Spring

The trees are filling in with green, giving the woods back their mystery. Gone are the winter days where you could look a hundred yards through the trees before the brown of barren tree trunks merged into an impenetrable wall blocking your sight. Now, saplings and branches, heavy with thick wet leaves steal the view just feet from the trail, making us feel like we're hiking through soft tunnels that sway with our passing. Last year's most stubborn and brittle leaves still cling to the highest branches, but are now starting to be pushed aside by new buds. One by one, they give up and release their grasp on their branches, falling into Spring.

We went for a walk last night, chatting here and there, but often just listening to the birds that have returned. A Red-headed Woodpecker flew up out of a bush near the trail, startling us both with his size. Jen paused to pick up a snail, and after looking him over, moved him to the side of the path where he wouldn't get crushed. We walked on, knowing that the storms would roll in the following day, forcing us inside.

My Boredom Seeps Into My Blog

Big weekend of doing a whole lot of not much, and it was just what I needed. After all the family fun of the holidays it was just good to hang out around the house, watch some movies, and detox a bit.

Yesterday was nice enough for us to get out for a walk, so we tooled around the park. Jen, her head down, focusing on not letting her nose run in the chill, me craning my neck at every turn looking for deer. I don't know what it is with me and deer. It's not like I haven't seen hundreds of them in my life, but everywere I go I find myself scanning tree lines and the edges of our surburban patches of woods for them. When I walk in the woods, I'm always on the lookout for them to the point where I'm not watching where I'm going, or I begin to veer off in the direction I'm looking. It's a bit obsessive, and I'm not sure I understand it.

So, I looked for deer. Saw none.

The rest of the weekend was just the standard issue stuff. Watched some movies (Stepbrothers, Gone Baby Gone, Wanted), some DVR'd Animal Cops (I have no faith left in human beings. Fuck all ya'll), listened to some music (I highly recommend the Fleet Foxes) and did our shopping for the week.

Well, I gotta be up at four in the morning (mourning?) to try to get in a workout before I get to the office. I just wanted to be here in case you showed up looking for something to read. Sorry, it's not more exciting. I'll make up some shit later this week. It won't be true, but it'll be better reading. And what do you care anyway? It's all about passing the time.

Hugs and Kisses,

Stephen

Cut Cut Cut

Tonight I trashed a big chunk of stuff that I had written for "Test Market". It was a mistake to go through and read some of what I had written, but still it happened and so I spent some time getting rid of some terrible terrible writing that would have had to have been cut anyway.

It isn't like I've been spending tons of time writing like I should be, so cutting really made a dent in the word count. It basically took me back to square one. To make up for it a bit, I just wrote out one of the creepiest bits of dialog I've ever written. So much fun, because I know that if I'm uncomfortable writing it, it's going to be downright painful for some people to read.

So maybe it's a good thing to be taking out the trash, even so early into the process. My interest in the project is renewed and I'm vowing to just plug away and not go back to read anything anymore. It's just too discouraging to see what an abysmal writer I can be.

That' s it for me. I'm going to go to bed and find something cheerful on television to fall asleep to. I'm up early in the morning for a nice long bike ride before it gets too hot. I've got to finish mapping out some routes for the Pedal for Pets charity ride I'm helping plan.

Nighty night.

Weekend Update

It's true. I've been morose a bit lately, but that ends today. Mrs. Merryman and I just wrapped up an excellent weekend together. Saturday we had mom come over and we headed over to the North Market. For my two out of state readers, the North Market is an institution in CBus. It's a combination outdoor Farmer's Market (all organic, grown by local farmers) with an indoor market with dozens of vendors selling everything from Vietnamese groceries, fresh baked bread, fresh fish (never frozen and from sustainable sources), and restaurant type food. It's an amazing place.
I bought Jen some Corkscrew Grass (weird grass that's as twisted and bushy as After-Sex Hair). We also bought some fresh salad greens, two big bundles of asparagus, some organic Pumpkin Apple Butter and some salmon steaks. We're getting a bit like hippies when it comes to food, but we're trying not to get carried away. We're digging the idea of clean eating, but the thing that I really like is supporting the local farmers. The prices are decent, and you know you're helping someone stay independent. Good stuff.

After heading back to Merryman Manor, we grilled up and tossed together our lunch, grubbed down and then Jen and I headed out to see The Strangers. It really was a decent movie. I was on edge most of the film and it was fun, but it's yet another horror movie with sketched characters and very little story. Yes, I get that it's kind of the point...random violence can happen to anyone without a reason or backstory, it's just not the most engaging story telling. Still, it was a bit disturbing, and very tense, so we had fun.

When we got back to the house we decided we didn't want to be inside yet, so we grabbed some water and headed over to Sharon Woods Metropark to walk around for a bit. It's a nice enough place, and it was cool because there were so many families out for graduation parties. Every picnic shelter was full of people. Kids swarmed around volleyball nets and old men played horseshoes. Normally, we like going to the park for some quiet and to be left alone, but there was something infectious about all the activity, and the five mile walk was over before we knew it.

Sunday morning was all about the Bike Gang. We got up early and headed out to do a trail that stretches between Johnstown and Newark. It's about 30 miles round trip, and we about died halfway back. It was so fucking hot. So hot. Still, it was fun. It's a great ride through the country and it's mostly a shaded ride. We saw some small animals along the way (baby raccoons are pretty cute, ya'll) and survived, so we were proud of ourselves. Of course I was useless the rest of the day and did very little else, but still...

Burning Time

There are a lot of excuses I could come up with: My lifestyle has changed with my recent weight loss, and as a result we are much busier people. My interests are evolving. I'm busier with new volunteer opportunities and working around the house. All of this is true, of course, and is all bullshit at the same time. The fact is that I am busier exercising, working around the house, walking dogs, etc., but what is really eating up my time is the new Playstation.

Now, my interests have expanded to killing Templar Knights, saving the universe from cartoon enemies, and rising quickly through the ranks of the Russian Mob. I keep telling myself this is a phase I'm in because it's all new and that I'll settle down and get back to work soon, and while I believe that to be true, I spent an alarming amount of time in my den playing video games this weekend.

Still, we managed to sit outside and read, go hiking, work out, play with the dogs, go shopping, grill out several times and cleaned the house. It was a great weekend.

This week though, I am going to finally sit down to edit "Bridge" one last time and then it's time to shop it around some. I've been waiting on Jen to do editing (she is a master of fixing my grammatical errors) but she's been too busy to get through it with the red pen, so I'll have to do what I can on my own. I think I've found a couple of outlets that might be willing to work with a story like this, and that's no easy feat, and I'm getting anxious to get it out there. Plus, I'm sick of just kicking ideas around in my head about the possibility of a longer story (dare I say "book"?) and it's time to get that rolling. I'm just going to have to put the beautifully ergonomic wireless controller down for a few days and find some balance again.

Hope my four readers are doing well. Stay on the bike and off the pipe (especially you, Cox).

Sprung

I woke up this morning ready for the weekend. I don't know why it is, but I work a short week like I did this week, it feels twice as long. We've got big plans for the weekend, and I imagine we'll get to most of it. As long as it includes time for Assassin's Creed and Rachet and Clank (purchased during lunch today) I'll be a happy man.

I stepped out on the front porch this morning to get a look at our Lilac bush. We've been clipping small bunches of the blooms and putting them in a vase on our kitchen table. The smell fills our entire first floor. It's always been Jen's favorite part of Spring, and it's quickly becoming mine. This morning though, I could see that the tiny purple blooms are starting to drift to the mulch below, decorating the dirt as if for a party. I was sorry to see them start to go, but I'm looking forward to summer. The trees in our neighborhood have given up the tentative leafing, and are rolling full steam in the longer days. The spring flowers are starting to fade to make room for June's new blooms, and I think we're all just waiting for it to finally get into the 80's and stay there.

My lunch hour reminded me of my morning. After running to Gamestop to trade in some old PS2 stuff for the two new games noted above, I headed over to a strip mall near the office for a cigar. Calorie free and delicious, I love smoking a cigar when it's cool out in the evening around a fire, which is exactly what I'm planning to do Saturday night. When I got out of the car, I noticed that the sidewalk and curb was covered with flower petals. The local flower shop had evidently taken leftovers and decorated the sidewalk in front of their storefront. I felt like a bride on her special day. Well, at least like a bride headed to a Cigar Shop that luckily had a new box of Cohibas stocked. A dirty, stinking, cigar-smoking bride.

Weekend Update with Pat Robertson's Lust Puppet

Playing a bit of catch up today. The Mrs. and I traveled northward to visit some friends, do some "work", and partake of a pubcrawl through Historic Northeast Minneapolis.


It all started Thursday night with some dog walking for the good folks at CHA for a couple hours. From there we rushed home to pack, which we kind of did. Because we didn't finish, my lovely wife had me up at 3:00 AM to finish packing and get over to the airport in time to hop a 6:00ish flight to Minneapolis.

Spent the day at the office, then puttered around the city picking up groceries that we needed that don't travel well (stupid diet), and then finally setting up shop at to work from home for the rest of the afternoon. We sat out on the patio as it was a beautiful 70 something degrees and I got fried to a crisp. I had to go all the way to MN to get my first sunburn of the year. Yea.

The next day was the Crawl, and it went pretty much as you would expect it to. People came, drank, crawled, fell in and out of love, and peed on the sides of bars. Success. At the center of the party, one man stood strong. Like an experienced captain leading us into battle, he understood that we might not all make it through the night, but worked tirelessly to make sure none were thirsty and all had name tags. Some would say his early vigor was his own undoing, but not me. I was proud to be associated with the man. Here is a grainy cell phone shot of our leader enjoying what I like to think of as a rare moment of solace:

The best thing that happened, actually occurred while we were killing time on Sunday while waiting for our flight. We were talking about video games and televisions when Jen spoke up:

"You mean if you get a Playstation 3 you would be able to play games, and it has that Blueray thingie built in so you can shut up about two things at once?"

"That is correct, oh dearest love of my life. Your understanding of the situation is only exceeded by your beauty."

"Then just get it. Geez."

I already had yesterday off from work Monday, so at 8:15 am I was standing at the back of Target paying for a new Playstation 3 and a copy of Grand Theft Auto. I got home, did laundry, cleaned the house a bit and logged over eight hours on the most amazingly beautiful game ever created. This may well be the last time you hear from me as I will be squirrelled away in my den, forehead pressed to the screen, furiously rising through the ranks of the Russian mob.

I'll miss you.

Big Times in the Small City

If all goes according to plan, we've got a pretty big weekend ahead of us. I'm already looking forward to work on Monday. It'll give me a chance to relax.

Tonight, the fine students of the school Jen works at are putting on a production of "The Laramie Project". I'm actually really looking forward to it since the school is pretty well respected for their Drama Department. Plus, it's just good to support the students, so even if it sucks we'll still get to feel like better people for investing in the future of Central Ohio Community Theater. Ten years from now, we'll stumble drunkenly into the Medieval Times and I'll get to yell "I knew that jouster when he was in high school!"

After the play, it'll be time for laundry. This will be awesome.

Tomorrow morning we're up early to go for our favorite hike. We're hoping to get to Hocking Hills around 8:30 or 9:00 so we have the park pretty much to ourselves. It's always worth the trip, and with all the rain this week it should be a challenge too. We'll take extra clothes, but if I go face first into a mud puddle I promise to post a pic. Otherwise, if you want to see what Hocking Hills looks like, you can check out this post .

We should be able to get back around noon, we'll clean up and head to my brother's place out in the country. Once there, we're going for yet another walk while looking for mushrooms. It's really just an excuse to have something to do, and if we find some mushrooms, all the better.

(Note: We will be searching for edible varieties that do not contain psilocybin. We're thinking of something good to go with grilled chicken, not tripping balls. I think most of you know me, but just in case I wanted to get that clear. Previous postings (that may or may not be fiction) may cloud the issue, so...there you go. No tripping for Pat Robertson's Lust Puppet.)

Once we have loaded up with what I am sure will be no mushrooms, we'll head back and hang out at my brother's place for the night. I plan on sitting around the fire pit and puffing down a delicious Cohiba.

Sunday morning/ afternoon will be a run to The North Market for locally grown grocery goodness (and other alliterations) followed with some shopping. Jen and I are both in dire need of clothing that doesn't have to be kept in place with straps and buckles. After that, we're off to see The Reverend Horton Heat at The Newport Music Hall.

I haven't been to the Newport in years, but back in the day I saw the majority of my shows there. It is a dump. The bathrooms usually have three inches of standing water in them, it's a bit smelly and stuffy, and will probably one day burn to the ground because of electrical problems, but it has a warm place in my heart. It's historic because it's the oldest continually operating rock club in the US. The place holds less than 3000 people legally, but has been visited by Pink Floyd, The Stones, and pretty much everyone else you can think of.

It's not that I'm super into seeing The Reverend (although it'll be fun), but I won the tickets from the good folks at WCBE and will make good use of them.

So, I'll check in next week and list all of the stuff that we didn't do that we thought we would. I might have to swap something out for some Mario Kart time.

Summertime Rolls

Hungry for the sun, people start shedding their clothes this time of year. Sometimes, unable to wait for true warmth, you can see students in spaghetti straps shivering on street corners. Today though, while shopping at lunch, I saw my favorite sign of Spring: The flowered sun dress.

Just like there are certain clothes that let you know the warm months are here, there are certain songs that scream "Spring" or "Summer". For some people that might be "Walking on Sunshine" or something like that. For me, it's a little known song called "Big Dipper" by Cracker. (Yes, they are the band responsible for that "Hey, hey, hey...It's like being stoned song". Put that fact aside for now.)

It's totally worth the .99 if you want to check it out at iTunes. I can't think of another song that sounds more like a slow summer afternoon than this. Think I'll listen to it now...

"Big Dipper"

Cigarrettes and carrot juice
Get yourself a new tattoo
For those sleaveless days of June
I'm sitting on the cafe Zeno steps
With a book I haven't started yet
Watching all the girls walk by

Could I take you out
I'd be yours without a doubt
On that big dipper
And if the sound of this it frightens you
We could play it real cool
And act somewhat indifferent

And hey June
Why'd you have to come
Why'd you have to come around so soon
I wasn't ready for all this nature
The terrible green-green grass
The violent blooms of flower dresses
And afternoons that make me sleepy

But we could wait awhile
Before we push that dog turn-style
Into the passage
The thousands they have tread
And others sometimes fled
Before the turn came
And we could wait our lives
Before a chance arrives
Before the passage
From the top you can see Monteray
And think about San Jose
Although I know it's not that pleasant

And hey Jim
Kerouac
Brother of the famous Jack
So he likes to say, "Lucky bastard"
He's sitting on the cafe Zeno steps
With a girl that I'm not over yet
Watching all the world go by
"Boy you're looking bad
Did I make you feel that sad?
I'm honestly flattered."
But if she asks me out
I'd be hers without a doubt
On that big dipper

Cigarettes and carrot juice
Get yourself a new tattoo
For those sleeveless days of June
I'm sitting on the cafe Zeno steps
I haven't got the courage yet (3x)

-Cracker