Lord, Have Mercy

Today was productive. I finished editing a novella and submitted it. I wrote ten new pages into the novel. The novel is now 351 pages and 71,595 words. I have three more chapters for Part Two to write, but then I’ll have a whole third part to write and that’ll be another fifteen to twenty chapters before I’m done with this draft.

I also read three chapters of the Bible today. I just finished Judges. Tomorrow I’ll start on Ruth. There is still a lot in the Bible that bothers me. I just finished a chapter where a man throws his woman out to the mob so they can rape her all night long. When the woman dies on the doorstep, the man wants revenge on the men who raped her, and God is on his side.

I’m still hoping the New Testament will turn all this craziness around like some people have been telling me. But I cannot believe that so many Christians preach portions of the Old Testament. So far, the Old Testament promotes genocide, slavery, rape, kidnapping and forced marriage, and a number of other things that make me very angry.

Yes, there are some things in there that make sense to me and sound good, but a lot of it is disturbing.

And Another

I dreamt that I confronted a woman who stole my dog. She refused to give my dog back. I went home and soon received a text from the woman. She told me I needed to go to the police station and talk to Officer Oak Lancher.

I realize now that Oak Lancher is a minor character in one of my novels. He is a law enforcement figure, but in a medieval setting. He’s not a good guy, he’s dangerous.

So, I went into the police station and talked to the officer at the front desk. I explained why I was there. She led me through the station. I noticed that there were a lot of computers. Halfway along, the lights went off and then came back on.

The desk officer led me to an empty cubicle office , where I would wait for Oak Lancher. She signed something to me that didn’t make sense. See the video.

So, her signs were K. O. R., but what was that last thing? “Watch”? “K. O. R. watch”? I was confused in the dream and I’m confused now. I wanna know what the hell she was telling me. I guess it’s another one of those unsolvable puzzles that dreams throw at us.

Well, I woke up before I got to meet Oak Lancher. In the dream, I wasn’t aware that he was one of my characters, but now I know and I wonder if he would have been like he is in the novel.

Shit!

So there I was, sitting at my desk, trying to get the wrapping off my block of pepper jack cheese. Suddenly the plastic bulged, sent my hand to the left, knocking into my glass of pop and sending that flying over the edge of the desk. The glass smashed on my file cabinet, and then fell to the hardwood floor. Glass and pop spewed in all directions.

Another Dream

I had a dream that I was walking around town and I passed a guy who had a gun in his hand. I was going to keep walking and hope he wouldn’t bother me. I hadn’t gone more than a few steps when he shot me in the back.

You know how you can sometimes feel pain in your dreams? I felt that and it hurt like a motherfucker. But he missed my spine. The shot hit low and to the right, passing through my stomach.

I turned around and he’s coming up close. He fired and the shot went through my stomach again. It hurt, but it didn’t take me down. He fired again and grazed my left arm.

When he was right in front of me, I ripped the gun out of his hand and pointed it at him. I said, “Now it’s your turn.” I shot him three times in the chest and he went down.

I don’t remember what happened after that, but I hope an ambulance was on the way or I would have bled to death. The gun was a 1911 and probably a .45. .45s make big holes.

Cookies & Beer

I had a real craving for cookies and beer, so I had a Shipt shopper make it happen.

My brother is over. He seemed to really like the stuffed chicken breast. We’re having beer and cookies now.

I didn’t see any games on tonight, so that was disappointing.

Did it Again

I cooked the stuffed chicken breast again. This time I did a better job cutting in the pocket and stuffing it. It was my last piece of chicken and smaller. Within the next few days, my brother is going to pick up my next order from the Brower Farms and bring it to me, and I’m going to try this recipe on him.

Red Wings at 7.

Dreamt of Home

I had a dream that I was looking over the house I currently own and have lived in for eight years. I was trying to figure out how I might be able to fix the sloping floor in the kitchen. It’s not bad, but I would like to get it leveled out at some point.

In the dream, I was down in the basement studying the boards that hold the floor up. I went back upstairs and I wasn’t in my current house anymore. I was in the house I lived in before this one.

It was a little house with a huge lawn, on South Elba Road. I was with a woman who I really loved when I moved in there, so I would say some of my best memories happened there. But I lived there for eight and a half years and that was too long. After about two years there, I was really disliking the place.

The biggest problem for me was the house was too small. It felt cramped. The ceiling was only about a foot above my head and I had no trouble reaching it. The Livingroom was small, the bedroom was small. I often felt like I was being crushed.

Other problems were the furnace, water pump, water softener and water heater would sometimes breakdown or blow the circuit breaker.

I guess the kitchen was a little bigger than my current kitchen, but not much. The bathroom was much bigger than my current bathroom. All I really miss about that house was the long kitchen counter and the long bathroom counter. I like having counter space. Also, the kitchen had more cabinets than my current kitchen does.

And it was nice having a back sliding door, even though it often went off its tracks.

The house I live in now, that I bought from my landlords last year, it is so much nicer and roomier than the previous house. When I moved in here, I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I’m very happy here. It’s not cramped at all and I cannot reach the ceiling unless I’m standing on something.

About six months after I moved out of the house on Elba Road, there was an electrical fire that destroyed the place and it was soon torn down.

I Didn’t Blow Up the Kitchen

My cousin Tony gave me a stuffed chicken recipe. Today I gave it a try. I don’t think I did everything exactly right, but I think it was close enough.

For one thing, I got the wrong kind of Mozzarella cheese. It was supposed to be sliced cheese and I got shredded. But I think the only reason it was supposed to be sliced was so you could roll the asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes in it, and then stuff that into the chicken. Makes it easier, I guess. So I just stuffed in the cheese, asparagus and tomatoes unrolled.

I messed up the pockets when I cut them in and I think I overstuffed them with the cheese, asparagus and tomatoes. But it still worked. While cooking, a very pleasant smell filled the kitchen.

I just ate the best meal I ever cooked for myself. It was two good-sized stuffed chicken breasts. I feel fat right now. I’m definitely cooking this again, and I’ll probably do better next time.

The Pistons and Hornets are having a close game.