Double posting is a way of life, First Dibs on the Universe, Urge to Splurge

Double Posting is a way of Life...
When you're writing from a cell phone so deal, baby!  Twice the rich, nutty flavor, half the uhm....err....half the tomfoolery?  Just kidding! I'd never skimp on the Tom-Foolery or the Jack-Assery around here.  It wouldn't be dignified!  The post I made from my phone was 17Kb which might be a bit big for the Cingular Network to receive and then send again so next time I'll try to keep them a bit shorter.  I just couldn't help it! My inexpressible exuberance for life overtook my senses and a short worded post became filled with....uh...more words...like right now...
Moving on...

First dibs on the Universe!
So Im reading TMQ at lunch when he starts talking about the latest cosmological discovery, which is that of a planet, nearly earth sized (nearly meaning five times as big and made of rock, which may not seem similar but compared to the Titanic sized gas giants they've been spying lately, it's pretty freakin close) planet orbiting a red dwarf some 47 light years away.  He goes through a whole calculation of whether or not there might be more actually inhabitable planets, doing some interesting ratios along the way but he ends up with an interesting hypothesis based on the failure of SETI (The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, a poorly funded NASA program that was the basis for the movie Contact) to discover any signals what so ever.  His hypothesis is this: What if the reason why we havent discovered any life outside of ours is not because there isnt anything out there but because WE ARE THE FIRST ONES HERE!  All those sci-fi novels and games that mention an ancient Elder race that built wonderful technology but all disappeared long ago?  Maybe thems is us!  In a couple billion years, we might spread the virus of human life all over the galaxy, and then die out but leave tantalizing clues of our existence to muscle bound heros and ridiculously preportioned heroines!  Imagine...the things you do today, the influences you have on our culture, no matter how infinitesimal they may seem at the time, could have grand repurcussions in the future...so think about that next time you want to have sex with that monkey!

The urge to splurge...
On Books!  There are several that I want to read that are out right now, and there are also quite a few that I am currently either reading or listening to.  The desire to splurge is just the devil trying to get in my pockets.  Get OUT my pockets Devil!  You caint have none of my scrilla!  Raise UP!  There...I feel better...I wonder how much Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell is on Amazon.com....

OH NO!!

Must resist...the urge to splurge....must resist...

EX-MF.Benticore
Out

Dude, where's my car? Plus other news...

So after my triumphant triumph (Here-here for reptitive redundancy!) of the washing machine (the one for clothes, not the one for dishes), I thought I was the hot shit...i put the MF in front of my name and erethang...but lo, I was soon to be punished by the gods for my hubris; the brakes and rotors on the car failed sunday. Yes, I was the recipient of many a dirty look and exaggerated eye roll. Take heart, dear reader, for I took them with the stoicism of a Man who has done wrong but has not yet realized. Basically my love, my queen had been asking me to take the car in to get the brakes done for months. But did I listen gentle reader? As my dearest would not hesitate to exclaim loudly to you, I did not. Pity.

Well, two days later and $380 dollars lighter, our brakes are fixed. Let's not mention the fact that the car still sounds like a dying wildebeast.

Also...pictured in the post is a new tea Mí Miélita purchased for me at our local herbologist. Its called Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls...it LOOKS like the little pods that gremlins pop out of when you feed a mogwai after midnight...but I'm still gonna drink it!

Ex-MF. Benticore
Out

Dude, where's my car? Plus other news...

So after my triumphant triumph (Here-here for reptitive redundancy!) of the washing machine (the one for clothes, not the one for dishes), I thought I was the hot shit...i put the MF in front of my name and erethang...but lo, I was soon to be punished by the gods for my hubris; the brakes and rotors on the car failed sunday.  Yes, I was the recipient of many a dirty look and exaggerated eye roll.  Take heart, dear reader, for I took them with the stoicism of a Man who has done wrong but has not yet realized.  Basically my love, my queen had been asking me to take the car in to get the brakes done for months.  But did I listen gentle reader? As my dearest would not hesitate to exclaim loudly to you, I did not.  Pity.

Well, two days later and $380 dollars lighter, our brakes are fixed.  Let's not mention the fact that the car still sounds like a dying wildebeast.

Also...pictured in the post is a new tea Mí Miélita purchased for me at our local herbologist.  Its called Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls...it LOOKS like the little pods that gremlins pop out of when you feed a mogwai after midnight...but I'm still gonna drink it!

I am reposting this because Im not sure it got through the Cingular Branded Ether to my blog.  Also I'm in a great mood, even though I have taken notice that not a one of you have requested a sampler of my Lion & Spear Prologue.  Wounded but undaunted, I shall continue to forge ahead, blazing the trail for other african-american science fiction authors with daughters who would be named for the main character if not for the Interventionary efforts of their significant other's family.  Wow, now THATS a long  title!  I guess thats the  A.A.S.F.A.D....um....nope, I lost it

Ex-MF. Benticore
Out

The great task is finished. IT LIVES!!!

We did it!  The washing machine, after many hours of fret and toil, sweat and tears, finally lives and breathes and runs and hums and does all the things and an machine of its size and compexity should do.  Putting the machine together was an interesting task, especially since we were kind of at a loss as to exactly where all the requisite parts to the machine went.  But at the end of the day we finished and had no parts left over, ran it on a test run and the damn thing works, damned if it dont!  Who'd have thunk it.  I wish I had gotten a few pictures of the thing blown apart all over the  basement, its guts spilt on the cold concrete floor like it caught a potato masher on a short fuse.

Its late.
I need a shower.
I made chili.
I think my wife is going to make me drive and pick up her friend.
I dont want to.
I got up at 7am and walked the dog, cleaned the kitchen, fixed the washer, cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I just want to take a nice long shower, sit back down, write for a couple of hours and fall asleep.

That probably wont happen.

Love Peace and Chicken Grease!
MF. Benticore
OUT
*MF = Mr Fixit* CAUSE I EARNED THAT SHIT, BABY!! YEAH!!!

"We're pot-committed now...no looking back..."

Those were the words of Super Joe as he reassured me that tonight's work on the washing machine wont end as fruitlessly as last nights (it involved a big black rubber mallet, a pulley and lots of swear words).  Am I nervous?  Of course not.  I'm a MAN.  Whats to be nervous about?  What could happen?

 

Don't answer that.

 

Also, I've given my Lion & Spear Prologue to a couple of people and if you're interested in reading it, put a comment up with your email address and I'll send it to you.  It's only 5 pages long, and I'll probably send it to you in PDF format so if you're one of the three MS-Free people without MS word, you can still read it.

 

My boss is gone and it's Friday!

 

If I had the money, it'd be margarita time but I don't so I'll have to settle for looking at the pic I took of one earlier in the blog...where? Oh just scroll down!

 

Benticore

Out

Maybe one day...

         I'll be Mr. Fixit.  Last night Super Joe came over and we deconstructed our broken washing machine.  If I had been thinking fast, I would have taken pictures but I still can tonite.  I mean, its not as if we put the thing back together again!  I learned a lot actually, Joe being very helpful in explaining all the gadgets and switches we found inside the washer's rusted carcass.  Actually, there weren't many switches or gadgets at all, to my surprise.  Just a pressure switch, some hoses, a bunch of wires, the motor and the tub and agitator.  But It made me understand a very simply, basic, Do-It-Yourself Principle: Most things are a lot easier to fix than we are led to believe.  I'm sure many households (Us included) when confronted with a broken washing machine would just throw the thing out and buy a new one.  After all, it's old!  Why fix it?  We live in America, the land of The Next New Thing.  It's as much a part of our culture to replace barely broken old things with shiny new things that don't work as well but look sleek and shiny as is Obesity, Political Apathy, and Hyper Violence as Entertainment.  Many people, me included, just don't understand how things work these days so when they break for whatever reason, we're forced to either pay outrageous prices to have them fixed or throw it away and buy a new one.  Couple that with the fact that many manufacturers of goods are consciously reducing the quality of products so that a customer is forced to buy new ones in shorter spans....yeah.  But I digress.  It also helps that we have friends who have the hook up when it comes to these things so instead of costing me $$$$ to fix the washer or $$$$ to buy a new one, It'll cost me $55 bucks and some elbow grease.  But the knowledge I gain from doing it myself is priceless.  If You're already a Do-It-Yourselfer and live by these creeds and think I'm late on it, then..well....leave me alone!  I'm just learning this stuff.

 

         Can you tell me how to get, how to get to...

         Sesame Street.  Well I took my family there, and despite rumors of 7 foot tall pigeons and trash-can dwelling ill-tempered monsters, we had a good time.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of Raquita, we got some of the best seats in the house and Cammy was able to touch or get hugged by every single character in the show.  Except for this crazy lady named Kay.  She sang and danced with the Muppets but was a bit overenthusiastic about the whole thing, as if she was trying to make the show feel like a real Broadway show and not believe that her stage career was over before it started.  But I digress.  The show was fun and we got free popcorn and Cammy seemed to really enjoy herself, which was the point.

 

         Off the Donkey

         You heard it HERE first, folks...the phrase that pays.  Off the Donkey...like off the chain, but even more so!  We put barnyard animals up in Our shit, yo! It's THAT dope.  When you start hearing it on the radio and on TV, remember, yours truly coined it and helped to spread it like peanut butter, or the clap.

 

         The Hero with a 1000 faces by Joseph Campbell

         Im really interested in reading this book every since I talked to Gikinmaro who spoke at length to me about it.  Basically (very very basically) Campbell says that most myths and legends and religions center around a basic hero story, which is almost universally similar in structure and meaning.  He brings up some really interesting examples and conclusions and I cant wait to read it.  If any of you have happened to peruse this tome and have an opinion on it, please, let me know.

 

         That's all for now.  I have more to say but I cant remember it right now.

 

Benticore

Out

Freed from the silly constraints...

Oh, pick one! Logic, reason, decency, good taste, sanity...the list could go on. All are good choices. But I'd say that work...no...'FUCKING WORK' is what I'm free of today. I just finished my project and have sat myself down at the local purveyor of hispano-american foodstuffs for a congratulatory margherita. I deserve it because I rock, and the project looks sweet.

So here's to kickin ass, takin names, best friends in japan, and wives that understand!

I'm gone till monday or sobriety, whichever curses me first.
Benticore
Out

GRINDIN'

Okay, so it's 11:14pm on a Thursday night, I just got home from another 15 hour day at work (project is due out on Friday the 13th and there's a full moon....good thing I dont believe in that crap.) and I'm eating some Kim Chee and eggs I just cooked up.  The Kim Chee?  Mai Lee, the best Vietnamese restaurant in the STL.  The eggs?  The Benticore special. Whats that?  Well, crack two eggs in a bowl.  Stir.  Drop into a hot skillet.  Dont let em burn.  Take em out.

Why did I need to talk about it?  Cause I've been high of Tea (yesterday I ingested around 170 cups of tea, most of which was caffiene heavy) and at the point of exhaustion and I never got to say hello to 2006 in a proper way.  So...there it is.

Will there be more later?  Perhaps.  Most likely.
But I'm about to go find my wife and remind her why having Benticore hopped up on Tea and Kimchee isn't a good thing if you want to sleep near him.

MWAHAHAHAHAHA

Benticore
(fading) Out