I'll Name It After I Write It

Here comes a regular blog post. No poetry this time and no prose with veiled meanings. This isn't a post that's a sample of some larger piece I'm writing nor is it a post about what I plan on writing (though it may stray to that at some point). No. This is a blog post like few I have done before. This will be just me talking about life and what's going down for me at the present moment. I want this one to be fun.

First off, the unstoppable train that is college has finished it's long stop in Graduation Town and is now chugging full steam ahead to Post Gradatopia, and I'm their precious cargo. I've been out of school since December (minus one summer class that wasn't hard at all) and my next battle with education is starting come 9am Monday morning, August 22nd (happy bday mom!). Yes, I begin my 9 hours of grad classes on Monday and I am not excited for school to start like I falsely believed I was in past semesters. I don't think it will be hard, the classes at least. What I do think will be hard is having to have a job where I will probably need to work every hour I am available so that I can afford to live. See, unlike previous years of college, this year I am paying for half of my tuition and my parents are paying the other half. I know that is still alot easier than some people have it but it's a first for me and I apologize if it doesn't seem as big of a deal to you as it does for me. I am also planning and trying to help pay for a wedding at the same time.



That's right, I'm engaged to be married. Her name is Jessica and she is beautiful and amazing and everything I could want in a woman. I can't go on about her on here without being uber cliche but everything would be so true. She's perfect for me and I deeply love her with all my heart. She is a woman who encourages me in God and believes in my abilities and tells me when I'm wrong. She's not afraid to put me in my place and she can handle me when I get a bit out of hand. She's funny and thinks I am too and our life together will be amazing.

What else do I have to add to this? Hmm.... I could talk about my writing. I did say that I might touch on that a bit at some point. See, I left myself an out so that I can go back to it and not be a liar. Ok, we'll touch on that a bit. Rolling through the semester from August to December last year I wrote 2 or 3 poems max. That was mainly due to the hefty load of writing I was doing for my screenwriting class where I was drafting my first full length script. It comes from the novel I started way back when I did NaNoWriMo that one and only time. Since then I have been tweaking and revising it a bit every now and again and haven't been writing hardly any poetry at all. The script is coming along nicely and I have 87 pages of it done but there is alot of room for improvement.


So that's me in these recent days. I hope that all of you who read this have a blessed day and that none of you fall for the blunders of the sleeping priorities you may have dismissed. Good bye.

Breathing Boys

The wretch, the wicked

The deceiving dead

It fights, it fades

A sultry sin

Be gone the lost

Believe the rage

Become a virus

Defeat will stay

Fruitless cries

Falling campaigns

The horde still lingers

The flesh is drained

The bloodied, the battled

The breathing boys

It lives, it loves

A nocturnal noise

Be gone the hope

Believe the sane

Become the faults

War remains

Zombie

You walked.

Synapses and actions
Moving you,
Further,
Louder.

I was frozen.
Stiffness and silence
Driving me,
Downward,
Slowly.

My watery eyes
And your rivers.
Flowing on,
Filling up.

They drowned us.
We died.
But still,
You walked.

Zombie Wars: Rules, Tactics and Regulations

To begin, some of the rules of Zombie Wars are based on judgment rather than anything cut and dry. This is mainly due to the game originating at an after school program with children ranging in age from kindergarten to 5th grade. These rules have more solid standards, though that is not how the game is typically played.

Zombie Wars

The Beginning- The game begins with a single zombie. The person selected to begin as the zombie is the First Zombie. The infection begins with the First Zombie and spreads to the Human victims throughout each round. The last human infected in a round becomes the First Zombie of the next round.

Zombies- The zombies in Zombie Wars are slow moving though they are allowed to run for short bursts. The goal of the zombies is to spread their infection to the humans until there are no humans left in the game. They spread their infection by biting a human, stabbing them with an Infected Knife (see Blades bellow) or by throwing their infected blood into an open wound on a human.

To spread infection via infected blood zombies must have opened a wound on a human by scratching them. After opening the wound, zombies can sling blood into it if they have been struck, but not killed, by a weapon classified as a blade or a blunt weapon. If a zombie dies, either from gunshot or blade attack, then they no longer have a source of blood to spread to the humans. Zombies can also get blood from other zombies that have blade wounds.

For the blood to get into the wound sufficiently the zombie must be within a foot and a half when their arm is fully extended, having slung the blood at the human. This rule of distance is not hard and fast, it's a judgment call.

Zombie Tip: Attack from all sides to better your chances of infecting a human whose attention is split between several zombies.

Humans- Everyone who isn't the first zombie is a human. Humans can run as much as they want and have no limitations regarding physical movement. However, the equipment the humans have does have limitations on them.


Antidotes- When infected a person can receive an antidote to be turned back into a human. Time from infection is not a factor when using antidotes. An antidote can only be used on a person once per round. In other words, if you get infected then antidoted then the next time you get infected in that round you are permanently part of the First Zombie's undead army. If a zombie asks for the antidote they can't receive it at all for that round. Also, if a zombie refuses the antidote then they can't receive it at all for that round. Every human has an unlimited supply of antidotes.


Human Tip: Wait to antidote your friends until they are out of reach of other zombies or your efforts will be wasted.



Weaponry
Guns- Humans are allowed to have an assortment of guns, caliber and type don't have any particular bearing in the game. A standard arsenal is a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle. The amount of ammunition for these weapons is pooled into one large sum. So in theory a human can use all their ammunition firing their pistol and have no ammunition left for their shotgun or rifle. The amount of ammunition is a complete judgment call. It is based on an honor system for the humans and when they feel as though they have used their set amount then they no longer use their guns. Zombies can also interject their opinions about the amount of ammunition left for each human though the final call is one both parties agree upon.

Zombie Tip: Focus on one human to make them use up all their ammo, blades are easier to avoid.

Blades- Humans can use a variety of weapons that are categorized as blades. These weapons include, but are not limited to, knives, swords, chainsaws, axes, etc. Three attacks from a blade weapon will result in a kill. The location of the attack has no bearing on the damage inflicted.

If the attack is made by way of throwing the knife then the zombie will have in their possession an infected knife. The infected knife can be used to stab a human to cause infection. The zombie can only stab the knife three times or throw it once. If the zombie is killed while in possession of the infected knife the zombie retains the knife upon his resurrection.


Human Tip: Don't throw knives.


Blunts- Blunt weapons are any weapons that are used to strike a zombie but do not use a blade. They are only limited by the imagination of the player choosing to use such a weapon. It takes five strikes from any blunt weapon to take down an undead foe.

Theses are the summation of the rules and regulations for Zombie Wars. The game is ever-changing and adaptations can be made at the players' will. Have fun and don't get bit!

To Have Loved...

Last night lingered forever

And we were ending in its midst

I spoke
We divided
Now I quiver when I see her

Those looks that scream "Come stop me from leaving!"
And the words that were mouthed
Her face said betrayal and I can not stand myself when I see it
But I look at her every second
She hasn't left me

I've cried and wondered
Where are the imperfections now that I look back with 20/20 eyes?
Why has the world stopped?
What is there?
There is strength
And I must rely and remember
I love her and I must let her go

Still Rising

If sights would help us live, we’d see worlds
We’d take those strange steps on salty lands
Conquering kings and living out lives
We would love the days far from our own
We’d warm together on nights so cold

But we are not people of travel
We won’t heal from ancient battlefields
Our wounds need more than ghosts of the Greeks
We burnt to ashes our withered world
And now we’ll die, the smoke still rising

Don't Fret

Hello all. I'm working on several projects lately; things I'm quite excited about actually. I have a new novel I'm brainstorming about with my uncle Mike and brother Jacob. It's a zombie book that follows a 17ish year-old boy as he tries to find a reason and a way to survive his small town in Southern Oklahoma being overrun by zombies. He's pretty much the only one left in town that's alive. Another thing is my other novel that has been in the works for quite some time-it's about immortal spirit warrior guys... yeah. The zombie book is called Pure Water for right now and the other novel is called Spirit of the Lost and I have several sequels planned out for SotL.

Now, I've also written about 30 pages on a script for my screenwriting class this last semester, but as it always seems to go, I'm sorta burnt out on it. Despite that I still have 3 or 4 other script ideas I may get to working on at some point.

I haven't been updating this much and I couldn't tell you why. I have written plenty of poems and this entry right here is one I actually started in February. Yeah, February. It's crazy stuff and a crazy life. This summer I will be back home in Duncan, Oklahoma, because I couldn't find a job up here in my college town of Norman. It sucks having to crawl back home and take a job from Dad but it pays better than anything else I could do up here and I have a feeling that God has a reason for taking be back home. I hope people still read this and let me know what's going on in your life as it passes day by day.

Storms Arrive

A tattered life lived alone

The limbs move like aching bones
Steady and stable despite the breaking
A wound is healed, the earth is shaking
Long gray skies scream with storms
The tree breathes heavy but holds its form
Our waking eyes see in flashes
"Will the storm betray us?" her lips like ashes
I've forgotten tomorrow in this tree's hold
It's the comfort of her that I truly know
"We face many winds and freezing times
But the tree is still standing and you're still mine

The Key

I've been living in a lie

I've been losing in the night
Forgive these words
Falling absurd
You infect my mind
You stop, rewind
When I see you again
It's us in the end
Sincerity and control
Restraint and a hold
A kiss for more
We stop, restore
Over roads of black
No fiendish attack
Endeavors and dreams
They tear at their seams
You and me and a thousand days
Give up emotion, give in afraid

Myths of Past

Like looking both ways on a one way street

It's an unnecessary recognition
Walking away from repeated needs
How can she debate on them and not see me
A fever wrecks my thoughts
Wishing that I was there
"I love you" echoing deeper inside
I'm moving on but idealization doesn't die
A thought will always call to her, as it does for another
When will I know it's real
How is this going to be returned
Living, living, hurting and dying
Wanting, wanting, waiting and trying
I've confounded this concept
This case calls for recess
It's dynamic and fooled
It's heated and cooled
Endings start the past
Tonight we won't last

Where To Be

Impatience is a virtue for those who've waited too long

This endless hope need not go on
When will stability reign
When does pleasure take away pain
A black heat, hopeless
A racing beast, slowless
Do what you will
My heart is jaded, alone and steel
My words are said, it's all I need
Walk on in denial, it's over, relieved
The past returns in name alone
A warmth unfamiliar, feels like home
Your lips curl and a smile breaks silence
This is me revived, hopeful against defiance
Tell me again of those moments of old
When secrets were broken and hearts were told

To Live

Tell me of love, of pain, of suffering

Tell me of times of joy lasting tirelessly
Speak those words of praise, divine reverence
It's time to face the lost
It's time to lose your will
Love lasts but dwells among desperation
How do you determine such commitment

Tell me of hate, of pleasure, of happiness
Tell me of those moments lost in investment
I'm fighting these choices when God is leading
Do I know Him as I should
His voice is set behind my own
I'm losing because I chase this path
I will soon lose the source I know
My future is uncertain, I've lost who I am
My potential is squandered

Tell me of choice, of future, of falling
Tell me my life is going, changing
Speak to me and don't let me go
But it's time to leave
It's time to break away
Tell me to dedicate
Tell me to live