first day - mission complete!

So everything ended up going quite well today. i got a wake up call at around 9, got up and started getting myself into work mode, and then lydia came to my apartment complete with briefcase and 'briefing' material. She said 'Blake you look like you know what you're doing, so i'll get straight to the point. Head over to the cafe marked on your map, and meet up with Yoko. She'll give you a backpack which you will then take over to your first contact, Mr B. Tell him Lydia sent you and everything should go perfectly. Are we good?'

We were good.

Yoko was so beautiful it was stupid. She had shoulder length black hair and she wore cool sunglasses and a cool dress and she had this 'i don't care about you in the slightest' attitude that had her looking not unlike an action movie star. I bet if gangsters busted in while she was giving me my backpack she would have just killed them all in a ruthlessly efficient fashion without losing her sunglasses or looking even remotely bothered by it.

At least that's the way she struck me anyway. I would like to see her again some time.

Mr B invited me in for coffee and when i sat down he said 'is it a bomb?' and i said 'don't think so' and he waited for me to take a sip of coffee and then said 'it's poisoned. I have an antidote. Is it a bomb?' and i said 'don't think so,' and he offered me a biscuit and when i ate it he said 'two different poisons now course through your body. I have the antidote. Is it a bomb?' and i said 'i really don't think so' and he said 'damn. You're good. Alright so there's no poison, you win. you win, mystery man...'

Then we talked about the music we had been listening to and the television we had been watching.

Lydia said that my first day had gone really well, and the work should just keep flowing on at this rate. She said that although it is all delivery work, sometimes the way deliveries are done will be very different so i should stay alert and ready at all times. She also said sometimes i will be called upon to work evenings, but usually i will get good notice before that happens.

Ah, after such a successful first day it is all one can do to put their feet up and have a beer and listen to some music. It doesn't look as though i have any work tomorrow so i think i will hit the gym and then check the message board in the lobby.

Blake out.

captured - bic runga

Today i visited Lydia and she said 'Blake i have a job i think you would be very well suited to,' and i said 'that sounds great,' and she said 'we can pay for your accomodation so if you like i'll show you to your apartment, you can get settled in, and then we'll get you started tomorrow morning,' and i said 'that sounds great too!'

The apartment i have been moved into is so awesome it is kind of silly. There is a flat screen television and comfortable couches and a king size bed and it is fully air-conditioned and it has a stereo system and oh boy i am just going to enjoy hanging here for a while i think. Also there is a gym near the top floor that is free for residents, which is fantastic, because i may be getting fat (I'm not sure yet). Apparently other delivery people live in the apartment complex and there is a messageboard down in the lobby so maybe i will visit it later on and try to find out who is who and what is what.

I went for a walk today and picked up a thickshake even though it was raining so i walked around town with an umbrella and a thickshake and i had a real good time scoping out the world around my new home. A nice cafe, a little bookstore, a shopping centre nearby too. It looks as though everything i may need is right where i may need it, which i suppose is nothing but a good thing.

I think tomorrow should be fun. I mean, i've had delivery experience in the recent past, so i can't imagine this being too different, and even if the work is kind of hard, i'm more than willing to do it all just for this swell new apartment i get to live in!

After dinner i looked out the window and i had this strange feeling like i had forgotten something, and then i felt like something had gone terribly wrong, but i couldn't work what it was or what had happened. The feeling is still kind of there, in the back of my mind.

Maybe i am just a bit nervous about starting work tomorrow.

Blake out.

late night sleep tight!

Sorry for the super late super quick post but i just arrived at the new city, and i only just got into my motel room for the evening a few mintues ago.

If i'm not mistaken, it's the same place Lydia told me i should contact her, so maybe tomorrow i will!

Still no sign of Turbo or Tony, but i'm sure they'll turn up at some point...

I can barely keep my eyes open. Wow, i had no idea i was so tired!

Blake out.

back on the road, but all alone this time

I had a wander through the forest the waitress told me about but i couldn't find anything at all. There were no car tire trails or anything that seemed to indicate that anyone had ever been there in the recent past. It was a little disheartening, to be sure, because i really don't know how they could have disappeared like that.

So now i am back on the road heading where i was heading when they were following me and hoping that this time i am following them. It shouldn't take me too long to get to a new town because they are all pretty close together but it will still take a good days worth of driving i think, because i spent most of today wandering through the forest, which was quite pretty to walk through.

It is funny because it almost feels like i have been abandoned and even though i know i haven't it brought back to mind memories of childhood like the time my friends and i played hide and seek and one of my friends said 'blake hide in this closet' and i said 'ok' but then they locked it on me and i heard one of them say 'now you have to kiss sarah or we won't let you out!' and i said 'but i don't want to kiss sarah' and then another one of them said 'but we haven't put sarah in there with him yet,' and the first one said 'Shit! i guess we better go find her then,' so they all ran off and left me in the closet for a while and so because of that i am not afraid of the dark because i got so accustomed to it.

It is interesting the things that can happen to you in life.

Chin up, Blake! Onwards and upwards!

Blake out.

off once again in search of something new... kind of

So yesterday JJ and i gave Joanne her guitar and she seemed really happy with it. She said that she was actually packing her bags and going travelling too, but that she would be going the opposite way to me ('for kicks, mainly,' she said). I told her that seemed like a grand idea but JJ made sure she took some mace spray along with her, just in case.

Tony and i left in the early afternoon of today. John gave me his daughter's contact details and said that i should look her up should i ever be in her neck of the woods, but then after a moment of thought stressed i should only look (no touching), that we should never neck, and that should i consider wood in any way he would teach me a neat trick with a rake.

I said if he was worried i didn't have to take her contact details at all but John just laughed a very hearty laugh and then looked at me and pointed and said 'Seriously Blake. Seriously.'

So Tony followed behind me while we drove and Turbo was there with him because Tony said he wanted someone to talk to and i figured that would be fine because Turbo is a good listener. Anyway, at some point or another I seem to have lost Tony so i stopped into this truckstop diner and i've been waiting in the hopes that they do the same.

A truck driver came up and spoke to me and he said 'Blake,' and i said 'how do you know my name?' and he said 'i haven't slept in i don't know how long and everytime it happens i see things and i have to tell people about them before i fall asleep because goddamned if they don't feel like important things to say at the time and they also keep me awake for just that bit longer and if i succumb to sleep now i may as well be sleeping with the fishes because that shipment, well, it ain't going to drive itself though i have heard if you train them up and give them certain drugs they are technically capable, but not necessarily trustworthy. You won't see your friend Tony in a while so avoid the suspicious Blake' and i said 'um... what?' but then he shouted 'JACK BURTON! LIGHTS OUT!' and then he fell asleep in front of me.

The waitress said just to leave him because he does that sometimes, so he is still sitting in front of me, sleeping kind of peacefully.

I wonder how he knew my name and Tony's?

Anyway, according to the waitress there is a small forest near here that i think maybe Tony could have gotten lost at so i guess i should check it out and see if i can pick up any clues like a detective might. There was a time when i wanted to be a detective, but then at some point it just vanished, that dream. I guess i just wasn't suited to the job like i might have hoped. Oh well, maybe in the next life.

Blake out.

A dream about a girl with black hair and red eyes

So i had a strange dream last night, in which i was at a movie premiere but i was not one of the special guests so i had to wait outside with all these other people and all the big stars came to the cinema (a really old looking kind of place that seemed very royal) in various different batmobiles from the television show and the movies. I went and talked to a man working at a small popcorn stand which was empty and he said something to me about what was going on but i wasn't really to sure what he said because i looked out the window and the sky turned from being a kind of dark blue into a purple.

So then i woke up and went and got myself a glass of water and wondered why all the guests in the batmobiles wore big pimp hats and nerdy looking glasses.

But when i went back to bed i had another dream but this one felt very different to the movie one and it made me quite scared and uncomfortable and i woke up in a cold sweat thinking 'Blake! What just happened!?'

In my second dream i was in a barn that was in the center of a forest somewhere i hadn't been and it was night and outside the wind was blowing and all you could see were trees as far as you looked. Then when i went to the lounge room area i suddenly could not move and it got really cold suddenly and out of nowhere there was this girl standing in front of me with skin that was as white as i had ever seen and long black hair and red eyes and she looked at me very sadly and it was like she wanted to say something but couldn't talk, and i still couldn't move and she came up and touched my face and i felt ice run through my face and somewhere i am sure i heard someone say 'help me...' but i was so frozen all i could ask was 'how?' but then everything went blank and i woke up.

Strange, huh?

Anyway, today i saw Mr Biggs and he had an eye patch and looked a bit injured and i asked him what had happened but he was quite busy and mumbled something about 'getting out of town before losing the other one' while pushing his two girlfriends into a taxi and squeezing in with them and taking off on holiday or business or something of some kind.

JJ is fixing up that old guitar and he said 'Blake i don't know how you did it but i think you made this place a much better little old town to live in. Hell, maybe i can start having bands in again,' but i wasn't too sure what he meant because i hadn't really done anything you know? But i told him about the crazy jazz trio i saw and he said he would love to hear them but unfortunately i don't even know what they called themselves, or where they went. I just have this feeling we'll meet again somewhere.

Ah, today was quite a nice day, even if it was a bit cold. I had this strange thought that maybe if i was sick and had been for a few days that i would not be as happy a person as i am now and would actually be quite miserable and maybe not much fun to be around.

So i guess i should thank my lucky stars that i am still in perfect health!

Blake out.

i found another guitar!!!

Actually, i found it yesterday afternoon, but it is still big news! I was searching down in the basement area and it called out to me with a voice that spoke on maybe another wave length to what i am used to. I dug around and through piles and piles of junk and there it was, the acoustic guitar, just sitting against a wall a little broken and having gone so long unloved and untouched. Well, i couldn't just leave it there could i? For some reason it looks to me like something Relm would enjoy playing, or might have even played, but that doesn't really make sense because this guitar looks so old, you know?

Anyway, it is in dire need of repair but JJ said he could do that and then we can give it to Joanne before i head off, which will be pretty soon actually.

Oh, that's right! I should update you guys on the weekend's events!

So on Saturday i went to visit Mr Rickson with his present and he looked heaps happy and healthy from having been on holiday to wherever it was he went, and i said 'Hey Mr Rickson!' and he said 'Ho! My friend Blake! Let us party down like party animals!' and i said 'I have a gift for you from Mr Biggs!' and i was about to pass it over to him when i got pushed over and the package got taken away and i heard a voice saying 'I will take this like you took my letterbox!!! You fool Blake!!! YOU FOOL!!! YOU F-whoop.' and then i heard the person trip over.

And there was this almighty explosion, the likes of which i have never heard.

We all ran up to the guy who had taken the package and he was all freaked out because all of Mr Rickson's suited guys were around him talking into their head mike/phone things and it turned out he had thrown the package when he tripped over and the explosion had only taken his eyebrows and some of the top of his hair. I guess Mr Biggs fireworks box present needed to be handled a little more carefully. But i was so surprised to see who it was staring back at us looking kind of surprised because he had no eyebrows.

I said 'WOW! Tony! What are you doing here?' and he said 'you bastard Blake... you will get yours yet...' and Mr Rickson said 'this man is a friend of yours Blake?' and i said 'well... kind of, i think,' and Mr Rickson said 'because he has saved my life....'

We made sure Tony was alright (You guys remember Tony, right?), and we even took him out drinking with us, which gave us a chance to clear up everything. As it turns out, ever since i accidentally ran over his letterbox, Tony has been hell bent on revenge for all the wrong doings ever caused him by the person who looks just like me but is actually not me, which he didn't know.

I told him i would buy him another letterbox, and that made him a bit happier. He looked very surprised, but that was how he looked all night, with his burnt face and crazy singed hair.

I told Tony that we could move on to the next town together if he wanted and Tony said i was much too nice a person but that he would accept my offer as he has gone a very long time without company and felt he was going more than a little crazy.

Mr Rickson told me he had some 'business' to attend to and so he had to leave early and Tony said he wanted to eat a whole bunch of painkillers and sleep for a week so i was left alone at quite early a time in the evening but i stuck around for a little while and talked to a woman who said she was in the business of deliveries and that i should look her up if i ever passed by her way because she could give me a job and i was like 'oh that's awesome!' and she said that with my attitude i could well be perfect for the job.

Her name was Lydia, and i have her business card now, which is all sorts of stylish.

Well, i best get some reading and sleeping done, because i have to get up early to get this guitar all fixed up and ready.

Blake out.

Satruday night party night!!!

Man tonight is going to be fun! I picked up Mr Rickson's present just a little while ago (Kind of heavy, and a bit cold, maybe made of metal, but probably filled with fun!), and i put on one of my good shirts and got all spruced up because it's just one of those nights i think. Parties, drinks, laughs, and all the rest of that stuff will occur and reoccur until the morning and maybe even longer too!

Oops.

I might be late if i don't hurry.

Party on Blake!!!

Blake out.

one more job and blake is a free man!

So i took the envelope to Mr Biggs today and he was quite happy. He was feeding his fish and there were some pretty girls in short skirts sitting on a big couch in the corner listening to music and kind of looking at the ceiling but not really because maybe they weren't looking at anything at all. The blinds were pulled shut and a few lamps were on which gave the place a bit of a mysterious look because of the cigar smoke that floated up near the ceiling.

Mr Biggs checked the contents of the envelope and said 'it is good Mr Samuels, that your eyes and legs and feet are unharmed and will hopefully remain that way' and i said 'yeah! It is pretty cool isn't it?' and he said, 'but it took a while, my young friend, and because my associate will get this late, i'm going to need you to do one more favour for me before i can fully forgive you of this terrible but obviously accidental mistake,' and i said 'well i guess that sounds ok mr biggs but didn't you say i had until the end of the week? Because i thought i got it in early,' and mr biggs said 'we live in a world that is forever changing and sometimes the changes work against you.'

So now i have to deliver a parcel to Mr Rickson for Mr Biggs because Mr Biggs will be very busy and only i will be able to do this job properly. He said that on Saturday i can pick up the parcel from one of his men, and then i can take it to Mr Rickson and give it to him as a present because he will be coming back from some big meeting on that day.

It sounds ok to me. I was thinking even that i might get Mr Rickson something myself because he has been really nice to me.

JJ is still trying to teach me some self defense but he is always saying 'Blake you are a cool cat but you lack the fighting spirit man! Sometimes you gots to defend yourself or face the consequences, you dig?'

And i do dig, really, but i am just not very good at that kind of stuff.

I heard Joanne singing again when i got home and it is really nice because it reminds me of Relm but that made me a little bit sad because i really have no idea where she might be or what she might be doing. In any case, it is great to hear her doing so much in such a short time so because i have a day free tomorrow i might head down to the basement and try and find an old guitar and then maybe see if JJ can string it up for me and then i will give it to Joanne for being a really cool person and showing me that great ice cream shop!

Anyway, i better get some sleep!

Blake out.

clues and clues but no mystery man

So i found a car today while i was wandering around town today, and it was a bit of a mess. There was a smell like old clothes coming from it and whoever owned it had left the front passenger window down. There was static coming from the radio, and a sleeping bag laid across the back seat and the foot end of it there was a letter box which looked as though it had been ripped from the ground and was not in good condition.

It was a bit weird because taped to the front of the steering wheel was a message that read:

He took your money.
He crashed your car.
He took your wife and daughter.
He took your letterbox.
Punish him.
Punish Blake.
Beat him to death with the letterbox.

I found an envelope on the seat and it was my envelope! The one that i had lost when i got beaten up. I looked around and then took the envelope and then ran to JJ's because i did not want to meet the owner of the car by myself because i did not particularly feel like getting punished.

Even though JJ taught me some stuff i am still probably a bit useless with my fists.

JJ closed up store and we both went down to the car but it was gone and all that was left was burn out marks on the road and JJ shook his head and said 'dammit man i was going to pummel that guy so good and proper for busting your face, Blake. I was going to make sure that he never did anything like that again because damned if you deserve that kind of treatment!' but i said it was ok because at least i could return the envelope to Mr Biggs, right?

JJ said he hoped so, but he seemed a bit concerned anyway. Joanne said that she heard her father talking to Mr Biggs about how useful i could be to them and that maybe i should get out of town in the near near future because otherwise i will be stuck in their pocket and before i know it i'll be a hitman for them killing innocent people who got out on the wrong side of their car and all sorts of nasty work.

I told Joanne not to worry because Mr Biggs is concerned for my health and that as long as i got the envelope to him everything would be dandy.

Joanne seems worried too.

Now i am a little worried, but i don't even know why.

Blake out.

searching for the invisible man

I am taking a short lunch break at the moment. I have spent yesterday and today asking and asking and asking people but nobody seems to have seen the person that beat me up. It is very difficult as well because i don't even know what he looks like or what he does or anything about him so essentially i am asking if people have seen a stranger in town and most of them say 'you are a stranger, aren't you?'

Which is true, but i didn't beat myself up, you know?

Joanne says she will talk to her dad and try to get him to talk to mr Biggs to buy me some time but i told her not to worry because i think eventually i will be fine anyway. JJ also told me that he wants to teach me some self defense techniques in case anything should happen again and i said ok even though at heart i am a non violent person. JJ used to study different martial arts in all different sorts of places and he is quite strong.

John said that i didn't need to paint anymore, and that i should put all my energies into recovering that lost envelope, which was nice of him, but i kind of miss painting those rooms. I think maybe if i ever own my own house i will build it from scratch, and paint it and do all the garden stuff as well.

I was wondering today about Trevor and Celes because it really has been a long time since i last saw them and i hope they are doing well. It is funny how one minute you are around people and then all of a sudden you are somewhere new and they are not around anymore. It is a strange feeling a bit like losing something you didn't even realise you had.

hahahaha.

I am talking a bit of gibberish today, aren't i?

Maybe i should go see if the ice cream place has seen my mystery attacker. Surely even bad people need ice cream occasionally, and maybe they even need it more than regular people.

I will probably get some ice cream while i am there too.

That will be awesome.

Blake out.

mr biggs' big office

Last night i met a man name Mr Biggs, and we had a bit of a talk. Mr Biggs, it would seem, is Mr Rickson's 'right hand of justice, and left hand of business smarts' and has brought this town into a new age of prosperity in the few short years since he started. Mr Biggs is a big man with a gold tooth and he talks like he has known you for a long time even if you just met him.

I was summoned to his office which is really massive and it even has a pool table and a really big television and a massive aquarium filled with all sorts of really cool fish. His desk is so huge i think it might fold out into some sort of makeshift bed should Mr Biggs ever stay too late at work. The whole back wall behind his office is a big window that looks down over most of the town.

I was sat down in a comfortable chair and i looked at the back of Mr Biggs chair as he looked out over the city. 'Blake,' he said to me, 'it has come to my attention that you have been in an accident of sorts,' and then he spun around to look at me.

'Yes sir,' i said, 'it would seem i have angered someone and now am receiving overdue punishments.'

'Ah, i see,' Mr Biggs said, pressing his fingers together and then bringing them to his lips, 'but it has also come to my attention that you had an envelope you were supposed to give to a certain Mr JJ, and that this envelope has "mysteriously" vanished on the very same night that you were receiving said "overdue punishments". Would this be an accurate statement, Mr Samuels?'

'Yes sir, i said, 'it would seem it was taken from me or possibly lost whilst i was lacking in consciousness.'

Mr Biggs squinted his eyes and then sighed and then said 'Blake i would like to be blunt with you: Do you like to walk?' and i said 'yes sir,' and he said 'do you like to watch movies?' and i said
'yes sir' and he said 'do you like that you can eat ice cream by yourself?' and i said 'yes sir' and he said 'because i need that envelope back Blake, and i think you might be the only person to get it for me. I need this envelope by next week because it has to be delivered to a friend of mine in the case that JJ refused us.'

'ok mr Biggs' i said, and he said 'and i would hate to see you Blake, happy as you are in this world, suddenly unable to walk, see, and use your arms the way you normally do because they were so terribly injured that they became useless.'

I told Mr Biggs i would hate that too because i like being able to walk down the street and look at my own ice cream that i am eating with my own hands and Mr Biggs said 'of course you do Blake, and i'm glad we could come to this understanding. I hope to see you soon, and please be careful Blake.'

Mr Biggs is a very busy man, so i could not really talk to him after that conversation we had, and i am also unsure what to think of him at this point because he got straight down to business but it is nice to know he is concerned for my safety.

I spent today reading and watching the rain because i still feel a little bit sore. Maybe tomorrow after i finish painting i will ask around about the envelope.

Blake out.

i am not in very good health today

So yesterday John wanted me to deliver some stuff to JJ for him and so i did and JJ took one look in the envelope and said 'you take this back to John and you tell him it doesn't work like that' and i didn't feel like i had any other choice so i said 'ok JJ, but can you show me some guitar before i go?'

That seemed to cheer him up a bit and so he showed me some jazz stuff but no way am i good enough to play like that yet. It was really cool because he gave me this book to look at and it has jazz chords in it and JJ says that they are good for practise because they make your fingers strong and flexible.

Anyway, i was leaving JJ's, and it was getting kind of dark, so i tried to take some shortcuts Joanne had taken me through but soon i got lost, and was just wandering down alleyways looking for something i recognised and then all of a sudden the back of my head really hurt and i was really dizzy and i was lying down and someone was kneeling on my back.

The man who was sitting on my back grabbed me by the hair and hit my head into the ground and said 'Hoo boy it took some time but i found you didn't i?! Didn't i Blake!? I found you good and now you can finally pay for all the pain you put me through not so long ago!!! Do you remember Blake? Do you?!' but i couldn't answer because i was in lots of pain and also bleeding from the mouth and nose and when i tried to say something he hit my head into the ground again and shouted 'YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH STUFF LIKE THAT BLAKE! NOT IN MY TOWN AND NOT IN THE NEXT!' and then he hit me again and got close to my ear and said, 'you break a man's letterbox and you got judgement coming boy...'

After that i blacked out and when i came to it was raining and it was today and my face hurt a lot and JJ was standing over me and he said 'goddammit Blake what the hell happened!? Come on let's get you fixed up and looked at.'

JJ said i am not a pretty looking man anymore but now i have a rugged kind of battle scarred look to me and he said that women dig men who have lived through tough battles and he would introduce me to some of them, which is nice of him because i looked in a mirror and i don't even know if my mum could love me.

What i feel terrible about is that the envelope John gave me must have been taken because i don't have it anymore and i told John and even though he told me it was ok i think that it was important because he seems a bit worried now.

Joanne is a bit worried about me too but i think everything will work itself out eventually as soon as i can talk to that man and find out what i did wrong and sort things out between us.

A long time ago i was beaten up because a guy told me i stole his girlfriend when really it was my room mate. That was really bad and i had to go to hospital and get stitches and have my shoulder put back in place but afterwards the guy came up to me and apologised and now whenever i am in town he buys me beers and we hang out because he is very sorry.

I am very tired and still sore, but i will try and update tomorrow too.

Blake out.

where are you, oh foolish wanderer of the night?

Blake has not returned again.

I heard John tell him to go out and do something, but i'm not sure exactly what it was. In any case, that was a good ten hours ago, and he still isn't back.

I played guitar for a while today. I don't really want to talk about it but Blake keeps on going on about it and giving everything away so i guess i should clarify some things:

a.) Blake is a fine guitar player, whether he admits it or not.

b.) I am still learning, no matter what Blake says.

c.) The guitar can be a beautiful instrument even if you are a beginner.

Over the past few days Blake has been talking about all the travelling he has done and it has made me feel kind of strange. If i were a puppet on a string, then i would say that someone is pulling those strings, because i feel compelled to leave this place and discover the rest of the world.

Is this what it was like for you, mum?

I might visit JJ, see if he's seen Blake.

---

leave all your problems up in the sky
and let them float around for as long as they like,
because maybe when we have enough of them
we can paint the skies a colour of our own.

day two of blake's recovery

It was hard to get up this morning. It was also hard to get myself into gear because i felt very worn out but eventually i did it and i think the only person who really noticed was Joanne who laughed at me and said 'you are an idiot Blake, but you are a good one. I'm stealing your guitar for the day.'

Painting today cheered me up though. I was listening to Feeder most of the day, and it made me a happy little painter Blake. It was like i was in my own little universe where i got to turn a white world into a red world to the soundtrack of songs like 'Buck Rogers' and 'Satellite News' and 'Love Pollution'

JJ said to me today that i should watch myself in the future, because although Mr Rickson is a cool cat with a cool way of seeing the world and maybe too much money in those all too deep pockets of his, he rides with business types that are not really business types but sharks in shallow waters preying on little fish and stupid children.

He told me to watch out for some people but i was so tired i forgot their names already. Also though, it is partially JJ's fault for putting on cool jazz music and making me quite possibly the world's greatest coffee ever. I don't know what it was but i could hardly concentrate on anything else while i was drinking it.

JJ is a skilled coffee artist. I'm not sure what else to call him, but that seems right enough.

John was very happy that everything went well for me and we sat around again drinking beers for a little while. He said 'Blake you have no idea how fantastic this is. Really! It's just great, superb, excellent! I am so happy i could give you my daughter's hand in marriage!!!' and then he took a sip of beer and said all serious like 'But really Blake you touch her and i will take your eyes.'

Joanne is getting really good on the guitar. I heard her singing and i thought it sounded really nice and so i told her that and she said 'WHAT!? You heard that?!' and i said yes so she made me promise not to tell anyone because of how embarassed she would become.

Tomorrow will hopefully be another quiet day in which i will paint, eat, and find a new book to read.

Does anyone have any cool recommendations again?

Blake out.

Hammering in my head - Garbage

Boy i am wrecked. I think maybe inside my head there is a train wreck, all broken and smoking and maybe even a little bit on fire. Everyone on the train though it would be fun to take the train somewhere new but no one realised that taking it off the rails was a really stupid thing to do. Especially when the train is over a bridge.

I don't even know how they got the train off the rails actually, and to be honest, i think i was one of the drunk idiots on the train that just kept drinking all the way to the bottom anyway.

I should inform you guys of something though, before i try and go back to sleep.

Last night i had to deliver and envelope for John to someone important. That important someone was Mr Rickson, an eccentric old businessman who lives in what seems to be the biggest building in the city. He has all these people working in his building who are wear suits and sunglasses and those cool ear mike things that secret agents get to wear.

Anyway, Mr Rickson was glad to see me, and glad to see that 'everything in the envelope is perfectly as it should be' and he said 'Blake, oh my good friend Blake, if tonight is a night for any one thing then tonight is a night for a night out on the town with drinks and women and cigars in the moonlight!'

We hit a few bars and then the rest is kind of a hazy mist i cannot seem to see through properly or understand completely. I think maybe we went to lots of bars and i think probably that Mr Rickson paid for everything and i know also that i smoked a cigar because my mouth tasted like smoke this morning and i know i drank way too much because we were still out and about when the sun came up.

At the second bar Mr Rickson said 'Blake, oh my good friend Blake, there is so much for you yet to learn and if you learn only one thing important in your lifetime let it be from your new friend Terry Rickson! In time you can learn of the finer things of business and pleasure, and oh my friend, how fine they are!'

I have not been outside since i got back, and i have also not opened the blinds because i fear the light will turn me to dust much like the vampires i was scared of as a child. Joanne checked on me to see if i was alright and then laughed at me for a good long while before playing what is probably the nicest thing i have heard a beginner play on a guitar ever.

I think she might already be better than i am.

Okay okay okay i am going back to bed and sleep because i have to paint again tomorrow.

Blake out.

Am i playing with words or are the words playing with me?

Blake still hasn't returned.

I guess i shouldn't really be all that surprised.

Mr Rickson is well known for taking a liking to new people, and if they are people like Blake?

Well, you can expect a night on the town that will probably go until daylight.

I went to JJ's cafe with my notebook and i sat sipping coffee and listening to the music he plays, because he only plays jazz and it's always really good to listen to. A long time ago he said he used to have bands come down and play but now nobody rolls into town, so it just doesn't happen. Blake told me that before he came to our town he saw some really cool jazz, too.

Sometimes i think i was born to late.

There is something about the night air tonight that has me feeling a little worried. All the shadows are a bit sharper, the buildings more menacing, the wind whispering messages that could be important. I knew a lady who could read the wind once, but dad forbid me to see her and before i could sneak out to see her we'd already moved again.

I wonder what she would say about tonight?

Blake left me his guitar and an old chord book he bought. I have been plucking away somewhat randomly and i like what i am hearing, though i wonder how it really sounds. Maybe i will write a song tonight, something lonely but hopeful.

---

In an ocean of letters
all i can do is form words,
sentences that reach out through the darkness.
Messages to a person i've never seen,
but have always longed for.

New stuff to do and new people to meet!

So i went into the basement the other day and it rocks so hard! I found this old record player and all these old jazz records and i spent so much time listening to music while i wandered about in what i am now referring to as 'my dusty little wonderland'

I also found a piano but some of the keys don't work and it is out of tune and generally in a bad state. It made me want to learn piano though.

So tomorrow John wants me to deliver an important parcel for him to an important man.

It sounds important, doesn't it?

Anyway, he said 'Blake, you may be able to, in your own funny way, make the best of this situation.'

I hope he is right, because i do enjoy making the best of situations. At least i enjoy it more than situations making the best of me, and even though i am a little unsure of what that means, i have this feeling that it happens more often than the first one.

Did you like Joanne's post? I think she is a cool person, and maybe she will write again. I gave her my login information so she can post whenever she wants to. I was a little worried at first but it all turned out ok in the end, but maybe i think she should post in a different colour so people can tell the difference between us, because even though we write a bit different maybe people will still get confused and say 'Who is this Blake imposter!!!'

I played guitar for a little while but chords are still hard to come to grips with. My fingers are not very strong yet so i still get a buzzing sound sometimes but the good news is that i can play some stuff that sounds a little bit nice, and i figure a little bit nice is better than not nice at all.

Oh, that sounds like someone is calling me. Probably John.

Talk to you all soon!

Blake out.

Hello and Goodbye, Goodbye and Hello

Blake is looking around in the basement today. He has been down there for quite some time now. Ocassionally i think i hear squeals of joy i assume come from him, but i am also a little too scared to consider what else it might be that inhabits the floors of this ever aging hotel i stay in.

Oh, that's right. Introductions are usually first.

Hello, my name is Joanne, and i'll be your pilot for this evening's flight.

Think of this as a kind of outreach program. Feeling my way through the internet and discovering new things, I write miscellaneously and drift wherever i feel. It is a good kind of life, and one i wish to share with others.

Namely, you.

But presently i feel at a loss for words. I feel like maybe i should put on some music and then let the words flow through my fingertips but imagining what Blake is up to down in the basement is taking up all of my mental space. John won't let me down there, and in all the time i've been here, the crazy old man has never let anyone down there.

So why Blake?

Anyway, life here is still the same as it has always been. The town has it's problems, and i fear they will be coming to a peak sometime soon, though i could not say for certain exactly when. Poor JJ tries his best but he is simply outnumbered and i fear that even the mystical arts he learnt in the orient may not save him as there are only so many bones he can break before the karmic gods demand a few of his own bones to be broken.

Why my father still works for Mr Biggs, i don't know.

Actually, i do know. But i remain unimpressed.

And so i stay in my room and i listen to music and i write silly little stories about meteors falling from the sky and generally i keep to myself. It is not easy being the daughter of my father, for reasons obvious the moment you understand the way the town works.

Would they understand were i to attempt to explain myself? Would they even pretend?

I like sometimes to think that they would.

Joanne

---

Cold to the touch
It's no wonder i couldn't find your heart.
In the mess of wiring and circuitry
I felt so sure i had found something to keep you with,
But what was it?

Painting, painting, painting, blake is still painting!

So by tomorrow i think i should be finished with this painting. There are still some rooms to be done but John said i could do them a bit later and take a few days off before i do the other stuff for him. The room is really starting to look nice now. As soon as the floor gets done and all the furniture comes in it will look very cool.

I did pushups and situps and chinups today because i ate lots and lots of ice cream yesterday. Joanne took me and she was right: even the vanilla kicks out the jams. But i had not had ice cream that good in a long time so i also had cookies and cream and mint choc chip and boysenberry.

Afterwards i had to stay seated for a little while because i was quite full.

I went to JJ's and there were some guys there in very nice suits and two of them had very cool sunglasses and JJ told them to piss off and never come back again or he would teach them a lesson in pain the likes of which they could never imagine. They looked quite scared, and i asked JJ about it later and he said 'Blake there are some people in this town you must be careful of. Not everything in this town is as good as the ice cream you ate earlier.'

John also told me that tomorrow i could go and have a look in the basement, so that is going to be really awesome! According to John many different people have stayed at the hotel over the years, so there is all sorts of different stuff down there.

I spent some time looking out my window and thinking about nothing in particular. I watched people walk by for a while and i was thinking about something but then i fell asleep, and had a dream i was walking in a field with an old man who was very rich and very strong even though he did not look either. We talked about stuff but i can't remember what it was we talked about now. I don't know how Joanne can do what she does and not fall asleep.

I think maybe i will ask her.

Blake out.

Coffee, muffins, books... it is 'the good life' (Weezer)

John sat me down this morning and he said 'Blake you are a good man but i cannot let you marry my daughter. You have a good heart but my daughter deserves the very best and although you may place second or third you do not place first. One day, maybe, when you have slain the dragon that has kept her spirit caged all these years, releasing along with it true happiness, we can talk again about these matters.'

I told him that i was not going to marry his daughter until i met her, and even then i would have to think seriously before committing to such an agreement, but John told me it that actually he knew that but he knew that one day he would have to refuse young men the right to his daughter's hand, and he thought he would practise on me first.

I do not want to be the person that gets refused by John.

I had the day off from painting so i stopped in at a bookshop and bought Fahrenheit 451, and then stopped in at a small cafe for coffee and muffins. The cafe is called 'forget about tomorrow', and the owner, JJ, is a really cool guy. He noticed i was reading Fahrenheit and told me he liked it and then we talked about other books we liked and places we had been and all sorts of stuff. He said he would teach me some guitar because he has been playing for a little while now.

He said 'Blake, you are one cool cat! I like the way you jive!'

He even let me have the muffin and coffee for free! I was really happy because it was a genuinely good muffin, the sort i have sometimes dreamt about. They reminded me of the muffins i ate long ago, and that made me happy.

I will have to return to that cafe in the future!

Joanne and i talked about nothing in particular over some cookies and it was good. She said she looked at my blog the other day and that it was quite funny. She said i should say she is beautiful in a very natural way, and that her hair flows like an eternity of tears, and that in her eyes is a universe few have discovered, but she wanted me to put it in all discrete like so that people didn't know she wanted me to do it. I loaned her the Weezer cd 'make believe' because i thought she would like the title.

Hello again Joanne! I hope you are having fun staring out the window and listening to music!

Tomorrow is ice cream and paint day!!! But i will not be eating paint.

Blake out.

a blake enjoying the simple life

I have been painting the last couple of days. It has been good actually, because i put my headphones on and then paint up and then paint down. Then i move on and paint some more and repeat the process until there is nothing left to paint. I have been painting this big room a dark reddish colour, and i think it will look really fantastic when it is all finished.

Today at breakfast i met a girl named Joanne. She lives near my hotel room, and her father works here as a financial advisor for some big business man who runs a few businesses around here. Joanne said she would take me to a really cool shop near the hotel where they sell ice cream that is so good even the vanilla kicks out the jams. Joanne told me she spends lots of time looking out her bedroom window and writing what she sees and what she thinks. I told her about my journal, and she said she would have a look at it when she got the chance.

Hello Joanne, this is Blake! How are you?

The person who owns the hotel is called John, and he said that come sunday i will have to deliver a few important packages for him to various people around town. He said to me 'Blake in this little world of ours we play a giant game of give and take. An "I do favours for Bob who does favours for Mario who does favours for me" kind of thing, but on a much much bigger scale. Everything is in a kind of harmony but that harmony can be easily broken. I like you blake, so i will entrust you with the job of continuing this harmony'

I like John. Last night we sat near the top floor of the hotel drinking beers and talking about nothing in particular and watching the rain outside. He has a daughter who is studying in a university a few towns over, and he does not get to see her very often anymore but they still write letters monthly. He said 'Blake you would like Lynne, you would like her i think. A beautiful little creature so beautiful it is hard to believe i am her father. But blake my friend, i'll tell you this once and i won't tell you again. You touch her blake, you make her sad in any way, and i hear about it, i will hurt you blake. I will hurt you like you have never been hurt ever.'

I said 'Ok John', because it seemed fair enough i guess. Then John told me that in the basement of the hotel there is all this old junk that people have left over the years that he has not been able to let go of and he even said i could have a look around there one time. Oh man that is going to be so COOL!!! I really hope there are some old books and magazines because i have almost finished mirror mirror now. It is very interesting because it is very different to the original story but not in a bad way because changes are refreshing!

Tomorrow i think i will look for a nice cafe and buy a muffin and a coffee. How long has it been since i last had a muffin?

I think it has been too long if i cannot remember where i was and what sort of muffin i ate.

Boy i hope they have good ones, because that would be awesome!

Blake out.