There's an old Guns 'n' Roses song that starts with a quote from a movie...I believe it was Cool Hand Luke...that says, "What we've got here is failure to communicate." That quote popped into my head when I saw this flyer handed to me by a guy who was selling banana bread for a charity in the parking lot of Sam's Club today.
There is a major design flaw to this thing that I bet you don't even notice. Let me show it to you at a smaller size, and it will jump out at you.
What does the flyer say? Something something ADDICTION STARTS HERE!
This is supposed to be a flyer for a program that helps people overcome their addictions, but it sounds like they're advertising picking up new ones instead, right?
Why didn't they adjust the tiny type above the word addiction to make it say what they wanted. If it went:
At least then it's not advertising the opposite of what you are after. That's all. Just wanted to point that out, I guess.
Went to the grocery store today, and it looked there had been some kind of mishap.
I've seen some problems with a freezer in the past, but jeez, look at that! That seems like more than just a freezer door left open to cause some freezer burn.
Look at all that snow on the bottom. Even more so, look at the ice splattered across the glass of the doors. It looks almost like the blood spatter from a violent crime scene.
I'm thinking this must have been the attack of a snow-related super villain. Maybe Mr. Freeze and Batman had a duel here. Or possibly Captain Cold and Flash threw down here. I mean, the chocolate creme pie took it on the chin, but look at the stuff on the bottom shelf.
It's so bad that you can't even tell what it is. It's buried under the snow. You'd have to get a snow shovel and go excavating just to find out what they're selling there.
You know what, it probably wasn't Captain Cold or Mr. Freeze or even Iceman. Sadly, it was probably just Elsa who came shopping here before we came in. Blech.
This post is actually about writing...so give it a chance, and wait for the preamble to finish before you say TLDR.
The new Blink-182 album is out today.
Blink-182 has long been one of my favorite bands. Particularly Tom DeLonge, their guitarist. His voice is just something I love to listen to, and his melodies never fail to hook their way into my brain.
For a long time, he was out of the band, and did things in another band that he started when Blink-182 broke up. Those songs thrilled me too, but not quite as much as when he was in Blink-182.
Blink-182 brought in this guy, Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, to replace Tom for a few albums, and those songs were okay, but way less satisfactory than the Blink-182 songs from when Tom was in the band.
Well, an act of God happened, and the band is back together. I really mean it. It took one of the other band members getting stage 4 cancer for the three of them to realize that they are being stupid and wasting their time not being Blink-182.
They broke up the first time, then got back together when Travis Barker, the drummer, got in a plane crash and nearly died. It's scared them enough to reconnect and patch things up, but they didn't have it figured out, and they broke up a second time.
Now Mark Hoppus, the bassist, had cancer. When he beat it, they got back together as a band again, and this time they were all thinking, "how many more next times will we get before one of us actually dies and it's all over?"
You can hear that sentiment coming out all over the place in the songs on the record. The title track, "One More Time," is all about the history of the band and how they've finally learned their lesson.
There's a song called, "You Don't Know What You Got," that's all about Mark making his way through cancer and chemotherapy.
And then there's the reason for this post. The first song on the album is called, "Anthem Part 3". It's a pretty fun song, and I love how it calls back to the similar styles of "Anthem" and "Anthem Part 2" from their albums of long ago (it especially draws on "Anthem Part 2" if you ask me). However, I also found the lyrics to be particularly poignant and inspiring. The guys are talking more about themselves and their issues and problems and how they are leaving them behind, but I can take those same words and apply them to myself instead, and become emotional and inspired.
So, here's the song:
So, what am I going on about? Well, they talk about being in trouble, having hard times in life, but not letting them beat you. Instead, they say follow your dreams. When I apply it to my own life, and my own attempts at making art, I can't help but see a little bit of similarities between me and Blink-182.
Back in 2019, it seemed like I had it all together. I started a program of writing every single day with the goal of reaching 300,000 words that year (and I mean from one birthday to the next birthday when I say year). Surprisingly for everyone who knew me, I actually achieved that goal. However, unsurprisingly to everyone who knew me, once I hit the goal, I slacked off and let all the habit-forming progress I'd made dissipate.
I needed to start over again, but I floundered in self-pity and depression due to the state of shit during Covid-19, and it wasn't until 2022, when I made another goal to write every day and see if I couldn't repeat what I'd achieved in 2019. I started in July, and went strong for five months, but I let a family tragedy knock me off my game, and before you knew it, I was back to my slacker ways again, writing nothing.
I've made plans, done a few stints of getting back at the grindstone, but not managed to succeed yet.
But I'm about to have another birthday, and every time one of those grim reminders of my upcoming demise rolls around it makes me think about 2019 and the glorious success I achieved from 2019 to 2020. I could call myself a real writer at that time, and that's all I've ever wanted to do.
So, there's a little bit of similarities. Blink-182 had it, lost it, got it back, lost it again, and now they're finally getting it right again. I had it, lost it, got it back, lost it again, and want to finally get it right again.
So, when, "Anthem Part 3," made me think about my own personal failures and put them in to the song, I couldn't help but think that I should be like Blink-182, and finally get it right this time. The chorus hits, and the two singers harmonize the following lyrics:
This time, I won't be complacent. The dreams I gave up and wasted. A new high, a new ride, and I'm on fire. My old shit ends here tonight.
I can't help but think that this song came out a week before my birthday for a reason. The universe is trying to tell me that it's time. Get back at it, do it just like you did before, and don't let it fall away this time. Don't be complacent and give up and waste your dreams. It's time that my old shit ends. Tonight.
Then the bridge comes in, and Mark Hoppus sings:
And after you had the time of your life. Flat lined and led toward the light. You'll despair the wreckage and find No one gave a fuck that you died!
What would that be like to be on your deathbed, as both Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus were at one point in their lives, and think about what you did in your life? Of course, I've had some amazing things happen in my life. I've had a wife and four wonderful kids that I helped raise toward adulthood, and that can't be scoffed at, but I also had dreams that I haven't achieved. The worst thing would be to look at my life and just see the wreckage of those dreams. Will no one give a fuck that I died (except hopefully my kids) because they never even knew that I was alive to begin with? Or will I write like I wanted to and put stories into people's lives that make them grieve at least a little upon hearing the news that I'm gone?
The song finishes up with Tom DeLonge singing:
"It's my head, it's my mind All made up, it's alright If I fall on some nails If I win or set sail I won't fail I WON'T FAIL"
And that's the Anthem. Go for it. Make up your mind and go for it. Don't quit and you won't fail. So, that's what I'm going to do. Just like in 2019, I'm going to start writing on my birthday (maybe even a little before, I don't know. Why not, right?) and I'm going to write straight through to my next birthday. And then I'm going to write straight through to my next birthday. And then to my next. And so on and so on ad infinitum.
As I did in the past, November will be my month to get in the swing of things. My goal for the month will be simply to write every day no matter how small the word count. The point is to get into the habit. December will be to write 500 words every day. Then January goes to 1,000 every day. From there on out, it's stays at 1,000 until I reach 300,000...probably, anyhow. I may raise it higher if I think I can push myself further. We'll see how it goes.
All I know is that this time, I won't be complacent. When I finish out this year, I'll make another goal for next year, probably one that's bigger and better. And so on and so on.
I'll be back with updates frequently. Can't wait to see you there.
I've shopped at Ross a lot...and for a pretty long time too. In all that time, I'd be willing to say that I have never once seen a figure from the Star Wars Vintage Collection for sale there...until the other day.
Suddenly, and I think it was because Ross was starting to ramp up their toy offerings due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, Ross had a whole bunch of things to choose from. I mentioned in my previous posts that I've been finding all sorts of things at Ross that they don't usually have. I found GI Joe Classified figures (and bought them). I found Star Wars Black Series figures (and bought them). And now, I have found Star Wars Vintage Collection figures and bought them.
Star Wars Vintage Collection (heretofore abbreviated as SWVC) is a really high quality 3 3/4 inch figure line. Imagine the 3 3/4 inch figures that we played with back in the 80s, but done with all the tech and expertise of modern toy making. Think of those Marvel Legends or Star Wars Black Series or GI Joe Classified, but just shrunk down to 3 3/4 inches, yet keeping basically all of the fancy articulation that the bigger figures have.
They're really great toys. They're what all the guys like Empire Toy Works use in their space station photos.
Other figures can fit in with them as well, but truthfully, I want there to be mostly Star Wars characters in Ankletown Station. So, it behooves me to get as many SWVC figures as possible, and if they're selling them at Ross, then I need to jump on them, because SWVC's price keeps going up. They used to be around $12 last year, then they went up to $14, and not long after they went up to about $17. If I can get them at Ross prices, then that's a huge win.
So, the first one I found there was this Obi-Wan Kenobi figure from the Disney+ show.
It's a really good likeness of Ewan McGregor if you ask me, and on a 3 3/4 inch figure! He also came with a big brown robe, but it looked pretty crappy to me. It looked like he stole it from my sister's doll collection, so I put it in the accessories bin, and may resurrect it some day in the future for some other figure that can make it look better...or it will just stay forever.
A little while later, I found another SWVC figure at Ross.
Not as good of a likeness, but it's still a great figure of baby Jedi Anakin. I don't know if I will keep both of these figures as is, or swap their heads around with other figures, or what, but I'm stoked to have some new residents for Ankletown Station.
Rish tells me that there is a third figure that he has seen at Ross. It's an older version of Anakin from the Attack of the Clones movie. Hopefully I'll find that one too, although I don't love those old prequel movies, it would still be neat to have more folks for Ankletown.
There's this self-help motivation kind of guy called Ankur Warikoo. A few years ago, he came out with a book called "Do Epic Shit."
I have no idea how good this book is, or if it would change my life if I read it, but I do know that my GM at work...or maybe his own boss, this could come down from further up than him...likes it.
Somebody at my work likes it so much that they gave everyone a copy of the book...well everyone that matters anyway, not me but, like, the reporters and stuff.
Except that it wasn't actually a copy of the book. This was just an empty notebook with "Do Epic Shit" on the cover. It's basically one of those composition notebooks that you had to get for certain classes in high school.
I guess the reporters can use it as their notebook when they're out in the field or something...you know, while they're out doing epic shit.
I didn't get one of the books, but there was one left on the desk right next to me, and it sat there for several days, untouched. I thought, maybe there could be a better use for this thing. This Ankur Warikoo guy is supposed to be some kind of motivational speaker or something, right? Maybe this book could be used to help motivate people. I think I found the perfect spot for it.
I'm back from vacation, and I've got some work to do. I gained a bunch of weight last week because I let my habits slip and ate things I normally don't and at times I normally don't as well. So, now that I'm back home, I've got to get back to my routine and get going in the right direction again. Do I manage? Or do I fail miserably? The only way to find out is to watch...and like and subscribe too.
A while back, there was a Fortnite figure that I kept finding everywhere. Her name I can never remember, but the internet can help...it was Singularity. I did a post about it when I worked on customizing the first one way back when. Well, at first, I just got the one, but I kept seeing it and seeing it, and then I had an idea. I invented a group of all-female fighters called the Valkyries that inhabited Ankletown Station, and now I needed more than just one. So, I bought each and every one that I found.
After a while, I assembled a pretty large group:
And I finally had to stop buying every one that I saw, because I just couldn't use any more of them.
Well, I've found myself in that same situation again. There's the guy called Human Bill. He's a blue alien guy that looks like a cross between the grey aliens you always hear about in alien abduction stories and the Men In Black. I saw him in the regular stores, but they wanted way too much for it. I figured that if I ever saw it on clearance or at Ross, then I'd pick it up then.
Well, I never saw it on clearance, but Ross has been selling them for $2.99 a piece for the last while. I got one, and thought I was done. But it's an alien guy, and Ankletown Station should be loaded with aliens. I could get a few more.
Then I thought I could take the heads and swap them out onto different bodies. I tried that, and I liked it. So, I got a few more. I mean, they were really cheap after all. They used to sell the Fortnite figures for $4.99, but now they were going for even less. How could I turn that down?
I put the head onto Doggo and also onto Master Key. I thought those both looked pretty dang good.
They look really good. A lot better than that square alien in the black suit.
Then again, those aliens in the black suits look like they could be in a ska band, don't you think? I can't think of what ska band it is that I'm thinking of...maybe the Skeletones? I can't find a picture of them all in black suits and sunglasses, but I thought that's what they dressed like when I saw them back in 1992. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else...anyway, what about a ska band that plays in the Ankletown night club?
They definitely make you think of Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes a little, right?
I just need to get them some saxophones and trombones. Or maybe I could just get a few Figrin D'an figures and use the extra instruments he comes with to distribute to these guys. They could play space ska with space horns. I could probably just make my own little space instruments with something like a toothpick. Glue a few things onto it, and paint it gold and wham, space horn. Could work.
Funny thing is, this isn't all of these guys I've got. There's still at least three more of them down under the pile in my Ankletown Station tote. I know because I managed to find ten of the Lil' Saucers that the figure comes with.
It's definitely another obsession. Although it may be coming to an end now as well, because today, I bought three new guys, but I could have bought five. I looked at the others and thought, "No, I don't really have a place for any more of them," and I left them behind. That's progress, right?
