The Portrait of Zool

LOL Classic!

Well, whatever you guys (and gal) come up with, count me in! That other post up above, it was just for fun.

The room was neat, but somewhat cluttered. The light came from a cluster of thick candles on one side of a broad flat desk, the other side displaying a wooden globe of the earth that spun slowly of it's own accord in it's ornate carved frame. In between were stacks of open books, a large unfolded hand inked map, and a long parchment, half written in by the quill now standing neglected in a crystal well. A large stone fireplace centered one wall, which was dark this warm mid-summer's night. The opposite wall was lined with shelves, in front of which stood some half completed canvases and an easel. There were artifacts from all over the world, and a few that were not from this world. A rack stood at the ready to one side; Vials marked temperance, revenge, love, rage, altruism, hate, humility, pride, justice, greed, and many others stood at the ready for the artist's brush.

Lackey shook the little bottle vigorously, stopping long enough to watch the swirling sparkles die, then shook it again. "Is this really bottled spontaneity?" he asked the old wizard, his eyes getting bigger and rounder as the gears began to turn in his head. "Oh yes - and do be careful with that," replied the wizard, watching the other with a concerned eye. The wizard had barely uttered the words when as quick as a wink Lackey reached over and popped out the tiny cork. Highly agitated, a fountain of fiery sparks shot out of the bottle. "NOOOOO...!" screamed the wizard, but it was too late - his dissent seemed to stretch into infinity as the world came unhinged around them...

Formulaic spontaneity

Death by the numbers

The Sicilian

Brute and I have also been working on an idea for a community RP which we could also 'dedicate' to the Pen anniversary. Details coming soon!

Yikes! I hate waking up with my face on fire! Glad you're all right!

Tongue trip news slip traveler ship go Inconceivable calamity - Extraordinary stow

Finger puppets dance in pale moonlight glow. Insect sushi heated fires flow.

You should have just posted it there! Links - of course!

The Grim Squeaker

I got this in an email once - I love it! Skills every man should have: 1. Give advice that matters in one sentence. I got run out of a job I liked once, and while it was happening, a guy stopped me in the hall. Smart guy, but prone to saying too much. I braced myself. I didn't want to hear it. I needed a white knight, and I knew it wasn't him. He just sighed and said: When nobody has your back, you gotta move your back. Then he walked away. Best advice I ever got. One sentence. 9. Write a letter. So easy. So easily forgotten. A five-paragraph structure works pretty well: Tell why you're writing. Offer details. Ask questions. Give news. Add a specific memory or two. If your handwriting is terrible, type. Always close formally. 12. Show respect without being a suck-up. Respect the following, in this order: age, experience, record, reputation. Don't mention any of it. 17. Make one drink, in large batches, very well. When I interviewed for my first job, one of the senior guys had me to his house for a reception. He offered me a cigarette and pointed me to a bowl of whiskey sours, like I was Darrin Stephens and he was Larry Tate. I can still remember that first tight little swallow and my gratitude that I could go back for a refill without looking like a drunk. I came to admire the host over the next decade, but he never gave me the recipe. So I use this: • For every 750-ml bottle of whiskey (use a decent bourbon or rye), add: • 6 oz fresh-squeezed, strained lemon juice • 6 oz simple syrup (mix superfine sugar and water in equal quantities) To serve: Shake 3 oz per person with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glasses. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice or, if you're really slick, a float of red wine. (Pour about 1/2 oz slowly into each glass over the back of a spoon; this is called a New York sour, and it's great.) 19. Approach a woman out of his league. Ever have a shoeshine from a guy you really admire? He works hard enough that he doesn't have to tell stupid jokes; he doesn't stare at your legs; he knows things you don't, but he doesn't talk about them every minute; he doesn't scrape or apologize for his status or his job or the way he is dressed; he does his job confidently and with a quiet relish. That stuff is wildly inviting. Act like that guy. 27. Play gin with an old guy. Old men will try to crush you. They'll drown you in meaningless chatter, tell stories about when they were kids this or in Korea that. Or they'll retreat into a taciturn posture designed to get you to do the talking. They'll note your strategies without mentioning them, keep the stakes at a level they can control, and change up their pace of play just to get you stumbling. You have to do this -- play their game, be it dominoes or cribbage or chess. They may have been playing for decades. You take a beating as a means of absorbing the lessons they've learned without taking a lesson. But don't be afraid to take them down. They can handle it. 28. Play go fish with a kid. You don't crush kids. You talk their ear off, make an event out of it, tell them stories about when you were a kid this or in Vegas that. You have to play their game, too, even though they may have been playing only for weeks. Observe. Teach them without once offering a lesson. And don't be afraid to win. They can handle it. 40. Speak to an eight-year-old so he will hear. Use his first name. Don't use baby talk. Don't crank up your energy to match his. Ask questions and wait for answers. Follow up. Don't pretend to be interested in Webkinz or Power Rangers or whatever. He's as bored with that shit as you are. Concentrate instead on seeing the child as a person of his own. 41. Speak to a waiter so he will hear. You don't own the restaurant, so don't act like it. You own the transaction. So don't speak into the menu. Lift your chin. Make eye contact. All restaurants have secrets -- let it be known that you expect to see some of them. 52. Step into a job no one wants to do. When I was 13, my dad called me into his office at the large urban mall he ran. He was on the phone. What followed was a fairly banal 15-minute conversation, which involved the collection of rent from a store. On and on, droning about store hours and lighting problems. I kept raising my eyebrows, pretending to stand up, and my dad kept waving me down. I could hear only his end, garrulous and unrelenting. He rolled his eyes as the excuses kept coming. His assertions were simple and to the point, like a drumbeat. He wanted the rent. He wanted the store to stay open when the mall was open. Then suddenly, having given the job the time it deserved, he put it to an end. "So if I see your gate down next Sunday afternoon, I'm going to get a drill and stick a goddamn bolt in it and lock you down for the next week, right?" When he hung up, rent collected, he took a deep breath. "I've been dreading that call," he said. "Once a week you gotta try something you never would do if you had the choice. Otherwise, why are you here?" So he gave me that. And this... 53. Sometimes, kick some ass. 59. Write a thank-you note. Make a habit of it. Follow a simple formula like this one: First line is a thesis statement. The second line is evidentiary. The third is a kind of assertion. Close on an uptick. Thanks for having me over to watch game six. Even though they won, it's clear the Red Sox are a soulless, overmarketed contrivance of Fox TV. Still, I'm awfully happy you have that huge high-def television. Next time, I really will bring beer. Yours, 63. Deliver a eulogy. Take the job seriously. It matters. Speak first to the family, then to the outside world. Write it down. Avoid similes. Don't read poetry. Be funny.

Animation - from Anima - Soul; Life: the feminine principle, especially as present in men

Nice! Very visual. I like the use of all the colors, and how the beginning and end tie together to create such a lonely, surreal mood. Great work!

Tango Tango Foxtrot Nancy!

(ROFL! I gotta go to bed - but you have certainly made for an entertaining night. ) LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA de da...

(I think I would've done a bit better back in the day - I am so out of practice! ) "Ray me!" he screamed, just as the alien burst from his chin.

"I see," said the blind man, as he picked up a hammer and saw...

What The Camera's Scene

To be real cool you gotta play real hot!

Soul on fire!

The gleam in an orc's eye as he laughs and slowly turns the spit you're tied to...

I am just finishing up "Pronoia ~ is the antidote for paranoia' by Rob Brezsny. Pronoia at Amazon.com This book is AMAZING! If you are of the opinion that there is FAR too little good news in the world, this book is for you!