Daily Kos, Panthertown, Nubian Skulls, and Washers

A friend of mine used some of the pictures I took during our Labor Day weekend trip to Panthertown Valley in NC for a DAILY KOS article. (Six other old college friends were in attendance, too.)

Behold.

The truth: While in Panthertown Valley, we were close to a place that, until recently, had been named "Nubian Skull" ... replace "Nubian" with something far less flattering.

Finally, I have over 50,000 washer book words at the moment...

2:57 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Progress indicator

Broke 40,000 Washer Words today.

For the record, I started on the night of May 31^st and reached 10,000 words on July 9^th, which is pretty damn inexcusable.

July 30^th = the day the 20,000 word psychological barrier was breached. (See my last entry for a brief explanation of this "psychological barrier".) While better than the time it took to reach the first 10,000, three weeks is still too much time spent.

After that, a little over two weeks passed before I got to 30,000 (August 15^th), but I reached 40,000 just six days later (today, August 21^st).

My new goal is September 15^th, and the book may be called THE ROY MACHINE.

Hmmm … Perhaps I'll try to talk about something (semi) interesting in my next journal entry. Could be a plan…

3:39 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

20,000+ Washer Words (Barrier Broken)

Broke the 20,000 word barrier on the Washer Book early today (around 12:50 AM).

20,000 words = the point where I feel as though I've finally "cracked" a longer work. (I'm defining "longer work" as a text containing 40,000+ words.)

When finished, the Washer Book (which really needs a title) will be at least 40,000, making it longer than THE GREATEST FUCKING MOMENT IN SPORTS and GRAPE CITY, shorter than SHALL WE GATHER AT THE GARDEN, and about as long as HOUSE OF HOUSES.

Seems I'm finally gaining my confidence back after the FLAPPY PARTS debacle. (Took long enough...)

11:15 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ye Olde Excrement Towne (pop. 49,000)

Got a friend request from a reader. Part of the included message said, "wow, you live in the same shithole town as me."

Yes, I can admit this now, to everyone, everywhere. 

I live in a shithole town (or, at the very least, in a town that can be perceived in such a way by others)...

9:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Brief Washer and Walri update

I'm about two weeks away from having a mostly complete Washer Book first draft. That'll put me a little over my August 1st goal, but not by much.

When finished, I'll work on The Walri Project antho for Afterbirth. They want it to be their next release. Then, when finished with that -- shouldn't take long -- I'll start another book.

Well, that's all for now. Gotta go ... (Well, I really don't have to go; I'm just leaving.)

8:51 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

At the moment + Movies viewed during trip

All I'm doing is writing the first draft of the "Washer Book" (again, a working non-title). Have about 15,000 words at the moment.

Thought I might make a list of the movies I saw during my West Virginia/Ohio trip. It's notable, as I don't see many at home. Probably watched as many in five days as I usually do in five months (or more).

Here we go...

In the Theater:

(1) WALL-E (very good, even beautiful at times, but I wished the ending hadn't reached such a happy point so quickly. Would have been more realistic had at least one fat person been eaten by another.)

On DVD and/or computer:

(2) HORROR HEAVEN (Terrible German short film; looks like a home movie.)

(3) SCHRAMM (From same director as HORROR HEAVEN, but light-years different from that film. Did I like it? Not sure. Did it provoke discussion afterwards? Yes.)

(4) THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS (Only saw the first 30 minutes.)

(5) LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE (Slow-moving, by-the-numbers Euro-horror.)

(6) SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (Paranoid/misanthropic. Perhaps my favorite of the trip.)

(7) CUTTING MOMENTS (Short film. Incest; bad marriage; bloody suburbia.)

(8) SURVIVE STYLE 5+ (Fun, flashy film.)

(9) IZO (Ultra-surreal. Missed about 20 minutes of it. Need to watch it again.)

(10) Some REN AND STIMPY episodes on DVD. (It's REN AND STIMPY. That's really all that needs to be said.)

Well, that's all for now. Back to writing I go...

8:07 PM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Places/Things visited on recent trip

In my last entry, I alluded to the fact that I'd traveled to Charleston via Greyhell. It was the Charleston in West Virginia, not South Carolina, and I stayed in the general area for five days. Also, I may or may not have been visiting the same person mentioned in a February journal entry. (Cryptic.)

Now, a list of the main places/things visited:

(1) The West Virginia Capitol Building in Charleston. Its gold-covered dome is larger than that of the United States Capitol. (Weird for such a hilly, coal-driven state.)

(1.5) The Mortar Man in downtown Charleston. A description won't do him justice. If curious, do a Google search for "mortar man"+"Charleston". You'll find some stuff.

(2) Criel Mound in South Charleston. The Adena built this structure, the second tallest of its type in the state. A gaudy WELCOME TO SOUTH CHARLESTON sign stands in front of the mound.

(3) Julia-Ann Square in Parkersburg on the Ohio River. It's the largest and oldest historical district in West Virginia.

(4) Blennerhassett Island: the 5th largest Island on the Ohio River, site of the Aaron Burr conspiracy. (He aimed to create an independent empire in the southwest.) You get there and back via a 4-mile round trip on a paddle-wheel boat from Parkersburg. A mansion on the island is an impressive reconstruction. Two other historical buildings are around 200 years old, but were moved from their original locations across the river to the island (via barge, I assume, as Blennerhassett is in the middle of the Ohio River between Parkersburg, WV and Belpre, OH).

*Favorite aspect of Blennerhassett: the 1833 house where Walt Whitman once stayed, now lying in semi-majestic ruin in its original location.

(5) Mound Cemetery in Marietta, Ohio's first city: Old and impressive, it has a mound (called "Conus") nearly the same size as Criel Mound in its center. Unlike Criel, the mound hasn't been excavated, and Conus features a moat. Mound Cemetery is also said to contain the largest number of interred Revolutionary War officials, though this is debatable.

(5.5) Also visited an overlook, one that afforded a nice view of Marietta, the river, and forested lands on the WV side. It's rare one finds nice views in Ohio, so I thought I'd mention it here.

(6) The Covered Bridge Scenic Byway between Marietta and Woodsfield, OH. Managed to see three out of four covered bridges there. Some old country stores and Mail Pouch barns, too. The area seems to have more in common with West Virginia than the rest of Ohio.

4:43 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

On the Greyhell Bus to Charleston, a week ago today...

... I shared space with the World Champion of Midget Wrestling.

12:31 PM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Oh my fucking crap

Got a friend request just now. In it, the guy wrote:

> Whhhat? I have been a fan of Carlton Mellick for a long time. Fucking crazy that I clicked on your link and you live in the same town as me.<

I was floored when I discovered one of the posters over at the Bizarro message board recently graduated from ETSU in Johnson City (27 miles from home and, like my city, part of the greater Tri-Cities area).

This proved even more floor-some...

12:53 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

For the first time in 15 years...

I went to the dentist. Haven't been inside a dentist's office in 15 years. (No, I don't have trench mouth, or, for that matter, even a trace of gingivitis.)

The woman who cleaned my teeth asked me if I went to college, and I told her I graduated ten years ago.

The dentist told me I had "good teeth" ... There are, however, two cavities he wants to fill soon. (I expected as much.) A few other issues, too, but he said they were "minor" and "not pressing".

I go back on the 23rd...

ON AN UNRELATED NOTE: At the moment, I've written close to 5,000 words of "The Washer Book" (working non-title). It must be finished by August 1st.

10:42 PM - 2 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment