It was a long time coming, but my wife and I finally saved up enough money to fly to a tropical island resort. I’m not gonna lie; I was a nervous wreck. She had flown before, but this was my first time.
The strong turbulence put me in a major panic attack. My wife suggested I take an Ambien to calm down. Before you know it, I am out like a light.
When I do awaken, I find myself face down on a sandy beach. I feel very disoriented; I call out to my wife Megan, “Megan! MEGAN!!” There is no answer. I then yell, “Hello! Can anyone hear me?!” I run around the beach, alternating between calling for my wife and a general hello. Nothing but the sound of seagulls flying overhead and the crashing of the waves on the shore.
I see someone in the distance. It looks like a woman. I shout towards her, “Megan, is that you?” But it’s not Megan; it’s a younger woman, maybe no older than 25. She is quite attractive. She is barefoot and wearing a silky black dress. I say, “Hello, I’m William. Were you on the plane?” She just stares at me and cocks her head inquisitively. I ask, “Are you in shock?” Still no reply. She grabs my right hand, inspects my fingers, and places my ring finger in her mouth and sucks on it.
I pull my hand away. “DO YOU MIND? HAD YOU TAKEN THE OTHER HAND, YOU’D SEE THAT I AM A MARRIED MAN!”
The young woman just smiles.
“I’m serious, I’m not interested, I need to find my wife.”
I walk aimlessly on the island for what feels like hours; I find no other signs of life except for the young woman and the gulls flying about.
I find a tree to sit under, a serious feeling of melancholy sets in. I start to question my own morals. Yes, I’m still married, but where am I? Where is the plane? And will I ever be saved?
The young woman comes over and drops the straps on her dress and slips out of it as as she crawls towards me. She takes my shirt off and licks my chest, her tongue goes from my chest, to my neck, to my mouth.
I hadn’t felt this free since before we married. The young woman unbuttons my shorts and pulls them off. She fondles me and I feel the warmth of her mouth on my member, I have a building urge to release inside of her mouth but wafting past my nose is a staunch smell of sulfur. I open my eyes and the young woman has morphed into a demonic furry black succubus with glowing red eyes.
<Xxzzt This is your captain speaking, we will be landing in about 5 minutes>
Megan looks over at William, who looks quite pale. “STEWARDESS, something is wrong with my husband!”
The stewardess asks if William has taken anything; Megan mentions an Ambien to calm his nerves.
The stewardess alerts the flight doctor, who checks on William, who is now quite gaunt; his hair has turned grey, looks twice his age, and oddly enough, seems to have died with a smile on his face.
A man thoughtfully eating red gelatin by a window on a cozy afternoon
This week we are to write a poem about another world be it Utopian or Dystopian that is completely unrelated to our current political climate, I chose the latter.
WHEN IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE SUN
I often imagine what it would be like If it wasn't so unbearably hot If something, anything would populate the sky to give us a break
If it was possible to eat something grown from the ground Instead we are forced to live off of some scientific made meal If only there was a place to sit To enjoy a bit of cooling off
But everything is brown, dead and barren The people grow bored Existing In our white robes But that is life when the only kind of weather is heat from the sun
**Note this story is structured like an acrostic poem, but it’s not meant to be a poem.
Flowers And Bright Lights
Frank felt a constant flow of despair Lowered his stare, behind whites in bloom Overcome with grief Why ? He questioned over and over.. Each day passes, pauses Rancid smells permeate his house Suicide is in the forefront
Angels keep him in check Night Air is crisp Driven to the end ?
But what is it ? Right up ahead It is quiet... God speaks "Hear me, it is not your time Frank, "Turn around, and find a purpose to live"
"Love thyself" I listen with open ears God forgive me, please ! Hold me close Teach me your ways So, I can live life to my fullest
*Still thinking often about my nephew who died in car wreck in February. I just started watching the Ricky Gervais show Afterlife as a tool to release some tears and think.about what is most important in life lived to the fullest. This U.K. show is quite cathartic for me.
My cousin Alex is marrying long time beau Paul this June at a lavish private golf resort in Phoenixville, Pa. Both work in the sporting industry, her with the 76’s and him an athlete. This is the drawing before its gets framed.
Pictures of the wedding to follow in July. We are really looking forward to it.
So in normal times there would be a massive security perimeter laid out. I’ve seen conflicting news reports praising the actions of all involved as well as questioning the urgency of the situation at hand ? I am of course referring to the Whitehouse correspondence dinner shooting.
No code red hotel security. Perp was a heavily armed guest of the hotel.
No security or secret service detail around the perimeter of the hotel
Perp made it past not 1 but 4 security checkpoints
In crappy CCTV footage Security looks like they are just standing around shooting the shit when the perp runs past
No real sense of urgency, the guests look really confused.
With so many conflicting reports even within both liberal & conservative media it is truly hard to pinpoint what is the truth.
Staged ? Possibly, to steer coverage away from the war.
Real ? This lone wolf could set the precedent for future assasination attempts with larger groups (ala Jan 6) because security is incredibly lax.
The President held a press conference as if it was business as usual, not coming across as someone remotely shooken by what happened.
The perp is from California, apparently without a motive.
Before anyone offers congrats i sucked it in for this flattering high angle photo
Time spent with Jess’s family. Her Mom had hoped to get a sheet cake to feed 15 (There are only 5 of us, I always think it is way too much but this family LOVES dessert, by mistake she got a 10 inch round cake that fed 20 for $30 more than she anticipated !!! TWENTY, there are only 5 of us 🙄😑😬) It looked nice although the turtles and what not weren’t edible and it was OVERLY sweet.
Lunch was mushroom pizza, toscana pizza (ricotta, with breaded eggplant and roasted red peppers as seen below. With a salad.
As Mom spent some time hemming my pants for a future wedding we are attending. I swear they don’t make pants for BIG & SHORT people.
After food, her brother spent time helping Mom with headphones for their tv, Jess her Dad & I creatively played some Taskmaster.
Jess wanted me to draw as well, so her Dad described a Monster and the first is what Jess drew, the second is mine.
If you have never seen TASKMASTER I highly recomnend it. It is currently on Series 21, the first series was in 2015.
(Parden the glare, I no longer have access to a home scanner, and the pages in these books are glossy)
So for the last couple of years now I have been buying & reading Creepers (Renamed Shudder following a Lawsuit from The Warren Publishing Estate) & Vampiress Carmilla from Warrant Publishing which is pretty much a near knockoff in style from covers to interiors including a writer named Artie Godwin coincedence that it is very similar to Archie Goodwin writer for Creepy, Eerie & Vamprella published by Warren Publishing from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.
I have now decided to start collecting the original Warren Horror Comics in Archival book form. The first of which is Eerie Magazine
Eerie Volume 1: Issues 1-5 from 1965-66
I have to say, I wasn’t very impressed with this collection of 34 stories over 5 issues. After some research I learned that unlike Creepy & Vampirella, Eerie eventually had many serialized as opposed to standalone stories because of that I won’t be purchasing any further collections.
The following pages are from my favorite comics in this collection:
Issue #2 Ahead of the time. Art by Joe Orlando & Story by Archie Goodwin
Issue # 3 A room with a view. Art by Steve Ditko & Story by Archie Goodwin
Issue #3 Under the skin. Art by Joe Orlando & Story by Archie Goodwin.
Issue #4 House of evil. Art by Joe Orlando & Story by Archie Goodwin.
Issue # 4 Hatchet on us. Art by Gene Colan & Story by Archie Goodwin.
Issue #4 Gnawing Fear. Art by Rocco Mastroserio & Story by Ron Parker
Issue #5 Cover by Frank Frazetta
This cover was a nice surprise. Growing up when visiting my Grandmother there was a framed painting at the bottom of her stairwell. It was a recreation of this cover by my late Uncle Bob (who was a huge comic book fan), my Grandmother praised this painting practically every day. It’s one of those items, I really wish I owned.
Issue #5 A matter of Routine. Art by Gene Colon & Story by Archie Goodwin.
Granted all these comics are in black and white, but I think it lends to the tales coming across as even more horrific. If you like horror & ya like comics I highly reccomend because you might actually enjoy all 34 comics in this collection.