who wants to work in a comic book store?

approximate time, 4.40am. saturday morning. i am stuck between sleeping during the day to keep my weekly schedule going and sleeping at night to enjoy the weekend with my family. i end up losing on both ends. i am ridiculously tired throughout the day and have to disappear for hours to indulge in naps, and i am unable to sleep in the evenings, and wander about the house, quiet, drinking imported beers, trying not to wake anyone up, yet not knowing what to do with myself. even this typing i have to do quietly, gently, to avoid waking my wife, who sleeps as we speak, soundly, in the same room.

as you may know, i applied for a job in the new comic book store that opened in the local mall this week. after returning to the store today, i now have no desire to work in such an establishment. it looks like a great place to work, if t6ou want to work retail;. comics, movies, and video games. books, fiction and non, movie posters, action figures, statues, the lot. what fan would not ant to work there?

today i went in with my kids to wander about, maybe purchase a few things. the first flaw i found was in the comic book section proper. on the racks labeled "new this week" there were maybe ten books. on the racks labeled "new recent" maybe ten others. and by "racks" i mean "rack". sad. i know Diamond releases more in a week or a month than this.

the store advertises their subscription service. 10% off books you have added to your pull list. good stuff. i am interested in this, i tell the guy at the counter. he is unsure, shaky in his delivery. he tells me i may want to find Abby, the "Comic Book" girl. unfortunately, she is off on this particular day. when i tell him the books i am looking to subscribe to, he is completely flabbergasted. Elric, Planet of the Apes, and Hellraiser (all BOOM! books) are not on his list. he does not think that i can subscribe to these books because they are, as already noted, not on his list. again, i would have to talk to Abby. who is, again, not in evidence.

i did purchase the 3-4 books i had in my hands, because i did want to see the new Ghost Rider, and i did want to see what the Thunderbolts were up to. after reading some of that, i would have rather seen Elric and Pinhead and some Damn Dirty Apes.

why can't there be a comic book store within 30 miles of my house that is not inept? i have been to two different shops that were great, but they are farther away than warrants the cost in gas for the 3-4 books i am really after these days. Hellblazer, how i miss you so. i live in Chesterfield, Missouri. it is a town full of rich people, where the parents work hard and the kids are afforded whatever their little hearts could possibly desire. do none of those bastards desire comic books, video games, warhammer, magic, d&d? none of it? i know if it was within reach, they would go for it. the parents want to drink mojitos and bad light beer. they want to give their children something to do in the meantime.

i will continue to lament the lack of a decent comic book store within 25 miles of my house. someday, when i am out of debt and independently wealthy, i will open such a shop. until then, must i rely on mail order?

sunday night back to work

my alarm is set for 8.15pm. when it goes off, the message that flashes tells me to "go to work. be happy." i have the alarm set for 8.15pm because last week i transferred to the graveyard shift at the factory. this move was necessary if i wanted to be trained on a press. so now start work at 10pm, and finish my shift at the cheery side of 6am.

the transition has, so far, not been a pleasant one. (note. this is not me complaining.)

now when i get home from work, i sleep roughly until my wife goes to work (sometimes two hours, sometimes i'm lucky and it will be four), at which point the children, under strict orders not to disturb until i wake up to make them lunch, wake me up as soon as she is gone (they are kids. this is what they do). after much grumbling regarding my lack of sleep, i get up and get going.

"getting going" involves lunch, laundry, pool work, laundry and dinner prep/serve/clean-up before the magical hour of 6pm when i announce that i am going to lay down for a few minutes. after exactly a few minutes, the children decided i've rested long enough, and they begin wrestling elephants and practicing their marching orders upstairs.

so, generally unrested, i head to the shower, step into my uniform, and grudgingly head out the door around 9pm.

work eight hours, repeat.

i am excited about the job. learning to operate a press is obviously new to me, and i am trying to soak up as much information as my trainer can throw at me. if he would show up for work, that is. after the first night of training, he didn't show up again and i was on my own. i still don't really know how to turn the damn thing on, yet i'm expected to produce 40,000 feet of retail-worthy product. nothing like being thrown to the wolves. this wolf is forty-five feet long and has sharp metal teeth that can de-glove my arm in about two seconds if i'm not careful. good thing my trainer has been there to show me where all those... oh, wait...

so i'm looking forward to learning all of the ins and outs of running the press. and i'm looking forward to the raise in pay that is supposed to come with it. i'm not looking forward to this schedule change. i don't like not seeing/sleeping next to my wife. i don't like being overly tired during the day when the kids are bored with nothing to do. i don't like that i can't find a convenient time to write that i have most of my faculties about me.

i'm sure it will all come together. or i could start practicing saying "welcome to wal-mart".

i've got to head out the door. tune in next time for the "saga of the pool" (with pictures, mind you), and details regarding my first road trip back to the old stomping grounds in indiana (family in tow!).

i hope all is well my friends. i look forward to seeing some of you very soon.

wednesday factory

another test of the blog droid. heading into work. tonight, big things for the book. watch me twitter for more details...

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wednesday, plus fever dreams

hello friends.

i know, 2 blogs in a row! what is going on here? well i've about 30 minutes before i have to get ready for work, and i thought i'd tell

you all about the dream i had the other night. i usually don't remember my dreams, and never are they as vivid as this one was. it gets a little risqué at the end, but nothing too naughty.

part one.

we're in my house, here in missouri. it is a

hot summer day. windows are open, warm breeze causing the curtains to drift away from their tethers. my wife is home, along with some or all of the children. we can hear them playing in some other part of the house. our youngest comes into the room, telling me there is a package outside the front door. [in the real, waking world, i am in fact expecting a package. outrageous!] i go to the front door and open it. i poke my head through the hole in the screen door where a screen used to be. there is no package in evidence.

my father is coming up the front walk. he is dressed like Steve McQueen from Bullit. the same outfit, shoulder holster and all. he beckons me outside. puts his arm around my shoulder and walks me through our lawn, away from the house. a giant hole has been dug in our front lawn, the size of a swimming pool. all of the excised dirt is in a tall pile next to the hole. what appear to be two homeless people are lying in the mud at th

e bottom of the hole. my father and i pay them no mind. he tells me that my mother-in-law is in league with Satan, and has been a devil-worshiper for most of her adult life. he tell me she used to stand outside of church on sunday and hand out leaflets. he tells me i am not to let on that i am privy to this information to anyone else. especially my wife, for she may be one also.

part two.

my wife and i are out to dinner in a restaurant that we've never been in before. the only available seats are at the bar, which is otherwise lined up with regulars. a rowdy bunch, they begin to buy us drinks. two ridiculously skinny Asian women enter, and whispers start up at the bar that one of

them is pregnant. the women get word of this rumor, and instantly think that my wife is the one responsible for spreading this gossip. my wife becomes enraged, for some reason only at me, gives me the finger, and goes into the ladies room with the two Asian women.

part three.

i have been entered into some sort of arena battle tournament. my wife and her friends are all placing bets on how i will perform. she tells me to get into the shower and get ready for the first

round of combat. while i am in the shower, Lucy Liu comes into the bathroom to wish me luck. she is accompanied by two other faceless ladies. she tells me she knows i will do great. and that she has placed a rather large bet on me. the other two ladies don't say anything. before they leave, she asks to see my privates. i don't want to. she demands it. the other ladies giggle. i give in, pulling back the curtain. satisfied, Lucy Liu and her friends leave me to finish my shower.

end of dream.

now i don't put much stock in what dreams mean, if there's a hidden message there, etc. like i said, i woke up with such a vivid memory of what was going through my mind while i slept, and it is all still there, two days later. i thought i would share it with you. hope you enjoyed it. if i start to remember all of my dreams, i'll be sure to share the more entertaining ones with you.

i hope all is well.

tuesday pre-factory

good morning friends. just a quick hello before i head into the factory for another eight hours of ink tech-ing (non-technical term).

nothing amazing to report so far this week. my folks are coming out this weekend to visit with us and the kids, see the new house, etc. after putting most of it off, i've a lot of walls to paint and curtain rods to install, floors to clean and cats to wrangle before they show up. considering taking friday off of work in order to get a bit extra done.

of course, i still find time to read (mostly at work, on lunch break). this week i''m reading "zero history" by William Gibson. if i needed to sum it up in two words, Fashion Espionage. i should finish it up by friday.

i downloaded the Marvel Chrome app, which lets me read Marvel Comics on my Chrome web browser. not sure if i want to pay for the service yet, but the option of getting to read back issues that i haven't been able to track down over the years is tempting.

in other big news, i am attempting to give up drinking soda. anyone who knows me well knows i have a strong addiction to certain carbonated beverages, and have struggled with them for many years now. we don't keep soda in the house, but it easily available at the factory, and getting one is as simple as putting .50 in the machine and pressing a button. so starting today i'm leaving the change at home and bringing my tea bags instead. let the teabagging begin (ha!).

don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter @real_j_doe. i usually have something to say regarding what i or others are doing. usually with a tinge of sarcasm.

thanks for tuning in and keeping up with me. feel free to post comments if you feel like it. i am apt to respond.

hello friends!

work is draining me. not necessarily in a bad way, but nonetheless. i've hardly had time to get any writing done, much less any blog-postery.

back on second shift after two weeks on first. i was spoiled for those two weeks. sure, getting up at five in the morning is not the something i will ever enjoy, but clocking out at two in the afternoon, with the rest of the day ahead of me? that i could get used to.

on my off hours, i've been working on the book of course. not nearly as much as i'd like, but some work is getting done. four new characters, one recurring. remember when i was on the fence regarding short story/epic novel status? this manuscript is starting to feel like epic novel again.

when not working or writing, i've been trying to get some sort of workspace put together. our house is still a bit out of order after the great move east (see here for details if you don't know or don't recall), and it is hard to get work done without a comfortable workspace. here's what we have to work with so far:

not much to look at, i know. apologies for the poor quality. i took it w/ phone, sans flash, in poor light. it is, after all a basement. that is just one corner of the basement, the other corners being taken up by our bedroom, the laundry room and what will be a reading room/rest area for the kids once the humid Missouri summers kick in.

you'll see off to the left there is the old comic book collection. recently ignored, but never forgotten, i'm looking forward to diving in and getting some reading done soon. nothing new, mind you; i'm so out of the loop continuity-wise that i will be completely lost.

speaking of reading, i've made my way through quite a few books since i started work at the factory. every day i eat lunch by myself, and spend a quiet twenty minutes nose-deep in someone else's words. recent additions to the "books i've read" list include, but are not limited to:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk (this may be the most disgusting book i've ever read)

Down There by Andrew Vachss

The White Plague by Frank Herbert (not Dune-related)

Nemesis by Isaac Asimov

Fable: The Balverine Order by Peter David

i manage to get about one book a week in during lunches and breaks. coming up next is Cages, by Dave McKean, but that is too big to ring to work, so I'm thinking about starting William Gibson's Zero History at the same time.

right, enough book talk. hell, enough talk all together. i hope everyone is well.

mobile entry test

this is a test of the mobile device entry system. this is only a test.

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tuesday again

another tuesday begins. work in an hour. i spent the majority of this morning sorting through various projects, updating the OneNote with a pad's worth of green sticky note scribblings (when i'm in the factory, i tend to write a lot of notes down on green sticky notes and shove them in my pockets to be sorted afterward. i laugh inside when my fellow workers complain that their sticky notes always go missing...).

since i don't have a lot of time left before i must motivate myself toward the shower, i thought i'd give you a list of a few links for sites i visit on the regular. when i sit down to the internet (before or after work, usually, but not during my writing time if possible), i have a habit of going to certain sites every time, as i am sure a lot of people do.

kotaku.com - your number one source for video game news, reviews and coming-to's.

io9.com - kotaku's sister site, full of useful sci-fi info. books, movies, games, the lot.

imdb.com - the most important site on the internet.

twitter.com - where i see what other people are up to. follow me there @real_j_doe.

theoatmeal.com - he has a very particular brand of humor and style.

comicbookrealm.com - largest, most complete database of comic books on the net. lets me keep track of my giant collection (which is being sadly neglected right now).

like i said, i hit those sites pretty much every day.

one more bit of news. i hear tell that blogger has an app coming out for android phones that will let me blog on the go. so be wary, more updates and pics may be fast approaching. perhaps i can sneak a few snaps of the factory i've told you all about.

enjoy the rest of the day, mind the snow if you're in it.

plague-sick on tuesday

i started to feel like crap yesterday at the factory.

i felt worse as the evening went on.

this morning i woke up to discover i've some sort of plague.

lots of pressure in the head, a nose like a leaky faucet that doesn't run hot or cold, only mucus.

my whole body aches, my stomach feels like someone is tying a not in my guts.

yet, i still must go to work.

i know exactly how i got sick, too. usually i blame the children (convenient scapegoats). they bring home all kinds of sickness from school. human petri dishes, they are. this time, it was not the children. it was a coworker. went around the lab yesterday, coughing and sneezing, not covering up, not washing hands. i asked him to mind the germs. he looked at me with his usual retarded-puppy stare. so whatever strange virus he picked up from any of the dozen or so gas station parking lots he hangs out in in kirkwood, he has passed on to me. hopefully the kids' immune systems are up to defending against the kirkwood menace.

enough about the plague.

i made a tough decision yesterday, regarding The Red Left Hand. initially it was a short story, to be included in a collection of other short stories, all detailing characters and events in a fictional world i have been imagining up over the last few years. the collection was to be the first of many, a world-building experiment, meant to introduce readers to a fantastic, multi-planar universe where anything and everything is possible.

The Red Left Hand, first draft completed, was too big in my opinion. i started toying around with the idea of turning it into a standalone novel, and then putting out the book of short stories after, depending on feedback (remember, i plan on self-publishing).

after a few months of outlines, plot-changes, scribbled notes everywhere, and general hair-pulling and frustration, i have stepped back from the novel idea. i want to keep The Red Left Hand as a short story in a collection along with other short stories, all centered on one of the three continents that comprise this first world/plane in my universe.

if i like how it turns out, (and honestly, if others like it), i would like to take all those scribbled notes and timelines and build the rest of Luke's story. i know roughly how it is all going to go down, who lives/dies, who wins and who doesn't.

i know i've been talking a good game about this writing for over a year now, with nothing to show for it yet. stay with me to see the end result. it will be magical.

to all of my friends, i hope all is well.