Paper Aniversario

And so 365 days later Stray Bullets is still up and running. When we restarted this particular enterprise, I didn't know how long it would last before it either fizzled out or I got bored with it and went back to the highly successful Joyride blog. After all, my first attempt at running this blog only lasted eleven posts stretched out across a month or so. I had little confidence that this second attempt would work out any better than that. But then ...

I stumbled into the biggest story of my last several years: The Jen Saga, which also includes my departure from LSI, my arrival at Rugers, and later on the big move to Newport, which in turn fueled future stories like the Amy Saga and whatnot. The Jen/LSI/Rugers part of the story was enough to power the posting for months, and by the time Jen rode off into the sunset I was settled in enough to continue on posting here without her. Of course, none of this would have happened if Guin hadn't nudged me into reopening this blog in the first place, so let's give credit where it's due.

This blog has been good for me. Not only do I have a record of last year's amazing events, but I got to tell a lot of old stories, talk about a lot of interesting people I've known, scratch at a few lingering scars on my psyche, and play around with many of my personal demons. Added to that, writing about writing has helped me get a better grip on the material for the Book and helped me explore some of the characters a little more. Stray Bullets was worth it alone for the couple of huge book related epiphanies that I worked out while writing the posts after they were triggered by outside events.

And the blog has allowed me to be a little batshit crazy at times with my weirdo theological beliefs and metaphysical theories, all of which I *completely* believe in. Yeah. That's right. This kind of thing has also brought me closer to my own personal muse, who we all know as Calliope, who I would be lost without. And as for some of the screwier things I've started to do here over the past couple months, well, I'm only just getting started. Year Two is going to be even more fun.

Just for the heck of it, let's take a look at the more prominent labels. The number in parentheticals after the label atrribution is how many times that label has appeared after a post. I won't do them all ... because there's just too god damn many ... and just hit the more prevalent ones. Here we go.

-- Jen(85). It only makes sense that she has the most labels as the Jen Saga was the engine that powered the blog in the early going, continuing on until she became the central antagonist of this continuing story.

-- Calliope(62). Any post that deals with writing gets a Calliope tag. She's inexorably linked with any writing I do, so that's only fair. Included also are the pair of pirate radio broadcasts in which she acted as my co-pilot.

-- Guinevere(46). My best friend, my closest confidant, my tough as nails Aquarian advice giver, the big sister I never had, and a really hot chick who I'm more than a little sweet on. She's the reason this blog is here in the first place. She's also the person who I consider to be my Ideal Reader (term coined by Stephen King), who I most try to impress both with these posts and the Book.

-- Spear of Destiny(45). My weekly Virgo horoscope as pasted from Free Will Astrology.

-- Bang Bang(40). Every Rugers-centric post carries this label.

-- starting over(30). The only non-capitalized label in the whole pile, only because it appeared on my very first post ... before I had the format down. This label is symbollic of the whole of last year. The first time I used it, 'starting over' meant the re-opening of this blog, but it also applied to the more universal re-start I did with my life starting shortly after posting began.

-- Colleen(22). My awesome little sister. This label also catches any discussion of the character of Laurel from the Book.

-- Cooter(22). My kinda best work friend, frequent adversary, and favorite verbal punching bag. I've considered giving some of the other Rugerites their own labels, but so far Cooter is the only one of them with his own, because our relationship extends outside of work, too.

-- Amy(21). The second central antagonist of Stray Bullets. She also represents the largest crisis of conscience I've had in several years. I'm still proud to say tht I passed the test that she represented.

-- I Hear Music(21). This has to do not with my musical tastes, but instead with writing, and in particular whenever I think I did *really* well on a scene or a chapter and I'm full of the joy of having written it.

-- These Pretzels are Making Me Thirsty(20). This one shows up whenever I'm aggravated, frustrated, irritated, or just plain pissed off. It was a lot more prevalent during the last days of LSI and during the Jen Saga than it is now, although it does show up here and there. This one and the far less frequent 'Serenity Now'(7) are both one of several Seinfeld references that appear around the blog

-- FMC(20). Perhaps *the* formative work experience of my life. The Franklin Medical Center is just crazy important to everything that's come since. LSI is just a footnote compared to how much influence FMC has had. And it's somewhat telling that people from there have inspired almost 20 different characters that appear in the Book.

-- Batcave(19). Any substantial reference to the Joyride or to posts written for that other blog. The labels were named such at a time when I was trying to avoid calling that blog by name in this one.

-- Take This Job and Shove It(19). Rather self-explanatory, this label mainly came up during the last days of LSI.

-- I Am Mighty(18). I'm not known for being self-aggrandizing (unlike my alter ego, who pretty much bathed in self-aggrandizement), but there are times when I think I've done something extremely well, been rather badass, or else I'm just damn proud of myself. And this is the label for that.

-- Identity Crisis(17). This is related to discussions of my alter-ego and/or the four year reign of terror that was the Joyride.

-- Bethany(15). The original first name given to my alter-ego. Why Beth eventually became Libby is a very very long story.

-- LSI(13). The horrible job I quit to go work at Rugers.

-- Plot Holes(13). Whenever I'm struggling in a chapter or the writing just frustrates the hell out of me is when this label comes up.

-- Miranda Jane Kristen(12). This one is too hard for me to try and sum up in a short blurb. If you've come this far into the blog, though, you know who she is ... and why it's too hard for me to try and sum her up in a short blurb.

-- Yadda Yadda Yadda(12). Sex. Yet another of my several Seinfeld references.

-- Shannon(11). Another very important figure in my history. She saved my life when it most needed saving. The first of a handful of people who's involvement in my life demonstrated to me how the Wheel of Destiny works.

-- Wheel of Destiny(11). In short, the mechanism that has been moving me along towards an as yet unknown ultimate destiny.

-- Endgame(9). Related to both the 'Miranda Jane Kristen' and 'Ally and Evie' labels, this is my quest to fulfill a specific piece of the ultimate destiny I believe I deserve.

-- Dan(9). An untapped reservoir of potential posting material. He was my best friend in Mass, and was one of the greatest tag team partners I've ever had. This label also catches any discussion of the character of Ben from the Book.

-- Nice Lady(8). The benevolent force who guides and protects me as I travel along the Wheel of Destiny.

-- Samantha(6). One of the best of all the past girlfriends. A very important figure during the mid 90's on a par with both Erin and Melissa. This label also catches any discussion of the character of Quinn from the book.

-- Ally and Evie(5). The twin girls I have seen several times in dreams, who I believe could represent some kind of glimpse into a parallel universe where things happened differently ... or they are an omen of things to come.

-- Jacquie(5). The girl who triggered the single worst crush I've ever suffered in my entire life, and that's saying something because I can crush pretty hard. One of my favorite people from back at FMC. Efforts to get back in touch with her have been disappointing to say the least.

-- Church(5). One of the most fun places on Earth. There may be several different churches out there, but they all practice the same religion.

-- Brittany(5). My strange upstairs neighbor who may have a cat, and may ... be making pornos with a donkey.

-- Looking For Gwen Stacy(1). Really? I only used this one once so far? While the 'Endgame' is more of a longterm plan, this is the more immediate quest, which has thus far proven slightly frustrating.

And there we have it, folks -- one year, 287 posts, one girlfriend come and gone, one near miss with another girl, two different jobs, two apartments in seperate towns, two different computers, several chapters written, a niece or nephew on the way, a couple of quests begun, and a partridge in a pear tree.

So for Calliope


and the Nice Lady,


and from me, Sparky,


this has been Stray Bullets: Year One, broadcast from scenic Newport, New Hampshire. Thank all of you for coming along and reading these crazy posts. We're only just getting started, though. Year Two begins tomorrow and I vow to continue bringing the awesome as long as possible.

Stay tuned!