rlfj: Blog

This is the biggest project svtln and I have attempted. What started with illustrating an existing story, Wedding, with 31 pics, has grown. Our last story was Lessons To Be Passed Along – Illustrated, which had over 70 pics. With The War Of The Crystals – Illustrated, we have over 170! This was a major undertaking and took us the better part of three months.

The basic story is unchanged. As I mentioned in the original story, The War Of The Crystals was developed from a story called The Atlantis Crystal by Robber Baron. He left it as ‘Incomplete and Inactive’ but I extended it and finished it off. To be fair, I failed to ask his permission, and he sent me a note:

“I'm not dead yet. I quit writing when I discovered I had cancer and began treatments. Now, the cancer appears to be in remission, but I have lost the will to write, though I think about it every now and then. You should have inquired of me or Lazeez before rewriting and continuing my story. However, I am interested in finding out where you take this story. I demand that you recognize me as coauthor. Once that is done, I will be happy to allow you to continue it. Please state that I have no further part in the story and that all the changes and additions are your work alone.”

I admit, I screwed that up. I contacted Lazeez and he changed the credit on that story.

Secondly, there has been some editing done on the story but not in any significant sense. This is because the process of creating the illustrations led to some modifications. For instance, maybe a woman is supposed to be wearing a skirt made from a stretchy crepe material, but the drawing program can’t do crepe. Do I ask svtln to do a dozen different pics trying to make it work? Or maybe I just change the skirt to a sexy little flirt skirt, which only took two pics to create in the first place? There aren’t many instances like that, but a word-by-word comparison will find a few.

Just consider this a new story. I think you’ll like it. Enjoy!

We’re getting near the end. Again, life is imitating art. The section on Judy breaking her leg and having issues with sex comes from real life. My wife managed to do exactly what is described while working at our local supermarket, and she was in a cast and a walker for two months. The sex involved was exactly as described.

The quote about the dangers of some cruise excursions comes straight from the Royal Caribbean website. My wife and I have been on eleven cruises and have another planned. Yeah, I’ve heard all the comments about floating Petrie dishes, but so what. Happy wife, happy life!

Enjoy!

My wife and I have similar shirts as the ones Hersch and Judy wore on their cruise, though ours specify, “Annoying Each Other Since 1974 And Still Haven’t Killed Each Other!” Our children are so embarrassed, but we don’t care. Like our fictional protagonist, I gave my wife hers on a cruise, and we got a lot of smiles and congratulations. We had a nephew help us with Photoshop. Art imitating life, or something like that.

Enjoy!

The reference to The Newlywed Game is legitimate. You can find it on YouTube and other spots on the Internet. It occurred in 1977.

Otherwise, the chapter includes a few important elements, which you should appreciate.

Enjoy!

In Chapter 9, I referred to Judy getting her Regents Diploma. At the time, New York had a two-tier high school diploma system. You had the regular New York High School Diploma, but then you had a higher-rated diploma, with special tests and grades, that gave what was called a Regents Diploma. When I went to RPI and moved into the freshmen dorms (and it was all freshmen in the dorms then) we would talk about our lives back home. About half of us were New York residents, and they all bragged they had Regents Diplomas. The rest of us, from out of state, had no idea what they were talking about; we just had regular diplomas and that seemed to be good enough for our states. As far as I know, New York was the only state with this system, but I could be wrong on that. Since then, they have changed the New York rules several times, and now California has a two-tier system. Very odd to a Maryland boy.

When I wrote this story, I let my wife know that I had a new hero, one as great as Carl Buckman or the Grim Reaper. He was young, handsome, brave, hunky, and heroic! He was…a snowplow driver! She was not amused. They are not her favorite people. They are either not doing a good enough job, getting in the way when she is driving, moving too slow, or not plowing when she wants them to. Endless complaints! She has obviously never met Hersch Caparelli.

Would NYSDOT have used Hersch for an employment campaign? Possibly. In 1983 there would have been a lot of World War II and Korean War vets retiring from blue collar jobs. A lot of employers would be looking to replace them, and it was also the case that high schools would have been telling kids to go to college, whether they liked it or not.

Enjoy!