To RJ and Our Troops

Hey man,

I got the impression the last time I saw you that there was maybe something you wanted to say to me, something about my anti troop rants that I know, from our conversation, you disagreed strongly with.

I say that but I think it had more to do with my growing uncertainity about my over inflated sense of rightousness. What I mean is that I was wrong, have been wrong for sometime. I feel pretty bad about that being that I was loud mouthed about it and there isn't much to do there except admit it and move on.

I don't know what to think about fighting war I believe is wrong but I can not even imagine the struggle our troops go through every day, the risks they take or the real consequences they face.

I find myself simply hoping they come home as well as possible, that their families are not alone and that they be treated with the respect and dignity warriors deserve.

I hate to think that this was unresolved between you and me. I've stayed away from the Shed for that reason. I apologize for being an ignorant loud mouth.

-Mike

Dream Girl... aaaaaahhhhhh

I just got done editing my freakin profile. Just to put something out there that looks better than, well, nothing. So after a while of playing with the stuff in it, I started cliking on some of what looked like links in the view of the edited profile. Dang cool. It showed me other users that had the same keyword in the same segment of their profile. So while clicking along and just sorta browsing I come across this 33 year old woman's profile. Awesome.. Instantaneous internet love. She's got this really cool sense of humor, lives in my town, so many of the same interests. Oh so totally facinating to look over her many many vacation pictures of greek antiquities and read through her blogs. Just one problem.. no freakin way to contact her that I could find. CRAP! Just as my mind was fantasizing over the gagillion cups of coffee we'd share in some cheezy coffee house, the improvised open mic poetry we'd kid each other with, looking at and making fun of the art at railroad square, the really dreamy philosophy conversation that would last for hours, the making out in the parking lot followed by the hours of foreplay and passionate sex with no strings attached.. (breathe). Oh well. I may never meet you in person, you party girl, you. But at least this moment passed pleasurably.

Seriously though, you really do seem really cool beyond this cold flat screen. I hope for the chance at a good coffee and the whole art thing. Bon Chance!

Whew, connected again!

Ahhhh, it's like a breath of fresh air to be connected after so long. How little I realized just how much I depended on connectability and that gihugic research and information retrieval tool we call the internet. Doesn't everyone use it for that?

Simple things like recipies. Even if I had made a dish a dozen times or so I would still run to google "jambalaya", peruse a dozen recipies and instantly my memory was recharged over that certain special ingredient that I kept forgetting each time I'd make it. Even if the ingredient was something different each time. Go figure.

Or the long lonely nights spent over black coffee and a pack and a half of cigarrettes, reading Kerouac while listening to some beat thing in the background. My own personal cafe. Of course I never thought to actually pick up a book while I was disconnected! Just drank a butt-load of coffee. Hard to sip it without making a mess that way.

But now, I'm connected! Hey, Bonnie, I wasn't mad at you! The reason I wasn't talking to you is that I was disconnected! Hey, Capital One, it's not that I was purposely not paying you on time, it's that I was disconnected! Hey, you there you beautiful National Geographic, Human Migration Project Website, it's not that your endless tales of genetic tailspins and flights across the globe got boring, hell no. I couldn't visit you because, well you know!

Now of course I have no excuse for continuing my random education or contributing to this blog. Thank you internet. Thank you.

Our First Meeting in a While

We met last night to move the copier and the big stapler over to Clay's apartment but first we stopped at a shitty unnameable fast fuck place and had dinner. There was some discussion of cheese eating and dicks. Usual fare. I think Rob's acting out the man in a toilet stall grunting for and then dropping his own cheese log. See red faced white knuckling effort, the commercial ending with the message. The Wonders of Cheese.

We headed over to Clay's and lo and behold I left the paper carry at my office. Another trip. Another delay. And finally, everything is set up and the toner cartridge is bad. Fuck me stupid. Wait, too late. Now I'm really proud of the stapler which last night seemed to be the only thing working. It is, in fact, the big stapler that separates a press from an infoshop, that and bathing. Just kidding.

We did manage to discuss the copy issue for Fake Life. We have fifty copies to hand out tonight and we need 68 more to get to distros, reviewers and for comps to people issues have been promised to. This does not include sales of any kind. We agreed to sell these issues. Good fucking luck.

We discussed issue five. Not saying too much about it but its pro-gun. And there will be Jesus jokes. I think between that and my "anti" GI rantings and this next issue we'll manage to alienate everyone but the illiterate. We went from friendly neighborhood fanzine to holy shit run for your lives. RJ from Call for Fire won't even talk to me anymore. Walked past me without talking and won't return my email. I understand. He believes what he believes. I just expected that unity was more than just arm and arm drunk party bullshit. Real unity is disagreeing and still staying tight. CJ and I have unity. She thinks I'm totally fucked about the war and I disagree with her pretty much about the GI Opt Out issue. We got heated today, shaky voice heated but we're still tight. That's unity.

CJ, by the way, has a one shot coming out, an extension of a column she wrote for issue number two about being car-less, "One Less Car". Its about jerk drivers. It'll have some comix from Rob and Clay plus CJ always grammatically correct writing. I also have a few new projects coming up in the coming months. More on that as it develops.

Also we're picking up four or five new zines from outside writers for distro. I won't name them because I don't have copies in hand yet. I will soon though.

Finally, tonight is first Friday, a local Tallahassee tradition. Railroad Square opens up all its art galleries and its like a big party with art. We usually hand out the new issues on FF. If you see us there buy one. Argue with me about the war. Be civil. Stay safe.

That's all for now.