Category: relationships

hutch

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We were supposed to get another dog today, a rescue from Louisiana.

They called him Hiccup. We were going to call him Hutch.

Unfortunately, he was pulled from the transport because of a cough, which for a pup getting over heartworms (at the end of his three months’ rest), and now, it could be months, and possibly never, for us to give him a better life.

This is probably controversial to say, and people who don’t understand what animals bring to a relationship will probably crucify me for this, but my wife agrees, it’s like we’ve lost a child.

Intellectually, we know he’s probably still coming. He’s probably going to be fine and we’re going to love him and squeeze him and call him Hutch.

But in the moment…

I’m sorry if that’s offensive to you; it’s how we feel, and we’re not inexperienced in that area.

It’s silly, probably, but it still sucks.

Get better, Hutch. We’ll come get you if we have to (and that’s saying a lot, because we refuse to cross the border, until America smartens the fuck up.)

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1299 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson (recommended reading - puts all this Iran shit in a very different light.  This was not a Donald Trump, spur-of-the-moment, I need an Epstein distraction thing.  This has been on the books since his first term, courtesy of Putin, MBS, MBZ and motherfucking Netanyahu.)
Comics: Marvel Knights 4-7 (this is such a sad era for Marvel - and why does every writer that takes on Cloak & Dagger immediately want to either make them hate each other or swap their powers?  Why not lean into what made them so compelling in the first place?  Their co-dependence, mirroring their creation - their addiction to one another.)
Music: Haunted Cities, Transplants (so great)

must be nice to be pretty

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I’m not pretty; I’m not a looker.

I’m overweight, and unkempt, and my fashion sense is non-existent, because I think fashion is mostly ridiculous window dressing, unnecessary for anyone of substance.

Why waste time on clothes if you’re not a model or going to a wedding or something?

Of course, it’s a biological thing partially, to attract potential mates, and an ego thing partially to make one feel better about at least one’s outer appearance.

Me, I’m a comfy clothes kind of guy; I can’t be bothered to tuck in.

Ever. Not since I was a child, when I would be forced to do so, and would untuck immediately, as quickly as possible.

Anyway, not pretty.

Would be nice to be.

Maybe people would treat me better.

I hear that happens for the good looking. And they get paid more.

How fair is that?

Nice jawline, bro, have an extra ten grand a year. Great butt, here’s twenty. Nice smile, bright eyes, high cheekbones?

Thirty, forty, fifty.

Great tits, six pack abs?

A hundred!

Life is real shitty for the uggos.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1522 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson
Comics: The Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger 4-7
Music: A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles (fucking masters)

epilogged

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Epilogued? What’s the best way to say that?

The return of complexity; we are preaching kindness as logic, and logic as kindness, but there are those still too lost to see past their own suffering.

Where does kindness stop? Is someone’s refusal to accept someone else’s kindness the line to draw? Or do we just hold back a moment to let them catch their breath and think it through?

Can cruelty be kindness? (Not actual cruelty, but hard truths, spoken softly, things people don’t want to hear, but needed to.)

Where do we draw the line? Where does compassion end?

For example, Donald Trump. In an absolute application of kindness, we’d show it to him as well, even though, at this point, it’s pretty clear he’s unredeemable. At this point, he just needs to be removed from office, and exorcised from society. Locked up, whatever. Out of power, along with all the other Republicans.

There’s still kindness in that, however. Maybe not for the Republicans, although we’re technically saving them from themselves.

But the greater kindness, to the rest of the world, the people being affected by their monstrosity.

The needs of the many, and all that.

Thanks, Spock, you’ve helped me prove my point – kindness is logic, logic, kindness.

We miss you, Mr. Nimoy, but thanks for what you left behind.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1463 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Jagannath, Karen Tidbeck (minus the body horror short stories, I rather enjoyed this.  Very accessible.  Nice.)
Comics: Invincible Universe: Battle Beast 12, Capes 10
Music: Ham Fisted, Local H (do these guys even have a bad album?  Same schtick, but it remains great.  Maybe their debut was a little weak.)

sleepover

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Well, that was cool. A little awkward, but it’s nice that she loves us that much. Our granddaughter decided she wanted to sleepover between us in the tiny bed we have at my stepson’s.

Not having had small children, I’ve never had that. I understand it’s mildly fraught, and also a pain in the ass for many parents, but it actually worked out. We all slept well, there wasn’t any snoring or kicking or anything that kept anyone up.

It was just peaceful.

I know, weird, whatever, and some of you will jump to the worst conclusions, thereby ruining what was actually a pretty goddamn wholesome moment.

Sometimes, people, things are just nice.

Get over it.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 2068 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Anyone, Charles Soule
Comics: Invincible 117-119, Tech Jacket v2 9
Music: H.A.A.R.P. Live From Wembley, Muse

apple pickin’

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What a wholesome fuckin’ day.

Brunch and skipping stones on the beach, racing leaves through the rapids of a small stream, then picking ginger golds ripe from the tree.

Doesn’t get much better than that, kid.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 908 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Anyone, Charles Soule
Comics: Tech Jacket v2 6-8, Invincible 116
Music: Futures, Jimmy Eat World

wow, editing is hard

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And time-consuming. Not sure how I’m going to manage being up at the granddaughter’s this weekend. Up early and late, I guess, as usual.

Ugh.

Would that this didn’t require the theft of sleep.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1572 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Rule Of Capture, Christopher Brown (well done, sir)
Comics: Tech Jacket v2 1-3, Invincible 113
Music: Future Nostalgia, The Sheepdogs

niecin’

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No time for love, Doctor Jones.

I have a date with my niece before she goes back to college, and we’ve barely seen her all summer. I can’t wait.

I love those kids as though they were my own.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1572 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Rule Of Capture, Christopher Brown
Comics: Invincible 108-109, Invincible Universe 10-11
Music: Furniture, Fugazi (great band, most bland album titles)

i think i might have done alright

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One of the two scenes I worked on today, I actually teared up at a tender moment between husband and wife. I think I might finally be getting the hang of it.

If I can make myself cry, heck, maybe the same can be true for someone else.

love is patient, love is kind… and so on and so forth.

One of the few things the Bible gets right.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1623 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Father Lightning
Comics: Guarding The Globe v2 5-6, Invincible 100-101
Music: Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (what an album.  Been a while since I listened to it and I forgot that literally every song on it is a fuckin' banger.)

rainy day card games

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And other such fun. We did get out for lunch, which was nice, but yeah. If I’m going to be stuck in my cabin all day, maybe it shouldn’t be with the whole gang, and no time to read, and a goddamned plugged toilet minutes before I go to bed (not my fault).

I’ll be honest. I am short-fused when I don’t get that sweet, sweet alone time.

It is something I wish the people around me truly understood.

It is something the world, in its current incarnation, barely understands, with its constant notifications, constant connection, constant updates.

Never was a world more lonely than the one where no one ever shuts up.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 2604 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Invincible 68-69, Invincible Presents: Atom Eve & Rexsplode 1-2
Music: Frizzle Fry, Primus (fuck, I forgot what a killer album this is)