Friday, January 25

The "Bookmap"

The idea of my bookmap was to be able to tell my story while leading you around our district (Hollywood) in a specific path told by my character. As you unfold your way through the story, your path is shown to you in a map, part by part. Once unfolded you will be able to see the overall map, each location visited, as well as the overall "theme" of my story. Enjoy.



Once open, you should notice the familiar similarity from my bookmap to an orignial map of the Hollywood district in Portland, Oregon. If not, here is a comparison. Notice the fold lines in the book, the try to tell you something.

Tuesday, January 22

"Hollywood"

Photobucket

Monday, January 21

Story - Darkened Realism

Today the mist fell early. The red glare from my desk reads 4:45, still dark, still cold. I couldn’t sleep well last night, the thought of going back to work is unbearable, I can’t take it anymore. Everyday is the same, do this, fix this, clean this… nobody respects me, but why? My past is beginning to resurface and I’m not sure if I can take it again. The secrecy and seclusion from society takes a toll on the body. I can’t go in to work today; I need a day to think.

9:30… the day is passing by fast. All I can think about is the people who treat me like a fucking outcast. I’m normal now. Why do they always look at me like I am deformed? I hate this shit. I need to go, leave this house and clear my mind. I am going crazy in here.

I need some food, my stomach is yelling at me. I can’t believe they tore down Yaw’s; that was the stupidest thing they have done. Whatever, McDonald’s will do for now.

“I’ll have a sausage Mcmuffin and a coffee… and make it quick I have to run.”

As I make my way back to my place I realize this neighborhood has so many memories…memories that I don’t want to think about.

I walk up to my house and my watch beeps letting me know it’s 11:00. With all the thoughts racing through my mind, I need to relax. I’m going to go lay down for awhile…clear my mind some more.

Thursday

Man, my head is killing me. A stomach wrenching pain pulses through my temple. It hurts to open my eyes. I need some Tylenol.

Making my way to the bathroom I notice my clock flashing 12:00, the power went out. It feels like midnight but I know it's only like 6:00 or 7:00. I hate the change in daylight.

This damn Tylenol needs to kick in fast, I feel sick to my stomach.

I better go lay down. I've had a hell of a day.

Monday

It's been awhile since my last entry. The last few days really helped relax my mind and get away from my "old" habits. By old habits I mean my previous way of living. You will hear about this more, but right now I don't want to get into it.

Right now I am on my way to work. 6:45am is the time, my shift starts at 7:00 on the dot, but only a few more blocks to go. Being a custodian at one of the oldest buildings in the Hollywood district can be quite honoring, until you get put into a different class because of the way you look or act. I hope today goes smoothly.


As I hear the "click" from the turn of my wrist, the front doors ajar slightly, breaking free from lonely, still night that preceded. The musty air rushes past me as if it is gasping for fresh air. The theater is silent. An eerie feeling crawls up the back of my neck as I make my way to the storage. Another long shift of cleaning and preparing for the day.

1:00pm rushes up on me out of nowhere, time to clock out. As I gather my things and head for the door I hear a whisper... a whisper that changes my attitude in a split second

"Mommy that man is weird."
"Shh.. he can't help that he is like that."

At that exact moment, I felt my life change... for the worse. I felt my impulses from the past acts overcome me. I HAD to get out of here and fast.

As I ran down the street, passing people left and right I felt the need to seclude myself. I felt the need to take my anger out on something... someone...

It is time.

Tuesday

That kid yesterday pissed me off. I have tried so hard to change my ways. I have kept to myself, minded my own business and I still get treated like shit. I know... I will show them my true self. I am not going to sit here and have people treat me like garbage. Prison seemed more of a home, more comforting than this place.

Let's see, 9:00am now... Already late for work so I will take a shower and head in.

As I walk up the street and see the notorious "Hollywood" sign, I glance at my watch... 10:15am. As I grip the handles of the heavy theater doors I sigh, take a deep breath and enter.

"Goddamnit Simon you're late! I need you to..."

"Fuck you John, Do it yourself! I am tired of your shit as well as everyone else's. I am here to pick up my things and go."

"But Simon..."

"I don't want to hear your shit. Just leave me be."

As I make my way to the employee area my mind is racing with thoughts. I can't believe I am doing this. I reach my locker...

26...

2...

10...

*click*

"The boots are coming with me..." I muttered as I grabbed my things and slammed my locker.

As I stormed out of the theater I caught a glipse of John staring at me from the corner of my eye.

"You all think it's funny... We'll see how much you laugh later. You don't know what I am capable of."

When I reached the street I felt the urge to run. I'm not sure why, but I needed to get home as soon as possible.

43rd...

Cars rushing past me... drivers trying to figure out why I am running.

44th...

The sun is hot, my shit is heavy.

45th...

As I cross the street a bus honks, narrowly missing me.

46th...

One more block.


As I reached 47th I turn and sprint up to my door. A quick look behind me shows a spectator on the second floor. I enter my home, close the door and the blinds. i drop my bundle of shit at my feet as I lift a single blade and peer out at my newly aquired fanbase.


Female...
10th room from the corner...
Early 30's...
Black hair...
Thin and tan...



Why is she still looking over here? Why is she interested in me?

As I drop the single blind I make my way to my couch.

What is she thinking?

WHO is she?

what does she know...?

Thursday

The next evening I watched as she walked north on 47th. I hurried to grab my things and followed. It was getting dark out… the street light on and the hum of the bulbs ring in my ear.

At Thompson, a left… where is she going? A late night stroll perhaps?

As I followed at a decent pace I noticed she began to walk a little faster. Has she noticed me? Shit! She has…

At a running pace now I catch up to her, grab her by the arms and throw her down. As she fell her head hit the ground knocking her unconscious. I look around to see if anyone spotted what just happened… nothing.

Ahead of me I notice a vacant construction site, the wind rippling the plastic sheets as if ghosts were running by them. I’ll take her there.

I take a second to put on my boots…as I picked her up, I realized that this had to be fast. I didn’t want anyone walking or driving by to see.

At a slight jog, I approached the construction site. I climbed the rickety stairs to the 3rd floor and laid her on the ground.

I pulled from my bag the supplies I thought I would need. A rope, knife, duct tape, and some scissors.

That’s when it happened.

As I try frantically to clean the mess up I hear people walking by. I wait for a minute or so an finish stuffing the “mess” into my bag.

As I grabbed my bag, I drug it down the stairs… a dull loud thud at every step. I found the darkest corner of the site, a shovel and began to dig. Hopefully… this will be good enough.

On my way home I think about what just happened and about the past. Is this really what I need to do? It’s a thrill!

I need some rest.

Friday, January 18

Hollywood Endeavor