It is all about oil.

Oil is the remains of billions of ancient creatures transformed by the pressures under the earth. We’ve disturbed the dead. We tear them apart again and burn what’s left. Our air filled with ghosts millions of years old. Ghosts of creatures whose species are long extinct. Ghosts with only instinct and survival drive.

They howl and rage and we go crazy and dig up more. Once they’ve all been disturbed, once they’ve all been pulled up and set loose maybe they’ll go away. Maybe they’ll leave us in peace.

One of the biggest advantages to living alone is that you can wake up in a sensible manner. You get up, put on great music and dance like a crazed gerbil until your brain is shaken up enough for thoughts to bubble out.

I don’t live alone.

So I drink coffee.

Low Budget Movies

The writing partnership with PresiD and ScarletBlue never managed to come together again after Christmas. Which isn’t a problem. The amount of time that they put into their business coupled with their church and family obligations meant that they were usually stressed out. Are usually stressed out. They have a good sense of humor about it. Writing was just one more thing on their plate. Since it was something without an immediate return it was the most obvious thing for them to drop.

Nizzibet and I continue writing. Of course we’re scattered and have half a dozen different projects that we’re working on. My friend, Gianni, was once advised to stick to one project if he ever wanted to get anything done. It’s good advice that I doubt I’ll be following anytime soon. I’d like to. I need a sustained period of solitude on a regular basis to concentrate on one project. Without that I have to grab concentration when I can and apply it to whatever project fits it in the moment.

Sometimes that’s illustration. Sometimes that’s cartooning. Sometimes it’s writing. Nizzibet and I have Saturday’s set aside for Couple Time. We try to use that as writing time as often as possible. We got to know each other originally because we were working on a graphic novel; her as writer, me as artist.

We’ve been doing some weird collaboration this last week. PresiD and ScarletBlue are working with some folks who want to do low budget horror movies and asked us to come up with some film treatments for them. Not hard. I’ve always got ideas. I outlined a couple of plots earlier this week. Nizzibet has spent the afternoons fleshing out one of the plots, deepening characters and working on the rhythm. She does most of that work in longhand on 3×5 cards that will then come back to me for typing and further fleshing out.

If there’s no interest in either idea as a film we can always turn them into novels. I think it’s funny that opportunities for film writing keep wandering our way. I gave up the idea of making movies when I was a kid. I figured out that I could tell the same stories I was imagining as movies as comics instead. I could do if for a fraction of the budget. I wouldn’t have to worry about actors or directors or editors or producers turning it into something I didn’t like.

Have I actually turned any of those movie ideas into comics yet?

Um.

What was I talking about again?

Systems

The Boss is having me read The E Myth and see how we can apply the business systems theory of that book to CreativeTechs. We’ve been batting ideas back and forth and he’s having me read other business theory books to see what can be used to complement, expand on and improve the ideas in The E Myth. It gives me something to think about during the day while I’m waiting for the next customer call.

CreativeTechs provides services that require too much knowledge and education for us to be able to completely Turnkey the operation. Turnkeying a business is designing your business in such a way that you can hire employees with little actual skill and have them still manage to turn out a product that’s identical to the product produced by longtime employees. Michael Gerber, the author, has a huge admiration for McDonalds and uses them as the prime example of his business theory. McDonalds is his example of how to take a small business and break down all it’s processes into reproducable systems thereby making it possible to reproduce (franchise) that business all over the world.

On April 15th we’ll be starting the Quick Start Mastery program. Between now and then we’re studying our customer base and our costs and the way we do things. So far I’m noticing that the place where we’re most likely to be able to systemize things is in my own job and in how the technicians record their information. If The Boss is willing to put into practice the systems I want it’s going to require a lot more paperwork than he and the rest of the technicians currently fill out. I’d prefer most of the paperwork to be electronic (and therefore accessible to techs in the field). Even so I’m not expecting any of the guys to get excited about this. It’s hard enough to get them to fill out all their reports on a weekly basis.

One thing I’ve noticed from this process so far is how much I systemize my activities as a matter of course. When I cook I break down the different activities into steps. When I get up in the morning I have a variety of habits that I run through. When I draw I start with a specific graphite weight and progress from there. I think in a very “this then this” fashion. In fact, I’m not sure that I’d really call it thinking. If I automatically start applying system breakdowns to my activities am I really thinking?

That’s not a question I’m looking at deeply. Plenty of other folks have devoted their lives and many words to that sort of philosophical rumination. I find it entertaining to watch my self function automatically in the same way I’m entertained by Paliki going through her motions. Once in a while I see her think.

Something disrupts her pattern. She stops. Then she acts in a new way. It’s obvious to me that her brain has weigh options and is acting out a new plan. And everytime I watch her think I wonder about the humans who insist that only human animals think, that other animals only act on instinct. Am I deluded? Are they stupid?

Of course I usually decide that they are stupid and deluded.

Off topic much?

No lawn mower action today. It rained this morning. The sun is out now but after a brief evaluation I decided that the grass hadn’t grown enough for me to feel obligated to drag out the mower and beat it back. Since I find myself using the term obligated I’d guess I’m also feeling lazy. On top of sore from the hefting and hauling of furnitures.

Saturday is the normally the day that Nizzibet and I have set aside for Date Day, Couple Time, Hanging Out With the Spouse.We didn’t manage much togetherness this Saturday. Helping DoubleM redistribute her ex’s possessions took care of that. No drama involved in the process at least. I do not like to be around bitter ex-couples. They’re not cute or sexy when they’re spewing bile at each other. Fortunately M’s previous is just moving to East Coast and wanted to get rid of a bunch of stuff to make the move easier. We (between Nizzibet and Jaydogg and I) are richer now by two chairs, a bookcase, an entertainment center and an espresso maker. Nizzibet stayed at home. She had a bout of sickness of her own on Thursday and Friday. When that happens it’s safer to stay away from heavy work and exercise. Cuts down on the likelihood that she’ll overdo it trying to keep up with healthy folks and drop something heavy on something fragile. Like her foot. She has skinny fragile feet.

Once the moving was complete we ended up watching DoubleM’s daughter LittleM while M and Jaydogg took care of returning the U-Haul and tracking down the dolly that someone had forgotten to return to the truck. M is four. Normally she’s a barely contained hurricane. Last night she had a stomach ache damping her enthusiasm for world domination. After a day of dragging about furniture I appreciated her relative quiet.

The two chairs have already been cat tested by Paliki. They are porch chairs with washable cushions. Paliki had hunkered down on one of them within a half hour of it’s placement on the porch yesterday and I found her splayed out on the other one when I went out to get the paper this morning.

Jaydogg claims he’s going to put the bookshelf into his office. Exactly how he’ll do that I have a hard time imagining. Especially after he was saying how much he hated moving yesterday. Nothing the size of that bookcase is going in his office without some serious moving of other things.

The Black Seal’s new, redesigned website is up. I ran into a few problems accessing it yesterday but those problems seem to be mostly fixed this morning. If you’re someone who has wandered over here from there – Welcome! Despite good intentions I’m a sporadic poster. If I were just putting sketches up I’d probably manage it more frequently. I get five pages of sketching done for every half page of prose. And most of that prose I wouldn’t put up.

There will be no poetry on this page. For that, go to Lovesettlement. He’s got a way with words I can’t hope to compete with.

For political opinions try some of Sarah Byam’s essays at Tuppenceworth or check out the carefully crafted rants at Longstoryshortpier or the toons Amptoons or In Contempt (and then read the blogs that are attached to those) or, well, go anywhere but here. My political opinions all seem to be driven by a screaming psychotic yahoo back in my lizard brain who advocates a scorched earth policy for just about any situation he disagrees with. He’s fun at parties and around the house but I wouldn’t let him put his views in print.

For comics, start with the links to left. I keep intending to add more. Ultimately, saving links to good webcomics is a driving force for creating this blog. Lots of good, eccentric, completely uncommercial comics being done on the web these days. It warms my evil little heart.

And if you’re someone who reads Skook regularly – go check out The Black Seal and order yourself a copy or two. I’ve got quite a few illustrations in the latest issue, stuff I’m pretty proud of. If you’re a gamer it’s a fine source for horror and conspiracy ideas and scenarios.

You would think that seven hundred pounds of furry primate would be easy to spot in someone’s back yard. You’d think that if you were the sort of person who tamed his backyard. I’m not that sort of person. Were it not for the lease agreement I’d probably never cut the lawn or trim the bushes or cut weeds. All the ground surrounding this place would vanish under the lush vegetation that the Pacific Northwest rainfall encourages. My front porch would be accessible only to those equipped with a machete. My back door would be barely visible beyond the long grass. Mothers would attach leases to their children before they let them outdoors to play in the greenery. One could hide lions, tigers and bears in that jungle. A sasquatch would feel right at home.

At least I would guess a sasquatch would feel at home. This morning Skook seems to have no problem with the yard just as it is.

The back yard isn’t fenced in. It’s bounded by a chain link fence in the north (Cranky Old Lady Neighbor’s kingdom over there), the back alley in the east (Seattle is honeycombed with alleys), garage in the south and the house at the west. The grass is low despite winter rain and warm temperate. And curled up next to one of the bushes on the north side is Skook.

I wouldn’t have thought to look for him. He doesn’t always come home. When I got up at nine-a.m.ish I noticed that he wasn’t on his futon. It didn’t appear to have been rolled out. I made myself some coffee (i.e. poured yesterday’s cold leftovers in a glass, tossed in some sugar and stirred) and puttered around the house. Mainly I tried to clear up my breathing passages. I’ve been fighting a cold for the last few days. I’m at the tail end of it but my body is still zealously producing snot. Takes about a half an hour to get it coughed and sneezed and blown out enough for me to feel healthy. Noticing that the kitchen garbage was full and feeling like I ought to contribute something to the upkeep of the house and since the sun was out anyway I stuck my boots on and took the bag outside.

It was on my way back from the trash barrel that it occurred to me that the back yard had acquired an extra compost pile, or something, by that bush. No. Sasquatch. He’s curled up so that head, hands and feet can’t be seen unless you’re standing right over him. The grass is still tall enough that, from the alley or next door, you really wouldn’t be able to tell how damned big he is. If you even noticed him at all you’d think he was some big brown shaggy dog sleeping in the sun. And since most folks don’t want to get the attention of a big dog, especially if there were no fence between them and it (as would be the case with for alley walkers), they’d refrain from disturbing the critter.

If it starts to rain he’ll probably come inside. I’m hoping the sun will stay dominant until it’s time for it to set. This afternoon I’m helping Jaydogg and DoubleM move some furniture out of M’s ex’s apartment. I’ve done enough moving in the rain to be happy to never do it again.

Of course, if this sunny weather keeps up, tomorrow I’m going to feel compelled to test out our new lawn mower on the winter growth. Fortunately the ground by that bush is grooved and lumpy as the result of a year’s old attempt at gardening. Lawn mowers don’t work too well there. That part of the jungle should endure.

Somehow, in the two weeks that I haven’t been writing in it, this blog went from non-existent in a “David Lee Ingersoll” google search to number six. I’m going to have to celebrate by drinking even more cold medicine when I get home. Which I’ll no doubt need because it’s frickin’ pouring out. Oh yay.

In the game of cat versus sasquatch, the cat has won. I woke up yesterday (Sunday) morning to the sound of Paliki meowing at our bedroom window. It took me a bit to figure out that the noise was coming from outside. Paliki often wakes me up at 5:30 a.m. or thereabouts with a barrage of meows. I’ve discovered that if I’m able to ignore her for five minutes she’ll give up and go away. Yesterday morning however the meows kept going and I finally realized that the sounds had that muffled quality that comes from sound passing through badly insulated walls.

So I stumbled through the house and let her fuzziness in. I checked her paw. No visible swelling, stitches still intact. It was pretty cold out so I can understand why she was so insistent about getting inside. I did a quick check around the basement for Skook but he was still out.

That means he must have let Paliki out sometime after midnight. Skook didn’t go out until after Nizzibet and I had gone to bed. Or maybe Jaydogg opened the door for her.

I don’t really care much. Paliki is in pretty good shape. She’s back to jumping on the furniture and galumping around the house – a herd of elephants cleverly disguised as an eight pound cat. I played doorman at least a half dozen times for her yesterday and once already this morning.

Skook and Paliki have never been the best of friends. It’s not that he doesn’t like cats. He and Chainsaw adored each other. When we’ve walked the neighborhood there are cats that come when he whistles – cats that never let me get within a hundred feet of them. But Skook and Paliki … something about their personalities just doesn’t groove. They either ignore or avoid each other depending on how the relative space around them can best be navigated.

This week, unfortunately, Paliki is really getting on Skook’s nerves. Normally she’s an indoor/outdoor cat, coming and going at her own whim. On Sunday I noticed that she was favoring one of her front paws. A quick examination determined that said paw was messed up. It was swollen and the outside toe was sticking off at an angle. Monday, Presidents’ Day, I took her to the vet and discovered that she’d somehow gotten an infected cut and dislocated a toe. The vet instructed me to give her antibiotics twice a day, painkillers as seemed necessary and keep her inside. Paliki came how sporting a nifty blue bandage around her right front paw. She got the bandage off within a couple of hours of being home. She pulled off the two bandages Nizzibet and I replaced it with. She hates the antibiotics and the painkiller makes her foam at the mouth if the pill doesn’t go down the first time. And she really doesn’t care for this being kept in stuff.

Skook says that normally Paliki sleeps while Nizzibet and I are off at work. She’s not doing that this week. This week she’s down in the basement bugging Skook to let her out three or four times a day. Being nocturnal by nature, he’s not appreciating all this attention. He’s been out of the house right at sundown for the last two days. He was gone before I got home tonight. He got some peace today since I’d dropped the cat off at the vet for a check up on my way to work. She spent the whole day there, no doubt complaining about it the whole time, and I picked her up at about six. I’d planned to be there by at least 5:30 but one of our clients called at 4:53 with an emergency that needed to be negotiated. That kept me in the office until 5:30. It poured on the way to the vet. We don’t have a car so I took the cat most of the way there and back on the bus but there’s enough of a walk (and a wait) between the bus stop and the vet’s office that I got soaked. Paliki stayed dry in her carrier and mostly kept her discontent to herself.

(Funny the things you notice. Another client at the vet’s was given his pet back and told that he had a really great cat. My darling Paliki doesn’t get that sort of compliment. It hurts my feelings a bit. I can’t really argue. Her charm is discreet.)

Poor Skook. Paliki’s got to be in for another four or five days. The garage is even less of an option since DoubleM gave us a lawn mower and yard tools.