Blogtember 4: A story about a time you were very afraid.

You know, this is a weird one for me. I can't say that I scare that easily. But here goes nothing - the last time I really remember being afraid was, oddly enough, my last breakup. 

The end of us was near, and we both knew it. The two of us had been fighting for weeks. Most of the time, over nothing, but I was just sick of him and I'm sure he of me. These fights weren't just pithy, small, get-over-it-in-two-seconds fights. They were explosive, horrible fights where we just screamed at each other for no reason, and he even punched a hole in the wall of our apartment. It was going to end, and it would be a car crash, and I knew it. So, in an act of self-appreciation, I threw him out, instead of leaving myself. I was just so shaken, so emotionally over it all, that all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

Know what the worst part was? I couldn't. I had myself so convinced that he would break into the apartment while I was sleeping (for what reason I don't know). For weeks, I felt like a crazy person as I listened to each and every sound in my apartment - and honestly, at one point, the refrigerator's ice maker scared the shit out of me to the point that I thought someone was in my apartment. It was ridiculous.

I honestly can't remember being so scared of anything before, or since. Unless you count the first time I ever knocked the wind out of myself falling off of a set of monkey bars when I was nine. 

Even though the story isn't the best, and not really something I wanted to revisit - it's true, and honest, and all I try to be. 

Blogtember 3: Share useful advice or information you learned and always remembered.

"You know what's true."

These words have echoed through my entire life. My mother always said it to me growing up, but I never quite knew what it meant until I started to navigate my way through this crazy thing they call life. As I went through trials and tribulations, one dead end job to another... it was always in the back of my mind. 

When she said it to me as a kid, I just brushed it off as one of those "mom-isms" that would never come into play in my adult life. And you know what? I was wrong. Here you go, Mom! I was wrong! There are always outside influences at play in life, and knowing yourself is one of the most important things about getting through it. It really comes into play in my every day - at work, at home, even alone - it comes into my mind every day. As far as others went, if someone treated me like shit and I was upset about it, I always remembered that. It has been my security blanket and my one true word for my entire life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I always remember that I'm a good person. A hard worker, and someone who would give a friend or family member the shirt off my back if they wanted it. It's been difficult to maintain that ferocious level of loyalty, especially since it seems to be lost on so many people, but I still do. Do I feel like the loser for it sometimes? Sure. But at the end of the day, do I sleep well at night? Of course. Because I know what's true. 

 ( Today, I found out about this awesome September blogging event courtesy of Story of My Life, and I decided to get into it - keep checking back, as I'll do everything I can to keep up! )

Tattoo Stories #2

Since I'm bringing back all of my old favorite posts, here's the second installment - though I know you've had to wait awhile - of Tattoo Stories. Another of mine, but I have enough that I could keep this going for a year with just mine!

This piece is one of the first ones I ever got on my legs. As someone who loves music, it has always been a huge part of my life, and that includes in my tattoos.

Tiger Army has been one of my favorite bands for as far back as I can remember, and this tattoo, consisting of a black rose and banner with my favorite song's title, "Outlaw Heart", was exactly what I was picturing and exactly everything I wanted this tattoo to be. They have a lot of black roses in the imagery of their songs, and it just seemed very fitting.

Still, to this day, even with how many tattoos I have, this is still one of my favorites and will likely forever be, only because of the story behind it and how special this band still is to me.

Would you like me to feature your tattoo story? Please e-mail me at anepicliz@gmail.com and we can set something up!

Until then, though - here's one of my favorite Tiger Army jams, "Rose Of The Devil's Garden":

Hear ye, hear ye: my Etsy shop is finally full again!

All day, ABSOLUTELY ALL DAY, I have been posting each and every item in my handmade line on my Etsy shop. It has been painstaking to list all 115 items. I'd love if you guys wanted to check it out! You can either find it by clicking the 'Blackheart Knits' link above, or by going directly to Etsy here.

And if you find anything that strikes your fancy, use coupon code FACEBOOK for 10% off any order.

The Return of Book Club Monday #22: Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk

Let me start off by saying that I don't win things very often - if ever - and I was genuinely surprised by my luck in getting to be one of the first to read Chuck Palahniuk's newest novel (releasing on October 8), Doomed.

When I found the giveaway on Facebook, I applied, not thinking anything of it. A couple of weeks later, I got an e-mail with a UPS MyChoice shipping notification for something from Random House books. I didn't want to get too excited, but when I received the package I knew for sure that I had finally won something from an Internet giveaway - and a pretty cool something at that! A galley (AKA review) copy of Doomed. It's awesome to have something like this to add to my collection.

Onto the good stuff, the review. Let me just preface by saying that this is a companion to Palahniuk's previous work, Damned, and you're gonna want to read that prior to this. Damned was the first story of Madison Spencer, a dead thirteen year old girl and her descent into the afterlife via hell. It chronicled the people she met, things she saw, and you can't forget her confrontation with the devil himself.

Doomed is written in the form of blog posts from the afterlife, or, rather, purgatory. Madison still walks amongst those she left, and they can't see or hear her. In each chapter (or 'post', as it were), she encounters something new, from seeing her dead grandmother's ghost on a trip to her parents' apartment to guiding the reader through the worst summer of her life - and quite possibly the reason she wound up in hell in the first place.

Later, we find out that in no uncertain terms, death was her destiny. Her crazy-as-all-getout parents knew what would happen from the start, and didn't care one way or another what happened to their daughter.

As a reader, the blog post format is actually very easy to read, offering the story in easily digestible pieces. Every now and again another character will chime in with a post of their own, but about 95 percent comes from Madison's point of view.

As with his other novels, Palahniuk hooks the reader very early on with Doomed. I found myself wanting to read a single chapter before bed and before I knew it, it would be a hundred pages and an hour later! Chuck Palahniuk is really a champion amongst authors, and if you've read and enjoyed his other works (yes, even Pygmy), Doomed definitely will not let you down.

Doomed will be released on October 8, 2013 by Doubleday Books, but can be preordered on Amazon here.

Milwaukee was also one of the cities picked for Chuck Palahniuk's 'Adult Bedtime Stories' author tour, and I picked up a ticket not long after hearing about it. Never fear, I'm certain I'll be putting together a recap of that, also!