Zed_Alpha's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=Zed_Alpha2016-03-14T05:47:22ZMarch 13, 2016 (log)http://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha/writeups/March+13%252C+2016Zed_Alphahttp://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha2016-03-14T05:47:22Z2016-03-14T05:47:22Z<p>I <a href="/title/dinner+not-date">saw</a> <a href="/title/the+previous+lady-love">her</a> tonight for the <a href="/title/if+you+don%2527t+count+being+on+a+webcam">first time</a> in <a href="/title/I+moved.+Twice.+Just+across+the+county%252C+but+Orlando+is+a+big+city.+The+county+that+it%2527s+nestled+in+is+even+bigger.">three</a> <a href="/title/We%2527ve+also+been+with+other+people.+She+was+and+still+technically+is+married+to+a+horrible%252C+pathetic+man%252C+and+I+was+with+a+crazy+person.+Another+one%252C+anyway.">years</a>. It's <a href="/title/I+can%2527t+believe+it%2527s+been+this+long.+I+refuse+to+believe+it+has+been+this+long.+The+wound+has+long+since+healed+over+into+an+itching+scar%252C+but+it+still+feels+like+it+was+yesterday%252C+like+it+was+an+hour+ago%252C+when+I+told+her+to+leave+me+behind.+It+had+to+have+been.+Why+else+would+my+life+fall+away+when+I%2527m+around+her%253F">been</a> almost <a href="/title/Five+long%252C+horrid%252C+awful+years.+Five+years+where+I+have+had+no+muse.+Five+years+where+my+mind+and+life+have+both+felt+like+they%2527re+spinning+out+of+control+entirely.">five</a> since we<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Lunacy (fiction)http://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha/writeups/LunacyZed_Alphahttp://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha2012-10-23T00:51:30Z2012-10-23T00:51:30Z<p>Tonight I <a href="/title/The+moment+when+you%2527re+suddenly+falling+in+bed">woke up</a> before <a href="/title/It%2527s+there.+Snuffling+behind+my+eyes.+Waiting+for+me+to+sleep.+Every+month+it+seems+to+get+worse.+It%2527s+in+you%252C+too.+Don%2527t+believe+me%253F+You%2527re+one+bad+day+away+from+it+taking+over.">it</a> <a href="/title/It+always+happens+eventually.+There%2527s+nothing+I+can+do+to+stop+it%252C+anymore.+It+won%2527t+even+let+me+try+and+end+it.">happened</a>. Last night, I only had <a href="/title/My+feet+and+hands+stretched+into+grotesque+things.+My+skin+sprouted+uncontrollably+sprouted+new+growth.+My+jaw+distended+and+my+teeth+lengthened.+Then+came+the+hunger%252C+mixing+with+an+agony+that+warped+all+sense+of+space+and+time...">nightmares</a>. Then I woke up this morning in a <a href="/title/It+was+still+warm.+It%2527s+always+still+warm.">pool</a> of <a href="/title/Too+little+of+it+was+mine.">blood</a>, with something fleshy and <a href="/title/Why+won%2527t+it+die%253F+Let+it+die.+Please+let+it+just+finally+die%2521">broken</a> twitching the last of its life away in amid my fingers. Everything <a href="/title/Bone+pain+is+the+worst+pain"><em>hur</em>t</a>. </p>
<p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Some Haikus I Wrote When We Went to the Keys (poetry)http://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha/writeups/Some+Haikus+I+Wrote+When+We+Went+to+the+KeysZed_Alphahttp://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha2012-08-05T17:00:55Z2012-08-05T17:00:55Z<p>So about two or three years ago, <a href="/title/Me%252C+my+grandparents%252C+my+cousins%252C+and+my+uncle+Nathan">we</a> went <a href="/title/Curry+Hammock+State+Park">camping</a> in the <a href="/title/Florida+Keys">Keys</a>. <a href="/title/The+place+is+a+paradise%253B+the+environment+is%252C+while+not+totally+unspoiled%252C+probably+as+close+to+pristine+as+most+people+that+don%2527t+live+out+in+the+wilderness+or+travel+there+on+a+frequent+basis+can+see.+The+water+is+just+as+blue+as+the+sky%252C+there%2527s+beautiful+trees+and+flowers+everywhere%252C+there%2527s+magnificent+wildlife+flitting+about...Paradise.">It</a> <a href="/title/Food.+Excellent+food.+If+you+haven%2527t+had+conch+chowder%252C+GO+TO+THE+FLORIDA+KEYS+AND+EAT+CONCH+CHOWDER.+Friendly+people.+Beautiful+museums+and+the+oldest+public+aquarium+in+Florida.">was</a> <a href="/title/SO+MUCH+FUN.">fun</a>.</p>
<p>On the <a href="/title/Well%252C+technically%252C+while+we+were+driving+over+the+Seven+Mile+Bridge">drive</a> back, I was struck with <a href="/title/inspiration">inspiration</a> and decided to write a bunch of <a href="/title/haiku">haiku</a> about what I did on my <a href="/title/Beats+a+slideshow%252C+I+guess...">vacation</a>. I make no claims about their <a href="/title/I+can%2527t+write+poems+very+well.">quality</a>,<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…level up (fiction)http://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha/writeups/level+upZed_Alphahttp://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha2012-06-23T14:10:38Z2012-06-23T14:10:38Z<p>And that's how I saved the worlds and killed every single one of my friends in the process. </p>
<p>Jake's last breath came out in a great, shuddering gasp. The blood stopped spurting from his wounds, and his eyes glazed over. I let him sink to the floor and closed his eyes. I wanted to cry, babble, scream--<em>anything</em>, but I felt completely empty inside. He was the greatest of us; he was the only <a href="/title/paladin">paladin</a> in the world worth the name, completely fearless, and the only man in our ranks who had kept his faith. </p>
<p>Jake was dead, now. He'd died in my arms, and I had killed him. Oh, sure, I didn't stab him with one of those silver elf-swords, but I was the one who started this petty little war between the <a href="/title/Seelie">Seelie</a> and <a href="/title/Unseelie">Unseelie</a> courts, and I was the one who wasn't brave enough to face my fate. Jake died trying to save me, so everyone else could live. They'd all died...Monica, Piotr, Lennie...and Spike. Good gods, I didn't even know her <em>real name</em>, and she was dead, too. I couldn't feel<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…May 15, 2012 (log)http://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha/writeups/May+15%252C+2012Zed_Alphahttp://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha2012-05-16T05:12:45Z2012-05-16T05:12:45Z<p>I woke up at 7:30 or so this morning to the most annoying <a href="/title/A+mixture+of+my+uncles+incessant+conservative+talk+radio+and+the+equally+incessant+DEEET+DEET+DEET+DEET+DEET+DEEET+DEET+DEET+DEET+DEET+DEEEET+DEET+DEET+DEET+DEATH+DEET+DEET+DEET+DEET+of+my+alarm+clock">sounds</a> in the world. I roll <a href="/title/and+about+two+feet+down">out</a> of the air matress my grandparents have let me crash on since I moved back in with my dad. I stood up, yawned, stretched, felt bad about myself for not being <a href="/title/I%2527m+not+flexible+enough.+I+didn%2527t+stretch+nearly+enough+during+most+of+my+growth+spurts%252C+I+think.">able</a> to touch my <a href="/title/toes">toes</a>, <a href="/title/like+bubble+wrap+made+of+bones">popped</a> the joints that felt stiff, yawned again, and trudged off to the kitchen for breakfast. I poured milk from a <a href="/title/That%2527s+funny.+We+were+almost+out+last+night...">brand-new</a> gallon over crunchy, nut-cluster-y cereal for breakfast. </p>
<p>The day was, wel...It was just <a href="/title/Not+looking+up%252C+not+looking+bad.+Just+sort+of...looking.">looking</a>. Breakfast. Half an hour of <a href="/title/Br%25C3%25BCtal+Legend">Brütal Legend</a><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Everglades Goliath Gecko (essay)http://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha/writeups/Everglades+Goliath+GeckoZed_Alphahttp://everything2.com/user/Zed_Alpha2012-05-07T14:18:50Z2012-05-07T14:18:50Z<p>The Everglades Goliath Gecko (<i>Eublepharis gigas</i>) is one of the biggest lizards you will ever see. </p>
<p>These suckers were once all over the <a href="/title/Everglades">Everglades</a>, but were hunted nearly to extinction in the '50s and '60s by land developers who considered them annoying pests, and <a href="/title/May+4%252C+2012">as of writing this article</a>, are still considered an <a href="/title/endangered+species">endangered species</a>. In fact, while they can be dangerous if provoked, Goliaths are usually harmless, unless you're a small mammal, bird, or turtle. However, they've been known to climb down from trees to chase after squirrels or cats, and even go after small children on occasion. In such an event, goliath geckos be scared away by a swift kick to their massive, fat-storing tails). </p>
<p>Everglades Goliath Geckos are the largest extant members of the gecko family, growing up to four feet long on average and weighing up to a hundred and fifteen pounds. Males are usually a little heavier than females, and babies are, right after hatching, about six inches long.<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…