What Are We Doing?

     I've felt miserable all day. My allergies have kicked in with a vengeance. Stuffed up runny nose that has been driving me crazy. I even had to cancel going to ukulele class tonight. Hopefully this will be gone tomorrow, so that I can get back to a normal breathing pattern.

     Enough about my respiratory problems. Let's get into some good stuff. My tattoo artist posted the little video he made of the stencil process on his Instagram and here it is.

Another fun day at work thanx for the opportunity @counterfeitsquirrel stay tuned peps #davidbowietattoo #princessleah #rebel #rebelalliance #rebelrebel #starwarstattoos #stencel #stencelstuff #blanchart #321#cocoabeach #cocoavillage #cocoa #kingsttattoo #artnerd #tattooartist #wip#dailypost #tattoo@stencilstuff

A post shared by Jason Blanchard (@jasonblanchart) on Mar 14, 2017 at 8:42am PDT

Pretty interesting stuff right. If you want to take a look at more of his stuff, just click on the link here @jasonblanchart .

      Speaking of Instagram. I was posting my Picture of the Day, which just happened to be a submission by a very good friend of mine, and an idea formed. It might be a perfect addition to the new Star Wars leg. It kind of goes along with the Leia/Bowie mashup. I have to think about it for a while though. For starters, it is going to be a very difficult tattoo to pull off, and if it isn't done just right, it could ruin the whole themed idea. I'll show you the picture and then I will go into way it is really tough to do as a tattoo.

It's a disco ball Deathstar. See all those little lines in there, that is the most difficult part. I would want it as a companion piece and not a main focal point. That means that it would be small in size. Making it small in size makes it untattooable. You can do the outline of the destroyed Deathstar, and the large laser array, but all those little lines couldn't be there, and those little lines are what make it what it is. At some point I will go talk to my artist about it and see what he things, but that is really going to be hard to pull off. Not to mention the whole mirror effect will be fery difficult. You can get most of it through shading and highlights, but the chrome is going to be really hard. It's something to think about.

     Now something a little disheartening. I saw today that a new budget for the country has been introduced, and in this budget there are massive cuts to programs that are there to feed people. I find this to be unacceptable. The first program is the school breakfast and lunch programs that help underprivileged children get a meal in them, Sometimes these school meals are the only meals these kids eat all day. This is not a good thing. Saving money at the cost of our kids lives is just bad on many different levels. How can you let a child starve when you have the means to feed them?

    The other program that involves food, si the Meals on Wheels program. They are defunding that one as well. Here is one of the numbers that I saw many times. I don't know how true this number is, but like I said, I saw it several times. Of the many people that receive meals from Meals on Wheels 500,000 of them are veterans. Not saying that veterans are more important than anyone else, but it always seems that veterans get the shaft. They offer up their lives and go and do things that most people would never want to do and their reward in a best case scenario is usually that they can't find a job or a place to live. As a society we have to help those who need a little lift up, and these programs provide that lift for a great many people. I'm going to quote a ver specific document here, that may seem somewhat familiar. What I am talking about above is part of this quote.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
See that part where it talks about domestic tranquility and promote for the general welfare, yeah, that is about helping people in need. It's in the constitution, and if you are a religious person, it is in every theological text that I know of. Things like this are why it is very important to vote in your local elections. It starts at the grassroots and works it's way up. You need a foundation to build a house, and the foundation of politics is at the local level.

     I'm sorry to leave you on such a downer tonight, but I thought it was important enough to mention. Have a great weekend, and do a random act of kindness for someone or multiple people if you can. Peace in and goodnight.

Don't Change Horses In The Middle Of A Stream

     I forgot to mention the party on Saturday night. Mostly because there was nothing eventful bout it. I was able to meet up for the dinner, which was very nice. We all had a good time chatting with each other, and then we were off to the bar, which was a few store fronts down from the restaurant. I rode Saki, so there was no chance that I would drink anything, and it all worked out well. I played darts for the first legitimate time. My buddy is a pretty good dart player, and he brought his sets in. He loaned me a set to play with, and I somehow out of nowhere, beat him both games that we played. I will never be able to do that again, and I told him as much. Nobody really showed up at the bar, mostly because my buddies phone had died a few days earlier, and he didn't have his contact information on his new phone, and couldn't remind people of the party. Really though, that is no excuse, people should have planned accordingly. Things like that though, teach you lessons on who you need to keep around you, and who you shouldn't.

     Speaking of people to keep around you, I visited some old friends tonight. I hadn't seen them in some time, and probably wouldn't have seen them tonight, if I hadn't texted them to see if they wanted to show up at the party Saturday. I knew there was a very good chance that they wouldn't be able to make it, because they just had a baby. Babies tend to make it so that you can't go to parties. They of course couldn't make it out, but they invited me to visit with them tonight, and it was a blast. They hadn't seen me without then beard yet, and I hadn't seen them since before they knew they were pregnant. I got to see them and their new baby boy, and he is just perfect. We got to catch up with each other, and left knowing that we wouldn't wait that long to get back together again. They are people that I need to keep in my life, and will work harder from now on to do so.

     If you remember I mentioned that I had a couple of things coming for Saki on Monday. It all showed up on time, and I took it out to the garage to show Saki. Saki seems very excited about the new clutch & brake levers that I got, and also the reflective rim tape. I haven't put it all on yet, I"m going to wait until the weekend when I have more time during daylight hours to get it on, and then take it out for a test ride.

I put the brake lever next to the tank on Saki, and the colors match perfectly. I think they are going to look great when I get them on. The benefit of these levers is that they are shorter than my stock levers. That means that I can keep a grip on the bars while I pull the levers. I never have to let go of the bars from now on. I can do two finger clutching and braking. The rim tape looks like it is going to match up really well to. I just have to figure out how to get it on straight. It looks from the packaging that it is in sections which should make it pretty easy, but I won't know until I take it out of the package and really get a good look at it. I'll post before and after pictures on Sunday for you to see.

     Do you know what time it is? It's time for Favorite Song of the Week. Tower of Power is a funk original that roared in Oakland California in 1968. There most well known hit is arguably "What Is Hip" Drew Carey even used it an episode of his old sitcom. If I remember right, it was in place of his opening credits. It's a great song, but it isn't FSOTW this week. that honor goes to a little diddy by the name of "Don't Change Horses". It's funky with a big horn section, and is one of those good old 70's songs that tells a moral lesson, and you can dance to it. Please enjoy some Tower of Power.

     Now that was some good stuff right there. It's looking like the weather isn't going to cooperate with me and Saki too much. It really hasn't all week. I did get to ride tonight, and it's the first time I have gotten a chance to ride since I adjusted the preload on Saki. I put it on a slightly stiffer setting to see how it was different. I didn't really notice a big difference, but I might notice it when I get some faster speeds on the tires. It was only around town type of riding today. I'm hoping to ride to work tomorrow, but it may be a little too cold for that. I'll know better in the morning. Speaking of the morning. It comes around pretty quick, so I'm off to bed. Peace in and goodnight.

Tattoos And Toys.

     It's been an eventful uneventful weekend. How is that even possible? I'll tell you how. I started out on Friday by surprising Saki with the new tank pad. It took much longer to put on than I would have imagined. That was all due to the fact that it was in three pieces, and lining it up, was near impossible. Even with all the time I took, I still think that I misaligned the left side of it, just a tiny bit. It's not that noticeable, but if you look hard enough you can see it.

It's not bad, but it's not perfect. I guess if I took the time and used string to line everything up and all that, I could have gotten it perfect, but who has time for that? Saki seemed pretty happy about the new tank pad. Don't tell Saki, but I have a new surprise that should show up tomorrow. I probably won't get around to putting it on until the weekend though. I ordered a new set of clutch & brake levers, and also reflective rim tape. This is mostly about safety, but it's also about looking good while being safe. I was in for the night after that. I needed to be well rested for Saturday. It's not every day that you get stabbed with needles for several hours.

     I woke up around 8:30 and felt pretty good, all I needed was a good breakfast, and then I was off to get new ink forced in to my skin. My appointment was at 11:30 and my artist told me that he woke up at 8 in the morning to create the stencil for it. I'll show you the stencil in a little while so you can see all the work he put into it. He used an old school method, where you take a picture of the image, and you use a stencil pen on the back of it, to create the stencil. He shot video for his Instagram that shows the reveal of the process. He hasn't put it up yet, but when he does, I'll put a link to it, so that you can see. Here is what the stencil looked like after he put it on my calf.

As you can see, there is a lot going on there. He has the basic lines as well as all the shading that was in solved in this portrait. He only had one shot at getting it on right. If it smeared or didn't land on the right spot, there was no reapplying the stencil. It was done after one application. He got it on perfectly. He breezed through the first hour and had almost all of the line work and shading done. I was figuring that this was going to take 5 hours at least, but it was looking like 3. Well, It didn't take only 3 hours, it took a little over 4 hours, but the finished product is amazing, and everything I had hoped for.

This shot was directly after it was done. I still haven't gotten a great shot after the fact yet, and I don't know if I will ever get one. It is in a tough spot to take a picture by ones self. Just to give you a side by side comparison. I created a side by side comparison.

You can see just how close he came to the original image. We even pulled up the original photograph that the image on the left is based on, just so he could get more detail in the hair.

     Now that the needle stabbing is done, it is all about the healing process. The first thing I do, is let it set for an hour or so, and then I take a warm shower and wash it up with an anti-bacterial foaming soap, that is scentless. I have my own personal favorite which is Dial, and then I put a small amount of Aquaphor on it. Aquaphor is what I have found to be what works best for me, and it seems to work for just about everyone else that I have told about it as well. A friend turned me on to it, when I was having some trouble healing from one of my tattoos. I was getting some kind of reaction to the Lubriderm that I was using, and he told me about the Aquaphor. It worked instantly when I put it on, and I have used nothing else since.

There you have it. The two most important things for me when healing a tattoo. I have never lost color or had any weird scabbing as long as I've used those two things. I have told countless people about them, and they have had the same reaction to it, which is positive. Depending on the size of your tattoo, you really don't need much more than a pea sized amount of the Aquaphor when you put it on, and you only need to put it on after you wash it. For me, that is about twice a day. Now, there are a couple of other things that I do for work, that you may not have to do. For about a week, I keep it covered when I'm at work. For this one, I will have it wrapped in cling wrap, and then I have a compression leg sleeve that I will wear over top of that. When we did the work on my arm sleeve, I used a full arm compression sleeve to keep it covered. The only reason I wear those, is to keep dirt and oil off of it. Where I work, I get covered in dirt and grease, and this is what I've found to work best to combat that.

     If you are planning on getting your first tattoo, or maybe adding to your art collection, and you have any questions, just ask. I'll be glad to share my knowledge with you. I already talked with my artist about making this a Star Wars lower leg sleeve, so there will be more to come. I already told you the 4 main characters that I will have on it, but after that, it's a playground of things we can do. Starships, droids, space scenes. The possibilities are endless.

     I have one last thing for you tonight. I got a new Funko Pop Vinyl figure today. When I saw that this figure was coming out, I had to order it, and it arrived today from Amazon. Yes, on a Sunday. The finally released a Jessica Jones figure, and it is going to look great in my collection.

She wanted a ride on Saki, and who am i to argue. I still have other figures that I have forgotten to take pictures of for you. One day, I will set them all up and get a good picture of them. I'll have to find an interesting way to set them up. Just stacking them one on top of the other, seems rather boring. Let's have some fun with it. Until Tuesday, peace in and goodnight.

Finally, A Picture Of The Taper.

     Ok, this will be the last I talk about my ear for a while. I finally got a picture of the taper that I rammed through my ear. I put a pair of normal tweezers next to it, so you can judge the size.

That should give you a pretty good idea of size. 

     This is one of those nights, were I really have nothing to talk about. I'm sure that at some point today, I had some ideas, that ran through my head, but it appears that they have run through my head and then kept going. I guess that would make this a really good time to post the first two paragraphs of my story, and see what you think about them. Do I stick with this beginning or move on to something else? I think the biggest problem is, that I don't fully see the character in my head yet. I'm fighting with myself on whether this character is male or female. I kind of see a male character, but the idea of a female character being in a role that would predominantly be held by a male is intriguing to me. I guess I'm still mulling the whole thing over. I'm only giving you the first two paragraphs. The title will remain secret for now. Once I have it all figured out, and have it written, then I will know if this is a short story or novel length. Actually I will have a pretty good idea if it is novel length once it meanders past short story length.

       I got off the Greyhound bus in Cocoa Florida. My next destination was a little known place by the name of the Neptune Hotel. I’d heard about it from an artist friend of mine. He said it was like an artist commune where all types came together and just created. I had been working as a journalist for the past fifteen years, and I’ve had my fill of bylines and deadlines. 

I’ve always wanted to write, and journalism was my chosen path, but it hasn’t been fulfilling to me. I got to write, but I was telling other peoples stories, and not creating stories of my own. When I heard about the Neptune Hotel, I saw it as a sign from angels. They were telling me that there was another path I could take. One that would lead me down a road that I not only chose, but created. I put in my resignation, sublet my apartment and emptied my bank account.

    There you have it. Give me your honest thoughts on it. I already corrected a couple of things that I already saw that were wrong, and I can see other changes that need to be made, but I'll let this stand for you to read for now. I may be able to use this as a base line and work around and through it to make it more suitable to me. I think I've already made up my mind on it, but another opinion won't hurt. Let me have it.

     I just remembered a couple of small things to talk about. I got the heat gun in today, so I will most likely put the new tank pad on Saki tomorrow. I've only given Saki hints about what I have for it, so don't tell Saki anything. 

     Saturday a couple of things are happening. I go in for the new tattoo at 11:30 Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure if I have mentioned it here or not, but a find tattoos to be rather cathartic. I find them to be rather relaxing. Even the two on my ribs, although very painful, had those moments of just taking me away into a meditative space. I know that may be hard to believe, but I've always felt that way when getting jabbed with those needles. I'll post a picture of that as well on Sunday. You can watch on my Instagram for a picture there on Saturday once it is finished. Hell, I may even do a Instagram story if my artist gives me clearance to use video tape him. That could be kind of fun.

     Lastly, is a party that I am invited to on Saturday night. It's a birthday party for a friend of mine's wife. I was invited to a family and close friends dinner before, but I don't know if my tattoo will be done in time for that. After that though, there is a get together at a bar. Mind you, I sill haven't had a drink in now over 8 weeks, and even though I said I was considering writing the new story in bars, I'm not ready to drink again yet. I'm going to have to be creative to not drink at this party. First, I'm riding Saki, so that I already have that built in excuse, and secondly, I'm just going to drink soda all night. I was already planning on doing that anyway, so Saki is just the cherry on top. I'm going to prove to everyone that I can still be the fun guy without the booze. I'll let you know how everything goes. Until then, peace in and goodnight.

Where Red When You Are At The Green Light.

     A few things to talk about tonight. The first is the "A Day Without a Woman" event which happens tomorrow. This a demonstration that takes place on March 8th which is International Women's Day. The idea is to show the world what it would be like without women. Here are the things you can do as suggested by https://www.womensmarch.com/womensday/ . If you are a woman, take the day off from paid and unpaid labor. That means take the entire day off from everything. No job, No housework, no nothing. Avoid all shopping with the exception of small, women and minority owned businesses. Lastly, for any allies out there as well as women, where red to show your support and solidarity. A lot of people lately have been coming down hard on women lately, this will show them exactly what a woman does. I think a lot of eyes will be open tomorrow, and all for the better.

     I know that this post is going to seem a bit preachy tonight, don't worry, we will get to the fun stuff a little later, but the Women's March and this next thing are things that need to be talked about. I'm not sure if you remember or even know who Khizr Khan is, but Khizr and Ghazala are the Gold Star parents of fallen soldier Captain Humayun Khan. They spoke at the Democratic National Convention and were then ridiculed by the now POTUS (I prefer to call him the Tangerine Tyrant). Yesterday it was reported that Khizr had to cancel a trip to Canada where he was supposed to speak. He was warned that his travel privileges were under review. Khan has been citizen of the United States for 30 years now. There is some speculation that this story is not true, but if it is, it is a frightening turn of events. I will keep following this story and let you know if I hear anything different from here on.

     Now that that is one with, on to the fun stuff. Well, maybe not all that fun, I guess it is all in how you look at it. My ear is healing nicely. The infection is gone, but my lymph node is stills slightly swollen and probably will be for a couple more days. I did forget to get a picture of the taper, so I will try to remember again for Thursday night's post. There is no longer any real pain in it even though it still is seeping blood at a very small amount. It is usually noticeable when I clean everything out and the scabs are loosened up. I'm putting an antibiotic ointment on it, to help it out, and it is doing fine. I still haven't decided what to do with it yet. You know, whether I regroup and retry or just leave it. Tha reminds me, very quick. When you leave a comment, don't forget to check the box just below that notifies you if someone replies to your comment. I don't know how this works for anyone that is commenting anonymously, but if you have an account that  you are commenting from, it will send  you and email notification of the comment below your own.

     Let's get to Saki now. I haven't ridden yet this week, and that is mostly because of the ear needing just a little more time without the helmet, but also the weather today was rainy for most of the morning. I got a new little item for Saki today. It's a tank pad. the name eludes to something that it really isn't. You would assume that it is some kind of pad to lean on, which in a way it is, but, it is more of a protective layer over the tank so that it doesn't get scratched up by zippers and buttons and such. I ordered it from Amazon Smile, with little hopes of it really looking good. Every review fro most tank pads in general, are that they are small and not really worth the money that is spent on them. This one is cheap, so that is another reason why the expectations were low. When I opened the box, I was surprised. The size is nice, and the faux carbon fiber, looked really nice as well. The real surprise came when I say the Kawasaki logo on it. I had no idea that that was even on there. That would have been a big selling point for me if I had known. I was looking for something with the Ninja logo or Kawasaki, I ended up with his one, because it had more positive reviews than the other ones out there. I haven't put it on yet, because it alls for a hard dryer to warm up and soften the material in order to apply it. Guess what I don't have? If you guessed hair dryer, you would be correct. That led me back to Amazon Smile for a new order. No, not a hair dryer, but something I was going to get eventually anyway. It is a heat gun. Very similar to a hair dryer, but it gets a little bit hotter, so that you can use it to do wiring stuff, or basically melting the soft rubber covers over wires to keep them waterproof. It should be here in a couple of days, and I will put the tank pad on then. I'll make sure to get some pictures of it when it is in place to show you.

     There were two songs for me to choose from this week for Favorite Song of the Week, and oddly enough, the artist of one song, led me to my choice. The two artist in question were Danielle Ate The Sandwich, and Lorde. Both of them released songs this week, but only one of them danced on Instagram to the others song. The dancing culprit would be none other than DATS. she posted a short video on Instagram of her dancing to Lorde's new song. Ok, I'm going to try this out, and if it works, you will see that short little video right below this. Here it goes.

It's been a while since I've done a pointless, weird dancing video, but it's been a while since there's been a song like this. Thanks for making me dance, @lordemusic. Try to leave time in your life for the things you love. 💖💃#greenlight #lorde #sandwichinthestudio

A post shared by Danielle Ate the Sandwich (@danielleatethesandwich) on Mar 6, 2017 at 10:24pm PST

Ok, from what I can see on here, it may have worked. If not I'm sure you can click on whatever is there and it will take you to it. Anyway Danielle's fantastic dancing swayed me to Lorde's new song. So without further delay, here is "Green Light" by Lorde.


That was a little frustrating. Youtube has changed their format around a bit, and right now, I don't like it. It made getting the embedded HTML a little difficult. it worked, but it took me some time. There are some other things I'm not liking about it right now, but that isn't important. What is important is that the song is there for your enjoyment, which I hope that you did.

     That leaves me with one final thing to do. No, it's not posting the snippet from the new story I'm writing. I'm still debating on whether or not to share that with you just yet. I'll let you know soon. The final thing I have to do, is to simply say peace in and goodnight.

Twisties In The Sunlight.

     I have a couple of issues. Well, I have a lot of issues, but I have a couple that are currently causing me some discomfort, and  one created the other, and it's all my own fault. The first issues is, that I blew out the back of my right ear. I got a good chance to look at it yesterday morning, and realized that when I put the taper through, scar tissue from the last time I stretched up, just broke and ripped from the inner half of the hole out. I basically filleted my ear. So, I had to take the taper out and treat it like an open wound, which it was. I'm at a crossroads now. Do I regroup and retry, or just give up entirely. I'll just have to wait before I make a decision on that. The second issue was created by the first, which is, that it got mildly infected. I have take care of the infection, but because of that infection, the lymph node in my neck on that side, is swollen. It's not a big deal, I've dealt with this before. It is more of an annoyance than a health concern. It causes me some pain when I eat, and has the nerves in my teeth on that side going a little batty. A couple of days and I'll be fine.

     With the taper out, I was finally able to get my helmet on, with some pain pulling it over my ears, which, as you just read, one was a murder scene, and they other felt like it was heavily bruised. Everything was fine once the helmet was on, but putting it on and taking it off, well, that was a treat. Since I could ride, I was making plans to just ride around as much as I could. The sun was out, and it was a mild temperature, so I could wear the new jacket. Lo and behold, I got a text from 3W. He wanted to go for a ride. This is the first time he has contacted me in a couple of months, Actually, it is the first time he has contacted me since he bought his new bike.

     I've been waiting for this. He has told me all about his skill level as a rider, and I wanted to see just how factual he was in his assessment of his own ability. I had doubts about what he was saying, and with good reason. Things he would say about riding just didn't add up. He would mention how he does a certain thing, and from everything I know, it would be the exact opposite of what you are supposed to do. I was going to find out, whether I was right or wrong about my doubts.

     The first thing we did, was go to lunch. He chose a place near his house. I'm not a fan of the place. The food is subpar, and the drinks are under poured. The drink thing didn't matter though, since I stopped drinking. I just had a Sprite with my meal. I also had a turkey club. It's pretty difficult to screw up a turkey club. It was ok, nothing to write home about. We finished up, and then headed out to get him some gas. After that, the test was on.

     I roared out of the gas station and took off. I expected him to be right behind me. His bike should be faster than mine, by all means. I had to wait for him, so I slowed down. Once he caught up, and the road was wide open, I took off again. Once again, fully expecting him to be right behind me. He was no where in sight. I was so far ahead of him, that it took several minutes for him to catch me. After that, I just kept it kind of slow. I was taking him to a place, that really tests your cornering ability. It's a fun road, that gives you a chance to lean the bike over and have some fun with it. When we got to the mouth of the road. I stopped on the side and waited for him to pull up next to me. I told him to take his time and go at his own pace. With all the stories he has told me, I expected him to overtake me, and leave me in the dust. That wasn't the case at all. Half way through the run, I slowed way down to make sure he was still behind me. When I finally saw him round the corner, It took off again, and met him at the finish. I'd like to say that I was shocked by this, but I wasn't. I had a feeling that all his stories were just that, stories. When he pulled up next to me. I mentioned that we passed a place that would be good for pictures of the bikes. We would have to turn around and make another run at the twisties, and he said he was up for it. I gave him the warning I said early about keeping his pace, because this time, I wasn't going to slow down and wait for him until the end.

     I got to the end, and I waited for a couple of minutes for him to finally show up. I am thoroughly convinced now, that he is a little frightened of his bike. That's ok, you should have a slight bit of fear when you ride. That is what keeps you alert, and saves your butt more times than you will ever be able to count. Here is the thing though, you have to take a chance every now and then, because that is where the fun lies. I'm not saying to bust the envelope wide open, just push it a bit. If you never do that, you will never get better at the thing you are doing. While I was going down that road, I was working on two things. One, my ride position, so that eventually I will be dragging knees, and two, focusing on where I am going in the turn as opposed to looking at the turn itself. That is called target fixation and it is the leading cause of bikes going down in corners. Instead of looking where you are going to be, a rider will look at the corner itself, and when you do that, that is where you go. The next thing you know, you are going off into the grass, and that is a best case scenario. The worst, is that you low side and the bike catches and flips a couple of times. Test yourself, but be smart about it. That is what I was doing out there.

     With the twisties behind us, we headed to this picturesque little boat ramp I saw on the way there. It was about two miles back along the road, so it didn't take long to get there. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful spot. We parked the bikes in a way, that you could see NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building off in the distance. The sky was blue, that water was rolling along, and the bikes were gleaming in the sunlight.

     He rides a 2016 Yamaha YSF R6. The color scheme is in honor of the 60th Anniversary, and it has a 60th decal on the sides of the bike. It's a nice bike, but I'm in love with Saki. The bottom picture is the one where you can see the VAB. It is just above Saki. See that little white square? Yep, that's it. That is where they prep all the rockets before taking them to the launch pad. If you can blow the picture up, I suggest that you do so, so you can see it in all it's tiny from a distance glory. That building was designed to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds. Although it lost some siding when Charlie came through several years ago.

     Regardless of being proven right about my doubts, I still had a great day of riding. It was short, for what I like to do, but it was a ride with some fun turns in it. Maybe in another two months he will want to go out for a ride again.

     I started writing the story I was talking about. I'm not sure I like the beginning off it. I debating on whiter or not to post the first two paragraphs to get you opinion on it. I just don't think I het the mark yet, but that is the great thing about writing, if you don't like it, you can delete it and start over again. I'm going to sit with it a bit, and see if it grows on me. If I do decide to post it here, it would be on Tuesday, so keep an eye out for it, and please, please let me know what you think of it. Be completely honest too, because otherwise I might grow complacent about it, and just leave it.

     I just realized that I didn't get a picture of the tapers for you. I will try to get that for you on Tuesday as well. That way you can see how they could have destroyed my ear. Well, I'm going to get some sleep and see you in a couple of days. Peace in and goodnight.

The Great American Novel?

     I still have the taper in my right ear. This has created two problems. Small problems but problems non the less. The first one, is why I still have the taper in. When I took it out to clean it today, I noticed that I have some tearing on the back side of my ear. The tears are hanging off the back and won't allow me to put my tunnel in. I can't screw the back of the tunnel on, with those flaps of skin hating down. That means I have to keep the taper in with it's wider surface area. The good news is, that it is feeling much better tonight, and that means it is healing. The second problem is, that since I have this taper in, I can't wear a helmet. If I can't wear a helmet, that means I can't ride Saki. If I remember, I will take a picture of the tapers, so that I can post them on Sunday. You will see why I can't get a helmet on over them. I haven't ridden since Monday, and it's killing me. The weather has been perfect for it, and Saki has just been sitting in the garage. I'm hoping to get some ride time this weekend, and maybe tomorrow afternoon if I can get this freaking taper out of my ear.

     I was listenting to the Greg Proops vodkast today and he was talking about the Chelsea Hotel at one point. That gave me an idea for a story. If you don't know about the Chelsea Hotel. It is a famous hotel in New York. It recently shut its doors, but before it did, it housed some rather distinguished guests. Mark Twain, William S. Burroughs, Truman Capote, Thomas Wolfe, Fore Vidal, my favorite Jack Kerouac, who wrote "On The Road" there. Those were just some of the literary giants. Bob Dylan wrote songs there, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Dee Dee Ramone, Iggy Pop, Better Midler, Chick Corea, Janis Joplin, Rufus Wainwright. Artists such as Yves Klein, Arman, Husband to Frida Kahlo: Diego Rivera, William de Kooning, and many of the Warhol Superstars like, Ultra Violet, and Holly Woodlawn. That is just a sample of the remarkable people that spent time there, and crafted masterworks in that environment.

Here is the idea. I got to thinking, what if I wrote a story about a hotel similar to that. I could set it here in Florida, and create a cast of characters that would influence the life of the main character. That main character would be a young writer that hears about this place, and goes there to live while writing his first novel. I already have a title in my head, and the idea that it would be something like a memoire. It would be his life in that environment while he is there. You would see the world through his eyes, or words if you may.

     There are some things that I'm going to need to do for this, and one of them has me in a quandary. I need to research the Chelsea a little more. I want the life in the story to mimic it, but not be exactly like it. That was New York and much different than anything that could be found here. I've never been to New York, so writing about it as if I've been there is a very bad idea, and people would see through it immediately. The thing that is putting me in a quandary, is that I have this sense that I want to write the majority of this in bars. I don't know why I feel that that is necessary, but for some reason I do. It may be, because I have this sense that some of the characters will come from the people I meet while writing it. It could lead to something interesting. As you know, I stopped drinking over 7 weeks ago. I say stopped, because I haven't quit. Quit seems a more permanent than stopped. I haven't missed drinking, but I do miss the people that I meet. I could be looking at this as an excuse to drink again, but I'm not sure. I'm going to start this at home and see how it plays out. It could take off, and then again, it could just lead to a lot of frustration. I have the title, I can see the main character and several other characters that I want to blend into this world. What I don't have are any names to go with those characters. Most importantly, I don't have the name of the main character, and that is something that should just jump out at me right away. It may come when I begin the research, and I might just pay homage to heroes of mine to create a name. As soon as I thought about that last part, a name did come to me, but it doesn't quite feel right yet. I'll give it some time.

     I'm pretty excited about the prospect of writing a full length story again. I have no idea how long it will be, short story or novel length. I'm hoping novel, but that will come as the words flow. I have the final sentence in my head, which is something I do with every story I write. I always have the ending first, and kind of work backwards. Not completely mind you. It's just that I always have that last line first, and have to find out how to get there.  I do have first sentence in my head already as well, and that is kind of unusual. I normally have to debate for a few days to get that first line out of the way. Not this time though. If it's still in my head tomorrow, that will make it a definite keeper, and I will begin writing.

     Before I leave tonight, I just wanted to ask you how progress was going on my request from Tuesday night. Have you gone out and done something kind for someone yet? How did it make you feel if you have done it? If you haven't done it yet, there is plenty of time to do it this week. It's only Thursday night right now. That leaves Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get something in before the week is up. Yes I know that Sunday is supposed to be the beginning of the new week, but I'm playing by my own rules on this one. You have until Sunday to get a kind act in. I wish you luck on your adventure. Peace in and goodnight.