Death Metal and Songs

Death Metal
What do members of death metal bands do in their spare time?  How do they interact with everyday chores?  These are the type of questions that has been haunting me for the last couple of weeks.  I know, I should probably be worrying about climate change or the election, but death metal and summer camps fill my every thought.  So here I am again, lobotomizing myself on the internet's basement floor. Here I am to explain some common scenarios of death metal members in the off season.

• Sally was excited about the jewelry box her dad got her for Christmas until she opened it.  Twirling inside was not a ballerina in a pink tutu, but a black-gowned, massacre-dripping princess spinning to the tune of Hellhammer.
• Backyard chores are a bit more exciting.  With trebuchets launching leaf piles and trash bags from one side of the yard to the other, and Billy using his recently sharpened broadsword to trim the hedges.
• Birthdays are no longer quiet when Killroy starts blowing out his birthday candles.  From a low, rumbling roar, he conjures the spirits of hell itself to not only diffuse any trickery the candles might have in store, but create a small tremor throughout the city.

Songs

Songs are pretty powerful stuff.  They can change a mood or explain a situation.  They can bring people together to dance, or get someone a kiss.  Everybody has their arsenal of noise grenades, an evolving playlist to get the job done, and I'm no different.  If I'm feeling down, I can play Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" to perk up my spirit and get me off my ass.  If I need a reminder of my current relationship status, I can listen to Todd Rundgren's "Hello It's Me".  I can start an impromptu dance party with some Elton John and slowly transition into a more electric feel with Daft Punk's "Voyager".  If I'm looking for some nookie, I might play "Kinky Love" by The Pale Saints.  Or if I'm looking to get laid, I might step aboard the Mothership Connection with some Parliament. A pair of headphones is easily morphs into a transportation device, taking me back to the 80s, with one or two Depeche Mode songs.  And I can take a road trip from my office pod with Big Star's "September Girls" or Abulance LTD's "Stay Where You Are".  Thanks jams.

Summer Camps and Cyclic Love

Summer Camps
I never went to a summer camp.  I remember begging my parents to let me go, but they would not hear anything of it.  Maybe it got in the way of our family vacations, or maybe it got in the way of yard work my dad had planned for me.  Anyways, I feel like I missed out on a lot of adolescent development. Yes, I agree there is a natural course for things to work themselves out, but a catalyst would have always been welcomed. Even if it was an atomic wedgie or getting tea-bagged by the counselor. Maturity comes in many forms, from second base with Becky to victoriously climbing the tallest tree, then falling out and breaking your arm.  It comes with pain, embarrassment and glory.  Camp offers a healthy dose of all these things.

Anyways, I'm currently working on a new script with a friend and it's about summer camps. Since I've never gone to one, I've had to research. Watching movies, playing pranks on co-workers, and referencing vocabulary that just doesn't register for the average adult.  It's been a fun trip, and I'm still enjoying it.  For a preview, I've added a short description of two of the many characters I'm currently shaping.  Also if you have any good camp stories, please post them!!

Maggie:
She's 12 years old and idolizes her older sister.  She watches her everyday, jealous of her stage 4 areolas and punk rock shirts.  She's a rebel at heart too.  She wants to meet people outside her boring town; cool people just like her sister.  She finds out about summer camps. Here's a place she can fit right in with the older girls without her sister standing in the way. She'll mature, and learn all the Ins and Outs of boys and their ways.  Camp starts, but not everything goes according to plan.  She tie-dies things when she gets upset.

Simon:
Simon is your typical nerdy guy.  Fluent in obscure alien languages and pre-cuts his underwear before heading to school.  He finds out about a camp outside of town where he might have a chance to be cool.  He signs up, starts working out, and gets immediately ridiculed the first day of camp.  His best friend gets taken under the wing of one of the jock and becomes a bully. Simon learns a lot about himself, even gets some action.  His big comeback involves challenging the biggest jock to a game of ping-pong, one game that nerds can succeed.


Cyclic Love
It all started with a kid's game.  That game where you pick up a beautiful flower and remove the pedals merrily chanting "They love me, they love me not".  Slowly, one pedal at a time, the flower is transformed into a useless weed, lost of desire and enchantment. It was at the early age of eight or so we started preparing ourselves for a vicious cycle we did not quite understand.  How everything starts with a bang and ends with a crash.  A type of cyclic love, flower to flower.  It begins with something great, several weeks of excitement and getting to know each other.  This is very similar to the blooming of a flower in the Spring.  Then something happens, you either settle, and plant your roots, or start looking for faults.  And one by one, contemplating love and hate,  you pluck away until you have no beauty left. "They love me, they love me not".