End of the World: Day 1

The day has dawned, thank goodness. We were all sure that we wouldn't live to see the morning. I'm writing from my laptop safe, for now, inside my apartment. There are fires all around us, but it looks like our building has escaped unscathed. I don't know how long this good fortune will last, but I'm still thankful for the small boon.

I heard that work got hit hard. That's really disheartening because I was hoping that we could hole up there on our way north. Oh, that's what we decided: we're heading north. The three of us talked about it last night, and we figured that if we can go somewhere that is only sparsely populated, then we'll stand a better chance of surviving this horror. I know our neighbors left yesterday. I watched as they all piled into their car and sped away. I warned them to stay inside for the first few days, let everything settle just a bit. That would be safer. But they are holding onto the hope.

Hope. I guess you could call us hopeful. Hopeful that we prepared well enough for this. There's plenty of food around, what with all the a lot of the people leaving our complex. More will probably leave today. Hope. I know that we all need to sleep a little before it gets dark, but, every time I try, I see the fires and hear the screams.

I'm going to try to keep my computer around so that I can journal each day. Hope. It's all for hope. At the very least, if we don't make it, maybe someone will find this journal in later years and remember that we tried.

Still alive,
The Piebald Penguin

Late Night Drive

Chasing Green Light,
In the Dark of Night.

If this World is full of life,
Then why is it so dead?

I wonder,
I ponder.

I wander.
Is this the end?

No, but it's not the beginning either.

~tPP

She Called Me Wonderful Man

Life has been full of adventures lately. Work has been an ever-present source of frustration, but that has been balanced out by the amazing development in my "local" rock climbing gym (they installed an auto-belay system that allows the climber to scale the walls safely without another person). Speaking of other people, I must include at least one mention of Sleeping Beauty in this post (well, this is the second mention). Sometimes work keeps us apart but the time that we have together is spent taking a break from the stress of the world. If you've never experienced this with another person, I must confide that it is so wonderful as to be irreplaceable in anyone's life, much less my own.

I find it in my nature to be vague. Straightforward, certainly. But still vague. Thanksgiving was homemade pizza and store-bought pumpkin pie. And odd-sounding combination for such a tradition-based holiday, but it suited me. The company suited me too.

Slumber.

~TPp

Sanitary Salutation

Things I did today:
Worked on an empty stomach (never a good idea);
Cleaned the shower...while taking a shower (pretty much the best idea I've ever had...possibly)
Went to see the new Bond movie (this falls somewhere in the "meh" category. Going to see movies in theaters are things that Goraxypox and I do on occasion and it's nice to relax and all that. So, in that sense, it was worth it. On the other hand, the movie had a number of...failings...so there's that)

I still think I've revolutionized shower cleaning. Now you will all have to try it because, let's be honest, who hasn't tried brushing your teeth in the shower. How about those of you who have brought a beer into the shower to drink and shower? Maybe, in college perhaps, you wore some clothes into the shower and washed them as you washed yourself. Well, now you have one more thing to try!

Ummm....well, I guess if you aren't a fan of closing the door, it's easier to just not have one?

At any rate, it's wet and cold and almost wintery with a hint of thanksgiving so I hope you all (as if more than a handful of people actually read this...) find family to spend the holidays with. They won't be with you forever, so cherish them now.

~TPP

Dear Self, Please Smile More

I realize that my blog used to be cool and exciting to read...and now it just sounds like I'm a 14-year old struggling with teenage angst. Thus, in an attempt to "get back to my roots," I present to you: Pearls Before Swine.

Pearls Before Swine - Stephan Pastis, 28 October 2012

It made me laugh, softly to myself. I need to laugh more, I think. Life is too serious these days.


Live, Laugh, and Love and enjoy the coming of winter.
~The Piebald Penguin

Affirming affection
through silent tears

Boom!

There's something majestic about a ship like this. Looked for copyright info but couldn't find it

Apparently Star Trek ships are also called ships of the line. So, a lot of Star Trek stuff popped up when I was looking for pictures. The nerd in me couldn't pass the opportunity up. copyright Gregory Stewart experimation.com

When I say there's something majestic about a ship of the line, I mean to say that it is so beautiful on the water, yet so dangerous in war. Majesty then is grace and power, yes? On another note, can you imagine the sheer terror that could be produced by one broadside? The ship on the right in the foreground is the HMS Victory. A rather well-known British 1st-rate battleship. Ships of this variety were armed with anywhere from 90 to 120 heavy cannons. The lightest of these cannons fired 18-pound lead and iron projectiles. Even assuming that a 1st-rate ship had nothing heavier (the bulk of their armament would most likely be 32-pounders), that would mean that when one broadside was fired (about half of the ship's guns, so let's say 50 guns at once), there would be a flying wall of 10,000 pounds of metal jettisoned from the side of the ship. Wow.

Ummm...got a bit carried away with the captions...sorry
~Piebald
Wasting away in a deluge.
Feeling the need to indulge honesty,
but fear keeps me quiet.

Avast Ye Scalliwags!

Arrrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!

  

“Pirate Ship” © Leonardo Amora Leite

The story goes like this...I wanted to scream, so I made a blog post. I disguised my shout of frustration as a clever homage to the pirates of old. Then, I went in search of "pirate" pictures to complete the post, but I got carried away looking at pictures of ships. I don't believe any of these pictures are by the same person. I found a copyright for the last one, although that is not to say that the rest of these pictures don't have/deserve copyright credit. I like to give credit to people who spend any amount of time doing something.

As an aside, I was carried away by the beauty of a wooden ship with sails, floating on the roiling ocean. It makes me sigh and get all dreamy in the eyes. I know, I know. You don't need to know that, but now you do! Ha! So...yeah, that's all today.

~TPP