the E collar.

     If you look close at his right ear (the one on the left side of the picture) you can see the open scar from the surgery. That is the part that they had to leave open so that the hematoma would drain. It looks bad, but it is really nothing at all. He just has to wait out the scab, and have it fall off on it's own, and he will be back to 100%. He still has to grow the hair back on his ear as well. They had to shave that for the surgery.

     I put out another video today. I began watching a show on Friday night on Netflix, and found out quickly that it wasn't a show I would pick for myself. I couldn't stop watching it though, and finished the series off on Saturday night, and I'm having thoughts of watching the whole thing over again. That is something I rarely do. Anyway, watch the video to find out about the show, and help me answer the question of, "Why am I so fascinated with this show?".

     I still have the cough, and have resorted to trying to see what allergy medication might do for it. I have been sucking on throat lozenges a lot, and they help, but as soon as I eat something, I begin coughing. Also when I drink anything, I begin coughing. If I try to go without drinking anything, I begin to cough. I'm talking about water here. There is no rhyme or reason to why and how it starts, it just starts. Granted food is the biggest culprit, but it's not necessary. I've looked up chronic coughing and all the symptoms of the things that should terrify me, aren't what this is. I looked up bronchitis, not a match. I looked up pneumonia, not a match. There are a ton of other things, none of the matches. Everything has a little piece of it, but then they add in weakness, fever, soreness of throat, and none of those things apply to this cough. It is just there and isn't going away.I would try a humidifier if I had one, but I don't. I have tried steamy showers, but those seem to aggravate my throat as well, so I doubt that a humidifier will do anything other than make me cough. It's annoying but I will find a way through this.

     I got a little something for my Halloween video. My plan is to go to a few cemeteries in the area. Old ones at that. One of them is a very well known site for hauntings. I was watching a video from a motovlogger that I follow, and he had an app that was an evp reader. It's what ghost hunter use to listen to spirits. I played around with it last night, and I can't tell if it is just generating words, or if it is actually picking up something, either way, it is going to add a little something to that Halloween video. I'm going to start filming that this week. Mind you, it will all be in the day, since you can't go into cemeteries during the night around here. In all honesty, I don't really want to be in a spooky freaking cemetery at night anyway, so this will work just fine. I'm fully planning on being creeped out when I am there during the day, since I will be there alone. Nothing creepier than being in a well known haunted cemetery by yourself. Still, it's going to be fun

     I also plan on going over to that motorcycle dealer this week to take a look at that bike and finding out just how much it will cost to get it out the door. I have a price that I won't cross in my head, so we will have to see if they can stay below that threshold. No, I'm not telling you what the price is.

     The TPR went to a cheese steak place for a pizza yesterday. I won't tell you how the pizza was, because you have to wait for the review, but I do want to share with you a picture I took of a slice on these great retro 70's era plates that they had.

     I just had to get a picture of that plate. I loved how old they were. I will say one thing about this place. It was an old building and it looked like they hadn't changed any of the furniture or dining ware since the original restaurant that was in there. All the furniture was from the 70's as well. I loved it. Still not telling you how the pizza was. The review will be out on Nov 1st. so you can see it all when the video and the blog goes live.

     Time to go and watch some recorded TV before a new Walking Dead comes on. There are a ton of shows on tonight. New Supergirl, New Doctor Who, I found out about a new Star Wars animated series that is on tonight. My DVR is going to be busy tonight. Oh yeah, I also have to fold clothes once they come out of the drier. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 48)

    We gathered up the trees and drug them back to the forge. We took some of the branches we had skinned from the trees with us to make a campfire to cook a meal for the men. Once they were fed I went to work in the forge.

     "How long have you been doing this?"

     "Ahh Sir Darius, how are you doing?"

     "I'm well Pitre."

     "My father taught me when I was 9. I only learned how to make horseshoes though, so I'm not really sure how well this marker will look."

     "I haven't seen many things that you can't do Pitre, so I do believe that this will be done perfectly."

     "I hope so."

     I began pounding away at the metal I had melted down from the black ax blade. It wasn't like the old iron I would make horseshoes form. It was much harder and resisted the hammer. My father mentioned that some metals have a higher temperature that they need to be molded at. The hared the metal the higher the temperature. I stoked the first to bring a high blaze to them. I stuck the ingot back in the fire until it was glowing white. I pulled it from the forge and placed in on the anvil and began pounding away again. The metal began to move. I flattened it out to form a disk, then I shaped a curve to it so that it would fit snug to any tree. I stuck it back in the fire again. I needed something that would represent Wallace and his men, and I couldn't think of anything better than a lion with his mouth open in a roar. My father taught me how to scribe letters and numbers into the metal, but nothing like this. It would take some time to get it right.

     It took most of the night to finish the marker. I would heat and scribe, heat and scribe. I was finally happy with what I had created and quenched the hot metal in a barrel of oil to harden it. After that, it was off to the sand stone to polish it. The sand stone didn't work though, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to shine, it still had that dull look that absorbed light. The finish was smooth as glass, but flat and absent of any life to it. Maybe that was more proper than something shiny and sparkly. It was the final resting place of a troop of warriors.

     "Pitre, that is remarkable, I told you that it would be done perfectly."

     "Darius, I hope I didn't keep you all awake through the night."

     "No worries of that Pitre. the rhythmical hammering actually put all the men to sleep. A few of us took shifts to keep watch over the horses, other than that, every man got a full nights rest. A few of them are still sleeping now. You should go and join them while you can."

     "I will, but first thing once everyone is up and ready, we are going back to the site and placing this marker. I made a few very strong nails so that we can place it on a tree that overlooks the mounds."

     "I will tell everyone as the wake, to be ready as soon as you are. Those men will never be forgotten now because of what you are doing. Thank you Pitre."

     "There is no need to thank me, I'm only doing what should be done. Sir Salvor is the one that needs to be thanked. He fought alongside of them, and then was left for dead. With all of his remains strength he buried each of those men so that they would have a proper rest. I only made a small marker to remember them."

     "That is why we all love you Pitre. That humility that you have. You truly don't realize who and what you are to us do you?"

    "What are you talking about Darius?"

    "There it is again. Pitre, someday you will figure it out. I'm sure of that. This is the only thing I think I have seen you fail at, and that is actually a good thing."

     Darius turned and walked away laughing slightly as he left. I wrapped the marker in a cloth with the nails and stuffed it in an old bag that was lying under the table in the forge, then walked to the old cave in the back to rest my head.

***

     We rode back to the site and skinned the bark form the largest tree that overlooked the burial mounds. I nailed the marker there It fit tightly to the tree, so that no one would be able to pry it from it's perch. We all stood in silence around Sir Wallace's mound to pay our final respects before leaving to find any villagers that needed escort to the Crystal Palace.

                                                                                      ***

     We found the first villages hiding along the trail. They were all dirty and some had bloody clothes from wounds that had already healed from when they were forced form their villages. The cried at the sight of the Knights and praised them for being their saviors. 

     "You aren't out of the forest yet, we still need to get you to the Palace. That is where you will truly be safe, but for now, you are in the best hands that the Realm has. This man beside me is the Patchwork Knight, and there isn't a man alive that can best him with a sword. Along with him, we will get you to the Palace where you can be fed, cleaned and live in peace like you once did."

     "Thank you Sir Knight. We have heard tales of The Patchwork Knight. To actually see him, is truly a blessing for us. If you have any spare swords, or weapons, we will gladly fight beside him to get the worst of us to the Palace and it's safety. There is are bandits along this trail that have kept us from going any farther., but now that you are here, we know that they stand no chance against us."

     "Those bandits have already been taken care of."

    "They have? We were told that it was the band of Black Blade himself."

     "It was, and you will see what is left of his blade when you pass the resting place of some of our fallen Knights, who battled Raiders near here. The Patchwork Knight saw to it himself to make a marker from the blade that has killed so many in the Realm."

    "Ahhh, the bard of the land Sir Constance is spreading the tales of Sir Patchwork Knight far and wide."

     "Somebody has to do it."

     "Sir Constance, no one needs to know about me or what we do. We do it to protect the Realm and help those who are in need."

     "See fine people of the Realm, The Patchwork Knight is here to protect you from all that will dare to cause you harm."

     "That's enough Sir Constance, let's get these people in carts and wagons and get them back to the Palace. We will send a scout ahead of us to make sure the trail is clear. Thank you for volunteering Sir Constance. Your witty banter will be missed, but you effort will be invaluable to our effort."

     "I guess I walked into that one didn't I."

     "Yes you did. I will need one other volunteer to go with him. Sir Constance of course will need someone to talk to along the way."

      A groan came from all the men, but finally one did step forward, and the two went off along the trail back to the Palace.

     "Are you truly the Patchwork Knight?"

     "I am. How have you heard about me?"

     "Knights have been through before, they were only in pairs so they couldn't safely watch over a small caravan of people. They told us to stay hidden and that a new Knight was protector of the Realm. A Patchwork Knight. They said he could battle a whole army without being scratched by their blades. He had the power to bring men back to life. Is this all true?"

     "Those are tales. I am only a Knight in the King's service. I will promise to keep you as safe as I can on the way to the Palace, and that is all I can promise."

     "That is good enough. We will fight along side you as we said. If you have any extra weapons we will swing them in your service."

     "We have a few, most of them are old weapons we picked up from the bandits. Please, swing them in your own service. You owe me nothing."

     "You may not have done anything physically for us yet, but I do suspect you will, but you have given us hope, and that is something that we had lost when we were forced from our village. We honor the King, but even he was forced from his home. We are grateful that he has allowed us a place in his Palace, but it is you who will get us there. We may think we owe you nothing, but I can say, that we owe you everything."

     "I can't accept what doesn't belong to me. I am only an extension of the King himself. He is doing this for you."

    "That may be, but you are the one standing in from of me now. I will thank the King if I ever get to see him, but until then, I am in your service, tell me what you need of us, and we will do it."

     "Just keep yourself safe and as far from any action that we may encounter. That is all you need to do for me. It is my job and the job of these Knights to get you safely to the Palace, and we take that job very seriously. You will see the King and you will get to thank him yourself, I will personally see to that. What is you name good sir?"

     "My name is Vincent, Sir Patchwork Knight."

     "Well Vincent, I am Pitre. there is no need for calling me Sir Patchwork Knight. It's too long and it's only a nickname that these men standing around you have given me."

     "I'd say that it fits you well. Even your armor is a patchwork. I like the name Pitre, but I like Sir Patchwork Knight even more."

     "So be it, gather the me you think can best handle a weapon, and bring them back to me, I will take you to what weapons we have to offer you."

     A few minutes later, Vincent came back with 5 hearty looking men and I handed out the few extra weapons that we had. I showed them how best to handle them and they took to it well. With in a few minutes they looked like a somewhat trained strike troop ready for action. Action that I hoped they wouldn't see. They all thanked me and walked back to the small gathering of villagers to show off what they had learned. I watched with a smile on my face. Seeing the villagers happy and safe lifted me. I would see them standing in the soft light of the Crystal Palace.