I can delete it from Kindle, but all the booze & therapy in the world can't delete it from my brain.

No, this is NOT about The Human Centipede one or two.

I'm always going through Amazon trying to buy cheap books on my iPod and while eating at McDonald's last week, I found an e-book entitled Population Zero by Wrath James White for a few bucks and bought it after reading the first chapter.

It turned out to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. I bought it because the story on the preview got me hooked before things got too nasty. Basically, the book's about this guy working at the Welfare office and he's sick and tired of seeing druggies and baby factories asking for handouts when they don't need them. At the same time, the guy's obsessed with the idea that the world is dangerously overpopulated and, with the climbing birth rates, will not be able to sustain life and provide resources. So the protagonist becomes a vigilante and tries to sterilize his lowlife clients and even his ex-girlfriend with very gruesome results.

The book's creepy on two levels. One, the whole population explosion thing is based on some truth. I also get just as disappointed as the protagonist because I can understand how most (not all) of the people he deals with are wastes of flesh and blood sucking up taxpayers' money and just taking resources while reproducing offspring that just perpetuate the cycle.

And then there's the gruesome actions taken to keep these people from having babies and the bloody play-by-play as they happen. This story is going to haunt me unless I lose my memory. I can wipe it off my Kindle app, but not my mind.

A View From the Top: Guadelupe Peak

On Friday, my co-worker/friend Amanda and I hiked Guadelupe Peak. It's a butt-pucker of a height, but one with a real neat prize at the end: being at the highest point in the state, one hell of a workout, and getting the Lion King's Pride Rock view of the surroundings.

By the third mile into the hike, shortly after crossing the wood bridge and passing the forest, I was tired. But both of use refused to turn around. I also drank up my 2 liter water bladder before getting to the top of the mountain. I always carry a Dasani bottle for cleansing after pissing and I was drinking that soap scummy water plus a bag of melted ice I packed to keep my lunch cool.

We made it to the top and after a photo shoot and signing the register in the ammo box by the pyramid, we sprawled out on the rocks. I never thought stones could be so comforting. A 50 year old couple from Houston joined us shortly and we took off to get back to camp before sunset at 7:24.

We were in hell on the descent. Amanda got two blisters and had to put bandages on her feet. My feet hurt like hell but no blisters or blood. It felt like the front was getting wrenched in a vise. I was lagging behind and even babbling at one point.

And when we got back to camp, Mother Nature had a real neat surprise for me:
I started menstruating on the hike. I wouldn't be surprised if the strain made me bleed. It was enough to where I didn't want to eat but just go wash my undies in the restroom. I wound up tossing out my dinner (Amanda's chili) and I walked in the dark to the restroom with plumbing to clean up and get more water for camp. Then I got lost and went down the wrong path (it was pitch dark). I made it back to camp just before the coyotes started yapping.

It wasn't too cold so I slept well for once and even rigged a blanket in the tree so that I could sponge bathe before going in the tent. When we got home the next morning, Dad was nice enough to cook us eggs and bacon.


( Pix )