Category: canon

you still have to write stuff

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And read.

And write.

And submit.

And follow up.

And debate whether it’s worth putting up stories on literary sites for critique when idiot admins are only going to fail to recognize that the misogynist is the BAD GUY. Seriously, I’ve two other stories I’d like to put up on Wattpad, one about a woman who gets revenge on a guy who kills a girl for rejecting him and another about a man who rants on how terrible his wife is, only to realize his neglect, infidelity and emotional abuse has caused her to commit suicide.

These are not ambiguous stories, in terms of who the bad guy is.

But I’m afraid, since Get Back Again was pulled, because whoever complained and whoever was responsible for reviewing the claim saw the story and missed the fucking point.

THE BAD GUY IS THE POV.

HE’S THE FUCKING BAD GUY.

It’s not a manifesto; it’s a bad dude who’s perspective is that he’s a good guy.

We’re all the heroes of our own stories, isn’t that the platitude?

Apparently, no one told them.

If it’s not a werewolf or vampire bad boy romance, they don’t care.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 3687 words, comic: The Stuff #3

Read: Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn
Comics: Fables 130-131, Fairest 16, The Unwritten 50
Music: 2+2=5, Radiohead

sellin’

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I was reading old posts (Christ, 2024 Empty, what the fuck were you thinking?) and I still haven’t figured it out.

How the fuck do I get people to buy my stuff without having to go full social media whore or pretend to be something I’m not?

People both love and hate preachy; see Tolle, Eckhart.

But I hate it. I’d rather be honest (even if I’m not always) and show warts and say, here, I did something cool!

Or better yet, take myself fully out of the equation.

Here’s a cool thing. Enjoy!

Don’t worry about the man behind the mask. We never used to.

Now, it’s up to us to be paragons, or be cancelled.

Unfortunately, only one of those things is ever actually possible. Anything else is a fucking act.

PR to stave off the betrayal when we find out we aren’t actually perfect.

Flawed in private, public perfection. Fuck that. I’m perfectly imperfect, and proud of it.

It’s the only way we ever could be. It’s only how we feel about that fact that makes a difference.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1267 words, comic: The Stuff #2

Read: Secrets And Lies: Digital Security In A Networked World, Bruce Schneier (we're into the weeds now)
Comics: Fables 122-123, Fairest 8-9
Music: November 1994, Astoria Theatre, London, Beck (bet you thought it was going to be Nirvana)

2026

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Well, a relaxing night last night amidst weird changes – I’ve become convinced I’ll be rewriting the penultimate scene before the climax and epilogue of Boor & Aghast. We’re enforcing sobriety on someone, in the hopes that they won’t kill themselves or others driving.

We’ve lost most of our friends, inexplicably, and the ones who’ve stuck with us are true.

I’m not sure what the rumour mill is, or the allegation, or whether it’s just people tired of me not kowtowing to right or left wing hardlines, despite being entirely anti-Trump.

Sorry, but outrage is a terrible way to live, and proportion is a conversation that must be had.

We end people’s lives over stuff that isn’t actually all that traumatic. A micro-aggression is no reason to blow somebody up. It’s a polite conversation for understanding; not a social media smear campaign designed to destroy families, careers, relationships, and ultimately, probably radicalize the individual in the opposite direction.

If a kid swears in front of his parents, we don’t treat them like a murderer; we talk to them about the appropriate use of language.

Perspective and proportion, always. You don’t use a tank when a flyswatter will do.

Anyway, happy new year; here’s hoping this is the year some sanity returns.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 765 words, short story: Perspective

Read: The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger
Comics: Fables 99-100, Jack Of Fables 48-49
Music: 1989, Taylor Swift (I have great memories of garage dance parties with my niece to Shake It Off, so don't be haters - I love that kid, and she's the reason my algorithm skews to Swift, Rodrigo and Eilish)

the conflagration of boor and aghast – playlist

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As I’m wont to do, I created a playlist to go along with this beast that was Bad Neighbours.

This one is a little more tongue-in-cheek and less moody.

This one is a little off.

This one was more general theme than specifics. The Mungk, I tried to fit specific songs to each scene; for Boor/Aghast, more of them had an overall thought to them. Joey could have applied in multiple places, as could White Trash Millionaire (and how could I pass using that, given the content?) I couldn’t find anything for between Dylan and Stewart; perhaps it’s my dissatisfaction with the scene. I considered Queen’s I’m Going Slightly Mad, but it felt like soft on soft on soft, and out of place. I had intended on ending with Walter Lemon’s turn to militancy and Dre, but then I had a waking dream about Walter Lemon, in cartoon form, taking his revenge on his enemies during end credits to Katy Perry, up to and including the orange menace.

Whether that would ever make it in a movie form is debatable; if that idiot’s still in charge, it would probably be lock-up for everyone involved, since, you know, fucking fascist.

It’s of questionable taste anyway. I’m not a person who advocates violence, but I am a person who hates fascism, and authoritarians of any stripe. I believe a good punch in the face would probably solve a lot of problems. Consequences, especially early on when problems first arise, can solve a lot of shit.

Anyway: Enjoy my weird pretentious liberal/80s crotch rock blend. Like a pumpkin spiced latte someone’s peed in.

The Walkthrough: Edith Piaf – Le Vieux Piano (3:13)
Kismet: The Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane (4:12)
Our Dog In The Street #1: The Tragically Hip – Tired As Fuck (3:45)
Joey’s First Beer: Concrete Blonde – Joey (4:07)
Bowling Springs: Green Day – No Pride (2:20)
Delta-Fucking-Eighty-Eight: Jackie Brenston – Rocket 88 (2:47)
The Council Meeting Revelation: Black Stone Cherry – White Trash Millionaire (3:19)
Anger Baby: Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You (4:20)
Tased: Accept – Balls To The Wall (5:43)
The Shooting Gallery: Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 74, “Pathetique”: III. Allegro Molto Vivace (8:51)
Our Dog In The Street #2: Dead Kennedys – Saturday Night Holocaust (4:19)
Boarded Up Windows And Blue Jeans: Warrant – Cherry Pie (3:21)
The Thing: Pat Benatar – Shadows Of The Night (4:22)
ASSHOLE: Bobby Darin – Splish Splash (2:12)
We Killed Some Poor Creatures For Your Dining Pleasure: The Buzzcocks – Mother Of Turds (3:21)
Get Me That Shelley Account: Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (3:03)
Our Dog In The Street #3: The Muppets – Together Again (2:53)
Screaming Through The Door: Motley Crue – 18 & Life (3:53)
Waiting For Bail: CJ Ramone & Bad Chopper – Ain’t No Criminal (3:32)
Don’t Make Us Come Out There: Bob Dylan – The Times Are A-Changin’ (3:17)
Bonfire Of The Vanities: Rod Stewart – Tonight’s The Night (3:56)
Dawg, Fish, And Shank: Dr. Dre/Eminem – Forgot About Dre (3:42)
End Credits: Katy Perry – Never Really Over (3:44)

Target: 1400 words
Written: 519 words, poem: Kill Everything

Read: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Comics: Jack Of Fables 37-38, Fables 88-89
Music: 17 Song Demo, Anti-Flag

the conflagration of boor and aghast

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This took such a weird turn.

The idea took hold about a dozen years ago, after watching Grumpy Old Men. This was pre-Trump. We all knew George W. Bush was an asshole (as was his father and his father’s predecessor), but we were in the Obama era. Things were still not completely insane.

It was meant to be a lighthearted affair, a joke. The Odd Couple, escalated.

Then fucking Trump. Right wing, left wing, everyone went crazy.

And while I’m firmly left wing, I’m not outrage left wing. I don’t believe in the performative aspect of the left. I know way too many lefties who are, at least in part, what right wingers accuse them of – virtue signalers more interested in looking like they’re on the right side of history, rather than actually being on the right side of history.

Way too many. Pro-universal health care and trans rights, supporters of marginalized communities, but behind the scenes, sexually harass or assault women, refer to their child’s homosexuality as “just a phase” and for me, personally, how almost all lefties, performative or otherwise, ignore physically disabled people.

Oh, they love to support disability, but only mental health, because it’s just like social media, you only have to look empathetic, and you’ve done your part. God forbid you actually go build a ramp, or fix the automatic doors in your store.

And disabled people aren’t supermodels; it’s so much more fun to support someone pretty who’s in crisis (or who wants to pretend they’re in crisis online for attention).

Regardless, the point of this, and the book (formerly Bad Neighbours) is that even with this hypocrisy in place, it is nothing compared to the egregious nature of the right winger. Look at what’s happening with Venezuela and Ukraine and massive corruption and ICE and Alligator Alcatraz and Epstein. The left is guilty of being a bit disingenuous at times; the right is committing murder, torturing immigrants, raping children and robbing the people blind. They are making the world an actively worse place.

A hypocrite’s got nothing on a fucking Trumper.

And yet, for some reason, we equivocate the two.

It’s absurd. That seeped into Bad Neighbours and turned it into The Conflagration Of Boor And Aghast. Sure, Walter’s a bit of a ponce; Shelley’s a goddamned nightmare.

These things are not the same, yet we treat them as they are.

Also, a vegan will always tell you they’re a vegan, a well-meaning, but entirely misguided notion of environmental and biological ordering.

In any case, I’m excited for this to get out there; it’s not perfect, it’s ugly, maybe a bit too topical, but you know what?

Fuck it.

It says something about our current headspace, and how we need to move beyond it.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 319 words, novel: Bad Neighbours (The Conflagration Of Boor And Aghast)

Read: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Comics: The Literals 3, Fables 86-87, Jack Of Fables 36
Music: 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash

well i missed it

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I’ll probably finish tomorrow, but yeah. I think I’m going to have to be more focused for the next one; we’ll take a slight break for poetry, comics and short stories first.

I do build in a buffer zone, usually from the unused word counts of previous stories. I didn’t need it for The Mungk; Bad Neighbours has been far more challenging.

Anyway, to the grindstone.

Let’s bring this bitch in.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 2190 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman
Comics: Jack Of Fables 34-35, The Literals 2, Fables 85
Music: 15 Big Ones, The Beach Boys

babies!

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The granddaughter is here, so it’s Christmas joy for all, and no joy for editing.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1318 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman
Comics: Fables 79-80, Jack Of Fables 29-30
Music: Under A Billion Suns, Mudhoney (so much better than Vanishing Point, which was bad, at best)

so close

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I literally count words, and by my estimate, I’ve got about three hours left on Bad Neighbours, which I think has a different published title.

Bad Neighbours was only ever the working title.

You’ll see. Probably next Tuesday, by my estimate.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1197 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman (seriously, pick this one up)
Comics: Fables 77-78, Jack Of Fables 27-28 (thanks, authors, for pointing out that if you squish the title together, it's JackoffAbles)
Music: Vanishing Point, Mudhoney

down to the wire

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It’s basically this weekend and done. I’m aiming to be done before Christmas, so I can work on lighter shit during the holidays. And take a break and gather up all the agents and publishers I’m going to send this to.

All of whom will hate it, I’m sure.

That is, if The Mungk was any indication.

Maybe they just hate my reach, or lack of it.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 2431 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman (see, this is why I write - brilliant)
Comics: Fables 73-74, Jack Of Fables 23-24
Music: 13, Blur (Coffee & TV is a total earworm)