Day 46: Metropolitan Life, It Pays

Life in the Big City

So I'm having a few withdrawals from the city of Atlanta apparently. I was really bored today, and I'm not sure that is going to change very much. I have reflected a lot on the trip I took, and I think I'm going to go to work in the place where my heart leads me if I get the chance. I wrote a little on the book today. I'm having some particular difficulties being creative with the backstory. I'm leaning heavily on things that I've gone through to pound it out. A lot of the reason is that I share a lot in common with my main character. I guess that will say a lot about me if you read the backstory. It's kind of split between the main character and James. It's a dichotomy of sorts. Anyway, the work on it is still in progress, and I think that after this chapter the creative floodgates will open up again. This chapter is particularly difficult because you really want your reader to understand your character. I really stop myself several times realizing that I didn't ask myself this question that naturally a reader would ask. There's the rub. You have to be a reader to write a book I've learned. Anyway, life is fair. I'm broke until dad deposits my check from work, and then I'll be paying off bills. It's just sick. I have a busy latter half of the summer to look forward to, it'll be awesome. Well, I'm out for the night. I must type away as my update of the book will be circulating around the email cycle sometime mid next week. (No thanks to the trip to Atlanta and the upcoming apartment move in Tuscaloosa that is necessary) Oh well, here's to the hope of a bright future in a sea of starlight.

Day 47: A Life's Wish

A Wishing Well

Well, after a few days in Atlanta, I'm refreshed. I had a very good time. I believe PWC wants me to work for them. I hope so anyway. They are a really great company. I really liked everything about them. I went to a Brave's baseball game, which was kinda fun even though I really didn't watch the game at all. I got wined and dined for the most part. I picked up a book in the genre that I'm writing to get a better understanding of how to write the book, and in particular a series of events in the book. I know that I won't follow all of Elmore Leonard's, Stephen King's, or Julie Checkoway's adivce when writing the book. I do pick up some good tips from each of them though. None of them are writing my genre though, so there's the rub. I have a bestseller that is an established writer, and I'm finding it interesting how he establishes things in his book. I learned that I have to develop a lot of backstory for my main character lest he be perceived shallow. I learned all sorts of cool stuff. Anyway, I hung out in Atlanta with Jason McMillian all weekend. We got a chance to dine at Steak 'N Shake. (J Mac, as we call him, was a first timer) We went downtown to Centennial Park, and took a tour of CNN. We went to Underground Atlanta, and a whole host of other things. While we were in the olympic park, I dropped a quarter into the pool that the fountain spilled into at the end of the park. I have always made my wish for one thing. Seeing as how I've never gotten it, I decided to modify my wish a bit. I hope that it comes to life. Anyway, I just thought I would post it, and maybe I'll look back and think that it was a wish worth taking.

Day 53: Save Tonight

A North Carolina Sky
What a night! It's been beautiful all day today. I had a great day at work. I actually kept busy today. It was a lot of fun, and I'm getting to do some important stuff that will look quite good on a resume. I'm also making a lot of head way on my novel. I would appreciate it if anyone that is interested in contributing opinions of how it's going to list their email address in the comments section. I'll be emailing it out periodically a few sections at a time. I have to stay well ahead of my audience after all. So, I guess that's really all I have for tonight. I just wanted to make a quick post so that I could fight the break of dawn while I write. This one I'm going to finish. I'll be happy with it, and that will be enough for me. I will give it a go at the publishing though. I've read some things that were published that are far worse than what I've written so far. My idea is kinda unique too. Well, goodnight neverland!!

Day 54: I Will Remember You

So, I thought that I would spice up my blog a bit. I changed the template, and added a bit more image to the mix. I also wanted to reflect on this picture. One year ago this weekend, (how ironic that I'm out of t-town now) I took a trip to get away from Tuscaloosa. I had met this lovely girl in Las Vegas that attended UNLV named Marina. I had fun on my IMT (work) trip to Las Vegas thanks to her. She took me out, showed me the town, and charmed my socks off. I liked her very much right away. It grew even with the distance, and so we decided to take a trip to New Orleans. We stayed in a quaint little hotel on Tchopatoulis.(I think that's how it's spelled) We took a dinner cruise on the Mississippi, went out onto Bourbon Street(and a not so asthetically pleasable specialty club), and to Pat O'Brien's where we were charmed by "Walking in Memphis" which we requested the piano players to play. It was a magical trip. I found love, fun, and oddly enough a long term friendship. Marina is good people, and I rank that trip highly in my must remember experiences.


The Garden District

Day 55: A Preview of My Novel

Well, it took a while to come up with an idea and outline for my novel, but here goes nothing I figure. So, here is a small glimpse without proper spacing due to the blog......... It was four minutes after three in the morning. Ethan Huckins lay in his bed listening to footsteps lightly patter down the hallway. The constant beeping of machines and the tubes that connected to his body were as annoying as they were helpful. Were they really helpful?
Ethan had grown tired of this place. He tired from the constant sterile odors of disinfectants, and the muffled sobs that he endured the last four days. Ethan was a sincere old man. His wavy white hair often hung above deep blue eyes that could pierce the most guarded heart. His face was thin and worn, and his large chest gave a whisper of a hint to his once proud figure. He was tall, a fact disguised by his current state, and he bore a woven bracelet on his left arm that had a sapphire attached to the last knot.
Too weak to sit up, Ethan moved his head slightly in order to make himself as comfortable as possible. Many thoughts began to reverberate inside his mind. Will I ever escape this place? It feels like so long ago since I felt normal.
Suddenly, something remarkable happened…
Light started to pour into the room. Ethan tried to close his eyes, but he was unable to resist his curiosity. The sounds of the beeps began to fade, the lingering aroma disappeared, and Ethan seemed a bit light headed. He took in one deep breath, and a long tone was the last thing that he could make out in the room.
A nurse soon rushed into the room to inspect her patient. She was startled by the sound while making rounds, and hurried upon Ethan’s body in surprise. His head was slightly turned towards her, and his eyes were making contact with her own. She stood there frozen for a moment.
“Martha! Alert the code team!” she screamed.
“Not again Susan, I just can’t take this again” Martha mumbled to herself.
Another nurse rushed into the room. Susan was grabbing the crash cart and bringing it next to the bed.
“Help me get him lying flat Patty” Susan requested.
After some struggle, the nurses placed Ethan onto the crash cart. He was flat on his back, and a vacant empty expression glazed over his eyes. The attending physician, Dr. Adams arrived and looked directly at Susan.
“We need to get him hooked up to the defibrillator”
“Yes, Patty, your turn to record what happens” Susan said.
Soon Ethan was hooked up to the defibrillator, and Dr. Adams noticed the on-call anesthesiologist make his way into the room to ready the patient for an open airway. Ethan’s gown was removed, and his bare burly chest was exposed.
Ethan felt the first shock run through his body vaguely. His consciousness held firm for a few seconds as he recalled a long forgotten memory.
Ethan had just walked into the coffee shop…
He was attending his brother’s high school graduation…
He had written his last letter…
The second shock was not as kind as the first. Ethan’s body convulsed as the medical staff desperately attempted to revive him. It took the elements that Ethan had escaped when he heard the long tone, and it returned them all for a few moments. The beeping and the tubes he could hear and feel. He was still unable to see or smell however, and for that he was somewhat thankful.
“I’m clear, you’re clear, everybody clear?” yelled Dr. Adams.
“Three hundred and sixty Joules” replied Susan while nodding her head.
The third shock was sent through Ethan roughly, and his memories continued to stream through his mind… He was sitting in a flat bottom boat in a lake at the foothills of the Appalachians. His father was teaching him how to fish as a boy…
His best friend had moved in with him to attend the university…
Dr. Adams began to administer the CPR. The light seemed to dim again, and Ethan rose away from his bed, detached from what was transpiring. He looked around the room, and a dark figure was in the chair in the corner. He had the feeling that it was watching him. He turned his attention to the medical staff that was around his body. Dr. Adams had placed the ambu bag on his face.
“No response. An amp of Epinephrine” Dr. Adams yelled.
“He’s not going to make it” Susan replied.
Ethan really hadn’t understood what was happening, but he estimated that he was either dreaming or dying. The flat line sounded in the room. Several times the staff administered some drug, attempted CPR, and Dr. Adams would reply “no response”. A look of defeat enshrouded the physician, and he gazed at Susan and gave her the last drug to be administered.
“Levophed” he said.
Susan nodded, and administered the drug. Ethan looked around the room, from the bed where he was lying, to the dark figure, and out to Martha the secretary.
“Leave them dead with Levophed” she muttered quietly.
Several moments later Dr. Adams looked at his watch, and then he looked to Susan.
“Time of death, three thirty-four am. I will notify the family.”
“The patient has no family.”
“I’ll notify the morgue then.”
And so it was that Ethan Huckins died.

Day 71 - 56: An Ode to Maybe

Well, let's start with 71. We toured the plannogram building that day. I'm not allowed to speak of anything inside it though. I just read a USA Today article about getting sacked if you let out any trade secrets in your industry in a blog, so I'll just say it was cool and leave it at that. The next day was a bunch of lectures. Then, a very dull weekend that consisted of sleep, food, and laundry. Not much else. Then the last couple of weeks I've sit in my cube without a PC, email, or any work to do. It's been really dull, but my project manager and director are lining things up for me, so it will all be cool. I really love the people. They rock. The place is pretty too. My dad and little brother came down on days 64-61, and it was interesting. My dad and I have very little in common, but we always manage to enjoy one another's company some how. That's it. You're pretty much caught up. I have been enjoying a ton of reading which I wasn't able to do in school too. I've always been a bookworm. I can't imagine how many books I've read in my day. They are beyond count by my reckoning. I've re-read Eragon, the curious incident of the black dog in the night time, and the five people you meet in heaven to name a few. It's a bit of an expensive hobby, so I've decided to continue an old habit. I'm going to return to my writing. I've often heard people say that they enjoy my writing style. I'm going to unleash it in a novel. I won't have it finished by the end of my internship, but I will plan on finishing it not too far after my education is complete. I plan on adding another blog entry this weekend, and I wish I had more time to enter some other info in here. I just want to get back to the brainstorming and outlining. I find writing fascinating. I can just sit down and type away often times. It just manages to flow out some how. Maybe it will be quality, maybe not. Who knows, I might get it published. Now there's an ode to maybe.

Day 73, 72: Nice to Know You

The story continues... Well, let's start with Day 73. It was my first day of the internship with Lowe's. I'm waking up at 5:30 to get ready and drive down to Mooresville. That part of it is not cool. So, I go down and meet Tiffany Shaw and Maria Panozzo. I had to rush to get my passport mailed to Maria, but other than that everything was in order. The building is absolutely gorgeous. It has this man made river with waterfalls, and it flows under the offic complex. Absolutely wicked. Most orientations are pretty laid back affairs. You watch a video, chat, fill out paperwork, and you're on your way. This orientation was nothing short of intense. We were given a presentation by (annonunced today as the new) Executive Vice President of Store Operations Nick Canter. It was basically an AIMS meeting for orientation. Why you should work for Lowes: Corporate Propoganda. The usual stuff, you know. Then we broke for lunch. I met a cool guy in IT named Brandon that is actually from Wilkesboro, which will come in handy, and we went to lunch. Then all the interns were taken to a RDC (Regional Distribution Center). I'd give the place adjectives, but it would do it no justice. 1.2 million square feet with 3 miles of conveyor belts, that's all I have to say. Wicked. I came home weary, and was asleep by 9:45. My god how things change in a matter of a week. On to Day 72... Well, the morning was a bit more lax. We played a guessing game of interesting facts that all the interns wrote down in a "get to know each other" type challenge. It was fun, and I have come to know and like a couple of the other people. I've particularly come to like Brooke, the intern from accounting, but I think I'll leave those details out of the blog. :p So, after that we had a trip to a store in Huntersville. There were two District Merchandisers there to meet with us and discuss lots of things like procurement of goods, dealing with vendors, etc. After that we broke for lunch. Then after lunch we went back to the office to receive presentations on multi-cultural marketing and merchandising from the VP of merchandising. I got recognized for asking a brilliant question (how the weakening dollar, growing strength of the EU, and evolving markets of China and India are affecting costs and the market for Lowes). I think the guy was surprised to find out that I was an IT intern, because he asked me what department I was going to and when I told him he had this odd expression. Anyway, that's all for today. I think I'm gonna kick back and turn on the tube. That's two posts in no time, so no complaints Jo! :)