Day Two - The day after the beginning

Great, well, potentially great news today. I'll keep it mum because I don't want to jinx anything. Yeah, I'm a guy who believes in jinxes.

I don't have a lot of time to post at the moment. Yeah, I know you're jonzing for a long, meaty post. Go to dinosaur dracula. It's worth it.

Target opened it's Halloween display last week. That marked the first part of the official start of the Halloween season. Where I'm going tomorrow will finalize the season opening.

The opening of the season will be a two parter. First, I'm going to talk about Target.

Picture it. It's a windy night. Owls are hooting and in the distance, the howl of a wolf. I unfurl into the store in a twisting swirl of smoke. Emily, my love, appearing in a thunder clap of bats. And what do we see! A jolly spider welcoming us! Indicating that "Halloween is this way, guys!" More exclamation marks are needed in this paragraph!

We scamper down the isles like two excited goblins. People leap out of our way, seeing the devilish glow in our eyes, our teeth chattering, claws clattering. Emily drops onto all fours and gallops like a wolf to the back of the store. I am lifted into the air, riding a trail of black flames, wooshing beside her. As we turn the corner, what do we see?

Why it's our spider friend again. His infectious smile still wide on his face, he indicates we must turn the corner to find the "Halloween Shop". 

In the past, they never labelled their Halloween "section" before. I always simply thought of it fondly as a section. But a "Shop" is a far better name. Familiar. Mainstreet America is lined with shops. Around this time of year, some of them are even "Halloween Shops". The mere thought of that, a "Halloween Shop" on a main street, summons up wondrous images in my head. 

A gnarly old man, with a long, tree-bark wrinkled face, smiles mischievously at patrons as they walk in. Few even notice him at first. Most pass him by, their eyes exploring the ceiling to floor costumes, gags, and decorations. 

Target's "Halloween Shop" may not live up to such a legendary location, but they're not slouches when it comes to quality decorations.

"You're almost there", the cardboard cut out spider whispered to Emily and I. Whispered to us from his cardboard mind.

We rushed past clearance and price cuts, and skittered across the floor when taking the turn. We crashed into the poor lady pushing the cart. She screamed and tried to run, but Emily was too fast and ate her face. Blood eveywhere - it was wonderful.

Blood dripping from her face, she crawled atop the isle of food and shrieked in banshee delight.

Our vision blurred, ignoring everything around us that was not the "Halloween Shop". People would soon arrive with pitchforks and holy symbols, but a few face-melting blasts of hell fire and a barrage of frenzied attacks from Emily had them running to leave us in peace.

Row after row of sugary treats. Painted jack o lanterns. Spider, bat, and ghost decorations. So many props and costumes, I'll not be able to cover them all. But I'll try my best.

Rows of Halloween lights lined the wall. Above them was our happy spider friend hugging his jackolantern friends. If you notice, the central jack-o-lantern is upset. Above his head floats a candle and his cap has been removed. In the anatomy of a jack-o-lantern, the candle might be considered both the brain and the heart and the soul of a pumpkin. Frankly, as they are hollow, the candle is all internal organs. I can see why he'd be concerned as his entire insides are being drawn out of him by supernatural forces. The fact that his friends not only don't care, but are smiling, is sad as well. Wow. That picture is a real downer.

Not this one! Look at all those wonderful eyes! Torn out of the sockets of monsters. No humans have eyes like that, just terrible, unsuspecting monsters who may have been lurking under the beds of bratty children. Poor monsters who were hunted down by heroes to further their "glory". That wreath is a ring of pain and suffering. Bummer.

Not the skeleton though. How can anyone possible look upon him and not smile, right? Well, despite the fact his fingers and toes have been shaved off and he can not support himself as his limbs are held together by chains. That's probably fake smile, carved into his face. Inside he's really screaming, "Kill me again. Please, just kill me again and don't bring me back!"

Crap. This is turning out to be a downer.

Adam just walked into my lair, so I must depart. Tonight I am attending a costume party. I'll leave the link here. This will be my costume.

I'm dressed up as Batman. As a costumed vigilante, I must protect my real identity. That's why I wear the mask.

***

Hours later ...

Losing my job was one of the many events in my life that made it crap, recently. But today was a good day. A great one.

It started at lunch. That jinx I mentioned earlier - screw it, I got people praying for me. My old boss from Firaxis mentioned it might be possible for me to get my old job back. By old job, I mean managing a QA department, doing some voice acting here and there, and flying around the world to do some PR work. Amazing. Better, I'll still be able to work on my RPG, write, make films, everything. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but I was forbidden to be creative at the shit company that fired me.

Then I go to buy a new laptop, because Emily stole mine. Remember when I said she ate that poor woman's face? It was much like that. She demanded I give her my beloved laptop and threatened me with violence. I caved. This new laptop, while nothing truly powerful, will allow me to write and code outside the apartment. I need that badly and look forward to using it tomorrow. Plus, 7 hour battery life. :D

After this, I hung out with my friend Adam. Great guy. Not only did he cheer me up, but he brought me two CDs by goth bands I'd not heard of but turned out to love! New, good music for free in a genre I adore. :D :D

As I mentioned above, I went to my favorite monthy cheesy movie event. Tonight was the Microwave Massacre - a 1980s romp revision of Sweeny Todd with a microwave instead of a butcher shop. At this event there was a costume contest. A costume contest where I won! $50 was the prize. I dressed, as seen above, as Batman. I had a cape, in addition to the get up seen above. It was a glorious victory. :D :D :D

After this, hanging out with my friend Mike, he showed me updated art from a comic we are working on. It floored me. His work is outstanding and to see a quality print of the art floored me. Definitely inspiring me to finish another comic we're working on and keep the creative juices flowing.

Some other minor news, I'll be getting a real bed soon - rather than sleeping on the floor like a bum. Mike mentioned it appeared I lost a good bit of weight, which makes me feel better because I was a slob there for a while. A slob and a bum. 

Yeah, things are looking up, up, up. Let's hope the see-saw doesn't crash tomorrow!

Day One - Halloween Season Begins

Nanaskull or Skelnanaton

I'm late. It's 12:13 October 2nd. I could have lied and said this was written on the first, but I don't want to be dishonest to my devoted readers. Regardless, this is it. We made it. October is here!

Everyday, from that white building, Phantasm's Tall Man watches me walk the cemetery.

I got a lot done today. Took my daily stroll around the Padonia cemetery (Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, hit the gym (very softly), tackled Medicaid and unemployment tasks, followed up on a job lead, and cleaned up the apartment a little. Also on my list was to work on the RPG I'm developing, Pandominion. I wasn't able to hit that, as the night concluded with some video game time with my lovely girlfriend. 

I bet you're cheering at the monitor, full of excited energy, having just heard about my chores. Well, bad news. This blog post is almost over. I need to hit the sack to do more crappy chores tomorrow (earlyish). My alarms begin around 7:30 and I begin about two hours later, after sleeping through them.

Fear not, kiddies. I've got a whopper of a post coming up. My trip to Target, with aforementioned adorable girlfriend. My first trip to Walmart nearly a month ago (which I meant to blog about, but unemployment + depression = poo).

Before I sign off, here is the first leaf of fall. At the end of a stalk curls a dragon's leathery, veined wing; the color of rusted autumn.

Artsy werds be artsy.

Note the back of the cookies - golden perfection. I am a master chefbakercook. That's a thing.

I baked this batch of cookies from scratch. Yep, after creating the universe, I made all the principles of physics and sciency crap just so I could bake those cookies. They were worth it.

Ok. Go to sleep. Thank your gods that I wanted cookies, thus you exist! 

Trouble me no longer this eve!

Look for something new coming soon

I'm trudging away at learning Unity and waiting to hear back about a job. I don't want to jinx it, so no more words about that.

Besides, you're here for the Halloween fun, right? Great. Let's jump in.

Little, little Timmy's step dad would set up a train set for Christmas. He had houses, trees, I think there might have been a small tunnel. I remember being fixated with the houses. There was serenity in watching that train circle around the peaceful village. I remember one of my dogs, either Scruffy or Taz, would bark and bark at the train - when we'd take it off the track and put it on the floor, it was as if we released a live cobra. My puppy would lunge at it and retreat, lunge and retreat, growling and snapping at the inert object.

I've always wanted to set up a Halloween train set like that. I'd have a nice big, Victorian house.

In one of the rooms, there would be a creepy village scene. Walls of rock form miniature mountains, atop which stands a castle. Below is a swamp, replete with phosphorescent balls of light and a fog. Jack-o-lanterns would dot the scene. And of course monsters.

At Valley View Farms, a nursery near here, there is a Halloween display like that set up every year. It's set up just before they open their Halloween display. For about ten years now, shit, probably twenty, that display has been a highlight. Visiting the full display, which isn't yet set up, with its miniature walk through haunted house, that's always marked the beginning of the Halloween season for me.

I'm not sure when the full display is set up, they need to clear a large area for pumpkins and that area's not close to being cleared yet. Until then, here's a peak at the train-less display they set up at the front of their store.

I tried to get a good shot of the display, creep up from between the two trees in the foreground, but the girls behind the register were wondering why such an old man was smiling and snapping pictures of the display. All shots but that one were blurry. Let's investigate.

First off, who buries people by a mailbox?  Poor Al and Ben. But I guess it's fitting seeing as the community is called "the Boneyard".

I'd live there. At least you'd be able to keep an eye on the Grim Reaper. Look at him up there! He's like Batman, watching over the community. I bet it's almost as dangerous to break a law there as it is in Texas.

Grim must live in the sarcophagus just behind him. The one with the eerie green light emanating from within. Seeing as how there's a dark cave in town and a mill named "Haunted Rails Elevator", I'm assuming the majority of the town is underground. That makes sense, as most of the residents are buried.

The manor at the top of the hill either has a moon prop or the actual moon is supported by that house. Simply astronomical. I wonder what that Quasimodo looking giant is doing up there, lurching about. At first glance I thought he was the owner of the residence. Then I noticed proportions. Not only wouldn't he fit in the door, but look at the tower window. If that's a room up there, poor Quasi would be in the fetal position. If he could be squeezed up into that room. No, I think he's the owner's personal security. The owners must not know about Bat-Reaper.

After leaving Valley View, I swung by Baskin and Robins. I remember as a kid wondering if Baskin was related to Batman, because he was associated with a Robin also. The name still gives me pause.

This had more calories than everything I ate yesterday combined. Much like a house that props up the moon, it was astronomical. That's peanut butter cups on whipped cream with peanut butter and hot fudge sauce over peanut butter cup ice cream. Whatever you're thinking right now, however you may be imagining the sweet, sugary, peanut buttery and chocolatey goodness tasting, it tasted better than that. It was $5, which is insane considering how I'm tightening my belt, but I splurged.

That sign could be about my life right now. Today was the first day I've been out of the apartment for days. Amid my errands, I stopped by Target. Target hosts the second season opener of Halloween. Their displays are the best of any large brick and mortar store I've seen. They have fun, creative cut outs and always sell something worth buying. I looked through a Halloween catalog the other day. They were selling bats for something around $80. Unimpressive paper bats. The kind they sell to rich stupid people who hate their money.

 Hats for little kids and a long, empty isle. I close my eyes and can just imagine what'll fill those shelves. Floating heads under lit with ghoulish lights. Tentacles wiggling wildly out of boxes.

I decided to allot myself $5 to blow a day. Every penny I spent today was delicious. Had I those pennies back and didn't spend it on that treat, I'd have bought these stickers. I don't know what I'd do with them, probably send them to my girlfriend. However, I didn't. Instead, I snapped this picture.

I like all sorts of Halloween themes. Scary, creepy, mysterious, fun, you name it. I think a true lover of Halloween must accept it in all its forms; maybe even $80 bats.

These stickers make me happy. The jack-o-lantern is smiling. The cat's in a good mood. Even the decapitated head is grinning. Frankenstein's Monster looks confused and, well, can you get a mood from blood-shot eyes? I'm going to assume the eyes are happy. All that joy on one sheet of stickers.

There's a wonderful season on the horizon.

Halloween waits for no one - or - 5 hour energy is a hell of a drug

Not only did I finish a short series on Unity, a programming language, I understood the majority of it. I came up with some ideas for a comic, chatted with a friend about a roleplaying game system we're messing around with, and even played a video game for fun. This is huge. This is all thanks to 5 hour energy. One could suggest it was also due to the fact I'd spent several days in the dark, in the dumps, and my spirits were finally leveling out. No. Let me assure you, it was 100% 5 hour energy.

I have a bottle of extra strength grape next to me. I'll enjoy that when I'm done with this entry, as I feel I'm heading back into depressionville. Too bad my shitty psychiatrist doesn't help me or listen to me.

I don't know what the plan for Halloween will be. I'd like to think I could still host a party and travel to Salem, but that is up in the air and dependent upon my job. And Emily's job(s). Whatever job I have, I hope I can take off of work - I'll lose my mind if I can't. No. Best not even think about that. Positive thoughts. Be adaptable.

But this isn't why you, the non-existent fan base, came here. You want the Halloween goods. Okay. Since I'm pinching pennies and drawing my belt tight, I'm going to have to be creative with these run downs.

Rite Aid Isle o Dastardly Dismality!

Who doesn't know Halloween is October 31st? Letting us know it's a Friday is helpful, but that also limits the reuse of that wonderful jack-o-squidling display. Talk about temp job. That poor guy is good until November 1st then, all because of the word "friday" he's unusable. Well, unusable for many years. Maybe the shop keeper will store him somewhere, cover him in a clean sheet of plastic to keep the dust off and - no, he's trash. Doomed little doomling.

There's a lot going on in that picture. First, way off in the back, you see "ABCs". The school year is in full swing. Do poor kids need to be reminded of their indenture-hood when being dragged into this store?

Let's examine this scene. The first thing that pops into the eye at the far end of the isle is the skeleton face. That's because, this is science now, we humans are programmed to not only see anthropomorphic shapes and visages (think Jesus toast), but we especially focus on anything evil. That's because evil is rad and we humans all like rad stuff. Grim reaper is hanging beside some pumpkin bags, under a lantern, and what looks like little figurines of some kind. I see some fun, tacky black cat lawn ornaments and ... is that lighter fluid! Talk about evil, this is a hell of a Halloween display.

Moving further down the isle, on the bottom shelf we see single skulls and a fat purple spider. Then the costumes. This isle features an island theme for costumes replete with umbrellas for those trick or treaters who really want to go all out. Perhaps this store marked the umbrellas down 75% because they recognized it will be unwieldy to carry an umbrella *and* a pumpkin trick or treat bag.

And closing out the isle is some autumn crap. It's 50% off, but it shouldn't have been made. Autumn is for boring people who don't want to commit to Halloween. Get these un-jack-o-lantern'd pumpkins off my isles. Happy little girl with sunflowers, no, cover her in spiders. The burlap bouquet of dead leaves needs the hand of a corpse crawling up out or several bloated green maggoty slug things. Scarecrow can stay. He could use some tweaking, but not everything needs to be evil to be rad. Happy fall my ass. Look at that stupid uncut pumpkin. She's so embarrassed.

 This isle may not look like much to you, but I could entertain dozens of people with the contents of this shelf. M&Ms. Toss them at the guests while I set up the horror show. With open space as a stage I'd introduce guests to an evening of the odd and unusual. A spectacle to the eyes and the mind.

"What you will see tonight will burn itself into your soul. THIS evening will be among the moments of your life that FLASH before your eyes when you die."

A grumbly growl is heard from behind a closed door. Now scraping is heard behind the door. Combining the tattered robes and most of the make up, I'd have mushed together a caked mess onto someone's face. They would be the first freak to be presented.

"Behold! The Ghoul!"

The ghoul would shamble out, being sure to drag her arms on the ground, head twisted at an angle, eyes rolling wild. Maybe the ghoul is shaking and slobbering.

"This denizen of despair cannot rest. She cannot rest alone. Shall anyone keep her company?"

The ghoul will walk about for a bit until she finds someone who can fit into the skinned grimacing face mask. Together, they would slink into the back. I would encourage the victim "not to scream", insisting they not scream until they played along.

"Have you ever seen a living corpse before? A real living corpse? Of course not! What could top a living corpse? How about living dolls?"

Out of the back would come two people with the venetian masks on. They would take stuttered, deliberate robot like steps. But they would move slow. They would watch each other and try to move in unison as well. Across the room they would move, until they stood beside me.

"These are the two of the Triplian Dolls. They are looking for parts to make their third twin. I wonder if anyone here has parts they can spare?"

Again, the dolls will walk about. They would take someone back depending on the number of guests.

"My last ghastly sight only emerges on full moons in the valley and at parties like this. Prepare yourselves for the Valley Wolf."

You see where I'm going with that one. The wolf comes out with the neon gloves, hair extensions, and hams it up. At the end the cast comes out, everybody munches on M&Ms, and a good time is had by all.

I must get this 5 hour energy down my throat and Unity in my mind. I hope this coming week is better than last.

I lost a great Aunt this morning. Aunt Emma. She was 97. Passed away in the morning. 97 years old. She was the sister to my mom-mom, who passed away some 15 years ago. It seems like forever ago. I adored Mom-mom - Anna DeDiminico. Anyway, it's a poor tribute, but I dedicate this silly blog post to my Aunt Emma. I dedicate the bright blue sky, the cool, pleasant wind, the joy in my heart, all the laughter I hear, to her.

Sleep well, Aunt Emma.

Screw Batman

Bane broke his back, my ass. Batman let Bane break his back. I'm speaking out of ignorance here, so grain of salt this, but has Batman not fought tougher opponents? How many times has Joker gotten the drop on him and put him in a predicament like a Bond villain would. A pendulum of chainsaws swinging down as he's tied down.

Batman let Bane break his back. Bane wanted to show off, Batman knew that, in his infinite knowledge. I'm not making that one up. As Superman is as strong as he needs to be, Batman is as brilliant as he needs to be. Some nerds correlated Wayne's IQ and determined that he made all the other smarty pants in the DC universe look as intelligent as Aquaman is useful. Batman knew Bane wasn't going to kill him, he knew he was going to be broken, and he knew he would rebuild himself to be stronger.

Ah, there's the point of all this, you think. Well, not as you would think. I'm not an optimist. I wish I could change that, but I don't know how. "Hey, everything is going to be better. You were miserable at that job anyway. Plus, all that money and potential security, who needs that, right? Oh shit. That's right. You do. Oh well, you're fucked. Why get out of bed? Why try? Sleeping is so much easier. Your back has been broken...."

"Stay down."

Great men rise to the occasion. If I was a great man, I'd have done something worth seeing by now. Great men are born of adversity. If that's the case, then when I get back on my feet, maybe I'll throw on a cape and cowl, then run around punching people at night. Talking with a gravelly voice. No, I won't because only exceptional men can do that. Batman is so damn exceptional, he can wear a costume everyday, fight in it, and not think twice about it. He could probably dress up like a rainbow colored unicorn and kick ass. He's a genius who knows every martial art and is rich. Mega rich. The mega rich part is key here. It allows him for a lot of free time. He doesn't have to stay on the floor for four days when a job lays him off. He can yawn and run around in a unicorn outfit, thinking genius thoughts.

He's wracked with despair though. That's why I don't hate him. Despite all the things he has going for him, the despair is hiss greatest weakness. He doesn't rise above it. He is haunted. Unless you're looking at the Bob Kane Batman or the 60's Batman, you don't see the guy smiling. He's the "Dark" Knight, these days.

I told Emily, that one year ago I was unhappy but content. My relationship wasn't where I wanted it to be and I disliked my job. I didn't hate it, I disliked it. But I was secure. I was doing little projects on the side - but on the side meant when I wasn't doing overtime. I did a lot of overtime the last 6 years. I have nothing to show for it, really.

This broke my back. I might get up, but will I rise? Who knows. Maybe through meditation and medication. Did I need this? Maybe. It was going to happen eventually, I think. Even if it didn't, what was my future? I'll not go down that route - it could have been a good one. Couldn't it still be a good one? Again, I over think (and over write) everything and I focus on the negative. I don't know the answer to that question. My biggest concern now is health care - and again, as it lingers in my head the dread begins.

I want to see a normal guy get his back broken by Bane. He's had to have practiced that move before, right? Is Batman really the first guy whose back he broke? That could be the case, but if it isn't, what about that schmuck? That no body is far more interesting than genius, playboy, overachiever who you know is going to win. Pro-wrestling is less predictable than Batman's fate. He's going to rise up, have a stronger back than before, and win the day.

What about the no name that does that? I guess I'm writing that story now. So far, that jerk spent four days on the floor. Today, he weighed himself and he's down to 233 lbs. That's a great thing. The sun is shining into the apartment. He's about to start teaching himself some C# and Unity, maybe make a shitty template game. He's still not going to talk to anyone. He's still not sure what the future holds. But he got up today. Oh yeah, and 5 hour energy is waiting for him. That's his spinach to make him Popeye. After sucking that down, in an hour, his brain will overcome the darkness and he'll be alive again. It'll only last for so long, but the grandeur will be amazing.

He might even open the window and let fresh air in.

Three days on the floor

I got fired from my job on Wednesday. The day of my last entry. A job I've had for almost seven years. I don't have much to say, other than I've spent most of the time between then and now on the floor in my living room sleeping or listening to music or just wanting to wake up and everything be better.

My baby brother had twins that morning. I might have written about it. From the pictures, they are good looking babies - why did I say that? They aren't mutated, their shriveled up prune-things. Good looking is relative. I don't see new borns often so I have no context, but since I love my brother, his wife, and hence these children, I give them the blind compliment that they are good looking. Well, they are.

I'm trying to learn some software to make myself more marketable. I really don't know what I'm going to do. I've cancelled everything I can think of that is nonessential. I'm probably done with the game industry and will work at some call center. The more I write, the more depressed I am. I'm done. Halloween might be over, as I can't much celebrate without money. No Salem, no Halloween - because there's nothing going on in Baltimore.

Until whenever.

I'm an uncle

Firstly, I'm an uncle. My brother's wife gave birth at around 8:30 this morning. Today, I'm going to wax a little philosophical, but keep a Halloween theme thrown in here and there. Let's start with some Halloween.

Boom. It's open. Halloween seems to start earlier and earlier each year. The series of events are, I get older on the 15th of August, schools open, and then Halloween stores open. That's like an Oreo cookie of events, filled with rotten creme.

I didn't take many pictures inside that mysterious store. I currently know what's inside, but in a few weeks, since I'm old, I'll probably forget. At this moment, I can walk my mind down the rows of costumes, see the Minecraft swords, the naughty and humorous costumes. But not you, my dear non-existent reader. So allow me to describe.

Notice the inviting darkness just beyond that open door. The floor gives way to a ledge, overlooking several floors of Halloween props and costumes sunken into the ground. This stone building is merely a prop itself. A circular stair spirals down the many floors. In the center of the gap between the stairs is a waterfall of blood. Chains hang under the stairs like strands of moss. Ghosts, of the sheet-with-eye-holes variety, haunt and hover about. Some restock merchandise. Most are slackers. Light doesn't reach all the isles. Some feature only sinister looking shadows. I didn't go down those.

Resenting youth. It doesn't make sense to resent anyone, so why would I resent youth? Oh yeah, hi, this is a transition. I'm dating, long distance dating, a very young girl. Legal - 19 - but for my 40 year old ass, that's insane. I can barely remember 19. I remember being stupid in love with some two idiots and one girl who shattered my soul and from the pieces I built what I am today. I don't want to do that to her. 19, though. She hasn't really lived that long. She's far from the newborns my brother now welcomes into the world, but equally as far from a miserable, beaten, tired, death-obsessed me. You'd think that would make her appealing. She's not bitter and her love of life should be contagious. But I currently resent that - and that resentment is stupid.

I explained to her that I'm selfish and envy her for having twenty years on me - that'll be twenty years longer she can enjoy than me. After I croak, she'll have a good portion of her life left. I want that! Sure, its silly, but I do. I'm obsessed with death and I feel like I'm doing everything I can to stop the rollercoaster as it teeters at the top of the hill about to plunge down. Rollercoasters are supposed to be fun. I'm supposed to accept the inevitable and enjoy the ride, but I don't. I am terrified of things ending. Shit, certain television shows (see Monarch of the Glen) and comics (Sandman) and video games (Red Dead Redemption), I've avoided finishing because I don't want them to end. So of course I'd be resentful of this pretty young girl and all her life left. She's a firm grape, I'm raisining.

But that's stupid. I never used to resent rich or famous people. In high school, I wouldn't resent the popular kids - because they weren't me. They didn't have the gifts I had nor the life I lived. I've become resentful of a lot of things lately. Some friends with their beautiful, rich, family filled lives. Others who are just as creative, but young and ambitious and motivated. But I've got a handful of accolades to show for my 40 years of life, a crap load of unfinished stories, and overall a lot of work left to get done. If I keep spending time bemoaning my envy, I'll never get it done.

Back to horror. I'm going to make this quick.

It took far too long to fix that picture. This stupid blog wanted to feature it on its side. But yeah, oh crap! She looks just like a prop, doesn't she? Not a prop. Her name was Witchelda. Nice woman. She speaks with that constant, wicked snear on her face; that's off-putting. Other than that, very helpful. Poor woman. Imagine suffering from that as a child. In school, the kids were surely cruel. Hell, little bastards will mock you for having a perfectly normal name; they'll twist it into the subject of a mean rhyme. Timmy Whimmy, Timmy Whimmy. I never heard that nor do I see how that would be particularly offensive, but its the intention and delivery that matters.

Last thing. This is from the same store. Not very helpful, this guy.

Okay. I'm out. Write back soon.