Category Archives: Chaos

For the Love of Chaos Coda, pt. 2: Faylinn

Nov
29
2014
Reply

After the fourth straight day of seeing picture after picture in my Facebook feed of dogs up for adoption, I approached my wife.

“I get the feeling you’re trying to tell me something.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“The dog posts in Facebook. You keep “liking” posts about dogs up for adoption. You want to rescue another dog.”

While we had taught Chaos and Jessie a fair number of behaviors over the years, there was one trick they had taught my wife in return: The Bashful, Apologetic Eyes. She used it then, in response to my assertion. She followed it up with a pout filled, “yeah”. Continue reading →

For The Love of Chaos Coda pt. 1: Jesse

Sep
02
2014
Reply

I meant to write this months ago while Chaos was still alive. Yet, like so many other things in my life, I put it off thinking there was always tomorrow. Now tomorrow has come and I am without the most loving boy I have ever known. Chaos loved. There wasn’t a single person he met that he didn’t love. He knew the names of each of my friends. Each week on Thursday night he would become excited because he knew they were coming, even if no one told him, “It’s Thursday” (which would send him into a barking, corgi-butt wagging fit). Yet as much as he enjoyed hanging out with my D&D buddies, he loved our neighbors and their small herd of chihuahuas like family. Hanging out at their house was absolutely his favorite activity. Because of this, three years ago my wife and I thought he would like a fur brother of his own. So we started looking at rescue sites.  After several weeks of searching, this photograph appeared in one of my feeds. Continue reading →

For the Love of Chaos: What is a Soul?

Jun
21
2014
Reply

Throughout the room I heard several of my female classmates gasp. I, too, was struck somewhat dumb by the news. But with several members of the football team sitting behind me, eager for any excuse to make my teenage life hell, I dared not express my feelings.  Instead, I choked back on the emotions I felt for Buffy, my family’s dog. Even though I held my tongue, something about the teacher’s words didn’t feel right. Why would God punish an animal for being exactly what he created? Especially a dog that brings so much joy into peoples’ lives. I looked back up at Mr. Klemm. The football coach/religion teacher crossed his huge arms across his chest. A ripple of laughter shook his shoulders.

Yep,” he said with a beatific smile on his face, “your little Fido won’t be waiting for you in heaven. Dogs don’t have a soul.”

Continue reading →

A Quick Update and Another Beer Review

Jun
05
2014
Reply

Hi. I know. This site has been dormant. You probably thought I’d given up, yeah? Naw. Just getting some shit sorted. Some of it involves Chaos. The old boy is still fighting, but the allergies this year have taken a toll on him due to his compromised sinuses. Some of it involves stuffs I’m not sure I want to talk about here. But everyone still has their health. And I’m still writing.

However the reason I’m here right now is because the good lady who runs the Tipsy Techie has allowed me to post another of my beer reviews. This one is going to be a two parter. The first part is here. The second part should be going up in about a week. Take a look!

 

 

Odds And Updates

Mar
19
2014
Reply

Bloody Hell. A month since anybody heard a peep from me. Depression is a hell of a thing. Still, I have not been idle.

Writing

I’ve written a few new things, one of which has been rejected by three different editors. Pooh bears. But this year hasn’t been all bad news on the writing front. I’ve gotten an invite to submit to an anthology, which is nice. Not a guaranteed sale, of course, but it’s a good feeling to be included in an “inner circle”, so to speak. Also, one of my stories is under contract with a publisher. Basically that means they’ve got “dibs” on it and we’ve agreed to the sort of rights they’d be buying. Being new to this business, I’m not sure how much more I can share. I’m not expecting to hear anything more on it until closer to Halloween, as it’s that kind of story. I will most certainly update this site and blab about it on Twitter once I have more details.

Chaos

Our corgi-bear is hanging tough. His last three checkups with the oncologist have gone well. The air flow out of the infected nostril is strong and there are no signs of the tumor returning yet. His health has hit a few snags, though. We found a large mass on his belly the other week. The vet took of sample from it and it’s apparently just fatty tissue, but we need to keep an eye on it. Also, Chaos now refuses to go up or down stairs and he appears to have an odd swaying in his hips. Our regular vet was afraid that the tumor had caused neurological damage, but we got confirmation today that it’s not that. He most likely has developed either a herniated disk or is in the early stages of degenerative disk disease. He’s on some anti-inflammatory drugs and we’ve started doing exercises with him for range of motion. Also some heat therapy and massage. He’s lost none of his energy or zest for life. He’s just having a hard time moving around right now. Hopefully we can correct it.

Beer (because it gets its own heading on my site)

The Tipsy Techie was gracious enough to let me review another beer for her. You can read it here. Also, I’m planning on bringing a batch of To the Black with me to this year’s Steampunk Empire Symposium. I haven’t heard yet if there is going to be a home brew contest again this year (I won last year’s), but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have good beer on hand.

That’s it for now. I hope to have more news soon.

Update on Chaos and Metastasis is on Sale

Dec
05
2013
Reply

Chaos went in for his weekly checkup with the oncologist yesterday. She was amazed at his recovery. His mouth and tongue are 100% healed, and most of the hair loss has finished. Also, he got a little bit of airflow back through his right nostril. He looks so good, in fact, that she rescheduled his next checkup for next month. However she left the feeding tube in as a precaution, even though he’s only getting his meds and a bit of water through it now.

Around the home his behavior has definitely brightened. His appetite came back with a vengeance. He’s back to his old tricks of dancing between my legs while I cook and sniffing in the garbage can. On Saturday the wife and I decided to take the dogs for a walk. Chaos did great. He bounded along beside us, stopping only to do his you-know-what. When we got home, we figured he’d be exhausted. Instead, he picked up a ball and wanted to play fetch. He hasn’t wanted to play since the weekend after he had the biopsy performed. Yet there he was, running and jumping with an energy we hadn’t seen in a long time. My wife teared up she was so happy. I was so inspired that I wrote over 4500 words that day, finishing up a story that had been percolating in my head for weeks.

In other news, WolfSinger Publications is holding a sale for the holidays. All their titles are 25% off, including Metastasis. Details can be seen here: http://wolfsingerpubs.com/HappyHolidays.html. As you know, Metastasis is a very important anthology for me. Its theme hits close to home for my family. Over 60% of all proceeds from the sale of Metastasis are being donated to the American Cancer Society.

If you have already bought Metastasis, thank you so much! Please take a few moments and write an honest review someplace like Goodreads or Amazon.com. Small publishers rely on the word of mouth generated by reviews to make sales.

Here’s hoping that the year finishes on a strong note for me. Since I’m feeling so motivated I think I’m going to brew a batch of my porter this weekend. I call it “To the Black”. It’s a Firefly inspired porter where I use ginger in place of finishing hops. It makes for great holiday drinking.

Update on Chaos- November 9th, 2013

Nov
09
2013
Reply

Chaos has completed his 10 radiation treatments. For the first week there was no observable change in his behavior or symptoms. By the weekend, however, his energy level had bottomed out. He did nothing but sleep for the majority of the time. When he did move, you could tell it took considerable strength. His breathing became worse. Ragged. When he slept his snoring could be heard throughout the house. I was terrified but the doctors assured me that what he was going through was absolutely normal. The tumor’s first reaction to radiation treatment is to swell, causing the increase in symptoms we observed. He was tired because a) he was being put under every afternoon and b) MedVet allows their patients to roam free in the back room. So when he wasn’t under, Chaos was playing with the other dogs and interacting with the staff. The combination of both tuckered the old guy out. Continue reading →