Whitechapel - The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-03T08:50:52-08:00

A badly needed very good day. Productive at work, and a fun Saturday evening cooking with the fiancé.

Rice in almond milk and Saracen chicken made from 14th century Italian recipe with plums, dates, raisins, wine, apples, pears and bacon... and hey - serendipity! Looks like the leftovers of almond milk is more or less the first step in making marzipan ;)

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-03T09:31:08-08:00

the cute cake girl gave me free cake! for no reason!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-04T14:23:45-08:00

Today I am 27.

Saturday night I had an amazing time with some really good friends (WC people and other friends who I wanted them to meet) and my fella. We drank, we talked comics, we talked about a LOT of things...and I was so uplifted by it all.

Today Alan and I woke up and went for a wonderful brunch, where my mom joined us and to my delight they got on fabulously.

And now I'm home feeling a bit tired but very VERY fortunate to have the people I do in my life.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-04T17:59:27-08:00

Happy birthday.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-04T19:10:32-08:00

Had a fantastic time at Oldhat's 27th birthday bash last night. Swapped stories with Oldhat about people we have punched, told Hex that Jack Kirby was a shitty artist, drank some fifteen-year-old whiskey with Lucien. (And Hex, I found those remaining Scarlet issues. They were in the bottom of my bag and appear to have soaked up a bit of beer. Sorry 'bout that - I'll replace them next time I'm down at the Silver Snail, or you can have something out of my collection if you prefer)

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-04T19:13:15-08:00

Happy Birthday Oldhat!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-04T19:39:41-08:00

I'm glad your birthday was happy, Robin!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-04T21:04:14-08:00

Happy birthday Oldhat! Good day procrastinating (my silver lining to being annoyed with myself for procrastinating).

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T04:26:50-08:00

Hey...a big happy birthday from me too.You come across as a diamond on this site and i got a lot of respect for you.

27!!! Take it from a old git like me that your amazing life has just begun.The world is your oyster.Or pancake.Or chocolate cake.The choice is yours.

I'm going for a much needed walk in a bit in a forest or something.

This irish/viking bastard don't like being held at bay.I'm going to shave off me silver beard so i can look all handsome and suave and super sexy and make all the females swoon to my power!

Me..vain..never!!!

Full of shit but amazingly...ALIVE!!!!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T06:38:26-08:00

@oldhat: 27 is the best age, or at least I found it to be, lo those many moons ago. enjoy it!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T08:43:02-08:00

As Robin said, I drove up this weekend to see her for her birthday. Along the way, I stopped in Neu Yolk Sitay and met The Amazing Glukakke and Friends, and encountered the the City that Never Sleeps for the first time (I've crossed the GWB once before, but I never got off I-95, so this was the first time I've REALLY been in New York). Drove up to Toronto the next day, and got to drink and talk the best brand of bullshit with some of my favorite people in the world, got to spend time with the best girl on this Earth or any other, and got to see more of a city that I have fallen deeply, stupidly in love with. It was an amazing weekend, with amazing people, with an amazing gal that I'm still trying to figure out what I did to deserve.

The drive back to Virginia was long, lonely, dark, and full of road closures and delays, so I didn't get in until almost 3 in the morning, but I got home alive, happy, and unticketed, and for a trip that long with no one else on the road for company but swerving trucks and back road county cops, I count that as a win.

The job and I are slowly coming to an emotional agreement. I'm starting to find my rhythm, and now that I'm getting down to business and doing what I've been trained to do, life in the office is no longer a pants-shittingly banal experience. Hell, I just learned we can listen to music if we've got headphones, so I've got Angus Young keeping me company until quitting time.

@flecky: Keep on trucking, mate! We're all rootin' for you. One thing, though: take it from me, don't kill the beard just yet. The beard has POWERS. You just have to harness them.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T09:29:42-08:00

Happy birthday Robin, hope that the coming year brings you happiness and success!
@Anchorbeard, just out of interest, how many miles do you travel to get from where you are up to Toronto?
I used to love long night time drives, when it's just you and the trucks on the road.
It's been many years now since I've had a car but I still sometimes miss the unique sensation of being alone and on the road at night with the miles rolling by and my brain free to wander into odd places.
for my own part, if my tremulous optimism holds true, this time next month I may well be in a partnership running the coffeeshop where I work. There's still a few obstacles in the road but if we can surmount them then I will soon be offering an open invitation to the 'chapelers to what I hope will be the nicest little coffeeshop and gallery in Amsterdam, serving fine coffee, finer herbs ,great art, comics on the shelves and generally nice things for nice people.
In the meantime vile hugs all round

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T10:05:27-08:00

@nelzub, the first trip was about 730 miles (split up over the course of two days), while the second trip was about 600 miles, according to Google maps (not entirely certain about the second one, I've forgotten exactly which roads I took back since one of my main highways was closed off), plus assorted city driving, so it comes out to about 1,300 miles, so about half the total distance of North America from D.C. to San Francisco.

Wow. Just typing that exhausts me all over again!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T10:28:59-08:00

And I'm STILL trying to wrap my head around the fact that he's willing to travel that distance to see me. The last guy I had wouldn't even travel half an hour to meet up in a different part of town for me.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T10:52:42-08:00

Wow, that's some proper mileage! It cracks me up to think that if I drove six hundred miles from here i could probably pass through five or six different countries! I hope that your car holds up to the many miles ahead of it and that your new job will allow you many long weekends for your trips.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T12:02:46-08:00

Jenny Jackrabbit, my noble steed, was born and bred for the long-haul road trip! Actually, being able to afford trips like this is one of the reasons I really wanted this job. It's hard to be an intercontinental ballistic boyfriend on an hourly paycheck.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T12:34:52-08:00

Aren't there cheap flights up to Toronto? You'd have to put up with the TSA crotch-fondlers at the airport, but the travel time would be considerably less.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T12:57:16-08:00

Grease, you make it sound like the TSA crotch-fondles are something other than a perk. Am I not supposed to grind into their hand? The full body cavity search is just their way of saying they fancy you back, right? Right?

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T13:20:28-08:00

I've considered it very carefully, that as well as buses and trains. Amtrak has a train that goes to Toronto for just $150, which is about what I'd pay by driving, but the trip last almost a full day one-way, so I'd need to take a day off work. Flights would be shorter, but a LOT more expensive: I haven't seen a single one under $430, and all the non-stop flights (for some reason it seems like every single plane has to stop in Boston for 9 hours) are as much as $700.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T13:45:00-08:00

A truly great weekend behind me, with simple pleasures such as just sitting in a cafe reading a good book, dinner and a movie with the fiancé, cooking, some delicious Leffe and Franziskaner with a new Telltale game; today an easy work day and in the evening baking the prettiest cake I've ever managed to make (okay, Susimur lent a hand or two in getting the frosting done well. ;) My cakes have had a bad habit of looking like an Oompa Loompa's turd, but I'm starting to get the hang of doing a pretty frosting.

Tomorrow is Finland's independence day, which is a national holiday - we're going to spend it in a board game & cake party in my pal's place. Feeling pretty good right now, which is a great change of pace.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T13:58:16-08:00

oh man, that cake looks like a giant mochi. I want to eat the whole thing.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T14:18:31-08:00

That is a great looking cake.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T14:39:00-08:00

@Sellmeyoursoul: The only vacation that includes strangers feeling up your cock and balls should be the secret long weekend in Ibiza.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T19:30:40-08:00

@Anchorbeard: Yee gods, that's a long drive! I think the reason the flights are so expensive is because they're international. I don't know if it would work, but perhaps if you could figure out a way to fly to a city near the border (like Buffalo and Rochester) and then somehow magically have a car to drive over, it might be cheaper? That's just crazy ideas I'm throwing out, mind. Though I gotta say, damn, Oldhat is lucky. I'm totally having a woobie moment. D'aawwww.

As for me, I'm looking at an apartment tomorrow, and if it sucks, I'm going to make phone calls to people that my mom has found out about. Apparently they don't put ads in the paper here, you just have to be in the know.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-05T19:46:03-08:00

@trini, yeah...I'm a pretty lucky gal. :)

Tonight I decided to walk in the freezing rain for three hours and spend one hour in a record shop. In the end I bought two vinyls; a Long John Baldry album and Zola Jesus' Conatus. BOTH are amazing. And the Zola Jesus album came with a digital download, so hooray!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-06T03:29:08-08:00

I got my steam copy of LA Noire working by downloading MS NET for another game, and by the gods it worked.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-07T13:38:00-08:00

Very Nice Risotto indeed in Smiths of Smithfield this lunchtime.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-08T01:11:35-08:00

47 years old.Legs wrecked from the needle.Mental skills deteriorating.Can hardly spell.Ventricle going to lung enlarged from methadone and smoking crack.Chronic hep c.Manic bouts of depression.Suffering from valium withdrawals.Still detoxing from opiates.

I could go on and on.

Yet for some perverse reason i'm happy to be alive at this exact moment in time.It's a fooking miracle.

This hard northern bastard is hugging the nice warm teat of Whitechapel and is pumping it's leg for relief.

Niiiceee !!!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-08T01:30:01-08:00

Japanese presentation on samurai clothing & gear went pretty well. Comments from lots of students including a girl who told me mine was a presentation that was of the quality she expected from everyone and almost didn't get. Prepared, organized, clear in my points, and projected my voice. That feels good. No idea how good my Japanese was, though. }:>

And with just a couple of books from the public library. Take that PowerPoint!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-08T02:33:33-08:00

@ razrangel: Excellent.I love it when a plan comes together from a minimum of source material or whatever.It reminds me of when i used to be a drama teacher and just blagged my way through it by using what i'd been taught in wanky mime workshops,a few books and a lot of passion.

Proud and happy for you.Keep it up.Hug.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-08T23:37:42-08:00

My Food Stamps are BACK! With retroactive payment for last month, too! Yay!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-09T03:12:33-08:00

@Rachael - Woot! Like an early birthday present from the gub'mint, if birthday presents are what you were owed a while ago.

Two cool things:

Cool thing 1 - improv teacher encouraged us to invite a friend to watch tonight's class, the last one of this year/series. I convinced my friend to come along for it. He worked his schedule over so he could and I drove him to and from. So a good four hours of hanging out with him, including time at the class where I goofed off onstage and he watched and was entertained.

Cool thing 2 - Late in the summer I started reading Ann Bogart's A Director Prepares. It's a book of essays on theatre by a prominent individual in experimental/expressive theatre. From just a couple pages into it I was loving practically every thing she had to say. But I lost track of the book somewhere in October - my life was so mad I didn't even notice until I had absolutely no idea where it was the last time I had seen it. I had spent October helping a lot of people move house and finally had to concede that it could have disappeared into the ether in an awful lot of places. such a bummer to lose a book that was setting my creative mind on fire. I even dreamed of finding it and being overjoyed. Bummed again to wake up and still not have it.

Then today I was gassing up my truck when I happened to look into the gap between the cab and the bed and spied what looked like a book stuck between a kind of a rubber sheet and the bottom of the cab. It was actually trapped there and it took a couple of minutes of wedging my hand in under the cab and working it loose to get it out. YAY I have my Director Prepares back!!! Worse for the wear - it would have been out in the rain more than once - but still readable! Kill the fatted calf, my book that I once thought was lost has been returned to me!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-09T03:46:38-08:00

My Bubonic Ebolapox is starting to relax its iron grip. Still ravaged by plague and toxic snot, but not quite so bad.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-09T04:07:02-08:00

@ Rachael: Excellent.I was concerned about you last night so that's something good.It's $ you well deserve so enjoy.

I did a drop in my detox this morning and i am ok.If i come over crazier than usual on this site over the next whatever then it will be due to a toxic overload of noradrenaline overstimulating my rancid brain and central nervous system.

I like a pain you can chew on.Perverted yet good for a laugh.

That's me.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-11T16:34:56-08:00

Met up with my old nemesis the scale this morning, and discovered that after going to a gym at 5 in the morning three times a week, for six months......I LOST TEN POUNDS!!!

@Rachel. Yay!
@flecky. "That that which does not kill me, makes me stronger!"

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-12T01:27:04-08:00

@ Mostly Harmless:Now that's some impressive shit,it really is.Just shows what's possible with a bit of commitment and a hard attitude.I wish you all the best in your battle against The Scale.Soon you will be able to stand on the bastard and it's evil measuring power device pointer shall have no effect on you at all.It's ability to mess with the mind will will make you laugh as it is sent packing to the retirement home for mechanical monstrosities most mean.The place no evil gravity device can handle.That cold,dark place we all pass daily yet wish was not there...

Who knows the horrors...what lurks within...THE CUPBOARD!!!

I had a good fest of films over the night.Finally saw that £45 zombie one called Colin.Poor Colin,it's not his fault he's a crap zombie.Still,if you let your girlfriend bite you...

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-12T02:22:33-08:00

So, last night, I found this:

That's right. 24 straight hours of the ambient hum of the TNG Enterprise.

With my new speakers and my subwoofer CRANKED, I left it on and slept like a baby. I found a girl I was friends with as a freshman in highschool (and haven't had contact with since, really) on facebook and sent her the link. She was a trekkie, and had always wanted that sound. She wrote me back, quite happy, and astonished that I'd remembered such a thing. Which is odd, because finding her to share it was the first thing I thought of.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-12T06:27:09-08:00

Rachael: YES! Alan linked that to me on Saturday, so I found a download of it (only loops for 1 hour 45 mins though) and then transferred it to an mp3 and put it on my speakers on repeat. Slept like a baby.

Though my problem was that I read H.P. Lovecraft before I went to bed, so nightmares of death and madness happened. Lesson learned!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-12T07:05:51-08:00

Lovecraft dreams are the best. I once sat on a train with a backed-up toilet, the stench of which my subconscious sampled and replayed in a nightmare where an Elder Horror was squatting atop the Prudential Building.

Earlier that week: Godzilla vs. Cthulhu, done up like a mid-90s Toho joint. It was pretty badass.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-12T19:24:48-08:00

Got Brits card in the mail today, thank you dear ! Will watch it when not tired. !

Xoxo for a brightenered day.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-13T06:02:05-08:00

Night before last, I grilled filet mignon fajitas.

Good God Damn.

Since my girlfriend and I started dating, she has slowly encouraged me to cook more often. Since she has been working full time, attending AA minutes every day, and participating in outpatient rehab, I've started cooking more often. In the past 3+ years, I've gone from burning water, to these badass fajitas.

For one of the first times ever, I basically ingored any type of recipe, just bought a bunch of shit, threw it together, and made a dinner that I'm usually used to spending $150+ at a restaurant.

Also, I have a habit of lacking confidence in my cooking, and downplaying any sort of compliments.

This time, Fuck That! These were probably the most badass thing I've ever cooked, and I'm sufficiently impressed with myself.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-13T06:03:06-08:00

Having a Very Whitechapel Christmas. Got my wife Ms. Tyrell's "Dad Sold Crack Here" (which is fucking gorgeous, btw), and an iphone case with a Zoetica design (Turquoise Tart, for those keeping score at home). I also got her the first Walking Dead collection and a pretty necklace, but nobody gives a shit about those things.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-13T06:16:28-08:00

I picked up a firepit for my girlfriend, and a snuggie.

She's not very nerdy, but I know she'll appreciate the Pollos Hermanos tshirt I picked up for her, from the restaurant used to front Gus' drug business in Breaking Bad.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-13T06:41:37-08:00

I need to catch up with that program. I don't know why I missed out the first time around.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-14T09:24:39-08:00

Two finals. 429 total questions. Test 1? 99.24%. Test 2? 94.62. VICTORY!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-14T09:30:09-08:00

WOOHOO!!! Beamish, that is GREAT.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-14T09:32:24-08:00

@Beamish: KICK ASS!

Me, I just bought my train tickets to go see Alan for a week in January. :D

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-14T09:42:43-08:00

@Beamish

Rock on.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-14T15:36:38-08:00

@Beamish

HOLY SHIT! That makes you a level 7 intelligence!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-14T17:26:24-08:00

Kickass, Beamish!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-15T02:46:23-08:00

@ Beamish: That's some serious skillz ya going there mate.Can i borrow your head when i go back to school?I promise to return it intact.

A little one for me.I know it aint new but i picked up a box set of Dexter seasons one,two and three for only £10 and i've only seen season one.Which i've just consumed again.Good fun for me.

I'm still trying to be a better person each day and walking the line.Ignore the crap.It's never too late to go on.No matter how bad you feel emotions will pass and you can look back and smile.

Shit.Positive Pete.That's me!!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-15T04:44:24-08:00

Thanks everyone, it has been a long, exhausting semester.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-15T08:19:55-08:00

@Beamish - Late to the party, but well done mate!

@OldHat/Anchorbeard - You kids have fun in January. And by that I mean "too much fun." By which I mean, this is why these hugs are vile.

I'm still waiting to hear back, but it's possible that I have two first dates this weekend. (or none, things are still a little up in the air).

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-15T09:18:16-08:00

Just got a pretty awesome gift for my mom for this Christmas. I'm pretty damn sure she'll love it. :D

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-15T19:48:35-08:00

Today had all the makings of being a sucky day. My eyes and skin truly exploded, so I went to a private doc, who gave me seven different varieties of medication and noted that there was some loss of vision in my right eye. Well, shit.

Went to a cafe to have a massive chocolate cookie and some cinnamon coffee, while reading an awesomely entertaining book.

I got home, where my fiancé was busy cel-shading an awesome picture. During the evening I could only distract her to come and have a pizza with pals, and drove her back to finish it.

I went to a bar with my pals for a music quiz, where I'm usually just a bystander, but I got one answer right which is weird since I'm a music trivia moron. Spent a fun evening talking with pals, talked fun stuff and intense important shit, and had good beer and bubbly.

I just got out of my pal's apartment and while waiting for a taxi, I spotted some moss, which was surprisingly hard to come by in Helsinki downtown, and which I've tried to find in a reasonable quantity for some time. I just got back home, feeling well for the first time in a couple of weeks because of the medication, and I have the ingredients for my plan for the next summer. :P

I'm holding my combustible lemon!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T02:10:02-08:00

Ha.I love the lemon thing.I was thinking about that "make lemons" analogy (or whatever it is) a while back.

When life gives me lemons i cut them in half,squirt them in the eyes of innocent bystanders and snigger as they stumble into traffic to be turned into humanade.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T07:55:22-08:00

YES, YES, YES. I was wondering why I was feeling sort of... unencumbered, then realized it and dashed in front of a mirror to check. The infection around and in the eyes is almost totally vanished, and the vision on the other eye has returned almost to normal. Three weeks of feeling like I'd like to take a cheese grater on my face and chest, and feeling like I had cookie crumbs under my eyelids - gone. MEDICINE FUCK YEAH! \o/

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T07:55:57-08:00

I always liked Ron White's take on the analogy--"When life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade--and find someone who's life has given them vodka, and have a party!"

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T08:34:12-08:00

Life actually co-operating for a change...
After the previous amusing delays, I now have my Decree Nisi. I'll be a free man on 27th January, 2012.

And... my first professional writing sale, a piece on the Slenderman phenomenon, has reached print in the Fortean journal Darklore, vol.6.
If you're interested, it's available as a free pdf sample at the Darklore site.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T09:24:57-08:00

Excellent article, Cat. I'd been following Slender Man lore for a while now, and that's probably the best analysis of the phenomenon I've seen. Grats!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T17:31:43-08:00

I met an Oddbill just now! :D

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T19:05:43-08:00

Hooray!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-16T21:28:08-08:00

Yay!

That was fun. We ate fried pickles and drank beer. It was not a bad drive at all. Let's do it again soon!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-17T01:43:53-08:00

Yep,that's a nice photo.Happy for you guys.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-17T10:54:06-08:00

@ Cat- I really enjoyed your Slender Man piece, fascinating stuff, cheers.
I got a new(2nd hand sofa) yesterday which my aching back is really going to appreciate, especially after having to hoist it down from a second floor flat on a rope and pulley.
I also was lucky to be visited by two old friends from glasgow who happened to be in town last night, one of whom I haven't seen in fourteen years, or as she put it-"since you had hair."
A late nights drinking at a scottish pace followed, for which I am suffering slightly today at work.
As far as the coffee shop project goes it seems we may have some investors interested enough to get involved which would be a remarkable achievement for us to get together a business plan with funding having been given just six weeks notice. Of course it could still all go horribly wrong but I'm closer to this dream than I could have ever expected.
just a few more hoops to jump through, I'm guessing these will be the ones that they set on fire just to make it interesting.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-18T07:16:24-08:00

I got my Christmas presents early.

Have you ever gotten gifts that may not be the most flashy, or fun, but are something that you really really need, and will probably use every single day for several years? That's what I got.

Since we moved into our apartment, my office has been extremely cramped, with my girlfriend's futon in there. Well, she moved her futon out, and now I have a very nice new dresser and bookshelf.

Which means, I can actually have an organized office, with all of my clothes, uniforms and books in my actual office! It feels like an actual room now!

At first, I was like; "Oh. Wow. A dresser. Neat," (but not out loud) but now I see how actually thoughtful of a gift it is.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-18T08:39:36-08:00

I got a pair of steel-toe boots a week early one year due to a snowstorm, which was very useful.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-18T16:19:04-08:00

Coasted to an A in my programming course (80.8% or thereabouts).

Still waiting to hear back from some professors about academic references, but this is helpful to my psyche.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-18T16:30:58-08:00

Made cranberry spice cake. Two 9" round cake pans went in, half of one of those cake pans is now in my stomach.

Oy. But nommmm.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-18T16:42:22-08:00

@Allana Congrats!

Me, I figured out a sewing machine and will be making a few things (well, TRYING to) in the next week.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-18T17:16:54-08:00

Best out of context twitter exchange I've ever had:

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T01:04:16-08:00

I follow a small handful of pro voice actors, partly as a fan, partly as...I dunno...an acolyte? because I want to follow in their footsteps? on Twitter. Two of them produced a movie and have been tweeting up a storm about it. I don't do iTunes and am poor so buying the DVD didn't seem likely, so I've kept to cheering them on but in a way that doesn't attract too much notice. But then they announced a free screening at a tiny moviehouse in downtown. They would be there, there would be a Q&A and a reception. Pretty good deal, especially for anyone interested in making a movie.

Even though I don't live in LA I live plenty close to get in for the day. (I whine about Anaheim a lot; there's nothing going on here and it's a pain in the ass to drive into LA all the time - gas is expensive and I drive a guzzling truck.) I just don't like making repeated trips because of the inconvenience; generally I try to make just one trip for a weekend (gone are the days I could crash with a friend and make multiple appointments). For this weekend I had planned to go to a friend's Christmas party last night however he heard that I'm sick and didn't want me to be unsafe driving or some such. Maybe he was more worried I'd make his guests sick. Either way that was some fancy diagnosing from 35 miles away & without seeing or hearing me. (I do have a cold, it's very much under control and I told him so.) So I was uninvited to the party. Fine. Freed me up for the going to the movie.

Headed up at a run - morning got a bit fouled up and I missed until the last minute that the screening was in the afternoon - so I literally dashed in to the lobby and practically came to a screeching halt when the two VO actors said hi.

Have I ever mentioned how awesome VO actors are? More or less universally they've been totally rad, totally patient, helpful, informative and just sweet.

And tonight was more of the same. I meant to try and avoid shaking hands (see ref: cold) but one took my hand before I could think. I got to tell him he'd actually heard my demo because I asked him off the cuff for a listen/review which he'd granted. I managed to keep the fangirling to an absolute minimum - I kept my fan commentary to the movie and to a VO book they wrote (zero digressions into anime! go me!) - and thanked them profusely for being so open and helpful.

The movie was a treat (Tumbling After if you want to look it up on iTunes), a total mindfuck. I'm still not sure what exactly happened. Lots of people having sex, rather a bit of murder... or... possibly not. Clever, psychotic fun. Oh.. and at the theatre they had a prize giveaway of popcorn, popcorn tub, a coffeemug and the DVD - and I won!

HEhe. Yeah, file today under win. }:>

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T02:01:28-08:00

A few people remarked on how well i look and that my skull-skin looks human after a NA meeting yesterday.This cool american guy who used to interview Burroughs said he will sponsor me WHEN i've finished my detox.I made a start on clearing up my flat even though i had to pretend i was Scarface to do it.

"Come on you fooking rubbish..we go to fooking war"

Being silly has it's positives.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T05:13:20-08:00

Went to a Alanon meeting last night, after bullshitting around and not going for about a month. I had gone to an Aftercare thing with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, but I know it's been bugging her that I haven't been going to regular meetings.

So, I went, got a two-month chip, and shared a little bit, basically saying that I haven't been going because I'm full of shit, since she's been doing so good I told myself lies like I must be fine and I don't need to go, it's her problem, not mine.

After the meeting, I asked her to help me go to the Sunday night meetings regularly. Sunday nights there's an AA and Alanon at the same time, so we can walk back and forth together, and I think she likes that too. I know it helps me get motivated.

OK. I'm getting off of my ass & I'm not going to be lazy about this shit anymore.

ETA: Also, wrote a blog thing yesterday, felt kinda dark going back there again, but it felt good to get it off of my chest.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T11:53:34-08:00

This weekend I had two first dates. The first was with a lovely lady and went very well. She lives about 10 minutes away from me, which is a fair step up from the 1.5-2 hours that seems to be the norm lately. The second turned out to be a train-wreck, which I'm thankful for. I'm not really cut out for dating more than one person at a time, especially considering how little free time I really have. But it turned out to be a funny train-wreck. She sent me a text a few minutes after we were supposed to meet to let me know she couldn't find a place to park. I told her not to worry. She asked if we could sit at the bar. I assumed she thought I was standing around waiting or something and told her it's OK, I'd already gotten a table. Her reply... "I hate tables. Aren't I fun already?" There was no connection at all. About 3/4 of the way through her first drink, she announced she should settle up because if she finished she wasn't going to be able to drive home. I agreed then that that would be best. The whole thing lasted under an hour. I spent more time driving each way.

While I am cautiously optimistic about the first lady, I'm going to hold off on getting too excited. Let's see how things go after a few more dates.

Other than that, I got the majority of my Crass-consumerismass holiday shopping done this weekend. I didn't get any writing done though. I got Crooked Little Vein out of the library Saturday and read it for the first time. It took me about 36 rather busy hours to finish. It was lots of fun. That Ellis fellow can apparently write. Who knew?

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T11:59:59-08:00

Hey sellme, don't write off the bitchy lady.

I'm about to propose to my girlfriend, and although we met at my old job, we began dating after we went out for drinks with friends, where she insulted me for having my t-shirt tucked into my jeans "Why do you do that? It looks fucking stupid? Untuck your fucking shirt." and called me out for renting a room in my house to her roommate's ex-boyfriend, "You should have just stayed out of it and minded your own fucking business."

A week later, she took me out for drinks to apologize for her earlier rudeness, and I've been getting laid steadily by her ever since (not to mention the fact that I'm also head-over-heels in love as well).

If I hadn't had the gentlemanly sense to understand that her rudeness wasn't who she really was, I'd be missing out.

Then again, that behavior could be exactly who that woman is, so you never know.

ETA: Wow, was that a whole bunch of TMI? *shrug* I dunno. I have no filter.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T12:45:32-08:00

Heh. Go Mr, Spy, go, go! Rock on and congratulations.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T13:05:47-08:00

Aye,all the best gov' spy with you proposal and all.

Glad you got to a meeting.I was wondering if you had so that's something good.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T13:43:48-08:00

My wife and I were enemies before we became lovers. This was in 1994, the week The Downward Spiral dropped.

There's something to be said for sexual tension sublimated into hostility.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T13:59:01-08:00

@GovSpy - Counterpoint. My ex-Wife and I didn't hit it off when we first met (look at me being politic!), but moved past it. (Hot + lots of sex + major surgery for me + narcotics = best way to marry SMYS) I'm still paying off the money I had to borrow for the divorce attorney and will be for years. (Have I given you kids my talk about why nothing says love like a Pre-Nup? Seriously... don't get married without one. If shit goes south you're both better off not spending a combined $20-30k.) If the lady who doesn't like tables wants to reach out to me and go out again... I'd be open (although, I've got a cuter lady who lives just down the street and hit it off with me right away that wants to go out again so I will not be making any overtures).

Also... you tucked in your shirt? Was that to go along with your pegged pants? What the hell? You're lucky you have your old lady to dress you, because you're clearly not qualified.

@Fauxhammer - I don't think there was sexual tension. Hell the table thing was via text before we ever saw each other in the flesh.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T17:16:53-08:00

Definitely marry a woman that makes fun of your clothing. Keeper, keeper, keeper.

Today:
Got offered a great apartment. Signing the lease tomorrow morning. Yippee!
Also heard back from one of my academic references; gonna meet up with her sometime next month, with luck.

Also, found these at the thrift store (plus Scritti Politti on vinyl!):

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T17:58:34-08:00

My fever is two degrees lower than it was when I woke up this morning. So that's good.

Also, I got emailed from a friend that she got us tickets for Die Antwoord in February, so that's awesome.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T19:19:20-08:00

I made something! A heat pack!

Filled with brown rice and DAMN, put this in the microwave for a minute and it's just amazing for my back. Was a good exercise, as this was my second time using a sewing machine (the first was yesterday to see if it actually works). Kinda proud of myself!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-19T23:04:23-08:00

@sellmeyoursoul: After a little bit of wikipedia and google, I see it's a fad from the 80s. Not that bad actually. Now the trousers with the front pleats? Instant turn off. It creates a horrible shape and silhouette and yet it's considered basic men's dress wear.

As for me, the new co-worker is catching onto things quickly and has an easygoing personality.

@oldhat: Nice heatpack! Loving the cloth you picked. And you can do straight lines well! (I can't. I know.) The zigzag stitch (and the zigzag scissors) are good for preventing the cloth/threads from fraying (if you want to go a different route than sewing a second line an inch (cm?) outside of the inner pattern. (My mom sews, so I grew up sewing, kind of.)

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-21T00:07:59-08:00

Some time ago, a facebook friend who also happens to be a curator for one of the bigger and better gallery spaces in Salt Lake made an open plea on facebook for people with gallery experience to come and help put up a show last minute. I went and helped for 4 hours or so, enjoying every minute of it.
Today I noticed a piece of mail on my kitchen counter addressed to me from this particular art center. Inside is a check for $40. Completely unexpected. I've been very stressed about money, and honestly have no clue how I'm going to pay my portion of rent for the last couple months before summer starts. I cried happy tears. I still don't know where I'll get what I need for the future, but that made me happy.

Also, I've gotten more attention from various young men in the last week or so then I have in months. So that's been nice.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-21T03:45:42-08:00

December contains Christmas, our lasses birthday, my birthday and new year's eve, so always feels like a good time for reflection. What a year. I've been self employed making an OK living for a year now. This has given me a chance to really ramp up my writing. In the past year I've had over thirty stories accepted and won prizes in a couple of competitions.

I wanted to say cheers to Texture for his support and accepting three pieces of Flash Fiction for Weaponizer. http://www.weaponizer.co.uk/

I'd also like to ask you to pay Sein und Werden a visit. Rachel Kendall has accepted three of my stories (The next one, Abraded Butterflies, will be published in January.) http://www.kissthewitch.co.uk/seinundwerden/sein.html

Also, if you've got time, have a look at Beautiful Scruffiness. A print magazine based in the North East, they have just released their latest magazine, which has great production values and some cracking new writing. Horagalles by Thomas Hendry is one of my favourite short stories this year.http://beautiful-scruffiness.webs.com/apps/webstore/

These are some of the people supporting new fiction writers at the moment, and have really given me support this year.

Have a great solstice everyone

All these people

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-21T05:25:11-08:00

We received a very generous gift from my wife's uncle, and we're going to put it to use on house goods.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-22T10:11:18-08:00

bwa ha ha ha. as the darkest night lifts, so does the doom. Yes, at dawn I discovered that the amazing (and swoony) guitarist from the current Psychic TV line up emailed me, remembered meeting me, loves my photographs, thanked me, friend requested me, and made one of my photographs his default.

Also... and completely unrelated... cute boys.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-22T10:56:53-08:00

@Rachael - Get down with your bad self!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-22T11:20:43-08:00

@sellmeyoursoul

< from back a page ago about tucking my shirt in...

no idea why I feel the need to explain this...

but Yeah. I had this habit of wearing my favorite band tshirt, tucked into my blue jeans, with the bottoms cuffed, complete with combat boots or chuckies, and wearing my tradional punk rock studded belt. *sighs* If I tucked in my shirt you couldn't see my belt or one of my several belt buckles. Also had faded green mohawk to with it.

This was 1) before I turned 30, 2) before I was re-hired by the Feds, and 3) before I had a girlfriend to dress me.

Now I tend to wear whatever shirt from ThinkGeek I have on at the moment, jeans (no shirts tucked) my navy pea-coat, cabby hat, and full on Warren beard.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-22T15:48:53-08:00

Vast sigh of relief here...

Part of the ongoing divorce/house sale saga has been that US and UK tax law treat sale of sole domicile very differently. In UK it's not taxed, in US it is.

Short form, as it affects me: house sale pays for my divorce settlement from my ex-to-be. But the house had to be transferred to my name from hers before end of this year (& house sold next year) to avoid me getting hit with $150,000-plus US tax liability (and, as a Brit, that whole no-taxation-without-representation sucked bad enough before the divorce...).

Thank fuck the house transfer cleared today. So; the house sells January, Decree Absolute kicks in on 27th of Jan... and thus my Beloved & I should be moved out by my birthday (Groundhog Day).

And I pray to whatever gods listen that next year doesn't suck as hugely as this.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-22T18:28:26-08:00

Done. Fucking done with these holidays.

Last of the shopping is finished and work is over (ending with a wonderful French dinner of Grilled chicken, ratatouille (which I MUST learn how to make!) and frites with a lovely sauvignon blanc to go with it.

Got gifts from coworker (surprise, it was beer gift packs!) and got to see my best friend so I could give her her Birthday gift.

When all that was done, I headed over to the Burger Bar where I attended the launch of Snowman Gluten-Free beer which was better than most of the gluten-free beers I've tasted (though still needs refining). I hope to set up an interview with the owners in the new year.

And now I'm home. My AMAZING Vagina Dentata panties from Glukkake came in the mail, I have a Mill St. Coffee Porter in a snifter glass, and I'm preparing for a relaxing viewing of Wrath O' Khan.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to the cottage, where internet will be minimal. I won't be on here until the 30th, but will be around on twitter, facebook and e-mail (the only things my phone can access). So to everyone on here, I love you and have a happy holidays.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T00:52:22-08:00

Lots of family/heavy socializing day. Mom's cousins and uncle were in from Mexico so of course we had a big dinner and talked and shared etc. Felt comfy. They were here mostly to see mom so it was perfectly fine to disappear to my room, write a blog & listen to podcasts & clean.

Have a corner almost tidy, cousins are nice and I don't think I pissed them off, mom is not on my case about being rude and I wrote for a bit and cleared out some tabbed sites.

Funny mental crossed-wires moment: They're from Mexico so they speak Spanish primarily. I'm fluent so that's not a problem. The funny thing is, the Japanese is creeping in for basic functionality and a couple of times I said "arigato" when I should have said "gracias." Heh. Object concepts.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T01:22:45-08:00

That happened to me when I was taking German; it got dumped in with my Spanish into one big Language Folder in my brain.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T02:36:34-08:00

The future is some kind of bastard pijin. Japanese, English... its all good.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T09:44:17-08:00

Cityspeak! That's the street language of Los Angeles in Blade Runner. Nearly there with Future Edward James Olmos. }:>

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T09:54:18-08:00

So it's christmas eve in the coffeeshop and as you'd expect it's pretty quiet.
I've got most of the shopping done and the last things can be got from the night shop on the way home.
Tomorrow we'll be round at a friends' house with all the other waifs and strays of our amsterdam crew. I'm bringing yorkshire puddings and pigs in blankets, as well as doing the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs to get us all started.I'm probably gonna miss the main dinner as i have to be at work by four but I'll catch up with them all (hopefully with a turkey sandwich) later on at the sunday night dubstep party.
It'll be nice to spend the day with my friends, it's been a lot of years since I've spent it with my family and I feel I should try to remedy this. I'll be an uncle for the first time next year which seems a great reason to visit the island. On a side note, a mate from scotland forwarded me a link from the bbc claiming the area my folks live is the most desirable in england. A more blatant example of bullshit marketing by the sellers of mortgages I'm sure I never seen. I couldn't wait to leave the area and would hate to move back there, but each to their own I guess.
Anyway I'm rambling now so I'll be off. Hope everyone gets through the holidays in one piece and @ Rachael, many happy returns, I hope you have a nice birthday and I wish you happiness for your coming year.
merry merriness.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T10:20:27-08:00

There are no words to adequately describe Christmas in prison.

ETA: My inmates smuggled goods & made jailhouse tamales. I'd like to tell you they were very good and spicy, but of course I didn't have any since that would mean I condoned their illegal activity, and of course I do not...

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T12:17:09-08:00

Thank you kindly @nelzbub!

Last night I decided to pretend I wasn't sick,sought out whitechapel folks but failed, and instead wandered over to 24 hour burger place on the lower east side, where a fellow I know works the overnight, and who happens to have a birthday of Christmas Day. We commiserated. I just sat and drank tea til dawn, and it was nice to have company, and it was warmer than my apartment would have been (the heat goes off at night). I have just been visited by a friend who dropped off some antibiotics for me. I hope that they kick in by the evening so I can perhaps go out and not feel so miserable with a throat that hurts to swallow and lungs that hurt to breathe. YAY! I have hope!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T13:57:36-08:00

My mother-in-law overshot the Christmas foods by about five people. I just might die. The emergency pants, they do nothing.

I'm going to go to bed and curl up next to my stomach, spooning gently and whispering sweet nothings into my navel. And the stomach replies "purlurlurlur". <3

Ah, Christmas.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T14:06:43-08:00

In pleasant alcohol daze. Kids in bed. Roquefort sweating in kitchen. J Dilla on the stereo.not altogether terrible.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T15:28:38-08:00

Alright Whitechapel it's been a while. I might have to cheat a little to get up to date schedule having been what it has been.

Niche Comics continues to run. Me and Guy will work on the thriving bit as soon as we can. (I have a radio interview to upload). As ever if any Whitechapleers happen to be in the East of England feel free to drop by and have a chat. (I haven't been to the London meet up yet, I worry about people not knowing who I am.)

I read all of Questionable Content in about three days about a week ago. Why didn't I read this sooner!

Today actual I have met some people I hadn't managed to see in a while. Also Booze.

And now I am done listening to A Night Before Christmas and am going to Crooked little vein for a bit.

Had to skip forward to post this, will go through the posts in a bit.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T15:40:13-08:00

Bwahaha!! Vorn! hilarious! THough I'm about to do similar things to myself & my family. Brother in law declared me the chef and has purchased for me some prime rib to prepare. I have a spice rub and butter. As pre-food food I've acquired French bread, brie and blackberries (this Southern California, there is no such thing as "out of season" - also it's nearly 80F today). I stopped first at the local Wine Exchange. I'd never had the occasion to jump in and not only am I now in lust for some of the bottles I saw there, (c'mon all I need's a few hundred dollars! I'm (*cough*not*cough*) good for it!) I'm a little bit in love as I discovered a trove of excellent wines at utterly reasonable prices AND a tasting bar in back. Oh I'll be back. Oh yes I will.

wine purchase breakdown & pairings:
J Vineyards pinot gris for the pre-food food
Colossi nero d'avola for the main course
Tormentoso for the chocolate ice cream for dessert }:>

Fuck yes! Life is too short for crap food! Also, part of my high is buying all of these items without breaking the bank. The wines came in under $40. That never happens!

I am going to be VERY merry. };>

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T21:36:18-08:00

My death illness is now just a never ending bronchial cough! This is awesome! I feel like a regular human. Thanks to you, dear friend, who brought me antibiotics.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T21:36:49-08:00

Great Uncle & Aunt came by to celebrate Christmas Eve with us; we all had a great time. My mom has taken to calling Watson (our cat), and Oscar (sister's cat) "the kids" and even had stockings for them. It's been cute. Apartment moving has been going well and my parents have been super helpful. I'm so lucky. :)

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-24T22:20:40-08:00

The family did presents a night early, and I got a LOT more swag than I was expecting. Even better than the swag, though? Getting my whole family to sit down and watch the first two episodes of Breaking Bad with me. That was a treat.

Got to talk with Robin, and hear her description of the amazing Companion wheat wine that a sizable fraction of Whitechapel worked together to conspire to get her for her birthday earlier this month. Made my night [wonderful].

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-25T03:15:27-08:00

Well,i don't feel like hugging anyone at the moment as to me xmas is just another day.Saying that,though,i do wish everyone here all the best as some of you lot mean more to me than some of the shallow people i have the misfortune to allow near me in the flesh-world.

@ Rachael Tyrell: I'm glad you sound a bit better and hooray for the antibiotics.Haven't you just had a on-paper birthday? You know me...a don't even know what day i live in half the time so if i got it wrong then my-bad.Still,you get a hug from me.

@ government spy: I guess this might be a hard time of year for you and your partner with everyone going on about the booze and idiots drunk everywhere.

When i see people like that and drug-addicts looking like shit i just glance at them and thank what-ever that that's not me.

@ razrangel: Enjoy your purchases.You deserve it.

Me,i'm on my own for xmas and it's great.As a treat to myself i've reduced my opioid meds (buprenorphine) to a nice 1mg.I don't feel too bad at the moment but i know i will be rough later today.I'm gonna go out for a long walk.Maybe hit a Royal Park.Hyde Park,if my legs can take the pace.Holland Park isn't too far from me either so maybe i'll take in that one.

Apart from that i'm just going to read books and comics.Xmas on the box really irritates me so i've been watching Battlestar Galactica for the umpteenth time.I love that show...apart from the end.And music.Lot's of music for me.

Take care all.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-25T05:46:51-08:00

@flecky

Thanks for the kind words, mate.

It hasn't been too hard. We had friends over for XMas Eve dinner, went better than I expected, and a friend made a non-alcoholic spiced cider that was very good. Not enough of it though.

Served my filet mignon/beef tenderloin fajitas, and they were excellent, but I think everyone will remember the appetizer; jailhouse tamales made with contraband. They weren't too bad. A little spicy for my tastes, but not too bad.

New Year's Eve I think might be difficult as it's a holiday expressly for drinking and of course I have to be up at like 430am the morning after so waiting for midnight is tough.

Hope everyone survives the holiday intact, I don't always take it for granted that everyone will.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-27T06:00:21-08:00

Sup Whitechapel? Hope you all had a great Yuletide. I got a nice surprise this morning - a cheque, and two copies of 'Finding Home: Community in Apocalyptic Worlds.' My first professionally published short story, 'Little Utopia' appears in this collection. It's a great wee book, lots of cool stories, so please click through if you want to pick up a copy! The cheque was small, but I'm not going to cash it anyway... keeping it as a memento of my first sale. This was a good motivator... spending today writing :)

Oh, and there's an interview with the editor at the Innsmouth Free Press.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-27T07:55:28-08:00

@texture: fuck yes

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-28T01:07:10-08:00

@texture: Good on you and i wish you all the best with your writing career.

Me,i know i'm a weirdo and i keep going on about it, but this site has helped me loads over the past year in getting my act together.

I've just done another reduction with the opioid Suboxone.Down to 0.8 mg.Apart from a headache that makes me want to blow my head off i'm ok.I'm going to see about starting a day-programme in Munster Rd in Fulham.Supposedly they've got loads of artist materials etc.Probably throw myself into writing some sci-fi and horror stories.

Once again it's a fucking miracle i'm still alive.

I hope everyone got through crimbo intact and roll-on 2012.

Twenty-Twelve:Attack of the Bastard.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-28T03:40:40-08:00

Thanks @flecky and @Fauxhamer, much appreciated :)

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-28T05:06:00-08:00

Twenty Twelve: Attack of the Bastard.

Yes. I like it.

Hey, y'know how you get so used to socializing with energy vampires, and everything in the world is heavy and terrible, and you think that's normal? But then, there's people in the world who make you feel the world is light and still has possibility?

Yeah. :)

Also, I can't stop listening to this song with my eyes closed and imagining I'm in the woods at night, just hidden from the nearby campfire, just a bit tipsy, just a bit stoned, and with cold faces and hot breath, kissing someone. The kind of slow motion kissing that knocks the wind from your lungs.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-28T05:50:14-08:00

Hey, Texture, nice work. Congratulations!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-28T05:52:37-08:00

Attack of the Bastard is being co-opted as my battle cry for the coming year.

OH OH OH: @Rachael--my wife LOVED the book! It was the hit of Christmas morning. A thousand thanks!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-28T21:37:37-08:00

Bloody hell! 5.30 a.m in the morning,been awake since 12,tried to do some step-work on paper.After about 1 hour i ended up walking round my flat laughing my head off.I just couldn't stop!

The God of my understanding is a space chimp in a diaper wanking furiously in the cold void of space etc.

The text i just sent a lawyer mate was disgusting.Good job he understands my brand of madness...

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T09:56:53-08:00

Got some late gifts from my aunt. Cryptonomicon, Zero History and a hard copy of the Drive soundtrack.

On a more productive note, new faces coming into Niche Comics and looking round. Soon I will have to see if I can start paying myself and my Brother.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T10:01:23-08:00

The Christmas holiday could've been more relaxing, far too much tense driving and dashing around to suit the mood - nevertheless there was plenty of good food, fun times with pals and pets, and we got a Christmas present which is corny in it's 80's-ness but which is going to see a lot of use in our house: A Bread Maker. :P Warming the thing up as we speak, let the bread baking experiments commence!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T10:09:31-08:00

Oh, man--my brother-in-law's fiancee got one. I was so jealous.

We got a deep fryer, though. I'm trying to research enough healthy-ish recipes for it to justify keeping it.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T10:22:32-08:00

I met a viking who is actually nice (this far at least, it's started to make me sceptical when they have long blond hair and a beard and SEEM NICE.). He lives ten hours away from Bergen so there's no future to it, but I've had a lovely December AND I just arrived to spend new years with him. :)

Christmas wasn't too bad this year!

Hope the rest of you had a good one as well. I am no longer as active as I was, but I try to look in on this thread and a couple of others to see how things are going for you guys. I care for a lot of you. My little global village. Happy new year!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T12:53:16-08:00

@oda Same to you, lady!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T13:56:35-08:00

The odyssey of finding the person behind a nickname:

So I've been reading a bit of fan fiction (try not to judge, or do, whatever, I'm on vacation }:P) and for the most part skimming past utter crap, tolerating interesting stories with clunky writing, and giving positive to reviews to the ones worth my time. That's a tiny handful, let me tell you. I can't figure out why I would put in this kind of time, it's been a pretty big sink for such modest return.

However, there's a writer who's put up a few Ghost in the Shell stories that are simply breathtaking. They capture the world detail-perfect, the characterization is spot on, and the narrative is mouth-wateringly fluid. It's strange, I very rarely get envious of a writer's talent. Those that are better than me... *shrug* They're almost all pros and/or writing things that I'm not ever going to write. But for some reason these stories are solid, hell she wrote a couple in the Major's voice and first person perspective and in my humble opinion it's as good as anything professional I've ever read. Fuck she's good.

So I get possessed of trying to find out more about this writer. Her profile says zilch but has a link to a DeviantArt page. The art is pretty decent but doesn't grab me - don't take any stock in that, I'm not at all versed in visuals arts past "I know what I like". I skim it for any details about the artist but nothing much turns up and I almost give up before noticing a blogspot link. Aahhh. Now I've found you my pretty.

I learned she's almost 15 years younger than me, living in suburbia, Ohio, attending college for visual arts (oh that poor dear), and has some pretty strident opinions against universal health care and feminism. And what appears to be no formal training in creative writing.

And that's how I found my new writing idol was not a scribe's god on vacation but a Regular Human Chick with some funny ideas. We would probably fight like cats in a sack if we ever met. It's refreshing. At the same time it's frustrating to remind myself how far I still have to go, you know, before the reminder not to compare myself kicks in.

Ok now back to trying to convince myself I have some game and don't need to give up writing altogether. I could use hug, vile or otherwise.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T14:10:41-08:00

Getting this in while still December:

I met the lovely Ms. Fox (who came out to see me despite her illness) while in New York. :)

Also Bankara and Glukkake a couple days earlier:

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T14:38:06-08:00

Gorgeous people all!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T19:00:12-08:00

@ fauxhammer - Fabulous! Oh, I'm so pleased. There really is no better compliment that someone liking your work, y'know? Hooray!!!!

@DavidLeJeune - Gosh, my face really does look like the :D emoticon!

Oh, and @Flecky, yes yes yes, I did have a birthday, Christmas Eve. I meant to thank you for that, and thank you for noticing, but my first draft of a post got eaten and I seem to have forgotten to mention it again.

EDITED TO ADD: Oh, and also, my favorite quote of recent history from my best friend: "By the way, your sister looks like a ho." Ho ho ho.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T19:17:34-08:00

@ Rachael: Your more than welcome and that's a good shot of you having a cuppa :)

EDIT:That cover of Wish You A Merry Christmas tune-thing did my head in last week when i listened to it.Trust MAXIM...

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T22:34:26-08:00

Yay David! It was good to meet you (AGAIN). Gosh, my memory likes to erase itself every few months of any fucking body I meet.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-29T23:53:38-08:00

I found out earlier last night that the manager for the Starbucks job I applied for lost the application and wants me to come in tomorrow, probably to fix it. I'm not sure if that's necessarily a GOOD thing yet or makes it a sure thing, but the fact that she was looking for my application and wants me to come in sounds promising. Hoping it'll work out--it'll be nice to have a decent, regular job and a steady paycheck.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-30T07:07:08-08:00

@David, those are great man! Sorry I spaced on sending you my digits, I was! overcome with holiday spirit? In any event it was awesome to meet you!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-30T08:33:02-08:00

Last night my girlfriend celebrated her graduation from outpatient alcohol treatment last night, and also 90 days sobriety last week. I'm being more involved in my own recovery, and it's looking good. I know they call this "honeymoon" because of all the good feelings, but it still feels right to enjoy it a little.

I had my own little epiphany regarding my relationships with addicts, and my codependency.

On the plus side, I've been learning to cook like a bastard.

Two nights ago: Chicken Francese
On the menu for this week:
Tonight : Mexican Kabobs
Saturday: Butternut Squash Ravioli
Monday: Shrimp Stir-Fry
Tuesday: Tortellini in Broyo (di Pollo)

Oh, and last night, while the lady was graduating, we all went around the circle and said nice things about her and wished her well. So this guy, across the room, was trying to say how healthy she looked, and that she was glowing.

Instead, he just says, "you're pregnant."

I'm in this room with like 30 strangers, and apparently, I reacted like a guy who doesn't want any more kids would react, while surrounded by strangers. My face turned a deep red color under my beard, and I guess my jaw dropped. Once it was explained to me, I was fine, and it was actually kind of funny. I later told the guy he owed me a new pair of pants.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-30T10:12:02-08:00

Hello all. I've redesigned my web site (sellmeyoursoul.com shockingly enough) to be a little less 2001. It doesn't look drastically different, but now supports large posts much better and you can go back and read any of my brain-vomit since I started my fancy php/database posts. If I get ambitious, I may even make it so people can comment, but that would require much more hacking than I feel I'm going to be up for. I also cleaned up some of the JavaScript. The only person who appreciates that is likely me, but my code-monkey brain was horrified at how I solved something with a dozen functions 10 years ago that could have been done with one.

I've managed to survive Christmas and took the last two days off of work and got to hang out with my daughter. We had lots of fun and very little bouts of attitude, which for a not quite four year old is pretty good. Now, one day back at work to try and get caught up a bit before another three day weekend. I have a second date tonight and then no plans, but a couple of options. I may just get a bottle of something and have a quite new years at home. Perhaps in my recording studio.

Happy new years all!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-30T12:11:38-08:00

Little things...

I have a coffee table in the lounge. Has taken two years for partner to find one that is acceptable to her. But I now have a coffee table. This pleases me greatly.

My father has gifted me his old printer, an Epson R800. I have two defunct photo printers that I can't get to work anymore, so haven't been able to print my work out myself for years, so this is great.

I spent this afternoon merrily breaking the swear filter on a new corporate website, for 'testing purposes'. And I got to edit the somewhat hilarious swear list, and I've banned 'slutmonkeys' and 'macroherpetophilia' because I don't want people talking about Godzilla Bukkake when they're meant to be working, no no no...

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2011-12-30T12:28:29-08:00

@JP Carpenter - You win!

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2012-01-01T10:10:10-08:00

I can quit smoking, and quit drinking, without barely any sense of temptation.

But Dr. Pepper?

*sob*

I wish I knew how to quit you.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2012-01-01T11:52:17-08:00

@Bob - my sincere condolences on your loss. We've got your back.

@Flecky - Don't give up. I know they say something about one day at a time. Keep at it.

The Vile-Hugging Thread Dec 2011

2012-01-01T12:11:49-08:00

d'oh. Wrong thread!