An Open Letter to Lynnwood, Washington

Dear Drivers in Lynnwood, Washington,

I love your fine city and I enjoy coming to visit.  I love coming to your mall.  I enjoy swimming in your pool.  I don't enjoy standing outside Games Workshop once again disappointed that they are not open in the morning but that's not your fault.

I love that your pedestrian signals all say "Please Wait" and then beep excitedly when it is time for me to cross.  I like using your crosswalks and I take advantage of these wonderful amenities many times each day when I visit your fair city.

A problem has arisen that you need to be aware of.  When it is my turn to cross the street and the alarm is gleefully encouraging me on; after I have looked both ways and also back to the turn lane to make sure it is safe; after I have taken my young son's hand and taken my first five steps into your crosswalks ...

...this is not the time to race up to the light and make that right hand turn without slowing down!  Maybe if you slowed down you would see that there are happy visitors to your town right where you want to be.  You could then have enough time to stop and let us have the right of way that our laws grant us.

What has happened five times in the last week is that you have not observed this civil courtesy.  Instead I have to violently pull myself and my son out of the reach of your two ton death machine while you wave "oops" at me while speeding on your way.

Perhaps  you are the one driver who actually on his brakes, leaving tire marks on the pavement in a friendly manner as you realized you could not accelerate fast enough to keep my innards off your bumper?  Flipping me off for stopping your speed record is not friendly behavior and will not get your car moving any faster.

I want to continue to enjoy Lynnwood for many years to come.  When you want to turn across a crosswalk, slow down.  Stop even.  Look for the vulnerable visitors who love to visit but don't want to be buried in your beautiful town.

Sincerely,

Michael Dyer
Mill Creek, Washington

My Story In Brief

This has been a lazy weekend but a lot has gotten done.  I've found that napping in the afternoon and then staying up until 2 am writing has made for some good productivity.

I've finished a ton of laundry and mowed the lawn.  I weeded the garden with Jill and picked another quart of strawberries that we traded to our neighbors for raspberries from their yard.

I've managed to get some random sketching done as well as 5 pages of the zine.  It looks like the first 12 pages are going to be a comic.  I'm not sure what the last 12 are going to be yet.

I'm about 1000 words behind on my Nanowrimo book.  That is not too bad and will likely be made up tonight.  I quit early last night because I hit a natural stopping point before the story went off in a different direction.  I'm not saying the story is any good but so far it isn't gibberish and that is progress.  :-)

I'm pretty happy with some of the superhero names I've come up with.  Justice Force, the JLA or Avengers of this world, is led by Mystery Woman.  Other members include the Titan from Titan, Clubber, Rocket Girl, Douglas Fir, and Pepper Jack.  There is also King Atlantis and his sidekick Kid Poseidon.  In the first chapter they fought the Under Lord and his Under Men, subterranean creatures intent on conquering Cliff City. The story is told from the point of view of Darlene Vogel, a reporter for the local TV station.

Sometime during the battle King Atlantis is murdered and Kid Poseidon blames the Justice Force.  So does the massive Oceanic fleet that shows up off the coast demand Justice Force surrender themselves.  Complicating things are the facts that no one actually saw what happened to King Atlantis and the body was dumped into the sea where it was recovered by the Oceanics so no autopsy can be done on land.  The Justice Force all claim innocence, naturally.  Darlene Vogel is put in the position of trying to solve the crime to prevent all out war between Cliff City and the Oceanic Kingdom.

Camp Nanowrimo

Today was so busy.  I started off taking Caleb to his swim lesson on the bus.  His pass ran out of money so we walked from

the pool to the pharmacy to pick up some meds and then down to the park and ride to add money to our ORCA cards.  

The heat took it out of me and I ended up laying on the couch listening to podcasts all afternoon.  I finally got some writing done

since today is the first day of Camp Nanowrimo.  

Here are my revised goals.  

1 Wonder Woman drawing for my sister-in-law, Kathy. 
I finished the first draft and have some ideas for refining it in the second.  I picked up a number of graphic novels at the library so I can compare poses to get the issues I have with mine worked out.

50,000 words:  Camp Nanowrimo - Goal is July 31
I have started the story and am 1,700 words in.  It is flowing pretty nicely.  It is a super hero mystery story told from the POV of the plucky girl reporter.  

24 page zine for the 24 Hour Zine Thing.  Goal is July 24
There is no realistic way I can get a whole zine done in one day.  So I'm spreading it out and getting 1 page done a day.  Page 1 is complete.

Lower Priorities

Kid Power Role Playing Game.  
4 Favorite Flora/Fauna art cards for a swap.  

1 Undersea critter art card for a swap.