Let the Music Do the Talking

At the beginning of this year I vowed to focus on buying albums by bands that I really really dig, my favorites, rather than stuff I simply want. See, I'm a hardcore music fan and want far too much. So it was an issue of need versus greed, so to speak. Not to mention progression versus poverty!

But...

Accept - The Final Chapter (2CD)
Almighty, The - Powertrippin'
Ani Difranco - Official Bootleg #12: Chicago 9.22.07
Bad Company - Burnin' Sky
Bad Company - Company Of Strangers
Bad Company - Holy Water
Bang Tango - Ain't No Jive Live (EP)
Blackwood Creek - Blackwood Creek
Brand New Sin - Distilled
Britny Fox - Long Way To Live!
Buckcherry - 15
Burning Point - Burned Down The Enemy (w/Bonus Tracks)
Chaoswave - Dead Eye Dreaming (w/Bonus Track)
Chris Robinson & The New Earth Mud - This Magnificent Distance
Constancia - Lost And Gone
D.A.D. - No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims
Dark Empire - Humanity Dethroned
Diving For Pearls - Diving For Pearls
Dogface - Unleashed
Elis - Catharsis (CD/DVD w/Bonus Tracks)
Emm Gryner - The Original Leap Year
Eric Stevenson - Dead Horse Town
Faster Pussycat - Whipped!
Fatal - The Law (EP) (Limited US Tour Edition) (Limited to 275)
Fatal Smile - Neo Natural Freaks
Fates Warning - The Spectre Within
Firebird - Grand Union
Giant - Last Of The Runaways
Great White - Great Zeppelin: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin
Hanoi Rocks - Twelves Shots On The Rocks (w/Bonus Tracks)
Harem Scarem - Higher
Headbanger - Ready To Strike (EP)
High On Fire - Snakes For The Divine
Hugo - Hugo
Humanimal - Find My Way Home (EP)
Ian Parry - Visions (w/Bonus Track)
Icarus Witch - Draw Down The Moon
Iron Fire - On The Edge
Jagged Edge U.K. - Trouble (EP)
Junk Monkeys - Five Star Fling
Kip Winger - Songs From The Ocean Floor
KMFDM - Money/Bargeld (EP)
L.A. Guns - Cuts (EP)
Las Cruces - Dusk
Last Autumn's Dream - Hunting Shadows (w/Bonus Track)
Last Autumn's Dream - Live In Germany
Lindisfarne - Blues From The Bothy (EP)
Lindisfarne - Untapped & Acoustic
Living Things - Black Skies In Broad Daylight
Loudness - Hurricane Eyes
Mantra Sect - The Brave Die Lonely (w/Bonus Track)
Mass - Crack Of Dawn (w/Bonus Track)
Mass - New Birth (Reissue w/Bonus Track)
Mass - Voices In The Night (Reissue w/Bonus Track)
Monster Voodoo Machine - Defense Mechanism (EP)
Night Ranger - Hole In The Sun (w/Bonus Tracks) (Autographed)
Night Ranger - Man In Motion
Night Ranger - Midnight Madness
Night Ranger - Neverland
Nikki Puppet - Puppet On A String
O.A.R. - Rise Or Shine (4CD)
One Day As A Lion - One Day As A Lion (EP)
Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR
Pallas - The Dreams Of Men
Pink Cream 69 - Electrified
Places Of Power - Places Of Power
Power Quest - Master Of Illusion
Priestess - Prior To The Fire (w/Bonus Tracks)
Private Line - 21st Century Pirates
Pyramaze - Melancholy Beast
Quill, The - In Triumph
Rebellion - Arise - From Ginnungagap To Ragnarok: The History Of The Vikings Vol. III
Rebellion - The Clans Are Marching (EP)
Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2
Rock Theatre - In Your Face
Royal Court Of China, The - Geared & Primed
Sahara Steel - Sahara Steel
Sammy Hagar - Cosmic Universal Fashion
Sammy Hagar - Marching To Mars
Sammy Hagar And The Waboritos - Red Voodoo
Secret Sphere - Heart & Anger
Shadow Keep - Chaos Theory
Shadow Keep - Corruption Within
Shannon Curfman - What You're Getting Into
Shy England - Misspent Youth
Sick Of It All - Life On The Ropes
Spade Ghetto Destruction - Spade Ghetto Destruction
Squad 21 - Skullduggery
Squealer - Made For Eternity
Stan Bush - In This Life (w/Bonus Tracks)
Steepwater Band, The - Brother To The Snake
Storm, The - Eye Of The Storm
Storm, The - The Storm
Strung Out - Prototypes And Painkillers
Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger
Survivor - Vital Signs
Talisman - Truth & Live At Sweden Rock Festival (2CD)
Ted Nugent - Love Grenade
Tempest - Tempest
Terrorvision - How To Make Friends And Influence People
Thieves & Liars - American Rock 'N' Roll
Thieves & Liars - When Dreams Become Reality
Timbercreek - Hellbound Highway
Tina Dico - Far (EP)
Venus Beads - Incision
Vindicator - The Dog Beneath The Skin (Promo CD Single)
White Skull - The XIII Skull
Widespread Panic - Earth To America
Wildhearts, The - Top Of The World (CD Single w/Non-LP Tracks)
Wilson Gil & The Willful Sinners - American Banned
Winger - Karma (w/Bonus Track)

That's 111 albums, all purchased since Jan 1, 2010. I think greed and poverty are winning.

The Moment of Troof

As discussed here, the time has arrived. My story "By the Firelight" is live on 52 Stiches.

Be honest. Be brutal.

I'll be over here, cowering in the corner.

Honest Crap

The one and only Mercedes M. Yardley posted this here Honest Crap thing on her blog the other day. The point is to post 10 honest things about yourself. So why not? They can be entertaining. I mean, who knew Mercedes uses glitter as a seasoning just to make sanitation workers' jobs a bit brighter as they watch her sparkling chocodiles float on by? She's a fascinating humanitarian, that Mercedes.

And now it's my turn. Here are 10 absurdly true facts about me, myself, and my penis.

1. Most find it hard to believe I'm not always high, but I've never tried a single drug outside of alcohol, of which there is no kind I've ever liked.

2. I did two tours in United States Air Force, from 1995 to 2003.

3. I've been to 19 countries*: Austria, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.

4. I quit high school my senior year, immediately got my GED, and was in college before I would have graduated high school.

5. I began driving when I was 14 years old, and didn't get my license until I was 18.

6. I used to think Alaska was an island (see #4).

7. I like the movies Dirty Dancing and Titanic.

8. I've eaten cobra, ostrich, shark, kangaroo, alligator, and horse. Probably dog, too, while stationed in South Korea, but I can't confirm that.

9. Remember the movie Alive, where a plane crashes on a mountain and the survivors end up eating the dead people to survive? It wouldn't have taken me that long to think of eating those fuckers.

"Hey, Ken. Jimmy died last night."
"Hell yeah! Cut him up!"

10. My peehole is shaped like an S.

So there's ten things about me. Not very exciting, huh? (I stole the next part from Mercedes.) Now let’s hear ten things about you! I tag YOU! Post the Honest Crap picture on your blog and dish your dirt. Be sure to drop a comment so that I know you’re doing it. I’d love to come and see what you have to say.

* Sadly, gallons of alcohol were had at some of these locations, thus wiping clean nearly all memories. A byproduct of being young and taking things for granted, I guess. I later learned the importance of cameras...

...with neck straps.

Of Mullets, Microphones and Manuscripts

It's been nearly 20 years since I rocked the faux mini-mullet, and two years since I put down the guitar and microphone. And although part of me misses the act of creating music, I've never looked back.

See, creating music, though I loved it, had become a burden for me, and at the age of 32 I sadly had to acknowledge I didn't love it enough. Like that sexy wolf-hair mullet I used to walk around with, I was half-assing it. I actually knew this for a long time but was too stubborn to give up, too concerned with proving myself to people that didn't matter.

So I let go, finally, and picked up the pen.

I've always written. Most so-called writers will tell you that, and it's usually true. People can write. Whoopdeedoo. No surprise there. It's something we do from a very early age. But rarely does that ability to write translate into real talent.

And that is the crux of this post.

I want to tell stories. I've always wanted to write fiction, but Rock Star was something I wanted to achieve first. I played that role many times over the years, and it was a blast each and every time, a high like no other. I regret none of it. But I now know that writing was always my true love, and I've embraced her.

So two years ago I began to write more, read more, and open myself to learning and absorbing many of the things I once took for granted. I had no timetable for when I would begin submitting stories, though like many young writers have done, I made the mistake of submitting a turd or two way too soon. And I quickly understood this, so I backed off submitting and continued writing and reading, reading, reading.

But now, after writing hundreds of thousands of words, I find myself with a few stories that I feel comfortable submitting. But I wrote them, thus am inherently biased. One of those stories, "By the Firelight," was accepted by Aaron Polson for his weekly webzine/annual print anthology, 52 Stiches. It should go live next week. Wonderful news, right?

I'm fucking dreading it.

While this year 52 Stiches has already featured Kurt Newton, Nick Contor, Mercedes M. Yardley, and will later feature John Boden, making it something of a Shock Totem coup, I don't share their excitement. And it's very simple: I'm scared I've jumped too soon.

But I guess we'll find out next week. Some call me a perfectionist, but I've never really felt that way about myself. I think I'm just afraid of fucking up the most fulfilling relationship I've ever had. I am by no means a great writer yet, and maybe I never will be, but I hope I'm good. Good enough to bring some level of enjoyment to readers. And I also hope people will be honest with the piece and tell me what works, what doesn't, and whether or not it should have stayed buried in the proverbial trunk.

We'll see...