The terrain was flat, barren and dry. Great tables rose in the distance, but offered very little shade on the flatlands. The air buzzed with electricity and savage winds often swept across the plains, making it hard for the scouting party to maintain their direction. They had left the main group days earlier, on a mission for signs of sustenance. They had stumbled over a small ridge down onto the plain in vain hope of finding something, anything. The head scout urged his party on. ...

Just a glimpse, A bite-red lip, A wisp of hair And in the shadow of a brow A glint of blue. In seconds her scent Did its work. I sucked it in, Like it was my very first breath. My only breath. Then the bus doors closed And she was gone. Great demons rent the sky, Hell’s minions crawled from the cracks In the footpath. And my world, My life, My love Ended. Only to begin again as the next angel walked by.

I've been really remiss in not kicking something off but I have been waiting to give someone else a chance to come up with something to inspire us all. But I realised it is now February, so I thought I'd better jump in and get us started again. For those of you who are new or not familiar with the JU Writer's Club, it is simply a group of us here who enjoy writing. There are no rules, no fees, no competitions and no pressure. Someone will post a piece of inspiration, be it a quote, a po...

Recently, I have been thinking about how long it has been since I started at JoeUser. I went to check out my account details and saw I have been here since the 27th of September, 2005. I also saw I have a whole lot more points than I thought I would (currently 68728). For someone who has never been concerned with the points system, this came as a real pleasant surprise. The other big piece of information I found while trawling around is my current ranking. I’m currently at Number 38. I ...

UNTITLED – Inspired by San Chonino’s Everyone’s Here I’m dining on memories Snacking on snippets of conversation Gobbling stolen glimpses Eating up everything I remember Of you as you were I loved the you I remember I only like who you are now You no longer give enough of yourself For me to feel a stronger emotion So I close my eyes and feed Then… I’m masticating moments Sipping on surreptitious sidelong glances Chewing on the bones we shared Licking juices of times gon...

Preamble to my amble: some of my favourite posts of the past have been of the rambling kind. Sometimes these provide insights, sometimes these provide a comfy place to sit and put my feet up for a while and sometimes they provide me fodder for my somewhat vicarious nature. Of course, it goes without saying that anything I say in here is my opinion only and is not meant to be misconstrued as attacks or flames at anyone. _______________________________________________________________________...

In a recent post, I told everyone of coming back to work to find my computer had been stolen. While I’ve been able to recover most of what I had on this PC, I lost all my personal email addresses. This list was very comprehensive and included friends, relatives, business and music industry contacts. I’ve no idea how I’m going to get some of these back again. It is a real hassle. So, I’m asking if you could all send me an email so I can get your addresses again. If you could send them ...

While I liked and enjoyed Sean's 'Dog Wisdom' post, being a cat lover, I couldn't let it pass without a response. So, here it is: “One cat just leads to another.” Ernest Hemingway “Managing senior programmers is like herding cats.” Dave Platt” Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer.” Bruce Graham “There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast.” Unknown “Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have ne...

I have been reading a lot lately. Mostly fiction and a lot of it by Neil Gaiman. His latest short story collection, 'Fragile Things', has really inspired me. Following is one such example of this inspiration. Expect more: A HINT OF PINK Just a dash, A tease, a glance Enough for me To take a chance To ask a question To raise a smile To garner a look And make it worthwhile Just a smidgen A byte, a bit Much to much For me to resist Charms and wiles Heavy lashed eyes A c...

So, I started back at work today after having just over 3 weeks break. Man, getting out of bed this morning was a big struggle. I enjoyed my time off but was disappointed the weather here wasn't better. It has been a very cool summer, with lots of wind and storms. It wasn't conducive to sitting on a beach or for swimming. However, I did spend a lot of time sitting on my balcony, taking in the rays when they came out and generally relaxing. Anyway, I get back to work to find someone ha...

This is my response to Kelly's latest JU Writers challenge... Link He: Oh, Odin’s goddess, proud lover of the sea, Take you up an axe so you might set me free To roam with you across living seagrass plains Where tides will no more wash over my wooden remains Oh, Neptune’s daugher, a small favour is all I seek Take me to your depths before I am made too weak I long to hold you close, as close as you can bear The tree inside has died but will live again...

I've not been on here much over the past few weeks. To be honest, I've been cheating a little on my JU friends by spending time on our Myspace site (www.myspace.com/jcronikal - for anyone interested) trying to increase the band's profile. We began 2007 with our three songs still at numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the JJJ Unearthed hip hop charts and at numbers 8, 9 and 10 in the Overall charts. We are very excited about the work this success will be bringing us in 2007 but more on that later. I m...

Christmas this year was spent interstate with my large family. It was a first for my wife, though. Being the only child in her family, she never experienced anything quite like our rowdy, chaotic, fun Chistmas day celebrations. We stayed with one of my brothers, drank too much on Christmas eve, woke (or rather were woken) far too early on Christmas morning, opened presents (I got a new digital camera - a Pentax, no less - will post pictures in due course), then went to my sister's home for...