The Bitter Joe

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25734818229655289562009-12-27T22:57:58.338-08:00The Bitter JoeComic Maker / Writer / Creator ... And Blogger, I guess.TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-59796078607072185032009-10-26T16:23:00.000-07:002009-12-27T22:57:58.349-08:00Writing Prompt: What a day to start daydreaming.

It was a midmorning when the cab dropped me off in front of Archer's place. He lived in one of the two-story brick houses that clustered along Cardonia's south wall. It was given to him as his reward for service during the Cabal Wars, and he treated it with the reverence such a gift deserved. The yard was over-grown with weeds, the stone steps were cracked and neglected. The house was covered in

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-18733014450744839932009-10-27T17:16:00.000-07:002009-12-27T22:57:41.391-08:00Writing Prompt: Hopefully the batteries would run out and he would stop talking soon.

The phone rattled in its cradle, the buzzer struggling to rattle the rusted joints. I poured some coffee into my cup, and stirred it with a dirty spoon. There was a pause, then it started again. Humphry leaned in close, resting his tan cheek on the dirt-stained desktop, his eyes going cross-eyed slowly as he stared at it. "What does it want?" He asked quietly.Humphry was originally from the

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-26984764190103942802009-10-29T16:38:00.001-07:002009-12-27T22:57:17.666-08:00Writing Prompt: That was when I invented it

Cassius Carson leaned back in his chair, and flicked a copper strand into the air. It sailed with a practiced ease into a pile of similar junk. He grinned and templed his fingers. "So what exactly are you looking for?" He said, rolling his head to face me."The White Guard are seeking someone named Daniel Craigsen. They seem to think he was involved in Zelena's death.""Danny boy?" Cassius scoffed.

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-32875822097545668952009-12-19T13:58:00.001-08:002009-12-27T22:56:55.741-08:00The Murder

"Do I know you?" The RPF's voice barked out from his yellow hooded raincoat. The storm was making a mess of the light, so the question may not have been as sarcastic and hostile as it sounded. I smiled politely."Just the guy who found the body," I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder. The Cop nodded, shaking free a small spray of water from his head, and looked at his clipboard. A small

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-67153123980150896912009-12-27T12:55:00.000-08:002009-12-27T13:15:44.201-08:00The Haze

Mother says we should never get too close to it, but parents are all like that. Tommy's mom says the exact same thing. The Haze is dangerous, they say. Dark things lurk out there. It's just waiting for you to wander into it and then Snap.But it's not true. Tommy and I threw rocks into it, and the haze puffed slightly as it accepted them. Later, we tried using sticks, both of us pushing against

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-49982495584374456062009-10-23T16:32:00.001-07:002009-10-23T16:32:49.069-07:00Let's Call You Cara (Flash Fiction)

Let's call you Kara.You're beautiful. I think I tried to tell you that once. We were at a party, and I had probably a little too much to drink. I wanted to impress you by not using a pick up line, so I started to make my way over to you. You were sitting on the second-floor balcony, your legs dangling carelessly over the party below. I sat down next you, and smiled. You turned your head slightly

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-31898224952183039022009-10-22T16:42:00.000-07:002009-10-22T21:23:36.762-07:00

Writing Prompt:I didn't understand what she was talking about and I didn't care.She wore high heels, bright pink and covered with splatters of ink. Her legs bore the standard mark of an elf: low muscle, sleek, and long. She looked like a child, her red silken dress obviously designed for a human frame. She smiled, though, and it glowed. She held a cigarette in an extender, its plastic gleaming

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-67010745595943661342009-10-19T15:27:00.000-07:002009-10-19T15:29:00.775-07:00Random Poem, 2008

Found this in my archives, Enjoy:I think I spilled my coffee on your seat.I was going to offer to clean it all up, but You had already driven off, and I'm not sure I will ever see you again. If you ever change your mind I will have the cleanser ready. With a little scrubbing and love

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-33483556533763175202009-07-21T19:00:00.000-07:002009-07-21T19:03:29.096-07:00

Boy. Writing sucked today.Spent just over an hour to write about 600 words over two different stories. it may have been that I had to go buy crappy headphones as the ones I was using got separated from my netbook during the move, or it may be that I haven't been feeling very settled with said move.I dunno.All I know is that I've been trying very hard, but I'm having an incredibly difficult time

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-91777881208452020152009-06-26T10:59:00.000-07:002009-06-26T11:00:34.863-07:00New Layout

I'm trying to get excited about blogging again, since I find that writing about writing helps me write a little. In this vain, I have added some color to my blogger account. There's no reason for the stark Black&White anymore.

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-41087272623659162042009-06-26T08:44:00.001-07:002009-06-26T08:47:40.113-07:00New Characters, New Ideas

Meet Mark:He's in his mid twenties, and is a somewhat bright individual. He knows what he wants, but he's less sure how to get it. His dreams are bigger than his reality. He left Teleperformance to work at Systech Repairs, handling some of the more routine maintenance such as virus checks and hard drive defragging. However, he's a brilliant computer mind.Meet Sam:Sam is not simple minded, but

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-38403150911357850462009-06-23T23:00:00.000-07:002009-06-23T23:09:17.786-07:00Novel Revisions

I wrote Chamber in November as part of the NaNoWriMo contest. I got to 50,000 words and completed the story successfully, which was awesome. But now I've come to the difficult part... I'm actually trying to make it good.My original thought was to highlight the problems and rewrite sections as it was needed. Instead, I've almost completely junked the original novel, and am rewriting it

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-10129752492314117612009-06-20T09:13:00.001-07:002009-06-20T09:18:32.772-07:00What the fuck's with Salt Lake Roasting Company?

Seriously, I love the location, the space, the wi-fi, and especially the free parking.But their coffee is terrible, consistently, every time I go. They make you buy 5$ worth of stuff if you want to pay with card, and there's no way to leave a tip on the card. The lady who took my money abandoned me the moment our transaction was complete, without so much as a "have a nice day." The cookie, kept

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-24050861943770688292009-03-26T20:44:00.000-07:002009-03-26T21:07:11.622-07:00A game idea that occurred to me today.

I was playing "Get Medieval" which is a network-capable clone of Gauntlet, and it occured to me that Gauntlet would be awesome if done as an arena shooter. A network capable, co-op arena shooter.Here's the idea...- Every level consists of several waves.- Waves consist of bases spewing forth badguys- The heroes are tanks, with turrets capable of shooting in any direction- The heroes are

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-78899137956462322722009-01-26T18:09:00.001-08:002009-01-26T18:09:21.248-08:00Another Writing Exercise

To this day, I have no idea how to court a woman. Do they even call it courting anymore? I went to a bar once, with a group of friends. They suggested I go talk to this girl, because her eyes sparkled like blue fire gems. I didn't want to, but I figured this would be something I'd need to learn, so eventually I let them drag me over.Her name was Kimmy, and she worked as a teller at a bank. She

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-70869839919324707382009-01-20T21:39:00.001-08:002009-01-20T21:40:02.193-08:00Writing Exercises

Prompt: A brass door handle, three oranges, and a chocolate doughnut. (not used at all)Maybe I should have stayed in bed. It's a nice thought. The rest of my apartment was covered in frost, cold and blue-toned for no identifiable reason. My feet crunched the carpet, and microscopic shards of ice stabbed into me with each step. I tried to ignore it, though. It seemed unimportant.The window was

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-56249194631333803632008-10-31T11:21:00.001-07:002008-11-10T11:44:28.013-08:00Keyen

Keyen. The knock came suddenly, midway between the first and second sunset. Kayen growled and turned away from the cave's entrance, pulling the shabby cloth closer to himself, and shifted his exoskeleton in a futile attempt to ward off sudden wakefulness. The knocker, undeterred, knocked again, and Kayen swore. "I hear you in there, Kayen," The creature intoned. "Come out. We need to speak.

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-14843494293587236732008-11-08T23:41:00.000-08:002008-11-08T23:46:28.311-08:00

I've been using twitter to post my results for NaNoWriMo (I'm at 13020, and about 200 words behind).So I thought I'd use this blog to post some thoughts about what I'm writing.My main character, Jason, is going insane. Or he thinks he is. I'm taking after Phillip K. Dick and some of his more psychological mind-f*ck stories, so it should seem very confusing.However, I know exactly what's going on,

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-23424021463199810092008-09-30T17:05:00.000-07:002008-09-30T17:26:46.089-07:00Creatively, I'm drained.

It's really hard for me to talk about myself without feeling like I'm climbing up onto a soap-box and proclaiming that I hold some deep knowledge that everyone is going to be wowed by. I don't feel that way, and I don't mean to project that self-assured, cocky, know-it-all vibe. It always happens, though, and it bugs me.That's not really what this blog post is about, though. I just wanted to

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-87868511767614706522008-08-30T08:39:00.000-07:002008-08-30T08:43:00.880-07:00Games I Want

For The PC -Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (all episodes)For The DS -The World Ends With You

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-5399245674914430712008-08-29T18:19:00.001-07:002008-08-29T18:26:59.978-07:00Games I Want

A wishlist of games I want. Issue 1To Start:PC -SporeDS -N+Mario Vs. Donkey Kong

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-38884292044165422652008-03-11T14:25:00.000-07:002008-03-11T14:45:30.245-07:00Eurma

Random bits of a random idea: I sat in a well-lit tavern on the outskirts of Northridge, nearly broke and trying very hard to mend the broken string of my lute. I had the weakest ale the barkeep would sell sitting next to me, and I was nursing it carefully, a few sips every hour. My clothes probably stank, and I'm not sure I cared much. It had been a bad handful of months, and I was beginning

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-16142003528590964772008-03-03T18:16:00.000-08:002008-03-03T18:52:59.386-08:00The Fox And The Devil

A fake folk tale: One day, as the fox was returning from a hunt, it spied the devil sitting by the stream. The devil was glad to see the fox, for he knew the fox was very cunning, and the devil, as you may well know, loves tricksters. So as the fox appraoched, the devil held out his hand and cried out, "Ho there!" Now just as the fox was cunning, the fox was also smart. It knew the devil

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-11300869871425155612008-02-07T17:19:00.000-08:002008-02-07T17:53:13.247-08:00Comic Collaboration Idea: The Greatastic War

Begin.The idea is rather simple. Get some talented comic-writers / comic-teams together. Each person/group creates a country, filled with their own brand of odd-ball characters. These people (societally speaking) can be any stereotype imagined, and can physically be anything from geometric shapes to angry kitchen appliances. They are given a brief-history and a political outlook. They can be

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2573481822965528956.post-39451384256009784452008-02-03T10:00:00.001-08:002008-02-03T10:03:42.790-08:00Games I Like

I just thought I'd share a few puzzle games I enjoy playing. They're very stimulating.Slither Link: http://www.puzzle-loop.com/Description: Create a continuous circuit around a grid by connecting points.SquarO: http://www.squaro.fr/en/play.htmDescription: Fill in the appropriate dots.That's it for now.

TheBitterJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06582803817855620918noreply@blogger.com0