I get by with a little help from my friends...

I get up every morning at around 2:00 a.m. It is my "personal time," I suppose you could say, set aside primarily for my writing, and other creative endeavors. I love these dark, pre-dawn hours when the house is quiet--the whole world is quiet, at least over here in my little corner of it--and I can hang around with a few of my best friends. Who are these friends, you might ask? Well, let me introduce you to them. They are a bit shy--as am I--so I doubt they will be making any more appearances here. If you would like to ask them any questions, you should do it now. We like to call ourselves "The Nerbs," because we haven't figured out yet if we are Night owls or EaRly BirdS.

By the way...this blog post has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I just purchased a new fancy-schmancy digital camera. Nothing whatsoever.

First up, I would like to introduce Angel.

She belonged to my wife, originally, and was kept in a box of her things out in the garage. I came across her one day and was immediately smitten by her beauty. She's the real authority in our little group; calm, kind, and very wise. We all love her very much.
Isn't she gorgeous?

Next up is this rascal, who goes by the rather unoriginal name of Beary.
Beary is quite patriotic, as you can see, and of Scottish descent. He originally belonged to my mother, who has since passed away, and he always reminds me of her. He is also very smart, but mostly where it concerns fixing or building things. You see, he is sitting atop a complete set of Practical Handyman's Encyclopedias. His knowledge is a bit outdated--the set was published back in the early 1950's--but all in all, he is quite a shrewd and useful bear.

Next to Beary (and his girlfriend, or so he likes to think) is Regina.
Regina is the main character in a video game called Dino Crisis, of which this poster is an advertisement. Regina's pretty hot, no doubt about it, and she certainly looks good in a black leather outfit, but once you get to know her you realize that she is actually very shy and reserved. You don't want to piss her off, though. She'll open up a can on your ass in a heartbeat. Regina is a very tactical-minded person, and she is invaluable to me as a sounding-board when I am fighting my way through various plot difficulties, or trying to figure out why my novel has gone all wonky all of a sudden. I think she has the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen, but of course, I'm far too shy to ever tell her that.

Over here on the desk is a feisty little fellow named Irish (for obvious reasons).
Irish was a gift to me from my wife, just this last St. Patrick's Day. He's quite a stern little fellow, and he seems rather preoccupied with making sure that I get my daily writing chores done. I think he fancies himself a writer, but of course he could never succeed at it as he has no pencil with which to write, nor any fingers with which to grasp the pencil (that he doesn't have). I sometimes suspect that he has the ability to write through me...sitting there seeming to glare hypnotically at me with his beady black eyes. I wonder how much of what I write comes from my own creative subconscious, and how much is actually channeled through me by this little green bear? I suppose it really doesn't matter. He's quite a nice fellow, once you get to know him.

Rounding out our little 2:00 a.m. cadre is Uni.
Not a very original name, I will admit, but, then, neither is mine. Uni was a gift from one of my nieces, back a couple of birthday's ago. Uni is very magical, and she (according to my niece, Uni is a girl) tells the most fantastic stories of far away places and mystical things. I wish I could write a few of them down and share them with you, but for some reason they always disappear from my mind sometime after 4:30 a.m., while I'm getting ready to go to work. All that is left is a vague memory of some beautiful place full of strange and exotic people, and adventure. Lots and lots of adventure.

So, there you have us: The Nerbs. For the better part of the day they just sit around my office staring at each other; a couple of stuffed bears, a doll, a poster, and a ceramic statue. But at 2:00 a.m., when I come in here to begin my day's writing, they are very much alive. It is little wonder that these two and one-half hours are my favorite part of every day.

I like hanging out with my friends.