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Ryan
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Dec 08, 2014 05:32PM

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My five-day vacation in San Diego is over and I’m comfortable and happy in my home in Port Orchard. All I can say about Lego Land, the San Diego Wildlife Preserve, and pretty much every restaurant in the city is…”Everything is awesome!”
Lego Land was as magical and fun as I thought it was going to be. While it is true most of the rides are geared towards small children and aren’t as intense as other theme parks, they were still fun to do and made my inner child warm and fuzzy. My only regret about this place was that I was too overweight to fit in some of the rides. Not to worry, because gym memberships and healthier meals are in my near future. As far as Reina’s future goes, she has a present from Lego Land’s shops to look forward to. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a few things for myself as well.
The San Diego Wildlife Preserve was the perfect place to see animal cuties of all kinds. Deer, giraffes, rhinos, buffalos, bulls, if it was cute despite being able to maul a human being within seconds, this park had it. It even had a petting zoo with fuzzy and friendly goats. Some of them even had a beard like WWE wrestler Daniel Bryan. Hehe! All joking aside, I’m more than happy to give this place my business, especially as it relates to their work to keep certain animals from going extinct. The tree-hugger in me approves of this very much.
Every day was a perfect day to go to the beach. The sun was shining, the weather was warm, the water was sparkling like diamonds, and the perverted part of me especially enjoyed the Generation Y eye candy. There’s nothing quite like listening to angst-driven heavy metal music on my MP3 player while strolling the beaches and taking in the beautiful scenery. “Sick Like Me” by In This Moment is particularly enjoyable for this kind of occasion.
And then we have the number one reason why I couldn’t fit into some of the rides at Lego Land: the food. Macaroni and cheese, Afghani food, hipster Mexican food, and authentic Japanese food compliments of Benihana. If you’ve never been to the latter restaurant before, you’re missing out on a real treat. Yes, the food is delicious, but the chefs actually cook the food in front of you on a metal heating table and put on a show for you. They do knife tricks, for god’s sake. Knife tricks!
While it’s great to get out of Port Orchard for a few days and enjoy Californian warmth, I’m most looking forward to getting back into my creative groove and letting the stories and poetry fly from my imagination. It’s been ten days since the last chapter of Watch You Burn has been written and a whole week since my last WSS Contest participation. I hope to still perform at the highest level for my awesome audience. I might be slightly rusty, but getting back into that groove is easy once it actually happens. Oh, and it’s also a good idea to expect a review of Saint Vincent sometime in the near future as well as pictures from the vacation. We’ve got ears, say cheers!

Oh yeah I didn't forget. Welcome back, Garrison!



Yep. And by that the first film probably was only able to terrify children. Haha.

CJ, if the movie was called Attack of the Killer Macaroni & Cheese, children would probably love it. Hehe!

Hello to Daniel also!

I'd like to take a minute to acknowledge the huge impact that M has had on this group over a long period of time. M has been instrumental in shaping, guiding, encouraging and supporting so many members over the years and his departure as a mod leaves a big hole. So thank you, M, you have been fundamental in the success of the group and a great friend to so many of us. Hopefully the (temporary) break from being a moderator will give you a bit more time to devote to your own writing.
I'd also like to welcome Ajay and Nicky as mods. If you don't know them already, don't be scared to say hello. Both are very friendly, enthusiastic and extremely talented writers to boot.
That's about all from me. A warm welcome to all the new members, I'm really enjoying the rowdy chatter on deck and the influx of stories, poems, feedback and camaraderie - it's going to be a great new year aboard the W.S.S.
Have fun!

Welcome aboard, Ajay and Nicky! I know Nicky very well. She was the one who inspired me to write "Sitka the Nose Biter". And Ajay, we haven't talked much, but I hope that will change in the near future.

Absolutely, Garrison! That will change shortly. I'm in the final stages of relocating back to my hometown for good.

That's a relief! I noticed a while back he was no longer listed as one of the moderators. Glad to find out this leaving is only temporary but still; his working in the group will be missed.

I'm trying to remember a book I read years ago but for the life of me I can't recall the title or author's name!
It's a romance about a woman who buys a strange vase that transports her to another fantasy world where she is some kind of princess and is forced to marry a centaur who can turn human at will.
Yeah, it sounds weird but it was actually a pretty decent book, fun and humorous. The author writes other similar books about regular women who are suddenly thrust into a fantasy world. I believe she did one about mermaids too.
Anyone have a clue how I should go about finding out who wrote this?

While sorting out my smallest daughters room yesterday I found, hidden under her pillow - a torch, a big black permanent marker pen and a false moustache - seems she was getting 'tooled up' for some kind of job...but what?

https://www.goodreads.com/story/list/...
Any feedback or comment you wish to make just message me your thoughts! Also, tell me which ones you think are best? I'm not saying for you to read all, unless you want to. But just read a few and tell me which one you liked best. And don't be shy on telling me what I need to fix, like any grammatical or spelling errors. Anyway, thanks guys (and gals)!

Q) Why couldn't Luke Skywalker find a girlfriend?
A) Because he was looking for love in Alderaan places!
(groans!)

The future of this rewritten novel (Occupy Wrestling) is looking very bright. It actually stands a chance in the cutthroat market and it’s all thanks to the snarky and helpful advice of Marie Krepps, one of my best internet friends and the author of “Irish Squeeze” and “The Life She Didn’t Take”. Despite all of the hard work I put into reshaping this novel, my work is not finished yet. Yes, Marie gave me valuable advice, but then she gave me another piece of valuable advice: seek multiple opinions. In other words, she’s great, but she’s only one person.
And that is where the members of my lovely audience come in, whether they’re from Good Reads, Deviant Art, or Face Book. Remember Jordan Triplett? She’s the girl I had as my beta reader before I met Marie. I sent her an email asking if she wanted to critique the newest version of Occupy Wrestling. I’m asking anyone else who’s interested to do the same. I don’t know what kind of advice to expect, but I’m not republishing this novel unless I’m 100% sure it’s going to work this time. And when I do republish it, it’ll be as Occupy Wrestling, not Brawl Mart. Plus, in addition to Smash Words and all of the vendors they subscribe to, I’m also going to have versions of this book on Kindle (Amazon) and paperback (Lulu).
So what do you say, guys? Are you interested in reading and critiquing a short urban fantasy novel with pro-wrestling elements and badass characters? Would you like to see what kinds of ass kickings our hero Mitch McLeod has to endure? Would you like to see his girlfriend Debra Winter become more than a damsel in distress? Would you like to see a bigoted and loudmouthed CEO like Keegan Day get the crap kicked out of him while his empire crumbles into dust? You can see it all in Occupy Wrestling. All you have to do is ask. If you’re sensitive to violence, however, this might not be your cup of tea. We’ve got ears, say cheers!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3..."
That was it! Thanks!

Q) Why couldn'..."
I hadn't heard that one. And now I have to tell it to my kids when they get home from school!

This coming Sunday, it’s vacation time again for me, my mom, and my step-dad Dale. And the big caveat is that mom’s old colleague and pen-pal Jim is coming with us. Jim has been described as socially awkward and an all around strange person (reminds me of someone I know). Together, all four of us are going to Victoria, Canada for the second time in two years (it’ll be Jim’s first, though). If you follow my Garrison’s Library posts, Victoria is the same place where the “Canadian Elevator Incident” took shape. With Jim coming along with us, I’m sure I’ll have more awkward moments to write about. What will we all do together? Probably just relax and take the edge off. Eat at some nice restaurants, see a few movies at the Imax, snooze under the low barometric pressure, stuff like that.
You’ve heard me talk about vacations in the past and they always mean the same thing: limited internet access. I’ll have my laptop (after I clean all of the malware off of it), but I won’t be using it 24/7 like I do with my desktop at home. That means of course whatever WSS contest is going on that week will have to do without my participation (sorry, guys!). It also means I won’t be working on Garrison’s Library posts or editing short stories from American Darkness. But this is only a five-day vacation, so I won’t be gone forever.
The past few vacations I’ve done with mom and Dale have been good ones, so let’s keep the legacy of positivity going with a five-day excursion to Canada. I’m going away on Sunday and coming back on Friday. See you all until then!

Congratulations, Ryan! You're on a roll :)
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