Friday, December 30, 2005

Top 10+ movies of the year ...

Happy New Year/Kwanzaa/Hannukah/Christmas ...

Some new years resolutions ....

1. Write more

2. Do more art

3. Volunteer especially in mentoring and teaching ...

Seeing the parents was nice this weekend also saw three movies and willing to do an early top 10 list (incomplete)

I saw three this weekend

the first and by far the best and the #1 movie I have seen this year is "Walk the Line" ... ****1/2 ... this is an amazing biopic about June Carter and Johnny Cash and has amazing performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon .. see it Now!

The second movie I saw was King Kong ... Having seen bits of this I had monster expectations .. This one was lots of fun and very bloated. The movie was better as a sum of parts then as a whole ***1/2 (#8 of the year?) ... The special effects were awesome especially Serkis as King Kong and the rest of Skull Island ...

I also saw the Chronic .. Chronicles of Narnia ... It was very weird having a main character and [spoiler] chief weenie [/spoiler] as my namesake Edmund ....

The movie had nice effects and good acting but didn't really gel for me .. I give it a marginal thumbs up but **1/2 .. Lucy was well portrayed but the whole thing felt much too disney.

Without further adieu an incomplete top 10 ....

1) Walk the Line .. no doubt about it....

2) A History of Violence ... ****1/2 ... This one was very good and surprised me .. great acting by Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen among others .. the one movie I don't want to say much about ... if you have seen you can e-mail me though...

3) The Corporation (2003) .. ****1/2 ... This movie devasted me .. .Just a fascinating story of the power of the corporation and its medical diagnosis ... Psychopath ... Only concerned with Shareholder Equity and Profits ... although not technically a 2005 release I saw it this year ...

4) SavingFace ... ****1/4 ... Although this is officially a 2004 release .. the release was very limited .. a wonderful love story about two Chinese lesbians who grew up in Flushing, Queens .. there is a lot here about family too ... WELL worth seeing ...

5) Batman Begins ... **** ... I forgot about this one .. the best of the Batmans since Tim Burton directed them ... I really liked this one ... I probably liked War of the World better save the ending ... I loved the darkness in this one .. Christian Bale really worked ... Katie Holmes less so.

3, 4 undeserved by what I have seenof 2005 releases ... I hope there are movies I haven't seen that belong here ...

6) Jarhead ....**** .... The most existential war movie ever ... I loved the thoughtfulness of this .. I will pretty much see anything Sam Mendes does ...

7) The 40-Year Old Virgin ... **** ... Without any doubt the funniest movie I saw all year ... and lots and lots of heart ... Steve Carell is amazing in this one ... His relationship with Catherine Keener is beyond sweet....

8) The War of the Worlds ... **** .. . For the ending alone lost half a star ... This movie spellbound me and was a better scare fest then the more critically loved King Kong ... Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning are very good as was the creature designed ..> V.V. good (maybe 3rd best of the year) without ending .. this really should be a 6-7 pick ... I have not seen some movies that might belong here like Syriana, Brokeback Mountain, Munich and Cinderella Man

9) Sin City ... The most visually inventive movie of the year ... **** ... Mickey Rourke's best performance ever ... Very interesting movie to watch ...

10) In Her Shoes ... This may well be too high .. ***1/2 ... I really enjoyed this movie .. This was definitely one I saw with my wife's consent but I really enjoyed it ...

11) .. Star Wars 3/6: Sith .... ***1/2 ... Wow do I want to give spoilers on this one... I will just say outside the lines that this was my favorite of the 2nd trilogy .. It is nearly as good as Jedi ... Also one of the worst love stories ever .. ... Harry Potter 4 might take this spot ...

12) Fever Pitch ... ***1/2 ... A fun Drew Barrymore movie ... an odd retelling of the Nick Hornby though .. I enjoyed it but if you really want to understand the psychology of a sports fan read the book "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby about the horrors and joys of rooting for Arsenal Soccer Football in N. London ...

First Honorable Mention ...

13) Kung Fu Hustle ***1/2 .. Just a lot of fun .. I enjoyed Shaolin Soccer more but well worth seeing ... Stephen Chow is a joy to watch ... Just a fun movie ...

Highest expectations not quite met ....

14) King Kong ... ***1/4 .. not sure it belongs on the top 10 at all .. .Kong was one of the great special effects creations ever and it probably deserves technical awards along with "War" ... Way too long at 3 hours 20 minutes ... [spoiler] Why did the ship take an hour ... Not sure if I bought the romances either ... Had huge expectations and was disappointed ... [/spoiler]


An Honorable Mention to ....

15) Murderball ... ***1/4 ... This was a lot of fun .. I loved the hardcore Wheelchair rugby players ... Well worth watching ..

I also liked .... .
16) (to give 10 movies) Hitch .. *** .. This doens't really belong on a top 10 list at all but it was fun ... I enjoyed it ...

Please give comments and tell me more movies to put on the list ...

ecq

Yep now the list is even longer ... Haven't seen Wedding Crashers, or Penguins either

And yes .. there really is nothing about writing here ... Feels weird to write so little in December after so much in November ...

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Back to Writing

Starting to Write Again

Its hard to retrieve the writing mojo.

I am trying to type more today ...

It all went so easy during the month of November for NanoWriMo.... I was really enjoying my characters too... There was also a lot of therapy involved in No Filter ...

I am curious to go back through it ... there are a lot of scenes that I need to go back and add too ... Especially the ones of the naughtier variety ... I suppose there is something to be said for less is more sometimes...

Chris Beaty the author and creator of Nano recommends 2 weeks to a month before editing the book. I must say that is a big stop-off in writing.

I would almost recommend typing on other projects.

But going from 200 mph to 0 just feels weird.

On to some movies I saw recently.

I saw some interesting movies recently ... Murderball ****, Solaris *** and the surprisingly good SavingFace ****1/4.

Murderball is about wheelchair rugby or "murderball," which is a kind of smear the queer on wheels where the goal is to get the ball with your chair across the endline, and hit everything along the way. This is a lot of fun and has great special features, including the player commentary and the Jackass episode.

"Solaris" was very interesting and very slow. It was gorgeously shot by Soderbergh, but I am not sure I understand it. Nevertheless I liked it, it was good while I was reading stuff online ... Not one of Soderbergh's best but quite good ... ***

The best one of the week was Saving Face ****1/4 ... This one surprised me... It was a romantic comedy involving two lesbian chinese woman finding love in the repressive Chinese society of Flushing, Queens. It also involves a lot about mothers and daughters and what represents "ideal" society for the Chinese. This one was really good ... It surprised me how much I liked it.

It also sucks to be poor at christmas time. I am not subbing nearly enough, and have limited funds for Christmas.

I am officially bankrupt now too, I filed Ch. 7 bankruptcy on last Friday and met the judge. It was amazing how fast the preceding went. I was the second person in line and I was done in 5 minutes.

It was much harder to drive my car through the snow on December 10th. A rear-wheel drive 84 Mercedes 300D, doesn't always do so well in the snow. I was slipping and sliding everywhere, I also just got to court right at 9 am... The 15 minute trip to Portland took a good 40-45 minutes.

I also need to see some movies. King Kong looks ridicously awesome. Syriana very interesting, if convulted, Walk the Line looks great, and I have seen all the rest of the Potter movies. I think the movie of the week will be Rent.

Hopefully can see King Kong with the parents .... Off to Allentown, PA on Saturday to see my parents and have my wife visit their new house.

The kitty will miss us. This will also be Lanna's first christmas not with her brother.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Good Solstice.

Edmund Davis-Quinn

Thursday, December 08, 2005

One week later

It feels weird not to write so much.

I am trying to wait 2 weeks to start editing my book as Chris Baty suggests in No Plot, No Problem... But I miss my book ... I want to get back to it...

I signed up for National Novel Finishing Month ... http://www.nanofimo.org .... But I haven't doen anything yet...

Well I will see what it takes to get back to writing ... I also have a major event coming up tomorrow that I will be very happy to be done with.

Also need to go to Filene's this weekend and make some money ... It is tiring to work the holidays but so it goes .. I am not subbing near enough and need to find the next gig.

It would be nice to have a real job and not just be temping/subbing.

Edmund Davis-Quinn

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Wow its December

Well I guess NanoWriMo is over ...

I really enjoyed the writing and accomplished so much ... 56,500 words ... And probably somemore to come filling in scenes and such ...

Went out with some of the NanoMainers last night, the internet was not there as promised, so my wife headed home to finish the last 3,000 words of her book.. and Edmund here couldn't listen to the Rutgers-Temple game... (Rutgers won)

So I said bye and she called me about 10:35 .. she had reached 49,000 words and her computer refused to work .. so I had to get back and give her my laptop, which I was tempted to give her at the Great Lost Bear before ....

So I got back around 11:00 and Lanna typed furiously ... she got to 50,000 words on Word (50,111 on Nano) and submitted her wordcount at 11:53 pm. She was a winner only 7 minutes from the deadline .....

It was unbelievable .... So we both won ... I had a nice start with very steady writing ... My wife was only around 24,500 words on Saturday Afternoon, did 7,000 on Saturday and just kept pushing through Wednesday... If you want to read her blog its... http://jesterfest.blogspot.com

edmund davis-quinn
Novelist ..

I am also posting something I posted earlier in the Nano-Maine blog ... http://nanomaine.blogspot.com .... I do wish I could cut and paste and blogger and keep the returns ...

Its all over!

What an adventure!
What awesome people us Maine writers are...
And so many winners ...We had 1,829,641 words as a state!!! .. Which is #34 of all regions in Nano!!! ... Great job ...Me and my wife also got 50,000 words as did Kendra, WriAnimator .....

We beat Sweden and Philadelphia .. and missed beating Oklahoma by only 12,000 words ...

Here at the Maheux/Davis-Quinn house, we were both winners ...I ended up with 56,695 words and Lanna had 50,100 ....Lanna wanted to make sure she had as much drama as possible ... She had under 25,000 words at 2 pm Saturday ...

Since then she has been on a tear with 7,000 on Saturday and 4,000 or more every other day .... She had only 1,000 words left around 10:30 and then her computer refused to work ...

I unfortunately was at the Great Lost Bear and had to run back and give her a computer ....She got to 50,000 on her book from Microsoft Word wordcounter by writing the very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very end ....I am so proud of her .. .She was officially a winner at 11:53 pm ... just 7 minutes before the deadline ..

Lanna Maheux-Quinn rocks ..

So there are 50 Winners in Maine!!!! WOWWWWW!!!!! ...

50 of us passed 50,000 words out of 207 in the state . .Give yourself all a hand!!

Well I will see you all tomorrow at the Village Cafe in Portland ..... Village Cafe is on Newbury St. in Portland. ... The thank god its over party starts at 5:30...

It was also great to meet some more of you at the Great Lost Bear! .... That is one of the great beer bars in the country #4 in America according to beeradvocate.com
And Maine is #1 in the country in cool writers.
edmund davis-quinn
Novelist

I know it repeats some stuff .. I am just so proud of the NanoMainers!

p.s. I also post at http://edmundcquinn.blogspot.com
and my beer blog ... http://mainebeerguy.blogspot.com

cheers!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

The End

I think I have finished my book....

I might have an Epilogue in Edinburgh but not sure...

I have to fill some things in too...

Here are the last few paragraphs ...

Mathilda and Timothy decided to hold each other for a few minutes, shower together, and then walk around Oxford.

They kissed and then went out to the Oxford morning. There was a story in The Independent, and a picture in the Sun, “The Magnificent Life of Timothy Higgins.” Tim and Mathilda were very happy to see them.

Tim and Math went out to breakfast outside. It was 70 outside, a little crisp and beautiful. The couple couldn’t have been happier together. They loved each other, and were blissful.

THE END

It ends very sweet ....

The final count officially will be around 55,555 ... barring any more filling in tomorrow ...

Its been a blast.

I am considering some other projects in a few months...

One is Aviatic Park (working title) ... which is about genetically engineered birds from the military going hangwire in S. California and throughout the world.... Why would the Dep. of Defense do militarized bird research

Another is the Magnificent Life of Mathilda Fitzgerald ... a sequel from Mathilda's perspective ... and there could be a lot others....

Will be fun to see how this edits.

edmund davis-quinn

Sunday, November 27, 2005

3 more Maine winners today

At our meet up at Panera Bread in Westbrook, 3 more people crossed the 50,000 mark and are Nano Winners....

I couldn't be happier!!

Also turned the cable back on which is nice.

My wife has also kicked serious butt with 7,000 words yesterday and another 5,000 today... I am so proud of her.

My book is currently just under 54,000 words but still has a ways to go. Its going to be hard to let the Fitzgeralds go. I am really enjoying interacting with them through my fiction.

And of course, the strange case of Timothy Thomas Higgins, from an amazingly awful week, to a terrifically great one.

Cheers!

edmund davis-quinn

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

I'm a Winner!!! 50,300 words

With a 1,000 words today I am well past 50,000 words. I will even cross it on the Microsoft Word, Word count in 300 words ...

Of course I have been cheating with Author's notes but that doesn't add up to too much.

Lord Edmund, Mathilda and Timothy Higgins have now met. Here is my most recent excerpt ... Chapter 13, where I passed 50,000!!

Chapter 13
2:45 pm, The Fitzgerald Group, London

Wow, Tim thought, I am actually going to meet the head of the multi-billion dollar firm, Lord Edmund Fitzgerald. Even stranger I was invited by my current girlfriend, and his second wife.

He called Mathilda on the phone 45 mins ago, and she said to meet her in the lobby about right now. It was nice to be able to talk to her on his cel phone and be in reach. He wasn’t sure if this was an interview or just a discussion, he had a feeling it was both. Tim didn’t always interview well, he was sure this was going to go much better then Birmingham.

The morning had gone pretty well, the Mirror had a page 40 story saying that Math’s new love was an American, basically a repeat of the Sun story. Other news with David Beckham, George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Julia Roberts had trumped the Math Fitz story. He had a feeling this wouldn’t hold forever.

“Hi Math, nice to see you here. How do I look today.”

“Tim, you look great, give yourself two long breaths and we will go upstairs. How is your morning going so far? Nice to not be the cover story in the tabloids.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t make lunch with you, I had to eat at my desk so we could spend this time with Lord Edmund. I had more work then I thought I would, what have you been up to.”

“Well, I made it over to the British Museum for a few hours and looked at all the things the British Empire stole from the world. That place is wild. Its too bad the British Library is in that boring building though.”

“How are your feet doing?”

“Pretty good, I have been soaking them a lot. Thanks for letting me sleep in at your place for a few hours. Its nice that the tabloids are less interested too.”

Mathilda then gave Tim a kiss and said, “Well, Sir Edmund is waiting for us. He always thought the title of Prince was too much anyway.”

Tim and Mathilda went up the elevator to the 35th floor. They needed a key to get up to the executive offices, which Mathilda already had. “Tim, I love you. Be calm and you will be fine.”

When they reached the top, they saw Lord Edmund was waiting for them. It was 2:55. “Wow, Mathilda, you are a little early. This must be Timothy’s doing. You were never on time with me.”

“I assume you are Timothy Thomas Higgins… I quite like your suit. Mathilda has told me a lot about you, so try to be calm. I am Lord Edmund Fitzgerald, the Duke of Edinburgh, and ex-Prince when I was married to the Lady Quinne. The Queen didn’t like it very much when I divorced his niece.”

“Shall we go into my office.”

Mathilda whispered to Timothy, “You are doing fine so far, just keep your composure. I love you, keep smiling, and laughing and you will do great.”

Lord Edmund Fitzgerald’s office had an absolutely commanding view of the Thames and the City of London. “So what do you think of the top of this old building. When you have been in business as long as the Fairchilds and DeBeers, and other such holding companies, you accumulate some things.”

Tim thought it was like going to the British Museum again. So many amazing antiquities and early stock certificates. “Sir, I must say this is a beautiful office. And a most amazing view of the city.”

“I agree Mr. Higgins. I especially like viewing over St. Peters and the City of London. People thought we were crazy to make a 35 story building in 1890, but there are many higher buildings since.” Lord Edmund pointed to the Docklands and all the cranes building even more throughout the Eastern end of London to Greenwich. “Its quite amazing how London has grown as a banking center.”

“When I was a young lad, this was one of the higher buildings of London, and most of the financial district was near the walled City of London. Its amazing how much the financial district has grown eastward. And how much the Fitzgerald Group has made providing those loans.”

Tim couldn’t help but be impressed. Everything was immaculate, everything was perfect.

So there it is Edmund Charles Davis-Quinn ...

Novelist!

ecq

I passed it around 11:55 today here in snowy Maine.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Another 2,000+ words day

I am up to over 48,500 words ..

50,000 feels close.

Been a tough day.

I woke up with a flat tire.

The right front. The same one that I fixed 8 days ago!!!

But I did get a nice writing session in.

I got another 2,200 words or so in today.

It looks like I will pass 50,000 tomorrow as scheduled ;))

Here is an excerpt . It is PG-13 ...

Chapter 12
Chelsea, 7 pm ….

Tim found his way back to Math’s fabulous flat.

He smelled something wonderful cooking.

“Hi, Mathilda, Its Tim.”

“Hi, Tim, how do I look …” … Mathilda looked absolutely delightful to Tim. She wore this absolutely lovely slip that showed off her legs to full effect, and quite well showed her cleavage.

“I love this dress, but its too much sometimes for the tabloids. I bet you like it though.”

Tim tried hard not to put his tongue from waggling. He gave Mathilda a big kiss and a hug, and then said “you look radiantly beautiful tonight. The kitchen smells great too, what are you cooking.”

“Well its Vermicelli with Sausage, Spinach and Bacon. Its absolutely delightful. After that I think we should just hang out in bed and enjoy each other’s company. I also got some wonderful IPA to go with it. I sense that you are as much a beer guy as wine guy. I after all did meet you at the Great British Beer Festival. There is some Dead Guy Ale from Rogue in America and some Monty Python Bring Out Your Dead Ale from Cambridge. Didn’t we try the Bring Out Your Dead Ale after one of our many dances at the GBBF.”

“You have to respect a woman who knows her beer. Those are both quite good beers, the Monty Python stuff is absolutely amazing. As are you.”

Mathilda couldn’t believe the closeness she felt with Tim. The Sausage and Bacon were smelling wonderful, and he just loved spending time with this young man.

“So, Tim… I got you something today. Its wrapped on the counter. Why don’t you open it now while I finish dinner.”

Mathilda opened up some of the Bring Out Your Dead Ale and put a little in with the pasta. She then gave Tim some.

Timothy opened up his present. He saw a new Virgin Mobile phone. “I guess you want me to be able to keep in touch. Thank you very much, so you use so much a minute on this I guess.”

“Yes, Tim and its free in the UK to be called. The minutes cost a lot outgoing, but if this works as well as I think it might, I will get you a real phone soon.”

Thanks babe, Tim grabbed Mathilda’s butt and then licked the back of her neck. This made her squirm and jump a little.

“I like that Tim. Why don’t you sit down and make yourself comfortable. There is some baseball on the tele.”

Tim turned the game on … It was an afternoon Cubs-Cardinals game just starting. He started to watch it, but couldn’t help admiring Mathilda’s gorgeous ass. He decided to turn off the tele and get close to his girl.

“Hi, Mathilda, thanks for the present. Tim then moved his arms around Math’s waist, I hope its OK, if I help you finish dinner.”

“Its almost ready Tim. I just have to finish with the bacon and combine the meat and pasta. This stuff is really yummy.”

“Not as yummy as you, babe.”

“Thanks. I can turn the burner down for a second.” Mathilda then grabbed Tim and hugged him hard, she wanted to feel his cock squirm by her embrace. She devoured him with kisses and wanted to make his knees buckle. With this she was successful.

“Wow, Math, that was a kiss. I do love the way that dress hits your curves. Do you mind if I expose your breasts, and give them a kiss.”

“In a minute darling, let me finish dinner. You could show me your cock if you want though.”

Timothy did as he commanded, he showed Math his cock. Math looked over and said nice, she then exposed her gorgeous size 36D breasts and showed them to Tim. The seducing had already started.

Mathilda finished dinner, and went to sit next to Tim. She loved being so close to him.

“So Tim any thoughts on what you might like to do this week. I would like to spend as much time with you as I can. I enjoy every minute that we are together.”

“Well, I would love to spend time with you too. I also wish I could go back to Oxford with pride not shame. Looks like Tuesday I am meeting Edmund Fitzgerald, Wednesday we are both meeting Amanda,” Timothy can’t help smiling there, its just so naughty. “I don’t know after that, might be fun to go to Scotland. I also need to keep seeing my shrink.”

Mathilda then fed Tim some of her dinner. “Mmm, Math that is delicious. Thank you so much. Very yummy.” They then kissed again, and enjoyed some beer. The couple could not help but paw each other.
“I love kissing you and having you next to me Tim. You make me so happy. I can’t remember being happy like this in so long. But, you should eat before it gets cold.”

Tim loved this dinner. It was so yummy and so simple. Just some pasta in a cream sauce with some grilled bacon, sausage and spinach. It tasted just delightful, so did the beer, and so Mathilda’s kisses.

“So tell me something about Lord Edmund Fitzgerald. I know we are meeting tomorrow. Is there any further plans? Is there some hints you can give me? I don’t have your ass and kissable lips, but you obviously think we will like each other.”

“Well that is an excellent question. Edmund and you both have devilish senses of humour, you are both quite smart too, although I doubt you know Scottish history as well as Lord Edmund, I am not sure anyone in the world does. I would say dress impeccably, shave, listen and try to keep your emotions in control. How are your medications working out?”

“Well, the Xanax and the Risperdal make me feel pretty loopy, and I haven’t sensed anything from the Neurotonin yet. But, you’re a better medication then any of them.”

Mathilda couldn’t help but smile. Still she worried about Tim. She had heard about what happened at Oxford, and it didn’t seem the same young man as the one she had come to could she even think it, love. He was so sweet. One of the sweetest men she had ever met. And she knew that Tim and Sir Edmund would like each other, it just seemed like such a good match.

“Well, I know Sir Edmund is always looking for good talent. What do you know about Scottish History?”

“Well, I know “Braveheart”,” Tim laughs, “but seriously I know there is different regions that each produce different Scotches. I also know that the Scotch aren’t too fond of their British overlords. Scotsman and Scotswoman have always had quite an independent streak.”

“That is a good start Tim. I can tell you more over bed. So why don’t you finish your writing and we can play some Trivial Pursuit in bed. Feel free to paw me while you play.”

Tim finished his plate. It was very good. He was quite looking forward to having time with Mathilda on the bed though.

First he decided to turn on some blues and dance though. Mathilda looked so beautiful in her slip and it made Tim want to dance. He took her in her arms, gave her a full kiss, and said, “Would you like to dance, you wonderful cook.”

Mathilda blushed. Its was so sweet. “Of course, darling, but I warn you I can be pretty frisky.”So Tim and Mathilda felt the blues, sometimes dancing close, sometimes just having fun. They kept kissing and touching each other. There was also laughing, lots of laughing.

Let me know what you think.

edmund davis-quinn

Monday, November 21, 2005

Today no typing yet

Getting so close to 50,000...

I want to see if I can get the Nano graph working ...




Lets see if spaces make the difference.

I am loving this project so far.

edmund

Well I did get 300 words in a little later ....

Its hard when you don't feel great ...

Up to 46,219

Although I feel terrible today I got another 2,400 words in.

Around 600 this morning and another 1,850 in a good run at Panera.

I love the Nano Maine crowd there.

You all right good this week you hear...

Enjoy thanksgiving y'all..

I only have 3,781 to 50,000 ... That is just unbelivable .. I am like 92% to my goal ... Two decent days and I am there...

And then there is probably another 10,000 to 15,000 words until the end ;))

edmund

Sunday, November 20, 2005

No words yesterday!

After my writing dynamo this month, I did no words yesterday!

Zero.

If you wonder why, its because I had a full day in retail.

I was there from 9:15 to 6:15 with a one-hour lunch.

It was the "best sale of the year," meaning lots of customers. I also desperately need to get new dress shoes, so my feet got really tired.

By the time I was home about 6:40 I watched just a bit of the Auburn-Alabama game. Auburn was leading 28-10 and won by the same score.

I just wanted to lay down. By 7:45 I went to bed.

At 8:00 my mom called, it sounds like she totaled her car and now drives a 2001 Chrysler Concorde, I was barely there and just slept.

I kinda half got up at 12:30 and with the Kitty's urging at 6:00 .. but didn't really wake up until 8:20 am or so ....

I have choir at church today, and had to wake up after sleeping for more then 12 hours. I did get 630 words in this morning though. This means even with yesterday, I only have 700 words to 45,000 ...

I have a lot of church today, and work retail from 4-9 tonight. I should have an hour and a half to type with the Nano Mainers at Panera ...

Hopefully that will get me over 45,000 words, and I will have some energy tonight.

I still want to pass 50,000 by Wednesday.

Edmund Davis-Quinn

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Another 1,000 words in

Just did another 1,000 words.

This book continues to amaze me ...

I on page 17 on overall words counts ... which places me I think #827 ranked overall in Nano .. which is amazing with the nearly 60,000 participants...

My current word count is ... drum roll please... 43,673 ...

Which means even after the full day at Filene's .. I will only need 1,327 for 45,000 and a mere 6,327 for 50,000!!!!

Its getting wicked close but I think the book needs at least 20,000 more words ... I hope I can do a lot over Thanksgiving, even with the 'rents coming up ...

This has been a simply joyous experience.

I think I will continue to write.

I love Nano!

edmund

Friday, November 18, 2005

42,000 words

I got another 1,300 words in this morning.

The book is going very well.

I also find that I find other writing easier.

I am becoming a blogging fool.

I am also applying to work as a reading specialist/ed tech III in South Portland, ME school district. I think it would be great to work with first graders and improve their reading.

Wish me luck.

edmund davis-quinn

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Wow 40,000 words!!!

Wow officially at 40,000+ ...

Already did 2,000 words today . I could fill in a lot of sex scenes too .... 40,589
... And still 13 more days!!!
Its amazing to think I have only 9,481 left ...
And I will probably do another 10,000+ after that :))

edmund

This feels really good, there is a lot of tenderness between Mathilda and Timothy.

It is starting to feel a lot like my wife and me.

Its nice to have them just massaging each other.

Tenderness is such a lovely thing.

I am really liking my book and have ideas for others.

I really can't believe how much fun I am having!!

And under 10,000 to go (plus likely to write 10,000 after that)..

edmund davis-quinn

Another 2,000 words

I am now up to 38,859 ...

Of course that is only 1,800 today more or less...

Having a lot of fun with the new characters that keep coming in ...

My main man Tim is definitely quite the man-slut ... Here is an excerpt ...

He is having a lot of fun though ...

I have even figured out how I will end it ...

quick question .. should Lord Edmund Fitzgerald, Duke of Edinburgh, be a prince ...

Duke Of Edinburgh I found out is Prince Philip's title ...

I am tempted to say he had to drop the name Prince after marrying Mathilda.

I hope this makes sense to y'all ...

I hope to post the whole novel somewhere at some point ...

Its not all ready for prime time though ...

Here is the promised excerpt .. it is rated R I would say.

“Oh you know that. Lets say I have had an odd week. I think I will leave it at that. Things are definitely surreal right now.”

“That makes sense to me Tim. What are you doing with Math tonight, yes I know that is where you are off to next … I am a very perceptive woman.”

“Well, Amanda we are off to the Lotus Flower. Mathilda said it will knock my socks off.”

“MMM, that is very good. But, if you ever need a friend let me know. You are the lead in the London tabloids, it will only become more and more. Don’t worry, you’ll survive it, but you will definitely need a friend. Keep your room in Imperial College and hide if you need to.”

Tim, a tall 6’4’ man with brown hair who had become a relatively svelte-210 pounds since he had been manic, quite liked the quite cute 5’5” Amanda. She was quite British, cute, round face, brunette, with brown eyes, a nice round butt and lovely probably size D tits.

She is the very cute college girl, that many men like. If not for Math, Tim would be all over her. I mean she was sweet and totally adorable. Tim had to admit, he would love to see her naked. He was almost curious to ask Math about this, even more curiously he thinks she would probably say yes. Especially if she could see her herself. Although, she really wasn’t sure what Math type might be in women.

Mathilda Fitzgerald was a star in Britain. Tim was just an American having a bizarre week. It did feel lovely having a pint of Boddington’s with Amanda though. Maybe they could go check out some films later. He had to admit that he was quite attracted to Amanda. He didn’t know what to do, lets just keep it as friends he thought. But, he still longed to kiss her. He couldn’t help himself.

“What you thinking about Tim?”

“Oh, just how surreal this whole week has been. It is hard to be next to you and not want to kiss you.”

“Tim, you are very sweet. I would recommend against that. I am drawn to you too. Maybe you could ask Math about it. I always thought she was so sexy in the tabloids.”

This was something Tim didn’t expect. Amanda was bi??? He thought she was the “good” girl, I suppose there are always multiple levels of good. Tim had to admit that this situation sounded very “good” to him.

“Well, maybe I will ask about that. I know she has succomoned to the pleasures of woman flesh before. I have to admit that sounds like a very hot scene. I will also have to warn you that Math is quite kinky. Especially 3*3.”

“Oh mr. Tim, you are definitely a dork. Its so sweet. I could see why a woman like Mathilda Fitzgerald would be drawn to you. I expect you have had a very hard week but you are sweet, adorable, tall, and have a devilishy cute smile. I would be up for a threesome if she was.”

Tim simply couldn’t believe his luck. He didn’t know where next to take this. So he simply asked, “You wouldn’t have a picture on you would you. Wait I have my camera. I suppose a picture would be faster.”

“Strangely enough Tim, I have some school pics right here. They are very proper, but I think pretty adorable. I am definitely game. Here is my number.”

Tim felt quite conflicted. His first instinct was to smother Amanda with kisses. He really liked her. This whole weekend has been unbelievably titillating. “For some reason, I really feel like a cigar. Know any good places around here.”

“Yes Tim, I want to kiss you too. Lets just go for a little kiss. And lets step out for a bit.”

This whole thing felt very naughty to Tim. Math and Tim had never even thought of being exclusive, but this still felt a little wrong. Tim and Amanda found a little package store and had a kiss. It was quite a kiss. After it Amanda simply said, “Tell Math about me, and call me later and let me know how it went. I need to go right now, I want to take you home and have my way with you but I think you need to wait. So instead I will just go home and furiously masturbate, thinking about you and Mathilda. And of course, my chance to lick your cock and taste her pussy. I really like you Tim, but I have to go.”

“I understand. I will try to call you tonight, if not tomorrow morning. Thanks for the great day, and understanding ear.”

With that Amanda left … Tim’s watch from Geneva said 3:45. He wondered what was happening in Oxford.

He also found what he was looking for a Hoya de Monterrey double corona, and a nice coffee shop with outdoor seating. Tim put on his shades, grabbed his hat and gave himself time to smoke a good cigar. He had the book “Fever Pitch” by Nick Hornby to read, and just needed to calm down his libido for a minute. He knew it would be ignited again soon enough.

As Tim lit up his cigar, he was surprised to see his friend Catherine.

Catherine was a fellow Friedman MBA and a very nice woman. He asked how it was going.

“Fine, Tim, how are you doing. We missed you in London earlier.”

“Well that is a long story. They kicked me out. So I moved to London. Pick up a copy of the Sunday Sun and I can tell you more. Notice the cover.”

There was a newsstand right next door. “Holy shit, Tim… Is that you? Who is the foxy redhead you are with.”

“Well, if you read more you will find out that she is Mathilda Fitzgerald, the ex-wife of Lord Edmund Fitzgerald, Duke of Edinburgh.”

what do you all think ...

edmund

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Tabloid Tim

Looks like Tim is a tabloid star.

This book is getting very interesting.

Have done almost 3,000 words today ...

I only have about 13,000 to go.

I didn't sub today but did have really good beers at the Great Lost Bear ...

I also put an application in for LL Bean at the CareerCenter in Portland.

Not making any money this month, but I have a novel dammit.

Also need to pay $125 in excise tax for Westbrook .. .my car is 20 years old!!! .. c'mon!!

edmund

Tim-Math are in the Tabloids ...

Well evidently Mathilda Fitzgerald it a big player in the London Tabloids.

Are the papparazzi took a picture of Tim and Mathilda.

So now Tim and Math are in the Mirror and the Sun....

Here is an excerpt (so far) ...

Chapter the Ninth
Oxford, Sunday Morning, 8 am

One of the Thomas Paine students Lisa decided to pick up the tabloids today.

While she was looking at them, she saw the oddest thing.

She could have sworn she saw Timothy Thomas Higgins in the Sun and the Daily Mirror.

She had to ask Amelie. “Amelie, is that Tim? I could swear that is Tim.”

Ami had just started having her toast and coffee, her and John had a lovely night, and Amelie’s rememberances of Tim made it hotter. “Holy shit that is Tim. Who is this Mathilda Fitzgerald they are talking about?”

Lisa added, “It says here that she was the 2nd wife of Edmund Fitzgerald, the Duke of Edinburgh. Holy shit, that makes her royalty. Ms. Fitzgerald never received titled status as she was a 2nd marriage. Sir Edmund’s first wife, Magdalene Quinne, Lady of Hampton Court never allowed it.”

Alex overhears the conversation. He thinks they must be full of shit. This must be someone else they are talking about. Timothy Higgins, that piece of crap that broke down in Birmingham on Tuesday, is now on the front page of the paper? “Let me see that?”

Alex roughly grabbed the paper from Lisa. “Hey we were reading that, what’s wrong with you? Does it piss you off that you didn’t break the boy more?”

Alex yelled back, “Fuck, that is Tim. Look at the woman he is with. Maybe I helped him out by helping to get him out of this program. You know Amelie, I did help persuade Huxtable that Tim needed to be out of the program. I bet you didn’t know that. I mean the dude threatened me.”

Amelie interjected, “Alex, you are a first class asshole. Get the fuck away from me and the table.”

At this point John came in. Although he was usually a peaceful man, he always supported his wife. “Is there a problem here? Any fight with my wife goes through me? Please go back to Jane over there. And kiss her too, she really likes you, why I have no idea.”

“What’s up Ami?” John asked, “You usually don’t get riled up, like that.”

Amelie asked Lisa Cohen for the paper. “Sure sweetie, go ahead and borrow the paper. We can talk more later.”

Amelie had grown close to Lisa in London and on Tuesday. She needed to talk to someone about Tim. Lisa always seemed very sweet, and they had liked each other in the past. “Thanks Lisa, we will talk more later. I have to show John this it’s a trip.”

So Amelie and John found a table and Amelie thought, “This could get really weird, really fast John, look who is on the front cover of the Sun and the Mirror. You see that gentleman coming out of Southwicks? That is none other then Timothy Thomas Higgins.”

John interjected with a smile, “Its clear he has excellent taste. First my wife and now the trophy wife of Sir Edmund Fitzgerald, this boy Tim seems both blessed and cursed.”

“Well, John grab a little food and some tea, I want to get out of here and show you some of Oxford before too many others find out about this. I know a few students are getting back from London today. I also want to shove this in Huxtable’s face. Although who knows what that prick might do. I really thought he was a decent guy back in Fairfax, but he has been a dumb ass here.”

Ami then gave John a very nice kiss. “ I must say I am very curious what is going on with my man Tim. He is a sweet guy, troubled but sweet. I know you would have love to see him make love to me too. Lets get out of here, I want to walk around and kiss you around town. Then I want you to take me. Tie me up, and make love to me.”

John liked this part of her wife. She didn’t show it often, but when she did it was intense fireworks. They both were quite insatiable in bed, and loved to fantasize. “That sounds like a date.” John grabbed some ham in toast and had some coffee to go.

London, walking from Chelsea to Imperial College, 9 am

Timothy had an amazing night. Just unbelievable. Mathilda Fitzgerald may be one of the most exciting women, Tim has ever met. He didn’t know the backstory yet.

Tim had started to make a habit of the London tabloids.

What he saw there startled him.

First, he noticed that heads were turning toward him. Then when he was about to get a copy of the sun after first seeing a back page story about David Beckham and a Premiership preview he saw the cover.

“MATH’S NEW LOVE?”

Why would a picture of the kiss, Mathilda and I had last night be in the paper. Tim had noticed the photographers around, but assumed they would be far more interested in Mick Jagger, Tony Blair, or Meg Ryan. Why would there care about me and Math? This was truly bizarre.

And the Mirror had a similar but quite different cover. Showing another kiss, and Tim’s hand on Mathilda’s neck.

“WHO IS THE NEW MATH LOVE?”

Ok, Tim was now officially freaked out. He decided to hurry it over to the Imperial College cafeteria, since he knew there breakfasts were big and cheap.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Wow Royalty Showed Up

Somehow when I was typing today at Sam's Club of all places, royalty showed up.

It turns out that my character's current love interest as an ex-husband who is Sir Edmund Fitzgerald, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Evidently the press still follow Mathilda around and are curious what she is up to.

It looks like Timothy and Mathilda are going to be on the cover of the Sun and The Mirror tomorrow in my book.

I also have almost 2,000 words today to bring the total official wordcount to 32,855

I will update things as they progress.

I am having quite a history for Mathilda as well. I guess she is going to be a BIG part of the story.

Excerpts will come later.

ed davis-quinn

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Busy day

I have been at church all day today almost.

I got 455 words done in the morning and past 30,000 ...

I was in church all day today there was a lovely service at 11, then I had a nice late breakfast around 1 pm, and the minister was officially "inducted" minister of the Allen Avenue UU church at 3 pm today.

I am so happy about how the church is going.

I am planning to go to choir practice on Thursday night. I really wanted to sing with the choir today. They had such wonderful musical selections. Including, "Down it the river to pray," a spiritual sung in "O Brother, Where Art Thou"

So I got another 600 words done after church, and am debating about going to a holiday party to Filene's.

I have to dress up and have already had quite a day.

Might have dressed up earlier if I knew.

Think its time to dress to the nines.

I am not even at home or dressed and its already 6:56 ..

Probably won't get there until 7:30.

At 31,000 words .. .

Peace y'all

edmund davis-quinn

29,974 words

So I only got to 1,152 words today ...
Of course, I do plan to do another 500+ words tonight ...
I will probably do a 10 minute challenge .. and then a little after that ...
Today I worked at Filene's .. Slept in and also got my wife a car radio ...
I also got some presents for my sis/bro-in-law and my bro-in-law (ie wife's brother) ....
I also bought a quite cute San Drive for myself.
Of course I did make the mistake of saving to that and not the C drive. I probably lost 50 words or so.
I am quite confident that when I post in an hour or so I will be well over 30,000 .. but right now short by 26 words .. Of course I just wrote a lot more then that.
Edmund Davis-Quinn

Thursday, November 10, 2005

I just passed 26,000 words ...

First, I went past 25,000 words today, and then wrote another 1,000 words.

I thought I would give everyone an excerpt.

Enjoy!

Really Imperial College isn’t the worst place to be. The Great British Beer Festival is going on not far away this weekend. Tim Higgins had always been a beer junkie, and this festival by CAMRA and the Society for Real Ales, is considered one of the best in the world. Waterloo is quite close, and this might be a good place to go. Tim hopes being in the fraternity of beer drinkers will improve his spirits but that is tomorrow.

Going to London is feeling like a fresh start.

Tim decides to find Imperial College, drop off his stuff and take a nap.

6:00 … Imperial College London…

So here we are at the beginning Tim wondering how he got here and you humble readers wondering what might happen next.

So lets just find out.

Tim can’t decide what he wants to do tonight. He would love to run into some of this fellow Oxonians around the college, but the place is vast. He decides he would like to go out on the town. His feet are still blistered and he decides to take the tube to the West End Theatre District.

A good play would make him feel good. He has his student ID so can get a good deal on a rush ticket.

He looks at the time and realizes its already 6:00 pm. He feels quite proud of this decision. He decides to go to a non-licensed conveince store get a pint of cider and make a trip on the tube. He looks at the local free paper and sees whats playing. There are lots and lots of shows.

One called “Love Letters” sounds good and by his luck there is tickets at 7:00 still available for the 7:30 show. He finds his seat not long later and finds he his student rush tickets are 3rd row far right… Although this is an awkward angle he is practically right on stage. This is just what Tim needs a comedy.

He feels more comfortable in his skin since he has since Geneva. He wishes he could have done something like this with Amelie and John. He really cared for Ami and with or without romantic entanglements, he thinks she is a mighty good friend. This is something there are far too few of in this world.

Tim feels very nice when he leaves the theater. He feels calmer and decides it might be nice to take a little stroll. He also decides to buy a little pot for ten quid (pounds) and have something to smoke. This was an odd thing for Tim to do, Timothy would sometimes toke with his buddies back at UNJ, but would rarely want to carry anything. He thought it might calm his mind though. Everyone and everything seems beautiful. Tim knows the best thing to do is go to bed though. He also doesn’t want to fight the bus system after the tube closes at 1 am…..

He finds some nice souvlaki and has a nice snack. It feels good and he decides its time to go home. He is planning a great day tomorrow.

Imperial College, around 22:00 …

Tim picks up a copy of the Independent of Manchester and decides to read a bit. He also rips off a piece of the paper he has finished and decides to smoke up a little. The floor he is on is quite quiet as he asked for a higher floor and some space. The short toke he has feels good, and Tim feels mellow.

He decides to take a bath, and let the worry depart a little. After all the visual stimulation, Tim decides to masturbate in the tub. He rolls through his head thinking of images. He really wonders what he was thinking of with Mikela. Something surprised Tim though, it wasn’t Danielle he was thinking about but Amelie. They really shared some special times together. Some of the most erotic times Tim can ever remember. Tim thinks these may have some of the most erotic times he has ever had.

His feet are also quite glad to find a bathtub. They need it after this much time on their feet. Tim could have done much worse and decides to have another quick hit of pot. He feels very mellow. He decides he will try to get a head shrinking appointment in the morning.

After 20 minutes or so in the tub, Tim decides it’s a good time to take a nap, he tries not to think too much. He had one hell of a tough week. So far London has been good to him. He hopes this can continue in the morning.

Saturday, August 19, 2001, around 8:00 am
Imperial College London

Tim talks to the front desk. He asks if he can arrange a psychiatric appointment.

The person on the counter with a nametag that says Amanda, says, “Lets see sir, yes I could arrange one for 4:00 pm today, he had a cancellation, and the health service is a block over, let me draw you a map.”

Tim thinks Amanda is very cute, but just says, “Thank you very much. Is there a place for breakfast you could recommend?”

Amanda responds, “Sure sir, there is a cafeteria one block ahead, the prices are around 2-3 quid for breakfast and you get a discount by staying here.”

Tim also asks, “Is there a place I could send stuff home, I have accumlated too much stuff already and have a long journey ahead of me.”

Amanda, the 21 year old doe-eyed British girl with brown-green eyes responds, “There is a British Post 3 blocks ahead, and then one block to the right. Is there anything else, I can help you with anything at all.”

Tim thinks Amanda is flirting with him and quite likes the compliment, he decides he will calm things down for now. “No, I am fine for now,” he says, “Thank you for all your help, you have a just adorable smile too.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replies.

Tim then leaves and decides to get some breakfast.

The beer festival doesn’t start until 11 am and the first session ends at 3 pm, which should give him plenty of time to see the shrink.

After Tim leaves Amanda asks her associate Samantha about Timothy. “He seemed cute and very nice,” she thought, “I wonder why he needs to see a shrink.”

Samantha replies, “You don’t want to get involved with these Americans, traveling through Amanda, they will only be here a few days anyway, you are right though he was very cute. If we see him around again, maybe we can invite him for a drink at the pub.”

Amanda smiles and thinks, “Ok, I like that idea. I hope this Timothy Higgins feels better soon. I wonder what he is up to today.”

Breakfast, Imperial College Commons .. 08:30

Yesterday, was a tough night to sleep. As you can tell I have had a tough week so far. Last night around 2:00 am, I got up and was tempted to go run around London. Considering that Tim had just been kicked out of Oxford, he realized this was a bad idea. He also knew that today would be a great day to try out some new beers and meet some beer snobs. He thought this would be wonderfully grounding.

So was the breakfast. The British/Irish breakfast of fatty meats, potatoes, tea and toast, was just what Tim needed to wake up with. The fat felt good and Tim knew that he would be trying quite a bit of beer today. He hoped this wouldn’t be a problem with the shrink. It might be interesting to have a shrinking appointment a little plastered.

That was no matter though. He was going to the GBBF(Great British Beer Festival) and that was that.

In other tables, he saw a few tables of young Americans. He said hi to the leader, and asked what they were up to. He found out that at 2 pm tomorrow the choral group was going to perform at Westminster Abbey. He decided he should try to remember that on his schedule.

He also thought the girl at reception was quite cute, was he just being flirted with? Tim had always been very bad at judging women’s signals. He was starting to think while he was manic, that every girl wanted him. The truth was clearly somewhere in the middle. Maybe, he might stop over there later and find an excuse to say hi.

Tim grabbed a copy of the Sun, London Times, and The Independent and did too much newspaper reading for his own good. He had an hour and a half before the GBBF opened and wanted to take it easy.

He really liked his tea too, it was much, much better then the stuff he had back home.

9:15 am, walking around S. Kensington

Tim really liked the Sun, there was something quite lovely in opening the front cover of the newspaper and seeing tits. He wished America was more open.

Tim’s feet still hurt. He decided to go into a local discount store (similar to the American dollar store) and find himself some cheap flip-flops and slippers to wear when he was just hanging out in his dorm. He also wanted to get himself a chocolate.

He got himself a Bounty bar, and then pondered Britons obsession with chocolate. Although Americans quite liked chocolate, he didn’t remember seeing Hershey machines in the subway in New York, like you see Cadbury machines in London. He also quite liked that it was no big deal to drink in public, he didn’t understand why Americans were obsessed with prohibition.

By this time it is almost 9:30 … time to jump on the bus and get to GBBF … Its not far away at all.

The bus comes 5 minutes later, and then 10 minutes after that Timothy is at the GBBF. Considering this might be the 2nd most famous beer festival, after the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, Timothy is ecstatic to be here.

This is it, the campaign for Real Ales, Great British Beer Festival. Timothy pays the ten pound entrance fee, get his 10 drink tickets and his official GBBF glass. This makes him very happy, and he feels less naughty about it then the glass he stole with Jose in Geneva. What a cool souvenir.

The festival doesn’t open for 10 minutes, but Tim just talks with the beer geeks. He sees a neat couple behind him, and asks where there from.

“Australia,” the couple responds, “My name is Marcus, and my wife’s name is Trudi, we are spending a holiday in Europe and flying back to Perth tomorrow. We scheduled the GBBF to be on our last day in Europe. We have already visited Paris and Berlin this week. Its been a great ride.”

“Where did you enjoy seeing there? Did you guys visit some wineries or breweries on your trip so far,” Tim asked.

“Its funny you asked,” Marcus said, “We just spent some time in the Burgundy and Bordeaux regions, they were lovely and very nice. Of course, Australia makes some great reds too. How about yourself, having a good trip so far.”

Tim had to think for a second on this. He didn’t want to get into it too much, “Well I tried to some great wine in Geneva, and had some very nice beer in Oxford at the Young’s Pub, and other bars.”

“Did you go to that one that Inspector Morse visited,” Trudi asked.

“Yes, I did .. the had some lovely beers, including a (23,741) badger beer, which I found quite funny since I was born at Madison, Wisconsin the home of the Wisconsin Badgers. The outdoor patio there was lovely, and there was some quite fantastic beer. I am looking forward to trying a lot of beers today I have never had before. Any favorite brewers you want to try today?”

“Well there is of course Samuel Smith’s and Young’s and there are lots and lots of really great British brewers. There are going to be a lot of really interesting small-batch producers today. And most of it will be hand-pumped, why don’t we stay in touch throughout the day and compare beers,” Marcus said.

“I will do that … and I see there are more tickets available for one quid each, or 6 for five quid,” Timothy remarked, “Cheers.”

With that the door opened, and Timothy entered an exposition center practically filled with beer. This made Tim feel very nice, he felt bad that he couldn’t show some more of the Oxonians what was here, he was sure guys like Amelie, and John, and Matt, a democrat from Tennessee who Tim quite liked.

Tim loved this place, so many choices so few tickets. He saw a brewery he had never tried before out of York, England, Tim’s Special Brews included a porter, an ESB(Extra Special Bitter- a very popular beer in Britain, and IPA (India Pale Ale- a very hoppy brew). He decided he would try the porter, it was lovely, rich, thick, black and full of flavor. Tim felt a little naughty about drinking at 10 am, but it was very nice. The brewer also offered a small taste of IPA, which was lovely, hoppy and quite rich. Tim thanked the gentleman and kept going. He gave the Porter a 90 and the IPA a 92, on the Wine Specatator/Cigar Afficiando scale, 90-95 being excellent, 95-100 superb, 85-89 very good, 80-85 good, 76-80 above average, 70-75 average, 65-69 fair, 61-65 not good, under 60 horrible…. He didn’t think there would be too much under the 80 range today… for Tim a bud might be a 72, a coors a 76, a Guinness a 92, 95 in Britain, he hoped to find some beers he would be happy to get in the 94+ range, such beers were rare and wonderful.

He then saw the Monty Python brewery in Cambridge, evidently Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam had decided to open a brewpub/brewery in Cambridge, and they had quite imaginative labels and pictures. The Nasty Rabbit ale, Tim tried was very rich and quite outstandingly tasty, it was rich, had some chocolate flavor, hoppy and quite unique, Tim was very happy with this one and gave it a 96. Wow, was that a good beer. He hoped it might be available in the US. But, he then saw there was only 5,000 cases produced worldwide. MMM, yummy …

It was so nice to see the Waterville festival hall filled with brewers both macro, like Guinness, Youngs and Sam Smith’s and very, very small. Brewers with less then 1,000 cases that decided to bring some small kegs for judging.

Tim felt very happy here and was as happy as he had been in over a week. It was authentic happiness too, not just the joy of mania. He thanked the brewer, Thomas Smith, saying, “This is absolutely wonderful, do you have anything else I can try.”

Mr. Smith said, “Sure we have a little bit of the Bring Out Your Dead Ale, its very strong almost 8% alcohol in content, its nearly a Barleywine. We at Monty Python Brews really like a good strong beer.”

Tim always liked a good barleywine and strong brew, he had a taste and said, “This is absolutely fantastic, mmm, one of the best brews I may have ever had, thank you so much, I will give this a 98, this might be one of the best beers I have ever had. I wish I was a judge here, I would give this a gold medal for sure.”

Smith said, “Thank you, very, very much. We try, try out St. Andrews brewery, those Scotsman make very, very good strong brews. I appreciate your comment so much though. Have a great day today, sir.”

Tim said, “Thanks so much, that was really great.”

Tim ran into Trudi wandering around, “You have to try Python Brewing, their Bring Out Your Dead Ale is one of the best beers I have ever had. How is your luck going?”

“Its going great Timothy, try out King Arthur Breweries from Glastonbury, really yummy yummy stuff.”

“Thanks Trudi, will do.”

The music then started up, it was nice folk-rock and quite a bit of fun. He was tempted to find a comely lass to dance with. What a great day he was having, he felt wonderfully grounded.

He then asked Marcus if it was OK if he danced with Trudi. As most Aussies would, they said sure. He then danced with Trudi, and had some fun. There was no romantic entanglements, just joy in playing with the music. Trudi said thank you, stepped out and decided to dance with her husband, Marcus.

Then a very tall, leggy Scottish girl named Matilda, decided to step in. Tim was quite taken with this red haired beauty, and she seemed to taking a liking to Tim. She didn’t even ask Tim if she wanted to dance, just danced with him.

Her name was Matilda Fitzgeald, and she spoke huskily, “I saw you dancing and thought you might like a partner, I like tall men and see you have some good choice in beers. Are you with anyone today?”

Timothy replied with a smile, “I am alone, just wanted to try some good beers, I couldn’t believe my luck in being in London, the same weekend as the GBBF, what brings you here?”

Matilda looked at Tim askew and said, “the beer silly. What do you think? I do respect a man who can dance though, especially tall, goofy Americans.”

“How did you know I was goofy,” Tim laughed, “Have you had a lot of the beers here before?”
Matilda said, “Sure, but you look more interesting to me then most of the beers, here.”

Tim couldn’t believe his luck. Maybe he was more appealing to women. Tim didn’t think himself, so handsome that he would be picked up by such a radiantly beautiful Scotchwoman. He had some very attractive women in college, but his Frat brothers helped him out there. What a great day he was having, the horrors of Oxford already seemed a long way from here.

Tim then responded, “You look a lot more interesting then beer too, lets dance, have some beer and have some fun.”

“Sounds like a date,” Matilda sighed.

Tim felt daring and gave Matilda a peck on the cheek. She responded with a full-blown kiss. He couldn’t believe his luck. It was quite a kiss too, and knocked Tim back a bit.

“So, Matilda, aren’t you the aggressive one, quite a kisser too.”

“Timothy, you will find I am aggressive and quite good at lots of things. Do you want to do something after this?”

“Mathilda, for now lets hang out, and we can meet for dinner after if you would like. I am staying in South Kensington at Imperial College and could meet you near there, I have an appointment at 4:00 but could meet you somewhere at 6:00 or 7:00 or so.”

Mathilda, quite frankly wanted to get into this Yankee’s pants, he respected his discretion though. Most men would have just followed her bidding after a kiss like that, Mathilda knew she had power over men and liked to wield it. She was hoping she might find a nice fling today, and found a very attractive 27 year old American, he was even in good shape and 6’4”. Considering she was 5’11” herself, a tall man was quite nice to find, she could also feel when she danced closed to him, that he likely had a very nice penis. She was quite curious to test this out in reality.

Mathilda responded, “I know a very nice resteraunt about a block away from Harrods that is quite close to Imperial College. Its called Southwicks, and has lovely seafood. And Don’t worry, I will cover the bill. Now lets get some great British beer.”

Mathilda felt Timothy’s rump. He wasn’t used to having women this aggressive. It was clear Mathilda could have had most any man here, at least the straight, single ones, and felt quite nice to be with her. “Ok, Southwicks, at 6:30 then.” He then kissed Mathilda back and gave her a neck massage.

“Most Americans are not as smart as you, young Timothy, they would follow me around and I would get bored with them soon. You seem quite worldly for a Yank.”

Tim then felt her ass, and it was round and quite nice. She had curves, and Tim liked them. She wore a lovely blouse and quite a nice knee length skirt. She also had a gorgeous Onyx necklace that slipped into her quite ample cleavage. This one was a stunner, lets try to keep your head, Tim.

Mathilda just giggled, and held Tim close, Tim mentioned the Monty Python ale, and shared some of the Bring Out Your Dead ale with Mathilda. She also quite liked it, gave him a nice hug, and then kissed him again…. What a day and it wasn’t even noon, yet.

Tim knew though he had to keep his head, he really did need to see the shrink today. He needed to get meds, although the alcohol might not merge with them well, he also needed not to get overexcited and find his way back into the abyss.


Let me know what you think!!

edmund davis

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

21,000 words + but getting harder

I have gone past 21,000 words now .. probably around 21,600 by the official Nano meter ...

The writing is getting harder now ... Yet I still keep hitting my quota.

Tried to get some more hours at Filene's today, but they were mostly filled.

I am very tired, and wished I subbed today.

I need to get into the traveling adventures too, where I decide not to go back to NYC and NJ and eventually California but into the new adventures of Europe.

Monday, November 07, 2005

So far 17,000 words

I hit 17,200 words on the book yesterday... That means I am a third the way to my goal!!

So far its been an interesting trip.

I hope it continues that way.

edmund davis-quinn
author of
No Filter: A Travelogue of Madness

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

First Day

I did over 4,000 words on Day 1!!!

I was freaking out the night before about getting started but I thought I did pretty well.

I would have liked to have subbed today but got a lot done.

Here is an excerpt:



No Filter:
A Travelogue of Madness

A Novel by Edmund Charles Davis-Quinn
Written for National Novel Writing Month
November 2005
Introduction

This novel is based partially on my life and partially is pure conjecture. It is set mainly in the very odd time of July/August 2001-October 2001. I was taking a class at Oxford from my business school leaving Claremont and New York in Mid July and planning to return to New York from Rome on October 5th.

This was the “grand tour” of Europe I had planned to do for quite some time. I was 27 just finishing my last MBA class and looking for one big trip before the world of responsibility, apartments, girlfriends and living life.

This month in Oxford shook me and I ended up going home in late August, 2001. I have often regretted this decision. My wanderlust is still there, as I think it will always be.

In September, I flew back to Claremont, to crash at the house I shared, before I left the lease in July. My first images of September 11th came at about 9:00 AM PST on a small black and white TV. Growing up in Montgomery Township, NJ about 45 miles away from the World Trade Center, I could see the World Trade Center on a clear day on the top of Sourland Mountain Rd. Although I did not see the planes crash live into the Twin Towers, I was struck by how surreal the moment was. Especially on the black and white TV it did not seem real. There have been so many disaster movies like Armageddon, Deep Impact or Independence Day, when landmarks had been blown up by forces of nature or aliens. It wasn’t until I went to a prayer service at Claremont Theological Seminary, across Foothill Blvd from where I lived that things started to become more real. Then I went to the student lounge at the seminary and saw the image in colour. After my weird month, at Oxford the whole experience threw me even more.

I dedicate this novel to the memories of those lost in a few minutes in 9-11, and all of those wounded by the event, whether they knew someone or just saw the images on TV. You cannot have a war on terror; any more you can have a war on poverty, drugs, or too much television. Let’s help people heal from such events, help those impoverished, help those hurt by the scourge of drugs, and hurt by terrorism and fear.

So let it be.

Word Count = 429
(might want to add more to this section)


Chapter the First
Imperial College, London, Saturday, August 11, 3:00 pm

How did I get here? What am I going to do now? I had these months all planned out; I would spend a month at the Oxford class at St. Thomas College with my colleagues at the Friedman School of Business in Janeville, California as well as the students from Thomas Paine University in Alexandria, Virginia. After the class ended, I was going to take a flight out to Edinburgh, Scotland in a week on the 26th on EasyJet and enjoy the Fringe Festival. Of course, I didn’t have reservations there but so it goes.

Instead though, a week before the final class in my coursework, I was told it was time to leave and sent out to Imperial College. Although, the location couldn’t be more central, near the Royal Albert Hall and just south of Hyde Park, in my current state I just couldn’t deal with it.

In a normal state, I would have taken the bus to London on Wednesday with my classmates, which I almost did, and gone to the London lectures that were part of the class. Instead after feeling hurt and lost from Tuesday’s misadventures in Birmingham, I couldn’t deal with the group when they left for London.

I regretted the move, and said I would take my own bus and catch-up. Instead I strangely threw away of pair of beat up shoes and walked around Oxford shoeless. Although, the walk was lovely, it was the walk of a little boy lost. I knew I was not feeling myself, I knew I made some bad choices, but I had no filter to block my thoughts, nor a filter to take the nasty thoughts and actions of others.

We need this filter to get through the oddities of this bizarre life we lead. This morning, I talked to the head of the Thomas Paine part of the Oxford class, Dietrich Huxtable and he manipulated me to leave. Instead of taking me to the headshrinking I so needed at this point, he told me to pack up in a few minutes and leave. This may have been the hardest and meanest thing ever done to me and I am still not recovered 4 years later.
Hi, my name is Timothy Thomas Higgins, and I am 27 year old near MBA, from the Princeton, NJ area who is currently houseless.

This seemed like a wise decision a month and a half ago when I left Janeville in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California, “the land of trees and Ph.Ds,” to embark on this 3-month adventure. I had always dreamed of going to Europe ever since I was a High School student. As a junior in High School at John Quincy Adams High School in Adamsburg, New Jersey I had been scheduled to be in an exchange program in Hattesburg, but my exchange partner cancelled at the last minute. I now have the plans to go explore Europe with a month and a half of time on my own.

Then why am I not excited. All I feel is dread, confusion, loss and pain. I just spent more money on Oxford crap and such then I have had any right too. This is the worst buying spell since that beanie baby insanity at the end of my studies at Rutgers. Why is it that I have such a hard time finishing with school??

I don’t think I am ready to leave the womb of graduate school. But here I am adrift in London without my independent study paper and the students I had liked and hated at my Oxford class many students but I had gotten to know them. I thought the powerpoints about the business we visited would be deathly dull, but they would have been interesting. Whoever though PowerPoints were a great way to give a presentation, deserves a good kick in the arse. If anything is more boring then looking at someone’s notecards on a computer screen I don’t know it.

Ok so I am here, I am in London. For most Americans, having sometime to wander around London would seem ideal. Catch a show in the West End, See Big Ben, Go to a bunch of museums; buy overpriced suits in Saville Row ….

I have always had a weird relationship with this city though. I first visited it in mid-January, 1998 after an enchanting week and a half in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. I had fun, got to see the sights, but after the excitement of Russia, London seemed like NY but with the prices in pounds, not dollars and the people less friendly … I have a theory that the farther you get from London the nicer people get in the UK. Even more specifically, Zone One-London on the tube, otherwise known as the international tourist zone.

November 1, 2005 -- 10:13 pm EST

The problem with writing a neo-memoir is there is both you and a fictional you. I might butt in at some points and say hi. This was a weird place for me … As they say in the song .. Should I stay or should I go…. At this point in our adventures, Mr. Higgins didn’t know which way he was going. He was just booted from Oxford just about finished with his MBA. He was told he would get a B in the class, which pissed him off because he had done A work, before the Birmingham incident (which we will get into later), he had written what he thought were some of the best writings of his life.

At this point, part of him wants to go back to Oxford and figure out what next, part wants to get some medications (he had taken bipolar medications, and anti-psychotics in the past), and part just wants to keep running. And there is part that is just devastated and needs to cry, which has already happened today.

There is also the question of this European adventure, does Mr. Higgins want to roll with the mania and travel around Europe and see what misadventures he wants to get into? Does he want to go back home to relative safety in Adamsburg? Does he want to go back to Claremont and do even more graduate school, and accumulate more debt??

Why do I ask so many questions?

The narrator of this story, which I guess is me, (this whole thing is a bit-meta) … Just saw another remembrance of the past while cleaning his messy room, full of half-read newspapers and magazines, that he can’t quite bear to throw away. A opened pack of Boots Lights Cigarettes from Mexico, picked up on a class at the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Tec de Monterrey) while he took a class in November, 2000 (5 years ago)… Your trusty narrator just had a smoke of 5 year old cigarette and it agreed with him well …. And it is much easier to justify smoking at $8 a carton then $60 now in Maine.

So I will now I have Mr. Higgins in a completely different part of the story.

Lets say for background, November 2000 in Monterrey, Mexico

November 14, 2000, Tec de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico

This campus really impresses me. They manage to send their business knowledge throughout Mexico, Central America and South America in distance-learning… and ITESM (the b-school of Tec de Monterrey) is the most wired campus I have ever seen (including Harvard, Princeton, MIT, etc.).. There are laptops everywhere and docking stations even in the benches….

The Montana Mountains are pretty, the businesses doing well…. Mr. Higgins wonders whether he should get a 1-year degree here… He would have to improve his Spanish but it would give him an international dimension he does not have… Tom also thinks that the Friedman school should set up a joint major with Tec ….

He wonders about the Oxford program he decided not to take this last summer and decides he will definitely pursue it next year. It will be expensive, but will get him to Europe and travel and all of that. And if he graduates at the end of the summer, he can get full financial aid on that semester … Although, he will be missing Strategy by the great Mr. Singh, who the students like so much they are telecommunicating with his class at Tec ….

If this weekend in Mexico is so great and so much fun, how great will Oxford be with all of its history, and the chance to “network” (man I hate that word) with all of the Wharton School types….
And so now readers if you aren’t lost enough lets go back to the future-past to Mr. Higgins’ arrival in fair London….