Goal Post: Injured

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

I was trying to think of a catchier title, but that was really the highlight of the week.  I can’t talk about the specifics, but I took a surprisingly bad hit to the stomach on Wednesday.  It didn’t cause any bruising and nothing is broken.  I even went to work on Thursday, but needed to take Friday off.  The issue is that my abdomen hurts if I sit for too long and get up.  It also starts to ache, feel bloated, and I get gassy about 30 minutes after I eat.  So, it’s been tough doing much of anything.  This means that day off was spent entirely on recovery and figuring out what my temporary limits are.  Would have been nice to get writing done, but couldn’t focus.

Speaking of writing, I only made it through half of chapter 6 last weekend.  I thought I could get the rest done, but I lost Wednesday and Thursday evenings to the injury and other appointments.  So, Darwin & the Joy Path is not as far along as I thought, but that could change.  I’m going to try to get one section done tonight before bed, which could open the door for me to get through the last section and chapter 7 next weekend.  Again, I don’t think I’ll finish writing this book before 2026, but I would like to at least get halfway done, which means finishing chapter 9.

That isn’t to say I wasn’t totally unproductive.  Got a bunch of posts typed up for January since I had some plans for that.  Worked a bit on the ‘Phi Beta Files: Junior Year’ story outlines.  It’s really tough juggling this one since I never have time at work to tinker like I had hoped.  So, I have to read what I already set up and go through the biography notes to make sure I cover the bases.  Each of the 6 books will have 10 short stories that cover the overall plot.  This one has a recurring villain taking over the mercenary academy and Phi Beta figuring out a way to get rid of her.  Keep in mind that this is a combo of fantasy, military academy, and college comedies like Animal House.  Stories are getting more serious as the characters mature though.  I say knowing the 5th book is the Spring Break adventures right before the really dark Senior Year.  Look, I’m 45 and I doubt I’ll live long enough to write all of these, but I just want to get the ideas on paper.  My son can figure them out if he succeeds in designing video games and wants to use what I leave behind.

I want to slide into something more positive, but I guess it wasn’t one of those weeks.  Not that it was miserable, but a lot of stressful events occurred.  Facing a rough situation that requires I work with someone else.  That other person isn’t communicating with me and is making this more of a competition.  So, the overall situation is getting tense and a third party is suffering for it.  I’ve reached a point where I’m tired of being nice and the general door mat.  This has resulted in me pushing back and the other person is digging in their heels or going full ‘no contact’.  All of this comes with a deadline too.  I know their favorite tactic is to run down the clock in the hopes of their ideas and desires being accepted in the final hour.  Guess that’s easier for them than negotiating in good faith and finding a compromise.

Speaking of running down the clock, I remember why I didn’t get as much writing done as I had hoped.  A friend invited me to watch the ‘NY Giants vs Denver Broncos’ game.  It was the first time in a while that we were both free to get together.  That’s more important than writing a chapter section.  Course, it would have been nice for the Giants to NOT make NFL history in the worst way possible.  Plus side, the pizza was good and we had a great assortment of Doritos.

This coming week has a bunch of appointments and ends on Halloween.  I’ve got my son for the first half of the holiday and then he goes to his mom that evening.  Good chance I can get writing done during the week too, which could give me a cushion next weekend for doing something else one afternoon.  Going to have to see how my stomach is doing too because I have to be sure it’s nothing more severe than internal bruising.  Fingers crossed on that one.

Realized I haven’t been posting what I’m watching on TV, but I haven’t been streaming anything exciting.  Right now, it’s an anime ‘My Dress-Up Darling’, which is probably considered a YA Rom-Com or slice of life.  I’m struggling to find anything that’s really grabbing me though.  I keep looking at hour-long shows, but I typically don’t have the time to watch even one episode on weekdays.  This puts ‘Reacher’ and ‘Black Sails’ on the backburner until maybe holiday/winter/spring break.  Pretty sure I don’t have many anime fans who read and reply here, which is where I tend to find shows that can match my school year schedule.

Goals of the week:

  1. Write more of Darwin & the Joy Path
  2. Tinker with ‘Phi Beta Files’.
  3. Time with son this weekend.
  4. Halloween!
  5. Rest up and keep eye on stomach issues.
  6. Work on January blog posts if time is short and empty.
  7. Puzzle work.
  8. Pokemon Go as usual.  It’s Part 2 of the Halloween Event, but it looks like next weekend is low key.  I’ll take it.
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Ghost Month: Ghost Animals

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

Another one that is self-explanatory, which makes one wonder if the people who hunt ghosts aren’t that original.  Anyway, this can be broken down into two categories:

Ghost of Deceased Animals

It’s the spirit of an animal that died such as a beloved pet or one that suffered a horrible demise.  Both require strong emotions to create the ghost.  It’s usually the first category though because of the love people have for the deceased pet.  This brings up an interesting question of if the animal’s emotions are what made it stay or the ones still held by the human who is having trouble letting go.  If it’s the latter, one could say that these are healing spirits that stick around in the hopes of helping their former owners recover from the loss.

Spectral Creatures

Hellhounds, black dogs, ghost cats, phantom horses, and harbingers would all fall into this category.  These aren’t animals that had a life prior to death.  Some of them came from Hell while others simply exist with no backstory.  In olden times, cultures saw these creatures as bad omens and warnings, so the harbinger title could be used for most in this category.

I think the possible existence of ghost animals also brings up an interesting philosophical question.  If an animal can become a ghost, does that mean it has a soul with clear emotions?  We already know that animals feel things, but most people tend to think it’s on a lesser level than humans.  Yet, we can see that human and animal ghosts don’t act differently.  Both can interact with the physical world at times, take clear forms, and be created from strong emotions.  Any of the ghosts that don’t take on a clearly defined form could even be an animal.  For example, nothing says a ghost orb in a forest couldn’t have been created by a deer being killed by a hunter.

So, what do other people think about ghost animals?

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Poetry Day: Species of Fools

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search (Nadesco)

(Pretty sure people will disagree with me on this one.  Guess it kind of fits Halloween since some call this situation a horror show.)

We work until our bodies break
Our minds withered and misused
All to stay within our means
And avoid the bitter cold

 

We toil for days away from home
Draining energy and dreams
Hoping to reach two days
Where we rush to finish chores

 

Our world is aimed to keep us broken
With pills to mask the fraying edges
And fear to drive our bodies on
Never letting us see that all is wrong

 

True rest comes with a taste of guilt
Many know not what to do
Time without work is a foreign treat
That vanishes before we savor it

 

We claim the crown of greatest beast
The chosen of the land
Yet very few can reach their peak
In our land of greed and fear

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Ghost Month: Ectoplasm

Posted on October 22, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Ectoplasm from Ghostbusters

Now, this isn’t a type of ghost, but it is connected to them.  We think of ectoplasm as ooze left behind when a ghost interacts with the physical world.  It’s almost like mucus with it being clear or white-hued.  Yet, there is a more supernatural version that has been around longer than the phrase ‘He slimed me.’

Ectoplasm, which is usually proven to be a hoax, is a substance that comes out of a medium when they are in a trance.  Instead of a slime, it is more of a fabric that comes out of the person.  The ectoplasm covers the targeted ghost who is then forced to interact with people, usually by answering questions.  People have seen hands, feet, and faces within this ‘mysterious’ substance.  Typically, they start off clear and gradually darken as they take on a physical form.

Most stories have ectoplasm with no smell, but there are several that do.  It is rarely pleasant with either being burning ozone or a mildew stench.  The latter I can see since that’s almost like a rotting smell.  Other reported aromas are sweet ones like cotton candy or marshmallows as well as citrus.  I couldn’t find any explanation for that last one, so I’m going to assume that ectoplasm can only be found in places that export oranges.

I find this interesting only because I grew up thinking slime left by a ghost made perfect sense.  That is until you think about it and the idea of a spiritual being leaving behind a physical substance was less likely.  Still, there is a part of me that would hope such a thing exists.  Why?  I like the idea that spirits of the dead can still interact with the physical world and leave a mark on it.  Nothing world-changing, but a sign to show they are still around in some fashion.

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Teaser Tuesday: The Big Little Guy

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

(A fun battle from War of Nytefall: Rivalry.  Check the whole adventure out for 99 cents!)

The crowd cheers as Titus is hurled against the arena wall by his opponent who has transformed into a horned demon. Leaving a crack in the stone, he slides down to his feet and wipes a few marble chips off his aching shoulders. The warrior chuckles at how he is the smaller combatant, which is an alien situation for the tall and muscular vampire. Fighting the urge to use brute force, he jumps away from a fist that easily punches a hole through the thick stone. A woman in the front row screams at the sensation of the spiked hand striking her leg, which snaps in half like a fragile twig. The accident is enough to distract the false demon long enough for Titus to sprint towards a broom sitting among the rest of the debris that has been hurled at him by the crowd. Spinning around, he throws it like a javelin and nails his enemy in the back of the head. Unleashing a terrifying roar, the creature yanks the wood out of his dense skull and glares at the Dawn Fang. Not trusting the suspicious look, the warrior closes his eyes an instant before those standing behind him shriek in fear and collapse. Protecting himself against the mental attack leaves Titus exposed to the winged combatant, which soars towards him in the hopes of impaling him with his horns. Feeling the wind of its approach, the towering vampire drops to his stomach and rolls over to make a blind kick at the passing enemy. The blow hits the flying Dawn Fang in the chest and sends him flipping backwards where he crashes into the dirt. Both combatants get to their feet, but make no move to attack and begin circling each other in search of an opening.

“He’s doing much better than I expected,” Jewelz admits from her viewing box. Holding out her hand, she lets Dean wrap her fingers around a goblet of wine, which she sniffs before draining it in one gulp. “While Lord Tempest doesn’t care, I’m sure you feel concern for your loyal follower, Clyde. I assume you’ve already figured out that this match was designed to kill my mistake of a child. What better way to begin my tournament than sacrificing a blight on my past? He lacks an army to inspire with his voice, facing one opponent negates his phantom, and he has no weapons to lace with his blood. I’d feel sorry for the bastard if I didn’t hate him and his sister so much.”

“I see she has the arrogance and short-sightedness of nobility down,” Clyde whispers to Xavier, knowing their host will hear him. Enjoying how both of his companions scowl, the thief puts his feet on the railing and grabs a handful of grapes from a servant. “If you really knew Titus then you’d know he’s not one to underestimate. The man has survived more battles than I have and he’s always training with Bob and Luther. You can see how our child has improved since he’s using agility instead of brute force. The man you turned was all about strength. What say we have a wager? If Titus wins then I get the next fight, but if he loses then I pledge my loyalty to you.”

“She cannot possibly-” Xavier mutters before the Vampire Queen extends her hand. He rolls his eyes as the pair shake, the idea of being captured by someone so gullible feeling like an insult upon his honor. “I am curious as to why you have so many competitors if your interest lies entirely with Mab and Clyde. You could have left me alone and focused on your revenge. I would have been more than willing to form an alliance if you eliminated my enemies, but now you have forced me to align with this maggot.”

“Is maggot the best you can do?”

“I find them disgusting, so it is an apt description.”

“Abomination had a better ring to it.”

“Insults are not to be enjoyed by the target.”

“Fair enough, you rancid chunk of flesh.”

Having ignored the bickering, Jewelz cheers at the sight of Titus getting kicked in the side and sent rolling across the arena. With a guttural roar, the fake demon soars to the same height as the viewing box and turns to nod in the Vampire Queen’s direction. Enjoying the attention, she waves at the combatant even though her smile fades at the thought of the grotesque man winning the tournament. A rotten pepper hits the hovering beast in the arm and it looks down to where Titus is gathering more garbage to hurl in his direction. Drool dripping from his mouth, the fake demon dives at the Dawn Fang, who drops what he is holding to pick up the seat of a marble bench. The stone shatters and an echoing crack carries over the entire island as uses it as a club to knock his enemy away.

Posted in Teaser Tuesday, War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ghost Month: Funnel Ghost and Ghost Orb

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

We’re going to look at two similar ghosts.  Both of them don’t have a humanoid form and are known for being composed of light.

Funnel Ghost (Google Image Search)

The above is a Funnel Ghost, which is seen as a swirling funnel of light.  One can describe them as a spectral tornado, but small and non-destructive.  People typically find cold spots when encountering this type of ghost.  They are found inside old buildings and tend to come up in pictures even if they are aren’t seen in person.  One theory is that they are double-exposures or something on the lens, which makes sense.  Still, we’re here to talk about ghosts.

A more supernatural theory is that a Funnel Ghost is simply a spirit that is checking in on a person or location.  They don’t need to take a more human form because they aren’t staying long.  Given that they aren’t usually seen with the naked eye, it could be that they have no interest in most of the living.

Ghost Orb (Google Imager Search)

Not much to say about this one because it’s exactly as it sounds.  This is a spectral orb that a person will see before it disappears.  Sometimes it’s gone almost as soon as it is seen and other times it hangs around.  Ghost orbs are considered by some to be the simplest form of supernatural projection.

Now, there is a theory that these spirits serve a purpose.  At least, they do when they aren’t staying in one place.  They are guides who lead people either to a place of safety or an area where they are needed.  They might even be guardians that take a little too much of a step into our world instead of staying out of sight.  Ghost orbs don’t interact with anything though.  In fact, they tend to pass through solid objects if they are moving.

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Lesser Known Phobias

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

Something that is interesting about phobias is that there are maybe hundreds of official names for them.  I will point out here that phobias are not only fear, but can be a sense of strong disgust and aversion.  Most know about claustrophobia, arachnophobia, agoraphobia, and other more common ones.  What about the lesser known ones?  (Some of these seem to be created as cruel joke too.)

  • Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia– Fear of long words
  • Pupaphobia– Fear of dummies, marionettes, and puppets
  • Trypophobia– Fear of clustered holes and circles
  • Pteronophobia– Fear of feathers
  • Arachibutyrophobia– Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth
  • Plutophobia– Fear of money
  • Nomophobia– Fear of being without your cellphone
  • Xanthophobia– Fear of yellow
  • Scopophobia– Fear of staring
  • Coulrophobia– Fear of clowns (Common, but the name doesn’t get used much)
  • Ornithophobia– Fear of birds
  • Batrachophobia– Fear of frogs
  • Thalassophobia– Fear of ocean or deep, dark water
  • Botanophobia– Fear of plants
  • Kosmemophobia– Fear of jewelry
  • Cryophobia– Fear of the cold
  • Thermophobia– Fear of heat
  • Nephophobia– Fear of clouds
  • Basophobia– Fear of falling
  • Somniphobia– Fear of sleeping
  • Pachydermophobia– Fear of elephants
  • Megalophobia– Fear of large objects
  • Microphobia– Fear of small objects
  • Benziphobia– Fear of gasoline
  • Emetophobia– Fear of vomiting
  • Glossophobia– Fear of public speaking

The list can keep going, but I have things to do.  Anybody have any phobias that others might not know about?

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Goal Post: A Little Progress And a TON Of Mayhem (Donation Link Too)

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

The situation I mentioned last Sunday has been growing, so my week came with a lot of stress.  For the sake of those involved, I won’t go into any details in a public forum.  My hope is that things can come to a safe conclusion, but that’s going to take time.  Got a few appointments this week about it, so we’ll see how things go.

The stress did push me to the point where a cold and my allergies knocked me out of commission.  It was so bad that I woke up disoriented and my blood pressure being dangerously high.  So, I took the day off of work to rest and get myself checked out because I didn’t want to miss the rougher days.  I took the opportunity to work a bit on a chapter section of Darwin & the Joy Path.  Had to keep walking away due to fatigue and getting confused.  A bunch of backtracking and rewrites occurred, but I eventually got it to feel right.  That was around the time the medicine finally got everything under control as well.

I hope to finish chapter 5 today since I don’t have much planned beyond a Pokemon outing at 2 PM.  It won’t be long, so I might even start on chapter 6.  That’s a 4-parter though, so I doubt I’ll finish it this weekend.  I’ll have to figure out how to juggle this because it’s an appointment heavy week.  Getting halfway through chapter 6 shouldn’t be too bad, but I might get lucky and pull off 3 on Sunday.  There isn’t much else to do beyond laundry and getting dinner.  Leaving me with a single section that I might be able to work on next weekend when my son does his own thing isn’t bad.

Work is going to be a little easier than this past week, which probably just cursed me.  A week with Monday off (Diwali) and two field trip days should be smooth sailing.  It really depends on the kids though.  I hope this is the case because of all the personal stuff I have to tackle.  Just staring at the calendar is giving me a headache.  Going to need to get extra sleep and pop those Claritin pills to make it through.

The only other thing going on is a fundraiser for my son.  His high school chorus is doing a trip to Disney World where they will get to perform.  There’s also this thing where they sing the songs of a movie as it plays behind them.  After these events, they get to enjoy the parks, but the main thing are the performances.  So, this fundraiser is a simple donation thing where 80% of the money goes to the student.  Before you shriek, the chocolate bar and other fundraisers tend to be 40-60% going to the student.  I don’t understand why, but the higher return is why his school is doing this.  Part of this is him having people use social media to spread the word, so here we are.  I’m attaching the link below for people to click if they wish.  Figure it’s worth a shot:

Donation

With that out of the way, here are the goals of the week:

  1. Help son with fundraiser.
  2. Write more of Darwin & the Joy Path.
  3. Get more sleep.
  4. Appointments.
  5. Pokemon for daily stuff.
  6. Take time to think about personal issue.
  7. Try not to cry.
  8. Try to be more interesting for next week.
  9. Expect to fail at #8.
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Ghost Month: Apparitions

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

This is a weird one because it feels like apparitions is nothing more than another word for ghosts.  Yet, there is a difference that turns up on occasion.  So, what is an apparition and why is it really different than a ghost?

While a ghost is specifically a spirt of the dead, an apparition can be a person or even an object.  It takes on a solid, clearly identifiable form in an area that was connected to it in ‘life’.  This doesn’t mean the apparition can interact with physical objects, but you know what you’re dealing with.  They tend to be primarily a visible encounter even though some have been connected to cold patches.

The most common and famous example of an apparition, going by the definition, would be a Haunted House.  There are spirits involved in most stories, but there are others where its simply an evil force in the house.  It can bring in other types of ghosts and does gain an ability to interact with people, but it isn’t always connected to a dead person.  At least in many stories.  Fiction seems to always add a spirit in there, so that makes identifying apparitions that aren’t ‘ghosts’ even harder.

Another wrinkle in the apparition is that it can also be used when one sees the astral projection of a living person.  This muddies the water even more since you can’t say ‘every apparition is a ghost, but not every ghost is an apparition’.  I would say that this addition means we’re merely looking at something that manifests to the eye.  It can interact with people or not, but it’s simply a clear visual of something.  There isn’t any mystery to what an apparition is depicting.

So, what would you say to this whole apparition/ghost thing?  Do you think they really should be considered one and the same?

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Poetry Day: Skudger

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Charles Yallowitz

Young Frankenstein

(Yeah . . . I got nothing on this one either.  Maybe the komodo dragon? Only because of the poison then waiting for the prey to drop tactic.)

Dweller in the muck
Deep beneath the waves
The Skudger wanders
Following the warmer tides
Battling eternal chills

 

It makes a tiny ping
Barely heard by all around
Searching for food and foes
Avoiding all that moves
And feasting on the frozen dead

 

Shifting colors
Of mottled black and grey
Dance along its scales
They act as first defense
Against all hungry mouths

 

Danger soon approaches
A starving Long-Toothed Brill
It flaps its fleshy wings
Kicking up a cloud
To mask its toxic spores

 

The Skudger waits
For its poison to hit home
Its toothless mouth quivering
In anticipation of a meal
That it will hold for days

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments