My world for you

Emerging Illusions Fashion Show thursday 8th, DNA Lounge

shadowspawn — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:21:46 GMT

SEXY TIME!!! This is the second annual show, I am SO vibrant. Come check it out, I dare say that the 1st one was the most vivid and uniquie show I had seen all year, this one will add more facets. I'm one of the designers and also modeling. For those of you that saw my story last time, alas, no I will not be gaving bisexual Atlantean leather clad sword wielding slave-traders... This year I've collaborated with Clotho Constrictor to weave together a kabuki-bellydance-sea deamon/dragon fusion. The other designers are also amazing. There will be eXquisite vending. See our add in the sf guardian. Doors open at 8, show starts right at 10:30. 21+ $11-$13 www.emergingillusions.com (I am designer shadowspawn) www.dnalounge.com come one, come all

Dream Triad For Your Reading Pleasure

shadowspawn — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:33:09 GMT

A woman was frantic. She drove, she flew, she ran. Wherever she went she would catch glimpses of an ominous tower. She caught sight of it from her train window as the mist parted in the morning over the Colorado mountains. In New York her cab nearly passed by it but she screamed at the driver to stop, leaped out and got on the subway. One morning in a cheap motel in Oklahoma, she opened he drapes to let in the light but saw only the stone wall of the tower. She had few belongings from always being on the run, but these she packed in haste and sought charter on a Chinese freight ship. There was soon a storm at sea but the clouds parted, there stood the tower. The ship smashed to pieces upon the tower and the woman drowned. Two meadows drifted lazily in the sky. A warm wind blew them softly together. The grass from the meadows intertwined. I awoke with my hands laced in my girlfriends jasmine smelling hair and our limbs were entangled. An old homeless man with crusty poxed skin begged me to help him out with something. I went over to the hood of the car he lived in and he asked me to help him press down harder on a pen as he wrote the history of somewhere not on Earth. I asked him if he required clean paper or a fresh pen but he said that history but be written exactly as it is, imperfect. After a short time he was finished and said he would reward me by showing me a sight I would never see again. He opened the lid of a clear plastic box which let out a flashing illumination. Inside the box was a fantastic set of stones that shimmered and changed color. He scooped these up in his gnarled hands and they changed at different angles like holograms only perfectly alive to show fish swimming and parrots preening and flying, indeed some of the parrot images were so real that a few birds flew out of the stones. I had never seen something so amazing and asked him if there was anyway I could trade him for one of the stones, but at that he closed the lid rather sharply and told me that sometimes to see is to Possess... I have been exceptionally happy lately. Enjoy your Sunday.

Engagement On Alameda Shore

shadowspawn — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 03:47:28 GMT

Jogging along in the Alameda bird reserve today, I noticed a red tailed hawk exhibiting strange behavior. It would fly up about 50 feet and then dive down, then repeat again. I ceased running and crept stealthily forward through the tall water rushes but the hawk was not one to be sneaked upon, fleeing into the air with a cry. I could not perceive any creature or object that had consumed its attention. I returned some moments later with binoculars from my car and spied upon the scene from a distant perch. The hawk flew up into the air as before and swooped down to strike a well concealed duck in the face with its talons. At the point of each impact the duck would turn and raise its blunt bill as an ineffective defense. Its face was sad. The hawk continued relentlessly, wearing the duck down with each taloned strike until it lay still at last. The hawk cried once in triumph, landed upon the motionless form and in another moment it held bright entrails more red than it's own tail feathers in its beak. I waved at the red tailed hawk from my far away viewpoint and it took to the air with its red rope and vanished over a bridge. .... Been very busy studying the human body lately and how to heal it and do so enjoy the time it takes to raise ones head to the fleeting sunshine and snatch a quick adventure. 15 units worth of EMT classes can steer ones thoughts. Perhaps I should have done CPR on the duck and staunched its wounds? I think not. I'm currently reading, "Shadow & Claw" by Gene Wolfe. Best fantasy novel I have read in some time. Kind of like Edgar Poe meets Elric meets a dreamscape... I also saw some unusual commonalities. A large brunette woman wearing a brunette sweater leading a large brunette dog. An old man with wild white hair and white pants leading a wild haired white dog. Two girls dressed in the same clothes, each standing on a similar rock in the sea, taking a picture of each other simultaneously...

Vampire Dream

shadowspawn — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 04:06:36 GMT

I've been dreaming a lot about vampires lately but I shall tell you of the silly one I had last night. The latest dream was an entire saga that lasted 400 years going through the 1700's and ending in in the year 2100. I slept over 12 hours to get the whole story but I dare not publish the whole of the matter here, just a taste to whet your appetite. A group of 4 vampires settled in a cabin in the snowy Swiss Alps. Year after year, they sucked the blood of commoner and lord alike, swelling the ranks of their conclave with pale skinned night loving blood suckers. As their ranks of followers increased, thus also did the stature of their dwelling, morphing into a decadent winery, a forbidding tower, a dark castle, and eventually the finest futuristic cybernetic vampire goth club skyscraper the world has ever seen. This dance club was so fancy that the main dance floor was made of see through quartz a mile wide suspended over a lake sized aquarium of piranhas and other obtrusive fish. Towards the end of the 22nd century, a rival vampire lord grew jealous of the fancy fine goth dance parties at this establishment (his own vampire dance club in Tokyo was out of fashion) so he sent over a hoard of foaming mouth zombies led by his own vampire officers to raid the building. The master of the defense was well prepared to deal with this onslaught though for he had a secret weapon, a pack of mysterious cards that he scattered across the ground in front of each entry way and at the base of ever stair. If any trespasser set foot upon one of these cards, it would transform into a thick and stanky rug that folded up the interloper into its folds and instantly levitated itself and its occupant to the moon. Needless to say that any occupant carried in such a manner to the moon, did not always make it there in the best of shape. So it turned out that the invasion was a failure and the little dark lovelies were allowed to keep dancing in peace and both they and the piranhas below them were content for a long time there after. ps I forgot to mention that I saw a few of my fabulous friends in this dream over the years of its course. I dare say I witnessed a lovely piano entertainment piece put on by the Good Wizard Profos at the later end of the 18th century in one of the tower wings. Jay was dancing up a storm in the main hall somewhere around the year 1900, he performed a rather smashing snoopy dance. Last but not least I saw my friend Sarah seated on the side of the piranha enclosure during the final party, wearing a perplexing maroon long sleeved striped shirt where the stripes were made up of very small ball bearings and motors that sent the red stripes traveling in different directions upon her shirt.

Seize the Moment

shadowspawn — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 06:35:50 GMT

Activate quickly and make a productive use out of the remainder of this evening. ~A public announcement from your own mind

Bird Dynasty

shadowspawn — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 22:15:44 GMT

Here is a harmless little dream I had On Xmas eve. By the way, I fucking love animals! It is my favorite subject. If anyone ever wants to discuss animal behavior, sybiotic relationships, rare ecosytems, evolution, insect dynamcs, coral reef life, etc... please engage me. A peculiar family lounged in a comfortable rustic room. The grandmother had huge unblinking eyes like an owl and great big busy eyebrows to match. Her son paced about in an agitated manner, he kept returning to the cutting board to slice snacks and his face was hawklike. The daughter was wearing a plain but effective jogging suit. Her neck was very long and her expression was as blank as an ostrich. The grandson was a chipper little fellow. He played with his toys by the coffee table and whistled like a finch. "Our family is a good one," exclaimed the gandmother, "But we can do better in the future." "There is no future," declared the hawk son as he flicked his knife into the dip dish. "Only what we take in the present." "You will learn more wisdom in time, but you need to look past what is in front of you," retorted the grandmother. "It's getting uncomfortable in here," said the daughter. "We should go running outside. "I'm going to be a famous singer some day," cried the grandson. "Listen to me whistle!" The family sat in silence as the grandson whistled. The fire crackled and the hawk son cut slices of meat with his knife. The grandmother rocked in her chair while the daughter sat gaping with her mouth open in awe. "Lovely!" said the grandmother. "Do go on," said the daughter. "This tires me!" shouted the sun and he slammed his knife on the table. "Do be more polite," said the grandmother. "I need something to occupy myself with!" cried the son. The daughter hid her face in the pillow, the grandson stopped whistling, but the grandmother calmy got up from the rocker and went over to the mantle. Upon the mantle were two candles that never went out and between that was a most curious model of an airship. The grandmother handed it to the hawk son whom snatched it up at once. "Try to focus on the wind around our families airship. Sense the condition of the elements above and below from all sides. Listen to the wisdom of the winds." The hawk sons eyes dialated, his breathing became raspy as he focused on things he saw far away. "The world stretches out before me, the wide wide world, so little and tiny below, and me so high in the sky!" "Do not go so high!" screached the daughter. The grandson began to whistle again. The grandmother rocked. The hawk son cried out. "I see my throne down below. Now is the time to seize what is mine!" The cabin lurched to the side. The family and their belonings slid to one side of the cabin, except for the daughter of course, her body and especially head was well lodged by the banister at this point. "You will crash our airship and thus our house if you do not learn patience!" snapped the grandmother and without making a sound she snatched the airship model back from her agitated son. I wonder what this means???

Dark Dreams This Fine Winter Day

shadowspawn — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:23:44 GMT

I dreamed of a long straight path that cut its way through the mountains. Carts an wagons full of people and their belongings were ceaselessly gathering in a valley near the entrance of this path. When enough people had gathered and they became either brave or desperate enough, they would race for the road and move down it as quickly as they were able. Above the center most point of the path, a gigantic apparatus was constructed between the opposite cliff walls. A long rotating arm connected to the stomach of the machine, swung a curiously sharp triangle in a fathomless pattern throughout the path. Most of the people never made it to the other side, but more kept trying anyway. I also dreamed of a tropical jungle waterfall. I leaped into the lagoon but was disturbed by the rise of the lake bed to the surface. The rocks that had been the bottom of the waterfall lagoon turned into white coral and colorful candy. I began to roll and writhe along this surface until white coral and colorful candy were emeshed throughout all my skin. Snakes then grew like bars all around me and the coral surface broke loose on wagon wheels. This circus wagon drove me across suburbia while suburbanites blankly stared at me and I stared blankly back.

R.I.P. Le' Boo my cat

shadowspawn — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:12:23 GMT

Le' Boo my cat just passed away, she was 16. I sadly don't have a digital picture to share of her but I don't think she would of minded me using the image of Hello Kitty (Le' Boo was a big fan). Originally Le' Boo was named Cocoa because of her dark tortoise shell coloration and sweetness of character, but later I changed her name to Le' Boo because she became quite the sophisticated lady and could be snobby when the need arose. We rescued Le' Boo from The Santa Cruz Mountain Feral Cat Society and Santa Cruz was always her home. She spent her life sunbathing in our rock garden where she would hunt alligator lizards, young quail and even a rabbit once upon her time during the height of her power. She seemed quite at home amidst the redwood trees and could blend in quite well though she would always come running at the sound of her name. During her life she endured my crazy behavior as well as putting up with a doberman, rat dog, and a mutt. Her nemesis was a particularly mangy gray cat that lived next door with whom she waged a decade long war with. Perhaps my fondest memory of Le Boo is an encounter she had with my doberman. Le' Boo made eye contact with Heidi the doberman from across the room and sashayed across the whole living room over towards her in the most sultry manner. Just as they were close enough for the doberman to greet her with a sniff, Le' Boo turned abruptly and swished the dog across the face with her tail in a very stuck up manner, I will never forget the offended look on the dogs face. Le' Boo was always a fine companion to me when I was feeling unhappy. She knew whenever I was sick and would always sleep close to me. During the most unhappy period of my life, Le Boo was near me constantly, her gently purr reminding me that life was still sweet and that I was loved. In Le' Boo's later years, she became blind and deaf but could still navigate around her diminished territory with ease and was quite happy until the end. She would recognize people by their scent and would always utter the most adorable of mews if you touched her while she slept.Thank you Ben and Mitten for taking care of Le' Boo in her later years and treating her like such a duchess, giving her fancy looking saucers of water for her really made her feel happy I am certain. We will all miss you dearly Le' Boo, but we know that you are happier in the land of eternal sleep...

Meow Meow Morning

shadowspawn — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:36:34 GMT

Up and at them! What's going on today in the jungle my fine furry friends? I think I will be having a sprinkle of yoga, a dash of leather jewelery construction, a sample of beach running and mmmmmmm... maybe a night cap of clubbing??? I have a great dream to share in my next blog...

Loving a Place

shadowspawn — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 04:44:00 GMT

I will never forget the first time I laid eyes upon Santa Cruz. My family moved here form Phoenix Arizona when I was 6. I cried and screamed the whole way, curled up in the bottom of the car, blind with tears. We drove all through the night and when I woke up we here. Concrete and brown desert was replaced by redwood and Ponderosa Pine. Our house had a large yard with overgrown thickets surrounding it. I was so excited that I forgot to fight with my sister about what room I wanted. We spent the day at the beach and I have been coming back ever since. What is the recipe of this captivating place, A location that I will happily perish a tank of gas to get to, skip 2 profitable work days and miss out on sleeping next to my warm date? It goes something like this... A unique ecosytem combination of swimmable bay beaches, redwood forests and sandy pine forst hills. Chill laid back people who just want to enjoy themselves A liberal University where I can still use my ancient student id to enjoy the olypic pool that overlooks 80 miles of coastal bliss A sea side amusemnet park (all though locals like me never really cared about that) The best coffee house I have ever been to (cafe Pergolaci, best coffee and rotating art shows) Although I don't smoke, it is legal here to grow something like 50 feet of weed per person, how cool is that? Jagged lonely sea clliffs and the poetry they draw out of me as I wander along them FINE ART!!! There is even a small goth club... I always feel so happy and rejuvinated while I am down here that I can't help but say such silly things... Going swimming again tommorow and then back to the SF Bay Area and soon to Burning Man!!! ps Today I swam exactly where this painting was done and you know what? It looks a lot like that only better.

Obssesed With Sharks

shadowspawn — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:02:44 GMT

I am always thinking about them, dreaming about them, envying them. Sharks are so interesting, to be made entirely of cartilage, grow new teeth constantly, to never be sick and best of all to have a sleek attractive body that is pure muscle and grace. Also what is it like to be able to understand your surroundings by detecting electrical currents of all living things? I think it is simply trippy. When I go to Hawaii this Winter, I am going to go swimming with the sharks. Threshers, leapords, hammerheads, bring them on, but no tiger sharks thank you. I don't have cable but I did catch a few episodes of shark week recently on discovery channel at a friends house. I saw a lot of beautiful footage but what most interested me was a dummy in a cage test. First the scientists placed a black dummy in a cage, the great white sharks nearby took no interest. Then they placed a blue dummy in the cage, the sharks came a little closer but not overly so. Next they put a red dummy in the cage and the sharks began to circle. Last they put a yellow dummy in the cage and the sharks began to bite the cage. Moral of the story of course is don't wear yellow in the sea. Apparently during World War 2, all of the life jackets that the navy used were yellow and that is when people first began to notice this trend. Grisly. I'm going to think about that for a second.

Picking up new landscaping skills

shadowspawn — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:44:06 GMT

Something I have always enjoyed more than other tasks is landscaping. There is something so serene in shaping land with your own hands to make a more harmonious landscape for your lifeform and the creatures and plants that inhabit the area. I just learned how to install a drip irrigation system to automatically water plants at set intervals. It was fairly hard work but rewarding and enjoyable. Now that I have above the basics, I am imagining something more complicated. I would like to build huge hollow angular shaped boulders with all the pipes built inside to feed water to all the plants that would be nestled about the sculpture. Something similar to all of those islands in the South Thailand sea that rise from the ocean on sheer cliffs with jungle plants flowing across the top of the crown... Love the destructive part of landscaping as well. When I am chopping through thorny thickets with a machete, I feel more like a goblin in a book than a human. If anyone has an old tree that needs to be chainsawed, I might do it just for fun. Hmmm. Not enjoying city life too much this lately, might go work and do landscaping in Santa Cruz the rest of the month until Burning Man. Anyone want to go body surfing or beach combing?

A Cold Wake Up

shadowspawn — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:03:57 GMT

This morning I dreamed that I was tossing and turning in bed and having the worst time sleeping. The reason for this was that I was sleeping next to a very uncomfortable, even physically hostile being. This being was a giant made out of 3/4's ice and 1/4 frozen garbage. It kept pulling the sheets towards its side, getting them wet & stinky and when this monster started snoring, it was like cracking ice. I tried to bear this as best I could but soon the monster rolled over and said, "I will never leave your bed... Bradley!!!" That was the final straw and I woke up and threw myself out of bed and here I am now, a little bit chilly, a little bit sleepy, but much better off

Angel Dream

shadowspawn — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:56:32 GMT

Haven't been on much for awhile but I thought I would share a dream or two... I dreamed that I was walking through a misty flat land moor. I came upn a white triangular tower and began to climb a spiraling staircase inside. The taircase became more and more narrow at the top of the triangle until it was like a spiralng tube that I had to crawl through. At the top was a trap door that led into a small triangluar room with a three sided tent in the middle. I went inside the tent and saw that there were 3 angels sitting inside. The angels made room for me and when I sat down and formed a square with them, the tent and the tower also reformed into a square. The angels informed me that the tower was not actualy on Earth but built deep in the pysche of an individual. Each day one of us was to climb down the staircase and enter the man's mind so that we could help guide him to a better life. Over the years that followed, I did my best to whisper helpful suggestions to this man whenever I was in his thoughts and help guide him towards victory. I was in the executive room when he was proposing his film for a movie deal, trying to keep his words articualate and free from fear. Although one of the angels became a gambling addict with the man, between me and the other two, we managed to steer him towards a very fulfilling life indeed. Eventually when his life was over. We all climbed the staircase at the same time went into the tent, sat down and waited for the lantern to go out.

Some Fashion Show Pix...

shadowspawn — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:51:56 GMT

Check this website for pix on the Emerging Illusions Show www.retina.net/gallery2007/ Here is just some of the splendour! This show was ripe with exotic clothing, stage performance and a killer live electronic/vocal dance set by Nezzy Iddy after the show. It was spectacular, I am reeling. Thanks to everyone who worked upon this show, collaborated, witnessed, or put out sweet vibes for our artistic project. We will be making this annual so next year, be on the look out for a large scale electric leather dragon stage performace. Oh!!! This picture is a moment in the scene where the Jade Priestess is magically restoring the vitality of the Silver Star Knight after a part in the duel where he is slashed by the Red Renegade Atlantean.

Emerging Illusions Fashion Show Tonight!!!!!!!!!

shadowspawn — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 18:45:05 GMT

It is on for the fashion show!!! Come check out my electric leather fetish designs and performance and also see what 11 other hot desighners have made. Doors open at 9pm at the DNA Lounge. My stuff is 12th out of 12 around 11pm but I model earlier. Don't miss my sex goblin piece! I AM SO EXCITED!!! hope to see many of you there, this is going to be a really cool show.

Why I hate rabbits

shadowspawn — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:49:28 GMT

I pretty much love most all lifeforms, plants and animals, but not so for bunnies. In my heart I only save wrath for them and I will tell you of my scarring encounter... I was staying at a punk house squat in Oakland when I was 21. Someone had been coming into the backyard at night week after week to steal bikes from the yard so I had elected to sleep outside in all my fighting gear to try and catch this night time wrangler. Anyhow, one of the girls in the house had this bunny that lived in a cage outside in the back of the yard. All night long I heard it thrashing in its cage, trying to get out but I forgot about this and fell asleep. Sometime later I awoke in pain as I saw this same gray furred devil with his yellow teeth locked into my hand. I swatted him away hard but instead of retreating he lunged out me. I Got up and threw the bunny in the cage, locked it inside and went back to sleep. A short time later, I again awoke and this time the bunny was drawing blood from my side. I picked him up roughly by his ears as he clawed be and gashed my arms with his filty claws and I threw the bunny in the cage hard, this time putting a large stone in front of the door so he could not waylay me again. I heard the bunny thrashing around but it was really lae and I fell asleep right away. How the bunny escaped again, I will never know but the third time I awoke to an uncomfortable scenerio, the bunny was on top of my stomach, peeing on me! I leaped up and began to boot the bunny. He was freaking out, hopping high up oin the air trying to bite and claw me as I was stumbling around in the dark, tripping over beer bottles and trying to throw my bunny pee stained clothes off of me. I chucked the bunny in the cage, went inside and found the house cat and left her inside as well so the bunny could have someone else to play with all night. I seperated them with a small fence and left them there with the bunny pressed up against the far wall, and the cat trying to break down the fence to get at the bunny. I think I finally slept well after that but I have not like rabbits ever since. ps, I hate Easter too. Bunnies do not lay eggs. They are not a cute animal, but rather a stinky rodent that fouls their own living quarters with their waste. Please remember this the next time you see a bunny. They may look sweet on the outside, but on the inside of some bunnies a demon lurks! pps I am happy that bunnies are so low on the food chain. May every fox in the world have one for Easter dinner tonight!

Hand Puppets Need Food To Play

shadowspawn — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 05:51:38 GMT

I was hungover enough today from bad champagne to sleep until 6pm. Luckily, I had the following dream to balance the wasted time. I dreamed that I was strolling along the country side. I had a silver jacket on and I was carrying a wicker picnic basket. There was a fence along side the road. It started off as a small fence of wood, later blending into a thick stone fence and eventually becoming a tall steel wall with barbed wire. I heard a rustling behind the steel wall and when I looked over I saw a hand puppet sticking up over the fence. The poor little guy had bulgy little eyes and he was so thin that I opened up my picnic basket and gave him a cracker. Another hand puppet acended into view and I fed this one as well. Then the first 2 hand puppets began to make gosse honking sounds and more hand puppets began to arise. They were all jostling for position and drool was being flung everywhere by the hungry mob of felt and fur creatures. Some of the hand puppets began to fight and it seemed that they bit very viciously at each other although none of them had any teeth. I threw my whole picnic basket over the fence and headed down the path towards less turmoil.

Upcoming Fashion Show at DNA Lounge (also looking for models)

shadowspawn — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:58:34 GMT

So I am designing costumes for "Emerging Illusions" which is a going to be an annual fashion show that is starting this April 20th at DNA lounge. So many of my talented friends are designing for this event that I am overjoyed to be a part of it. Among some of the outfit themes are future vs. nature, coset victorian style, fantastical gladiator... too early to tell all the secrets, but the fashions in this show will be awesome and there will be dj's and side performances as well. I personally am searching for guys between 5'10 and 6'3 that would feel comfortable and pleased to wear electric leather fetish costumes on stage, and like to strut there stuff. I can't offer any money as I am not being paid, but you will get lots of proffesional pictures of yourself and be a part of the coolest show ever and we will fill that place to capacity. Anyway, more to come later. Send me a line if you are interested in being a model or know someone that is, I am making my final decisions in the next week and a half and will be fitting the guys for their leather and what not. >>>

A Tidbit of Taoism from "The Art of War,"

shadowspawn — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:42:55 GMT

According to an old story, a lord of ancient China once asked his physician, a member of a family of healers, which of them was the most skilled at the art. The physician, whose repuatation was such that his name became synonymous with medical science in China, replied, "My eldest brother sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape, so his name does not get out of the house. "My elder brother cures sickness when it is still extremely minute, so his name does not get out of the neighborhood. "As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe potions, and massage skin, so from time to time my name gets out and is heard among the lords." Interpret this story as you may, but an underlying concept that branches from this is that even though it appears less significant to deal with problems at their early stages, it is better practice because it is easier to take on things when they are small. This book, originally written over 2000 years ago, is full of remarkable insight about energy. The title, "The Art of War," is slightly misleading. What can be learned from this book has also very much to do with harnessing energy successfully for victory. It is very much a study of the art of peace. Check it out if you ever get the chance...

The Golem's Wall

shadowspawn — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:26:22 GMT

Last night I dreamed that I was building a city. For the location, I chose a long valley that was bordered by forested rocky hills on three sides, and a wide slow moving river on the other side. I got to work with much enthusiasm and the city began to take shape. The buildings looked both Eastern and Western, the streets were paved with marble, and the terraced roofs were garnished with gardens that were easy on the eyes and light on the soul. As I was resting from my work one afternoon, I noticed that people had come at last to the city. I tried to welcome them but none of them seemed to be able to detect me so I simply watched them as they socialised, commerced, and went about there care free lives. With people in the city, I soon noticed that the work became gradually harder. I needed to build more houses, more granneries, and other such things like that. I decided that I could not do it alone so I decided to make a helper. I went down to the shore of the river and started shaping some of the cleanest sand into the shape of a little being. I gave this being some of my blood and breathed some of my breath into it. The little golem came to life and I was delighted to see that how quickly it learned how to activate itself. I motioned with my hand towards the city so that the golem would understand my wishes but something curious happened. The golem ignored the city entirely, instead, it began to gather rocks from the hills and started to pile them all along the river shore. I wondered what could be wrong with the golem but thought that maybe it had some small creative project it wanted to tackle before starting on the city, so I went back to work. I checked up on the golem a few days later. The wall had grown much larger and spanned the entire river shore, preventing the people from having access. I started to break down the wall, but the little golem motioned for me cease and I followed it to the highest part of the wall where it pointed across the river to the distant shore. At first I saw nothing but as I willed more energy to my eyes, I saw that there was another city on the distant shore, a city of sharp iron and smoke, where writhing shapeless demons dwelled. I looked closer and saw that a warlike bridge was being built out from that city towards my own. The people of my own city were too absorbed with peace to notice that death was approaching from across the river. I stopped working on the city and turned all of my attention to building the wall. I found this work to be much harder than crafting the city, my body worked well for crafting and shaping buildings, but for the hauling or rocks and scraping of mortar, the golem was better suited. As the days went on, I gave more and more of my blood and essense to the golem so that the wall would be finished in time. The wall grew to mammoth proportions and the golem itself became as large as a titan while as for myself, I shrank in size and grew weaker as time as I lost energy. Time went on like this for so long that I lost track of anything except the wall. I knew that my own energy was being depleted critically and that I would die if I kept giving so much of my life to the golem, but it could not build without my lifeforce and I was unwilling to let the city be sacrificed. There came a day that I felt would be my last. I tried to climb up the wall to look across the shore, to see how the demons had progressed with their bridge, but I did not have enough energy to climb so high into the clouds. I crawled into a niche in the scafolding to have my end. In the distance, I could hear the thunderous sounds of the gargantuan golem as it continued to break down mountains and haul them up to the wall. With my last amount of life, I turned to look down at the city I had created which I had forgotton to gaze upon for many years perhaps decades or even centuries. My city was lifeless, there were no people there and the buildings had decayed and fallen to ruin. I closed my eyes and as I did so, I heard the golem place the final rock in the wall.

I Lost a Day Reading This...

shadowspawn — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 02:20:14 GMT

Neil Gaiman is truly the master of blending time, fantasy and reality into one unified story. Makes me want to interject more fantasy into my own life. Do you ever feel like as you get older you do less and less of the unpredictable and daring things that keep you young? Like by saying no when you should say why not, or scream out YES! MORE OF THAT!!! Be free, be adventerous, remake yourself and stay fresh always. On that note, I'm off to the Piedmont graveyard this evening...

An Endless Neck and a Dragon's Well

shadowspawn — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:22:05 GMT

Last night I dreamed that a shrew was crawling across a seemingly endless neck. Whenever the shrew would look up to see how far she had gone, she would only see the neck far ahead, stretching away into darkness. There were no landmarks on the neck, no spots, no hairs, no warts. Eventually the shrew fell asleep and i cannot say whether she was near the start, the middle, or the end. Also, I dreamed of a deep well in China with oddly warm water. Sometimes the townspeople that passed by would drop a copper coin into the well to hopefully appease the spirit that obviously lived there. The fact of the matter was however, that there lived at the bottom of this well, a very long gold dragon with a heart of fire. He was naturally pleased to accumulate treasure so easily, but all the metal that began to fill up the bottom of the well, only served to radiate his internal heat so that the well grew hotter still. One day a rich man from a neighrboring village was passing by on a holiday errand and his fortunes were so great that instead of dropping in a copper coin, he let loose with a solid gold one instead. Instantly, the water in the well began to boil and the dragon leaped violently into the cold clouds above to try and cool himself. All of the searing well water sprayed out across the land and whatever plants it touched, were burned beyond hope. The townspeople were horrified that they wold starve without their crops, but the dragon used his magic to bring the plants back to life and they were twice as healthy as before. Now whenever the townspeople pass by the well, they drop in semi-precious stones into the well instead of metal, so as not to overheat the dragon that lives there.

Strolling With a Sea Hag

shadowspawn — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:17:39 GMT

Last night I dreamed that I was having a merry little stroll with a hideous sea hag. She was gorging ravenously on a meat cake that I had quickly procured for her at our encounter to distract her from the desire to burry her shark teeth into my own flesh. The beach we walked upon was an odd combination of majestic beauty and horror. Open oysters, brimming with pearls and jewled abalone shells formed a garden of treasure across the sand, but intermingled within all of this was wooden wreckage of ships and mangled, drowned corpses both human and otherwise. I stooped down to pry a pearl from a particularly large oyster but I felt the hairs of my neck stand up and I turned to sea the Sea Hag regarding me with a wicked glint in her milky eyes. We passed on further, all the while the Sea Hag was telling me about how beautiful she once was and how she had been cursed, and inbetween mouthfulls of meat pie, she let me know that today was going to be that special day that she laid her egg in the corpse that most struck her fancy. I began to think of how to escape this situation for I felt that I had little to gain by way of advantage in this encounter and much to lose. The beach stretched on as far as the eye could see, and was deserted except a few white fishing herons and a crowd of noisy vultures. I chatted with the Sa Hag a little more. I tried to flatter her and tell her that she was still pretty and shouldn't feel so bad. "Indeed," I said, "Your scaled skin is such a lovely shade of sea weed green, it is far more pretty then any snakes I have seen." The Sea Hag gobbled down the last of the meat pie and wiped her gnarled claws across her frothy lips. "I am honored that you are so in love with me," declared the Sea Hag. "So therefore I have decided that today I shall lay my egg in you instead of one of these corpses!" Evidentaly my flattery had been a bit too forward so I began to protest but the Sea Hag would have none of it and she charged at me full of lust and wickedness. I dashed towards the cliff, I could smell her stinking breath and my heart was afright at the thought of how her razor claws would embrace me if she could catch me. All of the vultures on the beach began to croak, "Doom. Doom. Doom..." I increased my speed and heard the Hag screetch out it frustration. In a few more strides I had reached the cliff, which I desperatly attempted to scale. I pulled myself inch by inch up the cliff, uprooting plants and sending showers of rock down as I accended. The Sea Hag yelled and howled below but I did not look to see her now for it was easy enough to imagine her loathsome face that would have put even Medusa to shame. At the top of the cliff the sun was shining. The white herons standing on the plateau and in their center was a colorful hanglider. Thanking the herons in haste and promising to return their favor in the future, I strapped myself into the glider and flew out over the sea towards another dream.

Santa Cruz Sunset

shadowspawn — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 04:24:10 GMT