Sore Knee and Novel Progress

Walking too fast on too hard a surface. Plenty 'o ice the last few days. Plus I've been cutting down on my Internet time. Excessive on-line use makes it difficult for me to concentrate on things like reading and writing. Fast instant gratification erodes discipline, especially since they've added video to my favorite hot coed sites. My novel has not progressed beyond more 3x5 cards. (I now remember setting Halloween as a first draft completion deadline. My, how time passes when you procrastinate.) Sent the first 70 pages out as a novelette to an English publication. The editor's reaction was similar to his American counterparts: "Where's the rest of it?" In my head, alas. However, I do have enough material to try and get a literary agent. Plus, there's already interest from a small publisher who'd like to see the finished product. (The publisher's business model is small. He may be small personally, but I have no information on that. Nor would his stature effect any of my monetary decisions unless he did creepy things with his height, like hide in baskets then jump out and hit people with a TV tray.) Rare paying work has inserted itself into my schedule. I need to attend to that at once before the novelty evaporates.

Walking Fast

Stopped by a local high school track last night and walked 3 miles as fast as I could. That turned out to be 41:35, a 13:51 pace. Too much, too soon I think, since I'm tired today. But my final mile was 11:28, which is minutes faster than the running pace for my first marathon. The goal is to let the running happen naturally, but I'm close now. Tonight, I'm going to watch a documentary by Werner Herzog on the late Rev. Gene Scott. He was big here in Southern California during the 1980s and 90s. Quite a character; no other TV preacher quite like him. Herzog never has trouble locating fascinating subjects.

So Long, Frank Frazetta

Artist Frank Frazetta died following a stroke. He was 82. I loved his work, particularly the evocative covers he drew for Warren Publications Creepy and Eerie back in the mid-60s. When paperback Conan the Barbarian tales appeared around the same time, Frazetta's work graced the front. The old National Lampoon hired him once to draw a cover. Inside that issue, Frazetta also drew the cover for a satiric comic on a gay Dracula. Ah, well, adieu, Frank. Best wishes and prayers for the family.

British Politics For Dummies

Whaz'sup in the UK election? This guy knows and can say it lucidly and quick.

h/t: nerimon

Nashville No Big Deal

For some reason the national media seems unmoved by the monsoon-like rains and flooding that clobbered Nashville and the surrounding states. The damage costs are mounting like the national debt, reaching epic proportions. No national media means no celebrities will adopt this tragedy. Perhaps if the locals dipped a pelican in oil?

h/t: 500bennu

How Many Could You Do?

So asks chronicler Obsolete Skills. (Alas, I'm overqualified in many areas.)
h/t: Ace of Spades

Ralking

Another ralk today. Other than sounding like Scooby Doo, the word refers to a hybrid movement of fast walking approaching a run. Maybe in another week or so, I'll break out into a brief run and see how my knee accepts that. I've been loafing, avoiding the rest of my novel. Once I'm going, it'll be fine. So go, me.

Nose Stitches Out

At the doc's again to have the last stitches removed from my nose. I take it for granted that it looks somewhat okay, minus a bit of discoloration. But the nurse told me, in addition to how well its healing, that odd, unpleasant things often happen with skin grafts and that past grafts she's seen look like something that fell off a tray and landed on the patient's snout. Fortunately, mine still looks like a nose.

My wife reminded me yesterday that we started dating 20 years ago this week. I have trouble reconciling being in physical proximity to the same person for that long. I didn't last 20 years with my family, departing for the USMC at 19. In any case, there have been many ups and downs, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer just like our eventual wedding vows. Glad I took them as the adventure continues to unfold.

I consider an almost-run a walk so fast that running is the next step. Using the dirt trails around Griffith Park, I've been practicing walking gradually faster. Today bordered on a run for a few minutes. Now I'll see how my knee feels tomorrow. But it was fun to actually pass someone for the first time in a stinking long while.

So Brave, So Edgy

The breezy, hip courage of Viacom/Comedy Central executives on display.

Animaniacs Farewell Video

Editor extraordinaire Al Britenbach cut this farewell sequence, scored by the master, Richard Stone.

h/t: Daily Motion (Stephanie O'Keeffe) via Tom Ruegger

Lost in Studio City

Rugg recalls Jonathan Harris.