Going Back to Move Forward

I'm feeling less fatigue now. I'm still tired, but it isn't the same kind of DRAINING tired I've been feeling these past few months. So that's good.

I read a bit online that said detoxes aren't really necessary because the liver and kidneys kind of do that already, but if someone is making me feel better, isn't that worth doing it? I'd stop if it felt like it was killing me.  I'm certainly not a person who believes in "no pain, no gain".

That being said, I'm moving back into doing yoga again.  Instead of doing my exercises with the bar and small weights.  I'm trying to prepare my arms for doing plank by leaning against the wall and putting pressure on my wrists.  I feel like my arms are strong enough to do hand stands (once upon a time I could do them), but I'm afraid of my wrists breaking.

http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/upward-bow-or-wheel-pose/

On breaks at work I've been hand walking a backbend down the building wall, like a wheel pose and I get pretty close to the ground.  Then I get scared and walk myself back up.  I know if I reach out I will touch the ground, but I am also not confident in my balance and my wrists to do it.  That'll be a good day when I get the confidence.  Also maybe some less slippy shoes.  If I had someone to take a picture of me doing it I would post that instead, but this guy has a massive bulge so that'll work.

I don't like feeling weak.  My hands and wrists have started hurting more lately. I'm wondering if I need to put more drops into my elixir in the morning to help stave off the pain. I used to have a bottle I took with me every day and slug a drink whenever there was a twinge, but I didn't want to be dependent upon it so I stepped down to one drink in the morning.  I don't want to go back up. I don't like feeling dependent on something. The pain isn't debilitating, but it comes and goes about a 3 on the pain scale. I think I can deal for now.

Thanks for reading,
Az
*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/24/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Temple Renovations

There bible verse which says that the body is the temple of the holy spirit. If by holy spirit you mean, my body is the thing I use to make orgasms happen, then absolutely holy. :)

At any rate, this is the only one I have until I can get some replacement parts (calling Dr Frankenstein).

My top priority issue is what appears to be carpal tunnel's less successful cousin. I say this because it isn't severe enough for me to get an operation to fix the problem. I realize it isn't as severe as some people I've seen, but well, I've lost a lot of range of motion... here let me show you.

A real person's wrist can bends like this.

Here's my left wrist.

My right wrist does a little better.

This is why I take the anti-inflammatories, because I'm trying to alleviate the pain and lack of mobility associated with this issue. This is also why I'm exercising at work because I'm trying to build my body up so it doesn't happen anymore with any other part of my body.  I haven't lost range of motion, but my left ankle constantly pops, especially when I stretch.  My shoulders have felt like they are falling out for the past 6 months.  My elbows pop whenever I try to do pushups.  Thank the gods for yoga because I don't have to move to exercise my body.

I'm actually thinking of starting to do some light yoga at work instead of my bicep curls etc.  I don't care if I look stupid doing it, I just don't want to do a plank on the concrete out in the parking lot.  *shrug* I'll figure it out.

I don't want this to be an entirely complain-y entry so let me show you something I'm proud of.  Remember when I said my leg game was on point?  Here is a picture of my calf.  It's a bad picture, but seriously, hard as a friggin rock dude.  Feel that shit! :)

Thanks for reading!
Az
*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/23/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Azpothecary

The placebo effect hath endeth.  I'm not mad about that though because now I know that when I'm getting any energy boost it is because the detox is working.  I know it's ended because despite my best efforts I dozed off on the way home today.

I'm going to try to remedy that by not over sweeting tomorrow. I had two packages of machine cupcakes which, while delicious, probably have way too much sugar than any person should consume and sugar might be my problem in general.

Poetry went well. We had a couple features which rocked our mic. After the features the open mic kind of devolved into chaos, but that's fine.

Here are the new ingredients I've added (or will be adding) to the Elixir of ease in the morning. I'm not sure what the difference between regular Echinacea and Super Echinacea is, but I reckon I'll find out when the Echinacea I have runs out.  The Milk Thistle, as I mentioned before, is for liver health and the Cinnamon flavoring (with actual flecks of cinnamon) is for inflammation.

So far the status has been quo as far as pain management. Since the orthopedic surgeon doesn't want to do the surgery that would hopefully alleviate my wrist/hand issues I have to deal with it on my own... another goal of the detox.

Our roommate saw me mixing drops of each of the extracts into the bottle I use and called me an apothecary. I'm not against this. :)  It's sort of true anyway.

I've been writing more lately. Nothing ground breaking, but fun.  I'm working on a collection of Sleep related pieces. I'm not sure if I would call them poems or prose poems or what, but I'm sort of just word vomiting on the page for now. But it's good!

Thank you for reading,
Az
*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/22/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Still going

No picture to speak of today, but I'm still feeling surprisingly well. I didn't take the detox tea for Night 3 (I just had too much else going on to fix it up), but today I had it warm instead of cold as per my usual.  The taste wasn't any different really.

I did have an annoying headache today. I don't know if I can blame it on not having my tea the day before or not. Tylenol kicked it out of my head so it wasn't a caffeine headache (my caff headaches don't go away so easily).

I started to notice I was getting a bit of an upset stomach. I hope this isn't a continuing trend and that my body gets used to it.

I added a couple new herb extracts to my Elixir (I'll take a picture of those for the next entry) They are Milk Thistle and Cinnamon. Cinnamon is supposed to help with inflammation and the store where I buy the extracts at didn't have cayenne. Milk Thistle is supposed to help with liver detox. I just looked it up on Wikipedia and I realized I'd seen it before. I thought it was just a fancy way of saying Dandelion (roasted of which I include in my detox tea).

okay I lied about no pictures

I just did the calendar math and realized at the end of my second detox round Skylark and I will be starting our Road to Rustbelt tour. Superb timing right? Now granted, it'll be 10 or so days until I can resume, but the detox says I should take at least a week off between rounds anyway, so it works.

In general, I'm slowly building more energy. I never thought I would be so glad my insomnia was back. If there is one thing I can say about chronic fatigue, at least I can get to sleep easier. Honestly though I'd rather the insomnia, because it's creative insomnia for me.  I wrote a piece based on a quote from my Facebook.

I'm feeling good. Maybe not 100%, but I'm looking for a journey not a destination.

Thanks for reading,
Az

PS - Happy Day after Equinox!
*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/21/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

the Workout

Not posting a pic of myself today, the ones that were taken were either blurry or made me look like a creeper so no.  I will post a picture of the exercise equipment I use. 

Like I said before, I don't go for super workouts. I'm not busting out 500 pounds of iron. I'm just doing what will keep me active.  It's building muscle slowly.

All of the arm exercises I do with the 2lb weights hanging off my hands and using the aerobic bar.

I will do press ups and press outs, bicep curls, tricep presses (I don't know the names of these exercises by the way, I just make up the ones I don't know). Then I also do squats and calf raises. I have to say, for an amateur my leg game is pretty on point. I just touched my calf without flexing at it's pretty solid. haha

I want one day to be cut. I don't want to be bulky. I want the muscles I have to burn a sufficient amount while I'm resting, but not look gross.  This is a long term goal. For now I'm just looking to get myself back into shape.

As far as the placebo effect, I don't feel awful today, so either the stuff is actually working or there is still some of the placebo. I am staying skeptical.

That'll do for now.

Thanks for reading!
Az
*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/19/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Placebo Effect

I've always been susceptible to the placebo effect. I've always said if someone gave me an M&M and said it could make me fly and I believed them it would work... okay I've never really said that, but I should have.  Anyway, when I start a new thing it always works at the beginning. Whatever it is, it boosts whatever hormones it needs to boost and it makes me feel good.

And that was what today was.  Today was me trying a new thing and feeling good.  For the first half of the day I finished my last bit of soda (Dr. Pepper, if you must know) so the caffeine in there mixed with the caffeine in the tea I drank and kept me going.  I sometimes have a problem with dozing at work so I have to do different things to stay awake (get up and walk around a minute, etc), but there was none of that necessary.  My eyes were clear and bright and things were good.

The teas I am trying are as follows:

This is NOT a sponsored blog for Yogi brand, but I think they should totally shoot me a few bucks if this goes well, what do you think? :)

Anyway, each of these teas has a different effect on the body. You can search them on the Yogi website.  Search Yogi Detox teas.

The afternoon was less good, but still not bad overall.  I stayed on task.  Got work done.

I had to do an errand before going home and the drive there was also fine.

Now when I drove home from the errand I started to lose steam, which is part of my problem.

I'm honestly not safe on the road in the afternoon about 1 out of 8 commutes home.  If it gets too bad I'll stop alongside the road and try to clear my head before continuing.  I'm just so drained from whatever is doing me in.  I've never passed out behind the wheel, but my head will bob and this is not a good feeling.

This time there was no bobbing. I caught a second wind and powered home for some clean up of the old place.  We just moved to a new place and I'm super excited about that. I'm not super excited about having to use bleach on the tub though. Curse you soap scum!

Anyway... there are projects in my head I need to start writing, but I can't let The Black God (Dragon's Bane Volume 3) get pushed by the wayside.  This is one of those cases where I would like to have a second me to be working while I'm writing.  Lately I haven't felt like I could power a second me to do this so the placebo effect is definitely in full swing.

Thanks for reading,
Az

*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/18/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Night 0

This is where I start.

Since November, I've been working out on breaks almost every day 15 minutes twice a day. Nothing too strenuous, just something to get my body moving and my blood pumping.  The idea is to make my body stronger. I'm not expecting a change overnight, but I feel exhausted everyday and this needs to stop.

This is my detox.

I'm weaning myself down from junk food. Today is my last swig of soda for the near future.  I won't totally rule it out, because sometimes things happen, but the idea is consistency.  The goal is more energy all around.

I've been eating better for the past few years, but my energy levels have dipped gradually.  I tried to go without meat for three months, but my energy levels got even lower. So far my diet is about 85% vegetarian, though I reckon I'll be eating less and less dairy.  I don't know if I'll leave eggs behind because they do have protein.

I've got problems with inflammation and pain in my hands and wrists so I've been treating that with varying degrees of success with my "Elixir of Ease" basically extracts of cayenne, California poppy, and something called Trauma Drops.  Lately I've added Echinacea with Goldenseal, but that tastes awful so I added peppermint to take the edge off.  I am going to step down the ingredients.  I'll have a choice between Trauma Drops or California poppy because I haven't felt a significant lowering of pain using both.  I want to incorporate Asian Ginseng when I can.  I drink the Elixir every morning with 12 ounces of water.

Why am I doing this?

Because I have things I need to get done and less energy than I would like to do them all.  I have a deadline for my next novel to finish writing that I'm going to miss.  I have a poetry tour coming up in April that I'm going to need all the energy I can generate.  I was told keeping track of the journey helps one stay focused.

I will provide pictures of the teas I'm using in the next entry.  I don't know what I'm going to do about chronicling the weekends... I'll think of something.

Also, as far as blogs go, I'm going to pare this one down a bit... cut out the fat... maybe put the entries down in a different form somehow... maybe exercises in creative writing. Who knows?

Thanks for reading!
Az

*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 03/17/16

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Balance of Running a Press VS Being Prolific

I enjoy making books, chapbooks, anthologies, fourplays.
I enjoy putting together events.
I enjoy seeing the faces of people as they perform.
I enjoy their faces as they see their books.
Or when I tell them they are nominated for PushCart.

But I also enjoy working on my own projects.

You might think that these two things are not mutually exclusive. And you're right. If you keep a balance of your time and lifely duties.

What I'm getting to is, I have to wrangle my Writing Knights commitments a bit. There are certain projects I have to finish and get a hold of and slate out.

For instance, the WKTV project. I totally want to keep doing that. It's fun to put together the videos from the best of the performances we do, but I can't let myself get too wrapped up in it. I have some chapbooks and full lengths on the horizon I'm really excited about.

I also have the third novel "The Black God" in the Dragon's Bane series to finish writing. I have to get with my editor about the story line of "Rust & Blood" and get R&B out by August.

I'd like to start sending some of my stuff out to different presses around the country, just to see what I can get published.

Subs for the Grand Tournament open in March.  Stark Knights happens in April.

I've been having less enthusiasm about Stark Knights lately.  My original goal was to try to get a show in each of the municipalities in Stark County, but I was exploring a couple of the boroughs and there is literally fuck all in terms of places we could even do poetry in some places.  I'm thinking this year we will get what we can get and make it work.  Next year we might pare it down a bit.

I'd like to start a regular monthly feature in Alliance.  I found an awesome place in Canal Fulton that would be great for a monthly reading.  I would like to do a monthly reading at the Little Art Gallery. I want to slap the WK: Stark banner on them and train a new person(s) to host them to put some depth in the WK: Stark team. Like Poetry Superheroes! ;)

But I'm making plans for now.  I have a list of authors waiting in the wings to produce some books, chapbooks and fourplays.  I've got a couple anthologies waiting.  I've got a shitton of 2nd Editions waiting to see new life.

I'm thinking starting in March, I'll have one new release, be it chapbook, book, anthology or a group of fourplays and one 2nd edition.  I don't know who is coming out when, I'll need to figure that out. After the 2nd editions run out, I'll probably just pare down to one release per month.

I've already cut down the WK events to the Monday Open Mic and one of those Mondays being a feature (I'm making an exception for February since the 29th is on a Monday).

There is so much going on... I need to know the limits of my sanity and go just beyond them.


*Note* Originally published in "Staving Away the Sadness" (PublishAmerica, 2004) Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 04/12/06

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Book Release and Birthday Bash: Leah Mueller & Azriel Johnson (January 18, 2016)

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Leah Mueller resides in western Washington. Her work has been published in Cultured Vultures, Origins Journal, Quail Bell, Typoetic, Talking Soup, Silver Birch Press, Semaphore, MaDCap, The Rain, Party, and Disaster Society, and many others. Leah's chapbook, “Queen of Dorksville” was published in 2012 by Crisis Chronicles Press. Leah's new book of poetry and prose, entitled “Allergic to Everything” was recently published by Writing Knights Press. Her book of humorous erotic short stories, 'The Underside of the Snake” was published by Red Ferret Press in November.

Poet, novelist, and all around shady character. An ink spatter analyst by day and a serial writer by night. Shaman of the International Temple of Self Expression. The founder and director of Writing Knights Press, Azriel Johnson, is hopefully releasing "The Gravity of Chainsaws" through Crisis Chronicles Press. Among his other releases "Hellfire, Heavensent" thru Writing Knights Press, "Poemaholic" thru The Poet's Haven and his recently released fantasy/alternate history novel "Sunset Red". 


VENUE: Cultured Coffee
TIME: 7:00pm - 9:00pm Slam first, features next then open mic to follow.

After the open mic, general schmoozing in honor of Azriel's birthday festivities. Hopefully with cake and lots of hugs and kisses.

Be there!

Sunset Red -- Dragon's Bane Series: Book 1 by Azriel Johnson

$20.00 USD Novel

Past   After two decades of abject annihilation, Humans develop a new weapon against their Overlords, Dragon's Bane. Eight months later, the first force field is erected over Los Angeles. Force fields soon cover other Human cities. Four years later, the Los Angeles barrier falls and Dragons stake claim to what they refer to as Sunset Red. Present   Sixteen year old, John Ross Gerstung sets forth from his miserable village to join the Human army and escape a Tyrant Dragon. Despite the family legacy of warriors before him, JR struggles daily with adolescent yearnings. Also, voices filter through his head whenever he's around Dragons. He's trained all his life to fight Dragons. But first he has to take care of his childhood bullies.

About the author: Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst by day and a serial writer by night. He enjoys everything about the written word, even the things that annoy him like text speak. He relishes imperfection, so if any of his readers finds a typo in any of his books he will sign their copy and write them a short letter of philosophy and thanks. He is cautiously optimistic about the future of the Human race, Dragons or no. He believes in prophecy and the Dragon's Bane Series comes straight from a part of himself he believes probably exists... somewhere.... In his spare time (what's that?), Azriel plays fantasy games, practices yoga, blogs (sometimes), listens to music, meditates and practices shamanism. You can also find him asking interesting questions on his Facebook Fan Page.

Publication Date: Aug 08 2015 ISBN/EAN13: 1515369137 / 978-1515369134 Page Count: 334 Language: English Related Categories: Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary

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