My Oath To You
I have a cousin that sends the usual religious chain letter stuff around. I don’t mind the ones that she sends to me because the stories that are in them are great and wonderful. I’m not the kind of person that does the “forward this to 10 of your friends to capture an angel’s wish” or anything like that.
However, she sent me one today that included this portion at the bottom. I liked it so much that I thought I would share it with you here.
MY OATH TO YOU
When you are sad…..I will dry your tears.
When you are scared…..I will comfort your fears.
When you are worried…..I will give you hope.
When you are confused…..I will help you cope.
And when you are lost….And can’t see the light, I shall be your beacon…..Shining ever so bright.
This is my oath…..I pledge till the end.
Why you may ask?….Because you’re my friend.
Signed: GOD
This may be an oath from God, but it sums up fairly closely how I feel about friendship. Everyone has their family, and you usually don’t get to choose them. Friends are a different matter. They are the people that you choose to be as close to you (or closer!) as family. If you’re my friend, I’m there for you no matter what.
ridiculously
Random word list:
nominalize
orthopaedist
ridiculously
costumic
saluting
Word chosen: ridiculously
Definition: causing or worthy of ridicule or derision; absurd; preposterous; laughable
Free association word list:
clowns
scary clowns
zombie clowns
zombies
ninjas
pirates
global warming
Flying Spaghetti Monster
religion
church
belief
faith
God
Jesus
Holy Ghost
Trinity
Neo
The Matrix
blue pill
password
secret
stash
Word chosen: zombie clowns
Writing:
Blood flew in a curiously pleasing arc as the head flew across the room. As the head spun and flipped through the air, I could see in alternating patterns the bright red mop of curly hair, and the painted white face of the clown. The face had been snarling at my neck just a few moments ago, but now it seemed to be serenely at peace. It’s funny how you notice these little details as the adrenaline courses through your veins.
I didn’t have time to admire the wet sounds that the head made as it bounced to a stop behind the ratty old couch. I had to turn my focus to the next scary clown that was heading my way. This one was painted to resemble a cowboy, and I wondered which rodeo he had escaped from as I swung my axe at its neck. Fortunately for me, these mindless bastards don’t dodge too well. Their only concern is to tear the flesh from the living. As this one closed in on me, my axe closed in on the space between its shoulders and its head.
The shock thundered up my arms as it always does when I chop the head from a clown zombie. The first dozen times I was forced to do this, I was revolted and lost my lunch more than once. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve done this in the past three weeks, but the feeling of cutting through the vertebra of a zombie is a satisfying one now. In the horror of combat against the undead, I’ve come to rely on the soothing feeling of chopping my way through the flesh of those that are crazed by the tainted cosmetics that were shipped over from China.
When this all started, I was using a sword that I had bought from the Renaissance Faire three years ago, but the edge finally wore off of it. I then moved to a machete that I had lying in my garage. The machete worked well enough, but it sliced too cleanly through the clowns. There was an efficiency of motion to it, but it wasn’t gratifying to send another zombie to its eternal rest.
Almost two weeks ago I found this axe in an abandoned hardware store. It wasn’t my weapon of choice, but it was the closest thing at hand when one of those rare fast moving zombies jumped me and knocked my machete out of my grasp. It was chance meeting, me and this axe, but it was love at first touch. Several other survivors have mocked me for wielding such an awkward weapon against the clowns, but it has served me well.
Me and my axe against a raging horde of zombie clowns. Times have gotten interesting, and I can’t wait for another chance to swing my best friend through the air again.
I was thinking of Kolvedic and Jhianna the entire time I was writing this. Kolvedic has a thing for clowns, and Jhianna has a thing for zombies. I figured that I would mix the two fears and see what I could come up with. It was written in first person, but I’m not too sure it was a fictional character speaking there. It was a fictional scenario, sure, but I think that I was speaking as myself here. I’ve never chopped anyone with an axe, so the feeling of it is pure speculation. It just seems to me that an axe would deliver a more satisfying impact than a sword. I hope I never have to find out, but if zombie clowns do try to take over the world, I’m willing to give it a try.
satyromaniac
Random word list:
satyromaniac
sphenocephalous
nivernaise
territorialism
psychos
Word chosen: satyromaniac
Definition: a lascivious man; lecher.
Free association word list:
Vince
roommates
studio apartment
simple times
Pizza Hut
delivery
hard on the car
POS car(s)
Chevy Citation
strange cars
Dodge Diplomat
old cop car
bullet hole
guns
shooting
NRA
guns good
people bad
Word chosen: simple times
Writing:
When I was first on my own, I was in a two bedroom duplex with 4 other people, but that’s a story for another time. I want to tell you about the apartment that J.J. (and then eventually Vince) and I lived in.
It was a two-level studio. That basically means one big room downstairs, and one big room upstairs. Big is a relative term. The rooms were about 12×30 or so. Not really all that big. Downstairs was the kitchen, and upstairs was the bathroom. There was also a closet on each level. It was a great place to live because we were all just getting started out, and didn’t have lots of money.
The apartment ran $99 a month, and our two phone lines and electric bill ran us another $25-$30 a month more. Once you split that three ways, the total cost of living there was about $40 bucks a month for each of us.
We all worked at Pizza Hut. Vince and J.J. were cooks at a normal Hut that didn’t deliver, and I worked down the road at the Hut that was just a DelCo (Delivery/Carry Out) unit. They were cooks at their Hut, and I was a delivery driver. They had a harder time making ends meet than I did, though. They just got their hourly wages. I had my hourly wages plus $0.50 per delivery plus tips. In a week, I would usually make enough to cover my monthly bills. That left me with my paycheck, and extra tips to have fun with.
Most people would consider that extra money beer money. There were two problems with that. J.J. and Vince were recovering alcoholics, so no booze in the apartment. We were also all under 21, but that was more of a challenge than a true barrier to getting booze in my hometown.
Instead of booze, I would spend my extra money on books. Role-playing books to be exact. That was during my “buy every RPG out there” phase. There were some crappy ones (Pendragon and Dangerous Journeys come to mind), and there were some really good ones (Cyberpunk 2020, Top Secret S/I, and D&D 2nd ed. come to mind.) There were also some mediocre ones, but they slip my memories right now. I guess that’s why they were mediocre.
Those were good times… Simple living. Simple job. Simple hobbies. Lots of spare time.
Having said all that, I wouldn’t go back to it in an instant. My life now is much more rewarding than it was back then in every aspect.
maundy
Random word list:
disqualifies
fannier
hyperfastidious
interveniency
maundy
Word chosen: maundy
Definition: the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor, esp. commemorating Jesus’ washing of His disciples’ feet on Maundy Thursday.
Free association word list:
Jesus
savior
Heaven
conversion
Heather
Katie
Mrs. Setzer
The Dark Side of the Moon
Space Shuttle
Space Station
solar power
repairs
good job!
space role-playing
Alternity
current Saturday night game
crazy
bat-shit crazy
Phil the Robot
escape from the Inhibitors
…for now….
FTL travel
Word chosen: current Saturday night game
Writing:
I could write for hours on this topic, but our current Saturday night game that Kolvedic is running is a hoot! We’ve been playing it for several months. I could try to summarize everything that we’ve been doing, but I think I’ll just describe (from my point of view) the characters (and one NPC) that are on our ship, “Smooth Operator.”
Spice is playing a homicidal mercenary named Greer. She’s all in favor of killing the easy targets, and really hates getting into tight spots. However, she’s always there when we need her, and has pulled us from the fire a few times.
Jhianna is playing Lephanie. Lephanie is an archaeologist that specializes in Forerunner technology, civilization, language, culture, etc. She’s also an open book. She will blather the honest truth to anyone that is asking her questions. She, like all of us, has some Conjoiner technology in her body and head. This means that we can talk to each other over a wireless network. It also means that other Conjoiners can do the same with us. More advanced Conjoiners can probe into our minds and get us to ask questions. Some of us can resist… Lephanie doesn’t have a chance!
Eric is playing Michael, who is a psion that seems to always have trouble follow him (which is not a unique trait in this group.) He always somehow manages to get loose from the trouble, but not without a little death following him. Michael is very proficient at causing physical harm to people, and I think he enjoys it a little.
I’m playing Marcus, who is a former hero of the Empire, and, through some twists, decided to join the rebels. Well, he still wishes harm to the Empire, but not her people. Things have come up that have caused him to maybe switch back to the Empire’s side. He’s really not sure right now. Marcus is a leaf on the wind, and we’re in the middle of a hurricane. He’s just trying to keep himself pointed in the direction of the moment, and is trying not to get anyone on his ship killed. He’s the captain of the ship, and he feels responsible for everyone on board. He had hoped to have retired from the military to smuggle goods to the rebels as a merchant. That pretty much didn’t happen. Now, he’s just struggling to keep his head above water, and try not to let anyone around him drown.
We had two NPCs on board, but one got fed to the Green Flies as part of a (we think) necessary step to stop the Inhibitors. The other was a psion from Earth that can through some strange technology see the future in bits and pieces. We had the leave him behind on the capital ship, Tellus, so he could guide them through building a faster drive system to get them unstranded from the middle of dead space, and on their way to the nearest star system with their hull full of refugees.
Now, we only have one NPC. It’s Phil. How to explain Phil? We first met Phil, and he called himself “The Sentinel.” He had been alone in a Forerunner complex for over 20,000 years, and had pretty much gone bat-shit crazy from loneliness. How did he survive so long? Well, he’s a robot packed full of Forerunner technology… mostly weapons. Ouch. Somehow a few of our people decided to snag Phil (the name Eric gave him) and leave with him when we released the Green Flies to fight off the Inhibitors in the Tilo star system.
I could go on and on trying to make things about this game more clear, but it’s such a mess right now, that I’m not sure any level of explanation will make it clear. Don’t get me wrong. I’m having a blast on Saturday nights. It’s a great time, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next because, with Kolvedic running the game, it’s damn hard to predict. That’s part of the fun.
Good times, man… good times….
kerygmatao
Random word list:
ruberythrinic
kerygmata
smouse
nucleoalbuminuria
Tonawanda
Word chosen: kerygmatao
Definition:
The preaching of the gospel of Christ, esp. in the manner of the early church.
Free association word list:
proselytize
Bibles in China
Mandrake (nickname for a friend)
green berets
Iraq
war
fairness (as in love and war)
sports
World Series
Rockies
pitchers
wussy!
Titus
dad
Word chosen: Bibles in China
Writing:
A friend of mine, Mandrake, decided that he wanted to see the world. He tried to do this by becoming a Merchant Marine with the hopes of getting paid to travel the world. Turns out that those are the cush jobs that require 20+ years of being a Merchant Marine. He did his year stint to pay off the schooling, but it was in the Bering Straight aboard an oil tanker. Yep. He was even there during the harsh winter. I don’t envy his time aboard his ship.
After he was done with that, he joined up with a group that paid his way into China, but the catch was that he had to smuggle Bibles into China along the way. Before he left I had asked him what the punishment was for doing such a thing. I got the answer that I expected: Death. He did add that it was rare for the Chinese government to execute a Westerner for this offense.
He vanished off to the Far East to smuggle some bibles, and was apparently very successful since he made it out alive. I never did hear his stories about the smuggling operation, but I did hear that when it was time to come home, he wasn’t ready. Instead of hopping on the first flight home, he packed up his stuff, took what little cash he had, and started walking west. He ended up hiking across Asia, the Middle East, and into Europe where he then hopped on a plan and came home. I’ve heard this story third or fourth hand, so I’m not sure of the accuracy of it, but it’s a damn good story either way.
After his trip across the world, Mandrake joined the military with the goal of becoming a Green Beret. He made it through the training, and worked his way to where he was being considered. There was a single higher-up in the food chain in the Army that refused to sign the paperwork. Mandrake could have fought the rejection, but he just wanted to be a soldier. Rather than hold up his deployment, he accepted being assigned to the Rangers, and shipped off to Iraq.
That was well over a year ago, and he’s been in Iraq up until a week or so ago. He just made it home to thee States, but he hasn’t managed to make it back to his home town just yet. I’m eagerly waiting for him to rejoin us (however briefly it may be), so that I can hear some more of his stories about the world.
I know that he made it home physically intact. I just hope and pray that he didn’t come back mentally or emotionally broken. I’ve heard more and more stories about veterans seeing so many horrible things that they just can’t cope with civilian life. We have big fancy words for it: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I prefer the World War One phrase: Shell Shock. You’ve experienced so many horrible things that your mind just can’t cope with it. There are so many things that the mind can handle before it snaps. Different people have different levels of stress that they can handle before permanent damage is done. I just hope that Mandrake didn’t come near his limit.
High School Memories
I got this from Jhianna who got it from someone else. Looked like fun to answer, so here it is….
1. Who was your best friend?
My freshman year was Curtis. His dad got transferred to somewhere in Oklahoma. I really miss Curtis. I wish I could track him down someday. My sophomore year, I was pretty much in self-exile and avoided as many people as I could. My junior year, it was very, very few people that I could deal with (or that could deal with me.) However, Katie and Heather were there for me through it all. They cared for me like no one had ever cared for me before. If it wasn’t for their love, I’m not sure I would have survived. My senior year, I finally came out of my shell (actually, Heather broke me out of it during the summer between Jr. and Sr. years.) I had so many friends (and we were all outcasts together) that I really can’t pin one of them as a “best” friend, but J.J. ended up being my best friend for several years until the lure of drug abuse sucked him back in. I had to cut ties with him, and that was a very painful thing to do.
2. What sports did you play?
I played tennis until just before my freshman year, and I was pretty good at it. I was as good as the guys that were rich enough to have their own private coaches. I often wonder where I would have gone with that had I had the proper training, and not had my arm mangled in a car wreck right before my freshman year. During the rest of high school, I skateboarded, but there was no “team” or anything like that.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
For most of my high school days, I drove a ’67 Chevy step-side, short bed truck with a rotted wooden bed, off-road tires, and a top speed of 57 miles an hour if I was going downhill. Part way through my senior year, it died a horrible death (transmission), and it was replaced with an ’81 Chevy Citation that lasted me through the rest of high school.
4. It’s Friday night, where were you?
Usually at home doing homework, programming on my computer, reading a book, or planning the next day’s gaming session at Bases Loaded. We’d play Warhammer 40k, AD&D, Paranoia, Champions, or Battletech all day on Saturday. To arrange this, I had to work 5 AM to 10 AM at Albertsons on Saturdays, so I was usually in bed pretty early.
5. Were you a party animal?
Nope. In my senior year, I would go to Larry’s apartment or house, and hang out where there was drinking and the occasional drug use. I would drink a beer or two, but not touch the drugs. I didn’t like most of the people there, and I didn’t want to lose control of my senses around them.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
Hah! Not at all. I’ve never learned the art of flirting. It’s just not in my DNA to be able to woo women in any form. I’m still not sure why Kiara chose to shack up with me. I was too embarrassed to even TALK to girls, let alone flirt with them.
7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
I tried orchestra (violin) for a few years in elementary school, and I was smart enough back then to realize that I had no talent at all for anything musical. I never tried again, but I do tinker on my guitar at home from time-to-time. I’m not any good, and I don’t think that I ever will be. Maybe someday I’ll actually be able to play a whole song.
8. Were you a nerd?
I wasn’t a nerd. I was the nerd of the school. No one was more nerdy than I was. Chess team, Academic Decathlon, Physics club, French club, journalism (which was actually kind of a cool kid thing), yearbook, electronics club. Oddly enough, there was no computer club. It was founded a year or three after I graduated, but I would have been the uber-leader of the computer club had it been around.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Nope. Got sent to the principal’s office once for walking out on a class 10 minutes early because the teacher was being a total bitch. I even called her a bitch to her face. My only punishment was to sit in the office after school for 10 minutes to make up for the missed time. I showed up on time, and the principal (who we called “Coach J” for some reason) made me sit there a whole three minutes before he told me to go home.
10. Can you sing the fight song?
Nope. They did that at the prep pep rallies. I didn’t go to those. Until my senior year, we were allowed to skip them and go to the library instead. I did that. My senior year they banished that practice for some reason unknown to me. That’s when I started leaving the campus instead of going to them. I could have gotten in trouble, but any punishment would be better than sitting with the preps and listening to them talk good about themselves.
11. Who was your favorite teacher?
I had quite a few good ones. Here’s the list:
- Mr. Vetter — Freshman — United States History — Chess Coach
- Mrs. Setzer — Sophomore and Junior — French — Her and her daughter (Katie, see above) really helped me through my dark times on a personal level. She could have sent me to the counselor, but she showed me love and kindness herself. She cared. I knew she cared. I didn’t want to disappoint her, and that is one for the reasons that I didn’t take my life my junior year of school.
- Mr. Landrum — Junior and Senior — Computer Science — This man taught me more than I can ever categorize about how to think logically, how to program, and how to be a GOOD programmer. I would not be doing what I’m doing now without him. I would not be nearly as good at it today as I am without him. Last time I went home, I tracked him down and we had a nice meal together (my treat) to talk about random things. Sure, it was mostly computers, but we talked about school, and teaching, and all sorts of stuff. It was one of the best hours that I had while I was in Texas.
- Mr. Franks — Senior — Economics and Academic Decathlon Coach — Mr. Franks was one of my few teachers that, by default, treated everyone as an adult. We had responsibilities, and we had to meet them. Because of the respect that he showed me up front, I always gave him my best effort. He earned my respect by showing me respect, and doing anything less would be a huge sign of disrespect. He was also very open and friendly. He’s the kind of teacher that I would love to become.
- Mrs. Armstrong — Junior — English — Again, this was the darkest days of my life, and we always did free-associative, creative writing during the first 10 minutes of class. This gave me the bug for creative writing. It also gave me an outlet for my darkest thoughts, and that helped a bit. It also meant that she sent me to the guidance counselor at least once a week for fears that I may hurt myself. She was right. At the time, I resented the fact that she was right and was “intruding” on my life. Looking back, I’m glad she did what she did.
12. School mascot?
Bulldog. English Bulldog if I remember correctly.
13. Did you go to prom?
Hahahahahahahaahhaa…. Fuck no. Not at all. I had no desire to go. No one had a desire to go with me. Most people had a desire to make sure that I didn’t go. That’s probably a good thing. If I had shown up, I would have brought eggs.
14. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
no. No. NO. NO I can think of pretty much any kind of action in the world that I would rather do than suffer through that crap again.
15. What do you remember most about graduation?
I remember getting my diploma, walking halfway across stage, and the crowd applauding… then I remember hearing my mom screaming her head off. There were about 8,000 people in the stands, and I could hear her over everything else. Then I whipped off my cap, and headbanged for a few moments until I heard the principal clear his throat. I knew that was my cue to move on.
16. Where were you on senior skip day?
I was out with John SomethingOrTheOther, and Eric in John’s brand new Mustang 5.0. Yeah. He almost killed us approximately 9.7 times during that day. I’m not sure where we went, but we made a point to be anywhere else but school. One thing that I do remember is that I made it back to school for my computer science class with Mr. Landrum. Yeah. I know. I’m a nerd. I’ve accepted it, now you need to.
17. Did you have a job your senior year?
Not my senior year. I worked from my freshman year right until the start of my senior year. My grandfather wanted me to relax, enjoy my last year of high school, and improve my grades. I did all of that, and the first step was walking away from Albertsons.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Freshman year was on its own campus, and it was a closed campus. My sophomore year, I wanted to be away from everyone else, so I walked (open campus by this time) about four miles (one way) to a 7-11 to buy a nuked burritto and a Big Gulp that I would eat on the way back. There was a 7-11 about 5 blocks from the high school, but that’s where everyone else went, and I wanted to avoid them. I remember a guy that tried to befriend me (I’m really not sure why,) and to get rid of him, I walked faster on the day he wanted to go to lunch with me in order to leave him behind. It worked. My junior year, I had a vehicle, so I would drive as fast as I could to Burger King, eat as fast as I could, and get out as fast as I could. I was usually leaving about the time all the rest of the high school kids were arriving. I timed it perfectly. I’d then drive to a park and sit and read. My senior year, my friends and I would go to the youth center across the street for cheap food. On Wednesdays, we’d pile 10 people into my Chevy Citation and drive to Little Ceasar’s. They’d always ask for a name for the order and all 10 of us would yell out our names. It would confuse the poor people, so Vince started giving “Sid” as the name. When they would ask for a last initial, we’d always give “V.” I still use that sometimes.
19. Have you gained weight since then?
Oh yeah. I was 120 lbs. when I graduated high school. At the end of last year, I was up to 245 lbs. I’m down to 205 now. I never thought I would near 200. Ever.
20. What did you do after graduation?
I tried college, but that didn’t work. I had no motivation. No reason. I should have stuck with it, but I was 18, and wanted to live life, not sit in class. I ended up living life on my own by delivering pizzas. Yeah. I should have sucked it up and stayed in school. Ah well….
21. When did you graduate?
1991
22. Who was your Senior prom date?
Hahahahahahahahahaa…..
23. Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion?
I’ve already missed it. I didn’t even get an invite. Stuck up bastards. They’re probably afraid that I’m going to bring eggs. If I don’t get an invite to the 20 year reunion, I’m crashing the party.
24. Who was your home room teacher?
No such critter in my high school.
25. Who will repost this after you?
Don’t know. Probably no one.
Long Time, No Blog
It’s been over a week since my last entry. I just fell out of the habit of doing it with so much going on in my life right now. Here’s a quick summation of what’s been going on with me.
Work has kept me horribly busy with the looming deadline of a large project. It’s current line count is 13,069 of PHP and SQL. Most of it is really complex, so don’t let the small number of lines fool you. It’s been lots of hard work. Even though it’s kept me really busy, and challenged me, I’ve enjoyed all of it. If you know me, then you know that those are two things that I enjoy most. I hate it when I’m bored because of lack of work, or lack of challenge.
School has also kept me really busy. I’m in week 7 of 8 for my operating systems and object oriented analysis and design (OOAD) classes. Final projects and final papers are coming due in the next handful of days. I’ve been really busy with both classes. I’m almost done with my final paper for my operating systems class. It is about the internal workings of Linux, and has to be 8 to 12 pages in length. I’ve written 7 1/2 pages so far, and I have about 3-4 more pages worth of material to cover. It’s due on Sunday, and I hope to get a good chunk of it done tonight and tomorrow night, so I’m not trying to cram the final pages in at the last moment. My OOAD class is almost done. I’m done with everything I need to do for the class other than compile the final paper. The final paper is a collection of all writings, diagrams, and other goodies that I’ve done so far in the class. I just have to take all of my diagrams, export them to images, open up Word, and start importing pictures. Should be cake. I gotta wait for feedback from my instructor on the last assignment before I can start. I hope to have that by Sunday, so I can start compiling away. I actually may start sooner than that, and leave the last few pages for his feedback. We’ll see how time allows me to go.
I’ve also been busy reading. I polished off the last of Academ’s Fury Sunday, and I’ve been steadily working my way through Cursor’s Fury during the week. I’m about 3/4 of the way through the book, and it’s a great book. I can’t wait to see how it ends up, and that will start the long wait until December when the next book in the series comes out.
I’ve also be looking into starting back up with some martial arts. I’ve looked at a few places, and called a few of them for pricing, attitude, class schedules, etc. The place that I finally settled on is a Brazilian Jiu Jistu place that a friend of mine works out at and teaches there on occasion. The price is reasonable, and two of the four class times that they offer fit into my schedule fairly well. I’m going to head there Saturday to check them out to see what things are like before I commit to anything that is long-term.
I also upgraded my work laptop from Ubuntu 6.10 to 7.04 over the weekend via their automated on-line application. It was slick. I started it Friday as soon as I got home from work. I went to see Rise of the Silver Surfer Friday night, and when I got home the downloads were done, and the install was started. It was prompting me about overwriting a changed config file, so I had to answer a few of those before going to bed. When I got up Saturday, it was asking more questions. I decided to baby-sit it while working on my Linux final paper. I got some good work done on the paper while answering the randomly-timed questions on the upgrade. After the upgrade was done Saturday around Noon, it rebooted. The system came up clean, and I only had to tweak a few scripts and config files that I had changed. That only took about 20 minutes, and a reboot. After that, everything was working swimmingly well. I’m happy with the upgrade process. Good stuff.
I’m thinking about maybe rebuilding my server with Ubuntu Server Edition to see how things go with that. That’s lots of work and such. I’m not sure I want to suffer the day or two of downtime to do something to a server that is working fine. I’m currently downloading the ISO right now for it, and I’m going to test it on my personal laptop to see how things go. It might be worth the up-front trouble in order to make upgrades easier in the future.
That’s how my past week has gone. Just par for the course. Maybe I’ll start posting again with more regularity. We’ll see….
Rescued From A Cult
My plans for blogging this week was to talk about my trip, but I had this dream last night. It was strange and disturbing enough that I had to share it with you…
I was driving around in a very nice SUV with all of the bells and whistles with Jhianna. She was driving, and I was in the passenger seat. While driving around, we were looking for a friend of hers that was missing, but the police would do nothing about it because she had not been missing for more than 48 hours.
We finally saw her friend walk into a weird looking building that was in a shopping mall’s parking lot. Jhianna turned to me and said, “Why is she going into that biker bar? I’m the biker! She doesn’t even like motorcycles.”
I turned back to Jhianna and said, “That’s not a biker bar. That’s a cult hangout for drugs, booze, wild sex, and all sorts of nastiness. It’s not some place you want your friend to be. Go park the car over there, and I’ll get your friend out of there. I know my way around.”
Jhianna looked at me doubtfully, but she had no other choice than to go with me if she wanted her friend of out there. I got out of the SUV, and walked up to the cult headquarters. There was a broom with a black handle hanging out next to the door as I approached. I decided that it would make a good weapon. As I picked up the broom, I could feel power coursing through my arm, and it wasn’t good power. About the time I decided to put the broom back down, the door to the place opened, and a bouncer walked out.
The bouncer was a woman, and she had muscles on top of muscles that flexed and rippled as she looked down on me. She opened her mouth to reveal rows of broken and missing teeth to sputter at me, “What ya doin’ wit’ dat broom? Put it down and git yer ass in da door. Yer lettin’ people git a good look at da place.”
I immediately threw down the broom that vanished with a puff of smoke, and headed inside. The lights were dim, there was a strange smell in the air that reminded me of the cheap incense that my dad used to use to cover the smell of his dope smoking, and there were short tables, small pillows, and throw rugs everywhere. There were no doors, but plenty of archways that were covered with curtains, beads, rugs, furs, and long strands of what I knew was human hair.
I knew that I was in a bad, bad place, so I kept my guard up. I also could sense that I was in the presence of evil, so I called upon God to guard me against any attacks. I actually felt His power flowing into my body to guard me against unexpected attack.
The bouncer turned to face me after leading me into the building, and handed me a scrap of white leather hanging from a long lock of hair, “Here put dis on yer neck. It’ll let people know dat yer one of us.”
As I reached for the leather, my spine started to tingle, so I looked a little closer at it. The power of God that was in me allowed me to see through the layers of leather, and embedded in the middle of the leather were three small, sixes made of silver. I knew that this was the Sign of the Beast, and that I must not take it. I pulled my hand back, squared off against the bouncer, and proclaimed in a steady, powerful voice, “Begone. Demon! Leave this woman, and return to your home at the side of Satan. The power of Christ compels you from this woman.”
The woman’s face contorted in such a way that I was starting to think that it was going to rip in half. I then sensed, but did not see, a demon flee the woman’s body and sink into the ground. The woman started to shrivel and age in front of my eyes. As she shrank, she looked up at me with gratitude in her eyes, “Thank you. Paralak has controlled me for centuries. I’m free now. Save everyone else.” As she finished her sentence, her body fell to dust into a small pile on the floor.
I felt sorry for the woman, but I was glad that I could help. I knew that I had to go through this building and free everyone, including Jhianna’s friend. I started moving from room to room, and I found huddled masses on the pillows smoking some strange substance from a pipe that billowed out purple and yellow smoke that was the same sickly colors of a week old bruise.
The people looked up at me with a combination of fear and hope. As I approached each person, I touched them. Sometimes it was on the shoulder, sometimes on the head, and sometimes it was outstretched fingertips. The touches that I shared with these people were sensual, arousing, and very personal. I knew that by touching them I was exposing myself to the evil that was contained within them, but I had to take that risk in order to have a chance of freeing them.
With each touch, I willed the Power of God into their bodies. After a few moments, the people would cough up a nasty cloud of black smoke that would scream at me before raging away through the walls. The people would instantly become more and more healthy and vibrant. They would look up at me speechless while I pointed at the exit and told them, “Leave now, and start a new life in the name of God. You are free of the Bonds of Evil.”
As I freed the people, I moved through the building looking for Jhianna’s friend. I finally came across two women at the top of a narrow set of stairs. They beckoned me over and told me that the one that I was looking for was being held at the bottom of the stairs. I willed the Power of God into the woman to set them free, and headed down the stairs.
I was starting to get tired. As a conduit for God, I was expending quite a bit of energy. It wasn’t my power setting these people free, but it was coursing through me. Just as a river erodes the banks around it, the flow of power through my body was eroding my energy reserves. I took a deep breath as I reached the bottom of the stairs and readied myself for what I was about to face.
There was a small room at the bottom of the stairs that contained the Jhianna’s friend in the middle of a copper pentagram that had been inlaid in the middle of the room. I didn’t know what purpose the pentagram was going to be used for, but I immediately snuffed the candles around the pentagram to break its power, and moved into it to rescue her. When the candles were snuffed, Jhianna’s friend looked up at me.
This was the first good look that I had gotten of her. She was a small woman with a very slight build. Her features were very fine, beautiful, and precise. There was a beauty in her face that I have rarely seen in real life. The odd thing about her was that her features were very Scandinavian, but her skin was very dark and sultry. I felt an immediate sexual attraction to her, but I didn’t have time for that. I could feel the demon rising up from below in response to my breaking of his circle.
I picked the small woman up in one arm, and ran out of the building. I had already freed everyone from the building, and now I had to escape with the main purpose of my entrance into the building. I managed to run into the parking lot, and found a large, black, Ford SUV bearing down on me. I couldn’t get out of the way, so I threw Jhianna’s friend to the side in an effort to save her. Right before the SUV hit me, I summoned the last of the power that I had and threw my shoulder into the SUV. It worked. The SUV buckled around me, and I managed to step back unhurt. The strange thing was that I didn’t hear crunching metal, shattering glass, or the screeching of tires. It was all totally silent, and I’m not sure why.
The driver of the SUV leaped from the car, and ran around to face me down. I looked up at him, and it was Edward Hermann! However, in my dream, he was the leader of the cult. Maybe this is a Lost Boys flashback from my teenage years, but I’m not sure. All I know is that I faced him down, and yelled at him, “Your cult is destroyed, and you’re next!”
Fear filled his eyes, and he fled. I’m not talking about running away on foot, or driving away. He simply took to the skies without any wings, and quickly became a dark speck in the sky. As he retreated, I wondered if I was going to have to face him again in the future.
I looked around and found Jhianna had loaded her friend into the cargo area of the strange SUV that she had been driving at the start of the dream. I also noticed that my two dogs were jumping into the back of the SUV as well, and there was something powerful about them. They were guarding this poor woman’s soul from being stolen by demons.
I decided that we should clear out of the area, so I jumped into the SUV, and Jhianna started driving away through a gentle rain that seemed to be coming into the area to physically cleanse the area. It was pure, sweet, warm, and loving. I knew that God had sent the rain to finish what I had started.
This is about the time that I woke up to the sound of rain outside my Mom and Step-dad’s house. What a dream. I had a fairly massive headache, and I was tired even though I had slept for a good 10 hours. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while, that’s for sure.
BBQ Results
We had a ton of people (16 counting Kiara and me) over at the house Saturday for a neighborhood BBQ to celebrate the start of Spring. Funny thing was that we had to chip the ice off of the grill before we could start cooking. Good thing it fired up right away.
We all had a good time hanging out, talking, and eating some roasted meat. Kiara’s potato salad was a hit, and there was none left after we were done eating.
Our “tractor neighbor” had three kids over with him. One is about 20 years old, and the other two are around 10-11 years old. All three of them were incredibly polite, and were a joy to be around. All three of them made a point to come over to Kiara and I and thank us for having them over. It was quite refreshing to find children that were polite and courteous. It made me quite happy to have neighbors that have raised children like that.
“Tractor neighbor’s” wife was talking about a book that she was reading about the local history of the area. It was pretty interesting stuff. Turns out that our area had been settled in the late 1800′s, and the main purpose of the area was to grow potatoes. I noticed that the rolling hills of the area have been terraced a small bit, and I bet it was so that the farmers could grow their crops.
I just hope that our house wasn’t built on an ancient cemetery that the potato farmers used.
Snow Removal BBQ
Kiara and I have invited our neighbors over to the house to thank them for all of their hard work during the winter to dig us out of the snow on many different occasions. We’d like to wait until further into Spring for nicer weather, but one of our neighbors is an airline pilot. This means that he gets very few Saturdays off of work. He and his wife just had a new baby girl a few weeks ago, and he took a month off of work to help with the baby. Tomorrow is his last Saturday off, so we have to do it tomorrow or not at all.
The funny thing is that we’re predicted to get some snow tomorrow! How ironic is that? Should be quite amusing if we do end up getting some snow during the “snow removal BBQ.”
We know our neighbors fairly well, but I’m looking forward to this opportunity to get to know them even better. I think we’ll have a good time with burgers, brauts, chicken, potato salad, and some beer.
