grsshppr94 @ 2006-09-10T21:58:00

2006-09-11T01:58:25Z

ok, ok, ok. Its been a while. But I have a good reason. I was in the Canary Islands for a week.

I had a blast! Matt had a few travel issues, but altogether I had a good time. The island was fun and relaxing. It was very beautiful.

The return to work was a mess though. I have an insane load of work and little time to do it. Several projects that were due in August never even were started. I haven't even looked at september's schedule. This week is a short week for me - I'll be travelling to MN on Wednesday. It's a mixed blessing. I'll be seeing Bec and Leo and the minneapolis group as well as my family in New Ulm, but as usual I'm all nervous about seeing my family and all of the issues it represents.

Well, the vacation pictures are up. Check them out: http://home.maine.rr.com/grsshppr

pack pack pack

2006-08-24T01:36:20Z

Work has been winding down. I thought I'd be panicked to get my projects wrapped up but today was surprisingly calm. I finished a messy conversion program and tied up several loose ends. I'm ready to go on vacation!

I've been running around ever since I returned home. Packing and organizing and finishing things up. Finances, making postcard labels and deciding what to wear. I know I packed way too many clothes, but hey, why the fuck not?!

Matt is clearly packed and ready to go with! I'm so happy that's he's joining. I don't care about whatever happens, I think we'll have a wonderful trip.

I was able to doodle a little today - thinking about design ideas on the bedframe I'd like to make for my woodworking class. I hope the teacher is good at thinking about these things... I'm not convinced most of my ideas will work. I want a king size frame with no center legs. It would be cool to work on the lathe for legs but I'm not totally sure of how to support the mattresses and still make the frame be able to break down for transport.

Have I mentioned that I'm eager to go on this vacation?

oh well, one more half-day of work and off we go!

Seeya in a week or so!!

Story...

2006-03-01T21:23:00Z

This is the beginning of a story i started some time ago. It is a psuedo-realistic setting of the modern day with bits of fantasy thrown in such as vampires, magic and more.

I liked the scene but haven't really thought about where it would lead to...

Comments and critisism is welcome:

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It had been another long december day at the factory blindly packaging product for Pyrtech. I had been drilling through a seemingly endless pile of work for the past three weeks and my mind was nearly numb from the repeatitiveness of it all. The sun had long set and a soft blanket of snow covered the cars in the parking lot. Big, wet flakes of the stuff were still drifting down creating a soft haze under the dim lights. The sound of cars warming and ice scrapers scratching echoed around me as many of my coworkers eagerly raced home for the day.

I trudged over to my Ford and brushed snow from the lock and around the door. As I slipped the key into the lock a shiver trailed down my spine, it had nothing to do with the cold but was a more engrown feeling. I paused as the lock thunked open and concentrated briefly on the strange feeling. Somewhere in the back of my mind a bizaar memory struggled to surface briefly before quickly fading away. I blinked at the bright surroundings and shrugged the feeling off. Whatever it was, I'd left all of that behind long ago, I've had a clean break and my old life had only haunted me a few times since then.

I opened the car door and tossed my lunchbag inside and dropped into the driver's seat. Shoving my key into the ignition I cranked the engine into life. Setting the car out of gear, I let out the clutch and then leaned over the passenger seat to grab the ice scraper/brush from the floor. Climbing out of the car, I slammed the door and began brushing the snow as the car warmed. The chill returned.

I recalled the feeling this time. The sweet smell of roses and the warm sickly flavor of blood sprang to mind as well as the image of a dark face fixed into a permanent scowl of dissapproval. I felt more than saw the short dark man standing under the trees three yards from the front of my car.

"Phillip," I said in a quiet, flat voice. Not loud, but I knew he could hear me. I hadn't turned to look at him nor did I pause brushing off the car. "Stop being so creepy and get out of the bushes."

He didn't move or even signal that he'd heard me. I impatiently stopped and gave in to his childishness. I looked up to see a short man in a long twill coat standing like a statue in the snow. He had long black hair pulled back into a tight tail that fell into his collar. His face was pinched tight, his mouth a thin line across the dark five oclock shadow on a pointed chin. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of the coat leaving only his face open to the wind. There were no tracks in the snow around him but no accumulation of snow on his shoulders either. He could have been there for days or mere seconds, you could never quite tell with Phillip.

"What do you want?" I asked, sharper than I intended to. Phillip didn't move at all. He was just an expressionless statue standing in the woods. His cold stare and long silences usually served to intimidate but in this setting he just looked silly.

After a painfully long moment of silence I muttered a soft "okay Phil, have it your way," as I rolled my eyes and returned to cleaning off the car. I looked up across the hood of the car to sweep a pile of fluffy snow away only to find him staring back at me from the far side.

"Jesus," I cried in surprise. "Knock it off," I hissed in a low whisper. "I know what you are able to do, there isn't any need for theatrics. You're here for something, just tell me what the fuck it is so I can say 'no'. Then we can both go on with our lives." I'm not entirely sure which pissed me off more about his little trick. The fact that he did it somewhere where my coworkers could see it or that I missed him move entirely. The parking lot wasn't big and there were plently of others nearby. I looked around quickly but nobody appeared to be paying attention to me. This was good, I didn't need another incident to explain. Phillip watched me in the stoney motionless way that only the undead can really do. It pissed me off more, which was probably the reaction he was looking for.

I gave up waiting for an answer and continued sweeping off snow. Only now I did it angrily with strong, viscious sweeps of the brush. The motions helped and strangely soothed my rising anger enough to prevent myself from doing something regretable. Instead, I rotated the brush around in my hand and offered it to Phillip.

He turned to look at the brush and then back to me. "I'm making progress," I thought sarcastically. "He's moving."

"At least be helpful," I suggested in a tired tone. Phillip looked at me expressionlessly for several long moments and I was about to give up when he lifted his arm and grasped the brush in his delicate, manicured hand.

I must have hidden the surprise from my face well because he actually began to brush off the car. I watched him for a moment. The movements seemed foreign to him but soon he was making progress. Without a word, I turned from him, opened the car door and climbed in. I turned the radio down and unlocked the passenger door. In moments the door opened and Phillip folded his slim frame and slipped into the seat closing the door after himself.

"Just leave the brush on the floor," I instructed, forcably trying to sound conversational rather than bitchy. Not an easy feat for me at that point. "May I drive or do you want to stay here?"

"Drive," came the clipped answer in his soft, velvety voice. I must admit that Phillip has an incredible voice. Without effort it floats out warm and liquid. Almost musical. Years ago I listened to him charm a young girl by merely talking to her. I don't think she even listened to the words he had said, she just wrapped herself in the comfort of the tone of his voice, the depths of his baratone. I had originally thought that his voice was apart of his gift. It's not though. I shudder to think of what he would be capable of if it were.

I nodded once and threw the car into gear, backing out of the stall and easing through the parking lot. Phillip has returned once again to playing statue and we rode in relative silence.

The snow had made driving slow and precarious. I wasn't really sure about where I should be driving and I found myself entering the highway, automatically steering myself towards home. Home is really is the last place I wanted to take Phillip but no better idea came to mind.

My mind thrummed with questions I wanted to ask but couldn't. Phillip was apart of a life I had turned away from years ago. Him seeking me out wasn't a good sign but I was none the less curious about the broken lives I had left behind. One life in particular. I wanted most to ask about William but I knew that I shouldn't. Even at the best of times, William was a sore subject between Phillip and myself. God! How I wanted to know about what happened to William.

"So," I said, breaking the tense silence. "Does Veronica know you're here?" Of all of the stupid questions I could have asked, that one was probably the stupidest. Whatever he answers would put him in great risk. If Veronica doesn't know he's here, turning him in would most likely cost him his life. Roaming into someone else's territory without permission is punishable by death. On the other hand, if I knew he had Veronica's permission, I wouldn't be very likely to be helpful. Not that I planned on being helpful anyhow, but Veronica and I don't get along. She has so far respected our agreement so I leave her alone and stay out of her affairs. She'll break our agreement one day, I'm sure of that and depending on how prepared I am, it'll probably be the death of me. Phillip wouldn't have come to me unless he needed something that he couldn't possible get any other way. To say that Phillip and I weren't friends is the understatement of the year. It made me happy thinking about what he must be going through to ask me for something, anything. Even 'pass the salt' would be too hard for him to do.

I sighed as I thought about the consequences of the question and the anger drained out of me. "Forget it," I said before he could even think to reply. "It wasn't a good question."

"No," he replied looking ahead out of the windshield. His face was an emotionless mask as he the flurry of snow sweep across the windshield. "I was unaware whether or not Veronica knows about you. In either case, I doubt she would have permitted this visit."

I nodded in agreement. I knew how bitchy Veronica could be. She's a control freak and letting someone like Phillip into her domain would be a risk she would never willingly take. Hell, she went nuts when she learned what I could do.

"And it was a good question," he continued. "Just not horribly appropriate." That was Phillip's attempt at a compliment. I gave him some credit for it, but it also meant that he's trying to be nice. This is not a good sign coming from Phillip.

We sat in silence once again as I drove slowly down the snow slick highway. The traffic was bad and we had just reached the city when Phillip spoke soft enough that I almost didn't hear him.

"He hasn't taken a servant yet."

"What?" I exclaimed. I looked at Phillip but he was still motionless, staring out the front of the car. I knew exactly who "he" was that phillip was referring to; William.

"He hasn't yet taken..."

"I heard you," I blurted out. "Jesus! It's been over six years. What the hell is he doing? I would have thought he would have sought one out immediately after I left."

"He did not. He chooses to remain... Without."

"That's an understatement." William still wants me and hopes that I'll return. That would be sweet if it wasn't so dam selfish and stupid. "How? I mean, who does all of the work?"

"Miriam."

I looked at him and immediately wondered about what he wasn't telling me. The job of a servant is a rigorous one even without the level of danger that William and Phillip hold. To perform the duties for both of them is something I would categorize as near impossible. Hell, just being William's servant was too much for me, not to mention all of my other responsibilities. Miriam is Phillip's servant, technically speaking. Vamps are immobile during the day so they rely on someone to take care of them, make sure they're not staked or anything un-life threatening. They usually take care of business ventures, arrange wake-up snacks, manage businesses and properties and so on. Their duties are quite taxing. The vamp also draws energy from them, as a plasma factory is one way but not typically. A vamp only feeds from a servant if its necessary, its too big of a risk to the servant for it to happen regularly. A vamp also retains knowledge from a servant almost as if they are an extension of themselves. In return the servant gets some benefits back from the vamp such as strength, a longer life, no need for sleep and usually an extension of the vamp's own power. Whatever that may be. Selecting a servant is not an easy task, they literally control a large chunk of the vamp's life. A servant is usually a lover or someone extremely special. Unwilling servants have been known to happen occasionally, but that usually ends badly such as with the servant's death. When a servant dies the vamp becomes crippled for a period of time and its possible to even kill a vamp by killing the servant, it all depends on the strength of the bond. Breaking the bond is very unhealthy for both the vamp and the servant.

William is a powerful vamp. A Master. Being his servant is not a simple task. I know, I was his servant at one time. My own abilities have allowed me to break that bond without damaging either of us too much. Phillip is also very powerful, though not as powerful as William but still someone to be very wary of. Miriam serving both of them is taking a severe toll on her I'm sure.

Phillip is as cold of a vamp as I've seen, but I know he cares for Miriam. Perhaps there is even more to their relationship than what I already know. He can't be happy about the situation and I imagine this arrangement has been taking a terrible toll on Miriam.

We sat silently for a while longer as I piloted the car up the hill, down the street and into my parking stall. There were too many qustions buzzing around my head and no way that I could ask them politely. Even if I was rude enough to ask, which I was definitely on the verge of doing, I don't know if I could trust Phillip's answers no matter what he explained. I settled on directness to the matter at hand, my curiosity into my old life wasn't something I could really afford without tempting fate and being sucked back into what I had fled from in the first place.

"Why are you here Phillip?" I demanded.

"We need your help. Our hold over one of the provinces is weakening and-"

"No, Phillip. I'm not going back to help you. I won't fight any battles. I won't provide any more trinkets. I won't take out a leader. No. No. No. I won't. I won't even talk to William and tell him how stupid he's being for not finding another servant. I can't go back or I'll..." I couldn't even fathom what I would turn into if I went back to that. What kind of monster would I become? It was a dark and evil side of myself that I had carefully locked away fearful of it breaking free and devouring my soul. What little I had left.

He glared at me for interrupting and I rolled my eyes and shrugged. Waving curtly for him to continue.

"Our hold over one of the provinces is weakening and we've found that a witch there has in her possession an artifact that is aiding them. Remove the artifact and we can handle the rest."

I looked at him as though he were a stupid child.

He sighed. "I believe the artifact used to belong to you. You named it Sequin."

I chuckled to myself. "Impossible, I watched Sequin get destroyed when we killed Lord What's-his-name and his zombie horde. God, that was a messy battle. Sequin took the brunt of a massive energy ball meant for me. I didn't even know that she did until it was all over. All I found were pieces, little tiny pieces."

Phillip merely raised his eyebrow and continued to stare at me.

Sequin was one of my greatest achievements. It was a sentient artifact and it was very intelligent. Its primary ability was a mana regenerator as well as a spell focus. With her in hand I didn't need to make light sticks to store energy. I would have a nearly endless supply of magical energy. Her intelligence also aided me in forming spells together. Tricky spells. Spells that would normally take me days to research we could call together on the spot, forming the spell itself directly from the magical energies that flow around me.

Sequin could also change shape, it could take the shape of anything with the same mass. She was often in the shape of a small, winged fairy and was nick-named Tinkerbell. She'd flit around with this brilliant red glow about her.