Gone Lumberjacking

"Side Effects" was published in the Spring 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase . cover art by Robert Howell A brief synopsis: With his acting career in free fall and his last girlfriend a hundred yard restraining order away, Carter Wall is having a crisis. Or is he? As he tosses down a small handful of Demerol, he certainly doesn’t feel the need to panic. Unfortunately for him, dumb, pill derived happiness doesn't come without a few side effects.  Curious? Here, have a cookie . (It tastes best on page 102.)

art by Robert Howell gone lumberjacking as in donning the heavy boots and abrasive flannel and stomping into the woods with a thick blade on a stick. as in spitting in soon to be blistered hands and felling a tree, drying the wood and cutting it into planks, and designing and assembling a dining table around which to sit, on which to break bread, off of which to gently toss a butter licking cat. as in the simple act of doing things, not because the outcome will be so much better, not because the project will be so much cheaper, definitely not because it will be a quicker way of getting whatever that thing is done. as in unearthing.