It’d been years since I last had bubblegum, but I still knew how to do it.
I grabbed some at the gas station as I was coming back from a not-very-long trip that felt pretty dang long, and while they didn’t have grape, which is the end-all and be-all of artificial flavors that you chew on, it still did its job. And for artificial flavors that you don’t chew like gum, like suckers, green apple wins out.
Regardless, the bubblegum kept me alert and focused and everything else during the drive. Chomping it, blowing bubbles. Dare I say it made the drive enjoyable? Probably not, since I’m a guy who hates driving, but it made it better.
I went up to see my nephew graduate from high school. Ever wanted to feel old? That’s the way to do it. Absolutely crazy feeling. I remember when this kid was born. I remember when he was 10 or something and I was beating him in Super Smash Bros. or whatever game it was at the time. I remember beating him a lot in StarCraft II. And now? Now?!
I remember when I first felt old because of him. He texted me and asked if I would help him practice on Smash Bros. by getting online and fighting him. Sure, I had nothing going on. A few rounds later and I told him he didn’t need me. I couldn’t land a hit on him. Absolutely bodied me.
Good kid, he’ll go far.
It was around a four-hour drive, give or take, one way. While that isn’t a long time, it’s still awful because I just do not like driving. It’s a hassle. It’s dull. I once longed for the day that I could finally drive when I was younger and now I absolutely dread it. It used to boggle my mind that people could actually fall asleep while driving but now, man I get it.
You’d think that driving a four-wheeled machine that is fueled by liquid dinosaurs would be more entertaining.
Reminds me of a time I drove back to Wyoming from Denver after I flew home to Kentucky. I was nodding off pretty hard because A. I was tired and B. I wasn’t engaged in the activity of driving. I kept focused by purposely annoying myself – keeping the air conditioner on even though it was already pretty dang cold outside and keeping the music too loud and sitting on my wallet when it was super uncomfortable and all that. You ever do that? It works. Sometimes.
I still kept nodding off, so I tried to think of something to stimulate my brain. I came up with the idea that every time I was just about to nod off, something happened – time shifted. Chad-Prime, the one who typed up all these words, is the version of me in the current and primary timeline that is shared with everyone else. He made it through the trip. The nod-off was a divergence from that, in which Chad-A, or Chad-B or however many splits occurred, didn’t shake themselves alert and continued on in their timelines.
So, each time I shook myself alert, another version of me continued onto their doom. Maybe? I guessed it didn’t end well. Kind of grim, huh? Never really thought about it before. I remember when I got home, I wasn’t the least bit tired. Stayed up all night. It’s funny how things work.
And speaking of work, this website is now over a month old. A month. What? That’s nutso! I remember clicking the “go live” button and being shocked that I’d actually done it. But not only have I done it, I’ve maintained this schedule I’ve set up. Pretty cool, I think.
In that time, I have published over 20,000 words here.
For a quick reference, a typical news article is around 400 to 600 words. That’s a pretty good length to keep the reader engaged and interested and not take up a ton of their time. Sometimes you go longer, but that’s pretty uncommon. Still, you adhere to the inverted pyramid and put all the relevant information in the first two paragraphs so that the reader doesn’t have to read the whole thing. And a novel is around 80,000 words.
So yeah, a pretty good start here on this website. I think, at least. And people are buying me coffees? That’s incredible. Truly, I am humbled by your support. Thank you so much. (Click the blue rectangle at the bottom of the page if you wanna join in!)
But I’ve got way more words to clickety-clack out. That number is only going to keep growing.
The Storygank on 6/12 and the Adventure on 6/15 are coming along just fine. I would say the former is a non-traditional take on what I’ve been doing, but is three published things really establishing a tradition? I don’t know. It’s been fun though. The Adventure has also been a lot of fun to write and re-read and remember. They usually are. I think you’ll like them.
Speaking of Adventures, this coming weekend might be one I write about sometime too. The Hatfield-McCoy Marathon is Saturday, which features a full and half-marathon across a whole lot of Appalachian hills and mountains. That’s a lot of running. No can do. But there’s also a 5K. I can do that. If I can do one with a camera in my hands, untrained, in loafers without having expected to do so in Wyoming, I can do one here in the Kay-Why, especially if I’ve been preparing for it.
There’s also a reunion before and after the race, since I’ve got some Hatfield blood in me. I’ll have started and ended this calendar week with family get-togethers. And as much as I’d like to be left to my own devices sometimes, it’s important to spend time with those you can, while you can.
But for real though, you gotta get some bubblegum. It’s made typing this way better.
And by the way, if you were wondering if I knew the exact number, I do. 20,948. Not counting this blog.
21,975 with.
Thanks for reading.