So....what are you doing up this late (2:45am EST) ?

[The Straight Story]

I am working on a memorial page for mom (died 12/31/2004). It is/was a B-day gift for dad's 70th birthday. Going through DVD's of old home movies (8mm->dvd copies we have) and getting images to add to the website for him. The old movies just made me smile :)

At any rate, taking a break for the night from it and jumped over here to DU and am having a beer.

(and did you ever wonder when you are out driving late at night where people were going to or coming from? I dunno, just seems similar here).

[vogonjiltz]

1. reading this

[The Straight Story]

3. You did well :) (nt)

[deadparrot]

2. Can't sleep.

Just relaxing and surfing the net.

[The Straight Story]

5. Sleep is for people who don't know about DU :)

I could be sleeping right now, but then I would waste precious time here posting to cool folks or getting flamed.

[jobycom]

4. Writing a novel and wallowing in self-pity. nt

[The Straight Story]

9. I got you on the pity part

Done a lot of that last 7 months or so.

Started a novel too, but got sidetracked with work, mom, other deaths, family, garden, et al.

So what is it about? - no need to answer that of course - I rarely do but will this time: Mine was about and alien that crashed many years ago and lived in the woods in southern ohio. He lived off stealing things and there were intermittent reports about a creature there. The story is more about the 2 guys and their lives then the alien. The alien represented other things in the story (like his mom was ill, as was mine when I started writing it), the unknown things of life, and so on.

I dunno, corny, but had no intention to publish it.

[jobycom]

18. Mine's finished

But I'm perfecting it to death. I can't get a couple of scenes working, and for some reason won't focus enough on the non-working scenes. I keep tampering with the others too much. And of course, every week I decide that I could do something completely different, and then I get bogged down on which version to spend my time on.

The novel is about a celebrity accused of murdering his wheelchair-bound third wife. Since everyone believes he did it, he tries to figure out who actually did it, by interrogating his friends, his first wife (his second is dead, also), etc. The hero is extremely controversial, and has made a career out of shocking people, from atheism to an openly sexual, swinging lifestyle with his third wife. As he tries to solve the murder, he gets more and more drawn into his own psyche, trying to understand how he became who he is, and trying to understand why things that once felt morally right have begun to feel wrong. The whole book is interlaced with Greek philosophy, as well as questions about religions, right and wrong, and the relationship of sex and love. And the further he gets, the more he realizes that the killer may have just been following the very messages he used to shock people.

That's the short version.

[The Straight Story]

28. Sounds pretty fascinating really

Better then mine. I am better at poetry and short stories then novels (mainly due to time constraints with the family and job).

[BlueIris]

57. For the official record, I think wallowing is underrated.

Self-pity is one of the necessary evils of life. Better to get it all out and feel whatever you're going to feel about it, (even if it it's disgust with yourself) so you can move on. For instance: One of the things I'm most bitter and wallowy about is also about my own novel--the one I know I'm not going to get to finish before well, it becomes REALITY. Yes, it's about THAT. I imagined it before Bush was "reelected." I thought it was the best idea for a wild story that was too unbelievable to ever come true ever in a billion years and...when I look where we are I think: Why am I bothering? No one is ever going to want to read this after it's become the world we're all living in. Another thing I can hate Bush for.

[jobycom]

58. Argh! Wrong approach!

Finish it now, and everyone will say you are a prophet. Sales will rocket. You will be the next George Orwell!

I kind of agree about self-pity. If you don't explore what you're feeling, how will you come to grips with it? Then again, maybe only us writer sorts feel the need to come to grips with it? WHo knows?

[Heidi]

6. 8:53 a.m. (GMT +1) . . .

I was wondering the same thing myself. :hi:

[Droopy]

7. I'm just fucking off and drinking beer.

[The Straight Story]

10. Now there is a plan!

About what I am doing as I type this. Time for more beer too, this one is dead company.

[Droopy]

11. Cheers

:toast:

[AngryAmish]

48. Me too

And listening to old AC/DC and Devo and Supremes

[Swamp Rat]

8. Roasting alien lizards on a spit.

Though, not for eating! :puke:

[The Straight Story]

12. I did that once

They seemed to like it. And I am starting to wonder if my dog is really an alien...

[Swamp Rat]

14. If you see your dog talking into his paw and then you find yourself on a

spaceship all of a sudden, it's fair to say he ain't no dog. :D

[Huckebein the Raven]

13. Reading Gran Turismo 4 forums for insight into tweaking

my suspension settings.

[stellanoir]

15. Well

Belated condolences regarding your mom's passing last year. That's a really sweet gesture for your dad though.

I just returned from a gig that lasted until midnight and was almost 3 hours away.

On the road home, going through one of the only cities on the route home as the bars closed, I crossed my fingers and wondered the same thing about where people were coming from and going to. Kind of like when I was very young and used to look at the houses my folks drove past and wondered about the multitude of real life stories that had transpired in each home. If every home could talk, I used to think. . .

Then on the back road that leads to my home, I followed a friend's truck. He's a really nice man, but he was weaving wildly in the lane in front of me. I thought to follow him home but just said a prayer for him and knew that he doesn't live but a mile and a half down the main road so he'd probably be fine.

So that's what's up with me.

[LSK]

16. im watching old Kerry rallies on CSpan.com

A lot of them are available. The Cleveland rally on election eve was pretty good. I miss the days when we had hope.:-(

[BlueIris]

27. You know, as shitty as I feel right now...I think you might be worse

off. I was just thinking what you posted you're thinking today--and I've managed to keep the "man-I-miss-the-hope" afternoons down to once a month for the last couple of months or so. It's probably because of the holiday. As a Kerry supporter in addition to being a Democrat, watching the old rallies or the debates makes things feel So. Much. More. Painful. I mean, I've done it, too, but perhaps you should lay off if it's just sucking more joy away from you.

[LSK]

35. but its a good pain in a way

It keeps me motivated to stay on top of things, and fight harder next time.

[BlueIris]

36. Yeah, you're right. There's nothing that gets me reinvested faster

than thinking about how great our guys were in my eyes.

[LSK]

39. and the amazing numbers of people in those rallys

We are definately not alone.

[BlueIris]

43. Sometimes, it isn't so much the sheer number of people who

helped, but who those people were. What gives me the most hope sometimes, are the kids. The ones still in high school who aren't buying one word out of the Republicans' mouths. That was the last place I expected to find anything encouraging, but there it was. Yay!

[pharc]

17. experimenting, right now

Having just finally registered on this dang place. And still up and about because some bookselling friends in the westerly time zones just finished up a convention wherein not enough books were sold, and they're yacking about it.

In other words, I work too much.

[LSK]

19. Welcome to DU!!!!

:hi:

[Heidi]

20. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

24. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[pharc]

31. thanks

for the welcomes. It'll take a little time to get the hang of these forums.

I like the place.

Duh. No kidding.

[BlueIris]

38. Yes, welcome.

They're nice to newbies around here. Not like some of the other websites I post on, where it takes about six weeks for posters to even notice you're new, and longer for anyone to want to respond to your comments.

[southlandshari]

21. Watching the rest of you.

Cue twilight zone moderator-gone-mad music...


(Just kidding. I'm drinking beer and hanging out like the rest of you. Mods need a little down time every now and then, too!)

:toast:

[southlandshari]

47. Oh, dear.

Mod humor has fallen flat on its face. Maybe I need to work on my delivery...

:shrug:

[MrModerate]

22. Well, where I am (GMT +3) . . .

It's a bright Spring morning and I should be out weeding the yard. Hopefully She Who Must Be Obeyed will be distracted feeding the six 11-year-old sleepover guests from last night (Oy veh!) for a little while yet.

[BlueIris]

23. Everything in my life is wrong. I'm trying to wrangle up the guts to

sort it out. ::whines:: It's hard. And I'm alone--by choice, but still, it's more difficult to restructure your whole world when you don't have any real support other than yourself. That's what I have you all for, but...well, yeah.

[Droopy]

25. If I were where you are

I'd put on some good music and pour you a glass of wine and ask you to tell me about it.

[BlueIris]

29. Aw, that's sweet. You'd have to make it a sparkling mineral water,

(I don't drink) but other than that...that's a nice offer.

[Droopy]

32. Sparkling mineral water it is

Do you like the band Muse? They've got some pretty mellow tunes.

[LSK]

33. i'll take a water too

I am a non drinker as well. I hate the taste of anything alcohol.

I hope whatever it is that is making you feel down passes soon.

[The Straight Story]

26. understand that really

Been there once. High school dropout, bad marriage, injury, divorce, moving across country.

Things are way better now - job and family wise. Things take time, but I had some real bad nights. Shoot me a PM if you need to chat or bust out here with things.

Friends, even online, can help things along (and if you want to hear some long stories, I have a ton of em, and poems).

Will help you through the night best I can if ya need it!

[Droopy]

30. You write poems?

Did you know that we have a poetry group now? You should post some of your stuff.

[The Straight Story]

41. Some of my poems:

http://www.ourmom.net/ourweb/stuff/poems.html

[The Straight Story]

42. PS

My poems reflect a tough time in my life and a happy time. Torn between two women, choosing one then finding out the other is pregnant and finally decides she wants to marry me, and so on.

Captured Hearts I wrote for my wife, she likes old western style things (as do I).

I was over 2000 miles away when my daughter was born. Long story, good and bad in it all. Things worked out though finally.

[BlueIris]

34. You're sweet, too. Your comment is helpful. I mean, I know that

my situation is not hopeless and is not THAT bad, (no illness, no crimes committed) but this is maybe the second-worst place I've been in during my (relatively) young life--and I hate to take it to this level, but is WAS easier to fix the last mess when there was a Democrat in the White House, the economy was stable, my friends were still around and I had my parents to (kind of) provide what little support they could. Basically, I'm older now, and things are more complicated in every sense of that term. But if I think of one thing to ask for advice about, I'll let you know. Thanks, again.

[The Straight Story]

40. Here are some of my poems

http://www.ourmom.net/ourweb/stuff/poems.html

[BlueIris]

44. Thanks for sharing.

Curiously, one of the problems I'm struggling with is how to get reinvested in my writing (I never thought I would burn out on my art of all things, but after college, I totally did). Clearly, you don't have that issue. Good for you.

[The Straight Story]

46. Well I do now to some extent

With mom dying and several others close to me. I have thought of writing more of late though. A lot is on my plate - kids I have not seen in 8 years, one of whom is graduating soon and I hope to know where and when I can attend (though I may have missed it), dad getting older, and more.

The time is ripe to write for me - just waiting to hear that inner voice...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

37. It is now 12:30am PDT, and I'm still up because of laundry!

I forgot to put my husband's shirts in the dryer, so that's happening right now. They are permanent press, so I must wait up until they are done, and then pop them onto their hangers, so they won't need any ironing! lololol They will be done soon...

[SarahB]

45. I'm at work.

It's sort of a slow night. :)

[Guaranteed]

49. Being pissed at my family ON my birthday, for fuck's sake,

and getting drunk while and after watching the Big Loobie.

[BlueIris]

51. Happy birthday.

I had to struggle to enjoy my birthday this year, too. Why, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that I thought I would be ENJOYING this one, (on the previous birthday, I had been thinking, well, NEXT year, I'll be celebrating the new world we'll be working for with President Kerry) my "family" (what's left of it) was behaving really inconsiderately. Honestly, I'm thinking I might give up on celebrating my birthdays in the future.

[Guaranteed]

52. Yeah, exactly.

I hear ya.

[Ellen Forradalom]

50. Got my sleep early

Slept 5:30 to 1.

Driving all night to my mother's house last night threw my cycle off.

[ghostsofgiants]

53. 6:15am NDT

I ahve no idea what the hell I'm doing up this late. I'm tired, I've got a headache and my bed is just calling out to me. For some reason, I'm not responding.

[Heidi]

54. Headache?

Have you ever done accupressure for headache relief? It usually works for me, depending on what kind of headache I have. (I don't get headaches often but when I do, I try everything else before taking aspirin or ibuprofen for relief.)

[ghostsofgiants]

55. Nope, never tried it

I usually just pop an ibuprofen or two and take a nap. My brother recently stole my bottle though so I am ibuprofenless at the moment.

This accupresure thing sounds interesting though. Tell me more.

[Heidi]

56. Info.

When I have a headache, I open my hand and massage the fleshy part just above the webbing between thumb and index finger. This photo shows basically the same technique on the L14 point.

More accupressure info:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/question654.htm

[ghostsofgiants]

60. Cool, thanks!

I'll definitely keep that in mind next time I have a headache.

[Left Is Write]

59. I wasn't actually. I'm just reading this now, 3:39pm MDT.

But what a lovely thing you are doing for your dad. I'm sorry for your loss.

(And yes, I often do wonder about the comings and goings of people I see quite late at night.)