ThinkingSkull.com

So, driving back from seeing Leakybrains all patched up, a tropical monsoon dropped out of the sky. Within moments, there was significant water on the road, but not enough that it looked dangerous or uncrossable; nothing more than you’d expect on a flat parking lot during a cloud burst.

That said, however, whenever a large truck in the opposite lane is speeding down the opposite lane, the displacement of even a few inches of water can build on a straightaway, and low front-ended sporty-like car such as mine, the air intake is pretty low for that much water slamming into it. And, unfortunately, water doesn’t compress in an engine, but I’m told the #4 cylinder reportedly tried to do it anyway.

What is it about the right car? The RIGHT car fits like a worn shoe. Both will take you wherever you want to go, as far as you’re willing to travel. Sure, everyone has their first-car experience, but for people who really enjoy driving and love the feeling of being able to go, that perfect car is an extension of self that already feels like it knows what you want.

I have never used my car insurance for anything, not in all the years I’ve made the payments. Supposedly I have one of the best, a benefit for all the times I was able to steer around telephone poles instead of meeting them personally. As I sit here, someone I don’t know is determining if I’ll get my well-fitting shoe back or not, and that person doesn’t know that whether or not I renew that policy hangs on that same decision.

Is it wrong to feel less vulnerable to admit I’m trying to feel hostile toward an insurance adjustor who hasn’t made a decision yet than it is to admit already miss a nicely-worn shoe? I really, really love that car, dang it…

No, not in the mafia sense of the term. Sheesh!

The operation appears to have been a complete success, so Neener is in ICU under a close watch (just in case) and will soon get to have visitors in her comfy $5000.00 per night room.

The operation is over, but the hospital stay still sounds (expensively) scary!

Imagine having a hole drilled in your head and soft tissure stuffed in so your cranial fluid doesn’t leak down your spine… well, hopefully you’ll be unconscious when that happens.

A friend of mine, Neener, who’s online journal is called Neenerpants, has a Chiari Malformation, which is a funny way to say she has a hole in her head (which many of us have accused her of in the past and now we all feel bad because it turned out to be true). As it turns out, a small percentage of the population have the condition but rarely know of it unless there was a reason to have an MRI; on a whim because of a back problem, the test revealed the unknown malady, which may also explain any number of other weird little problems she has encountered.

But the real story is this: I’m worried for her, as I’m sure everyone else is. But Ace, Neener’s ever-faithful husband, is the one with the most pressure for all the obvious reasons and a few that no one else could probably understand right now. Brave lad, that one.

So, tonight, she will have her head shaved surrounded by friends in a ritualistic manner befitting someone about to go through an ordeal such as this. If ya gotta do it, why not make a production of it, right? On Thursday, everything should turn out fine, and after she recovers she’ll be good as new. To paraphrase Neener herself, it’s worth the risk because having no strength to do the things she loves with people she loves “sucks,” and that’s all there is to it.

Say a prayer to whatever higher power you worship and let the ritual begin!

“The Chronicles of Riddick” has really been the only blockbuster advertised for this summer I’ve actually been looking forward to. Everything else is already proven material or has a built-in audience, but “Chronicles” offers a new trend: character continuation without the standard sequel rehash.

Of course, this is always a risk. From the Hollywood Studio Playbook, a sequel should be exactly the same, only bigger and more expensive. The formula is usually %125 more expensive and %75 of the original’s take, which is why a third film is usually fodder pushing the “Why, God, why?” boundary.

But when the original is several years old and was a low-budget cult hit to begin with, you have the makings of another “Terminator” or “Alien” franchise as long there’s a fresh approach to the entire production. It may also be important that the stars have aligned, Venus is passing in front of the sun, “Garfield the Movie” will likely tank, the critics hate every frame of the film, and former President Reagan has already been mourned this week.

Long gone must be the days when the average person cared about who was elected President of the United States. It SHOULD matter, but it doesn’t seem to. The only thing for sure is that if a new president is elected, some overseas power will “try them out” to see what the official new American response will be.

How did this happen? Is it because the media would rather talk about anything else? Is it because no candidate will risk setting themselves too far apart from the pack? Or is it all on purpose so that the common person feels they don’t even need to vote?

If you don’t throw in with a politcal ‘party’ then you can’t even choose who the CHOICES will be. If you choose outside the official choices on the ballot, you can pretty much bet the farm your special choice won’t win, but the alternative is casting a vote for someone you really don’t want to vote for. Why is it we now have to decide who we hate less in order to vote for an executive in charge?

Yeah, sure, we can all send a jillion emails telling everyone not to vote, but internet spam doesn’t need any extra help. I don’t have a solution, either… more on this when I think I do.

It isn’t much, and I’m not one for big birthday hooplas. But five years ago TODAY, I purchased the domain for MovieCrypt.com and moved in a year’s worth of reviews. The site is currently on its fifth incarnation (as I grow bored looking at the same thing and start thinking up ways to tweak and streamline the code).

It’s not the biggest movie review website, but as time goes by, it is fast becoming one of the oldest. In a time when search engines are paid to move ads to the tops of lists, any search with “Movie” & “Crypt” all point to (in the words of CHUD.com) “The only horror site on the web run by undead hellions.”

That we are, five years strong. Here’s to the next five!

So here it is: ThinkingSkull.com. It’s been “The Crypt of the Crystal Lich” and “The Lich’s Lair” and other things besides, but here it is again. And since honesty is the best policy, I have a confession: I hate journals. I hate keeping them, updating them, and all that. But, on the suggestion of a fellow creator, maybe it’s time I got past all of that and tried something new and old.

Let the new (and old) thinking begin… again. And now again!

Note: this is actually the SECOND time for this; turns out I found a better editor than Movable Type! Woo hoo! (sorry for the “woo hoo”)