Happy Easter, everyone! To those of you who don't celebrate, Happy Mysterious Candy Hunting Day!

Lol I had to do that. Regardless, there is so much chocolate and candy out there right now that we could all scream for ice cream. Is that right, errbody?

Now, I am going to talk to you about how David Ingram (Rockybado), Andrew Grzedek (The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs), and Levi Cranston (The Magic Video Game) celebrate Easter. For the sake of time, I will save my discussion on how Bradley Levi (Where's Bradley?) celebrates Easter for another time.

David Ingram comes from a small family. His family usually goes to church only on Easter and Christmas Eve. Since now David and Brody live in San Francisco, Brett lives in Brooklyn, New York, Toby lives in Chicago, and Dawson lives in Valparaiso with his wife and twin daughters, they all celebrate Easter with their immediate family, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents starting on Friday before Easter. They have a potluck dinner in the evening. The immediate family makes mostaccioli after church, and when they get home, they get ready for the potluck dinner. Their extended family often stays over at the Ingram's house until 1 or 2 o'clock on Saturday morning.

Andrew Grzedek comes from a large family. His family celebrates Holy Week with their extended family. This includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter. The Grzedek's and their relatives are Catholic but are not too strict in their practices. Every evening after each mass, the family will go to a relative's house for dinner. It alternates every day. However, the Grzedek's usually have Easter celebrated at their house in St. John. The family has a potluck dinner as well. However, most of the food that they have is Polish. This is because the kids' dad's side of the family is 100% Polish, and their mom's side of the family is half Polish.

Levi Cranston comes from a medium-sized family. Even though their family does not celebrate Easter, they like to get candy and have a nice dinner with relatives from around the area. The kids' mom's side of the family is Jewish. However, their dad's side of the family is Methodist. Neither side of the family is very strict in their religion. Levi has an Easter lunch with his fiancée, Mackenzie Burbanks, and her family. Levi, Mackenzie, and their other friends now live in Boston, so they come home on Thursday evening. Olivia, one of Levi's sisters, lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, so she also comes to Northwest Indiana around the same time Levi does. The kids' parents have Easter baskets full of candy, but that is the extent of their celebration. In the break between having lunch with his girlfriend and her family and dinner with his family and close relatives, Levi hangs out with one of his best friends, Asad Prejesh, because he too does not celebrate Easter. They usually play video games, but when the weather is nice, they might walk around Asad's neighborhood and talk about the most recent video games. Levi's grandparents, some aunts and uncles, and some cousins come over for a potluck dinner in the evening.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how each person celebrates Easter.

However you celebrate this day, make sure it is great, and see you tomorrow!

Signed,

You Know Who

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

It was 7:45 in the morning, and David and Brody Ingram had to be at their jobs at nine o’clock this morning. David struggled to get out of bed. However, with fifteen minutes of that kind of struggling, he was able to get himself out of bed and ready for the day. Brody, as always, was an exception. He managed to sleep through his alarm, even though he had three or four different alarms going off at the same time. He was sleeping on his stomach, with his head underneath his pillow, and his comforter pushed off to the side. For another fifteen minutes or so, Brody’s alarms continued to go off. Annoyed by this, David turned off all of his little brother’s alarms and shook him as hard as he possibly could. Brody stirred, but he was not quite awake yet. David was going to make sure that would no longer be the case.

“Wake up, B-Rodes,” David said.
“No,” Brody replied.
“It’s eight o’clock, man.”
“Okay.”
“You have your internship at nine o’clock,” David remarked.
“I usually wake up in fifteen minutes,” Brody answered, muffled because his face was buried in his pillow.
“Okay then. You want fifteen more minutes?”
“Yes, please.”
“Okay. I’ll give you fifteen more minutes.”
“Thanks, man.”

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

John Garfield, David Ingram, and Brody Ingram left the house and drove toward Andrew McCalsky’s house, which is not too far away. When all four boys were in the car, they were on their way to Lake Michigan to spend a day at the beach. But they weren’t actually going to the beach. They were going on a hike, something that the boys have always enjoyed doing together.

They knew the hike was going to last about an hour, but they didn’t care. They all had their water bottles with them, and they were going to a fast food joint in Merrillville, Indiana afterwards. So, of course, they were all happy.

While the boys were walking on the green path toward the lake, they all had random conversations about how some people were able to put seven huge white grapes in their mouths, as well as The Hawaiian Geeks, the awesome free concert that Andrew and his older brother went to last night, and goofy high school and college memories.

And then John and David started their own conversation about how each other’s full-time jobs were going so far.

“So, David and I made a bet a few days ago,” Brody remarked half-heartedly.
“What is it now?” Andrew asked, very amused.
“He wants to see me run up a big hill after we’ve gone up to the lake.”
“Nice! Are you gonna do it?”
“Definitely!” Brody replied.
“So, is this a real bet, or is it just something for funzies?” Andrew questioned his best friend.
“Oh, it’s a bet. He told me that if I don’t die while running up the hill, he will pay for his and my food today. But if I do die, then he will do one of two things. He will either just pay for his own food, or he will try to see if I might have money in my own wallet.”

Of course, Andrew and Brody had to share a laugh.

“Oh, Brody. You crack me up.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“Any time, bro.”

Before they knew it, the four boys were finally at the lake after their one hour and thirty minute hike. Andrew, Brody, David, and John stood at the top of a hill, looking at the pretty blue water and a gray silhouette of the Chicago skyline. It was really a pretty sight. And, of course, they don’t do this often because Lake Michigan is often out of their way. After a few minutes of trying to catch their breaths and staring at the immense beauty, they all debated if they should run to the beach.

Of course they would. Why wouldn’t they?

The only guy who did not have to take a puff on his inhaler was John, since he doesn’t have asthma. The poor kid had to wait for everyone else, though. But then everyone was ready to head down to the lake for a little while.

“I’ll race you guys,” John remarked to the other boys.
“I’m in,” Brody said for Adam, David, and himself.

A few seconds later….

“On your mark, get set….BANANA PEEL!” David exclaimed.

The four boys ran as quickly as they possibly could to the lake. They were all wearing their gym shoes, but they could feel the weird feeling of the sand brushing up at them. It wasn’t so bad running down the hill to the lake, but the challenge that Brody was given by David was most likely going to prove otherwise.

Brody won the little race that they had, with John coming in second, Andrew in third, and David last. Oh well. The person with first place would win absolutely nothing. Just a fun guys’ day on the lake.

The boys didn’t really do much on the beach. They skipped rocks. They walked around for a bit. But not much else. For some very odd reason, there were few people who were actually on the beach. There was an older couple who seemed to enjoy themselves and the sun tan that they were both about to get. Also, there was a family with two girls who made sand castles and ate hot dogs.

But they were the only people on the beach, besides the boys of course. Andrew, Brody, David, and John walked a little further toward a steep hill that David thought could be a challenge to Brody. They wanted to be by the water, but, because they still had their gym shoes on, they didn’t actually get close enough to the water. The four boys walked toward the steep hill and eyed it for a few moments. David was hoping that Brody, being the extremely headstrong person that he is, was ready for the challenge that lay ahead of him.

“Hey Brody, are you ready to die yet?” David asked his younger Irish twin brother.
“I have prepared for it,” Brody replied without much thought.
“You ready to run up that hill?”
“Again, I’m prepared. Am I supposed to sprint or can I run a little slower?”
“Your call. Whichever is best for you, but you just have to make it up that steep hill without dying. Cool?” David explained.
“Cool,” Brody remarked, not quite sure if he was truly ready for this challenge. He looked at the hill and started to have doubts. However, his huge sense of being headstrong got in the way after a few moments.

Brody did a few stretches before the challenge. He threw his arms over his head and bent over backwards. Because of this, his shirt was pulled up so that his stomach and belly button were supposed, his mop of brown hair touching the sand. Then, he sat down and stretched his legs. Brody knew he had this challenge, and he was going to kill it.

A few minutes later….

“Are you ready?” David asked.
“Yes, I’m ready! You know how I am!” Brody exclaimed.
“On your mark….get set….”
“I’M OFF!!!!”

The three boys cheered loudly for Brody as he attempted to run up the hill. And they saw him go for it. In his mind, Brody knew that he was going to achieve his goal by running up the hill. Partially because he was hoping that whatever he ordered from the fast food joint was on David, but also because Brody has always been a very stubborn person who believes that he can do anything as long as he puts his mind to it. No matter what the consequences would be afterwards, Brody was going to run up the hill, hopefully with no problem.

Brody was still running up the hill; David knew that he was going to try to make it all the way up. After Brody made it half-way, and was, of course, going to go for the whole way, the three boys started making their way up the steep hill. They ran a bit of the way, but then they decided to walk the rest of the way. After seven minutes of the journey up the hill, they found Brody lying on his stomach on the ground, breathing very hard.

Well….

“Congratulations, Brody. You won the bet,” John stated.
“What?” Brody asked, still breathing hard.
“No, you really won. You made it to the top with no problem,” David remarked.
“I’m lying on my stomach, trying really hard to breathe,” Brody spoke quickly, then having to take another breath. He could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest, which actually hurt with each heartbeat.
“Whatever you order, on me.”
“Thanks, David.”
“Any time.”

​​Check out Rockybado, Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game, Rockybado 3: The Invasion of the Naughty Blue Aliens, and Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

For some double awesome stuff, check out The Crazy Chicken Escapade and The Somewhat Perilous Plot of the Patriotic Mosquitoes!

A short snippet from Rockybado

After the surgery, Brett Ingram was wheeled into the recovery room. When the nurse woke him up, it took him a while to open his eyes. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, and he also had the pulse oximeter on his finger, with an IV stuck in his arm. When he finally got back to his senses, his throat felt like it was on fire. His ears were pretty sore as well. Overall, he was really thirsty, and he was wondering where his mom and Dawson, his older brother, were.

Brett’s eyes felt very heavy. He wanted to sleep for as long as he could, and the nurse encouraged him to do that.

The nurse offered him a cherry popsicle to suck on to alleviate the pain, and she also dampened some sponges for him to suck on. Even though this helped a little, Brett was still incredibly thirsty. But he couldn’t use a straw for at least two weeks.

While Brett was sleeping in the recovery room, he felt a cold metal thing on his chest, but he was too out of it to open his eyes and try to figure out what it was. In his subconscious, he knew exactly what it was, but he was still sleeping soundly.

It was the nurse’s stethoscope.

'Tis Haiku Monday.
Not even Haiku Tuesday.
But Haiku Monday.

A cup of coffee.
Sounds so very good right now.
A chai tea latte.

London fog tea drink.
Another alternative.
Or hazelnut drink.

I could have some tea.
But what flavor do I choose?
There are so many.

I am sitting here.
Writing this beautiful blog.
​About my coffee.

And also my books.
B. Levi, World of Sci-Fi.
Check them out today!

​Rockybado's good.
Jazzy Isle of Dinosaurs.
Magic Vid'ya Game.

​Hello, everyone!

I know that I have been including snippets of past writing projects for quite a while. However, for this weekend, I would like to take the time to shy away from that and focus all of my attention on the kids in the Rockybado series, especially Brett Ingram. He is the second oldest of the Ingram's, and he doesn't always get a lot of attention.

There are Dawson Allan Wickes Ingram (the oldest), Brett Jason Ingram (the second oldest), David Baker Ingram (the third), Brody Andrew Ingram (the fourth), and Toby Ingram (fifth and adopted). 

Here are ten more fun facts about Brett that you may not have known before.

1. Unlike the rest of the kids in the Ingram family, Brett has flat feet.
2. Despite the fact that Brett is flat-footed, he has taken up several sports, such as tennis, bowling, roller blading, and running.
3. One of his best friends in high school was his pro bono personal trainer. They live in Brooklyn, New York, together.
4. Brett played tennis during his freshman year in high school. He had tried out again during his sophomore year, but he decided to pursue bowling instead.
5. From sophomore year to high school graduation, he was on the bowling team.
6. Brett's main musical instrument is the guitar, but he also sings and plays piano quite well.
7. In his free time, Brett enjoys a lot of things, including spending time with his family, friends, girlfriend Olivia Cranston (The Magic Video Game), reading, exploring New York City and other cities, playing music, tennis, and running.
8. Brett lives in Brooklyn, New York with three of his friends, one from high school, and the other two from college. 
9. Brett still stays in contact with his former bandmates from Mr. Morton and The Hawaiian Geeks. He is now currently in a garage band with his college friends/roommates and a couple others from New York City. 
10. Brett's favorite food is Indian food.

Here you go!

Next week, I may or may not have a surprise for you. We'll see....

Welp, have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

You Know Who (The Ballad of the Flying Banjo​)

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

David Ingram, Brody Ingram, Andrew McCalsky, and Adam Levistad were at the bar tonight. It was only nine o’clock at night, and they weren’t quite sure how long they were going to stay there. However, Brody and Andrew knew what they were going to get. They wanted to their house wine. Too bad they didn’t have baklava to go with it. David didn’t know what drink he wanted to get yet. With that in mind, he decided to get himself some nachos. And Adam wanted nachos as well. Andrew and Brody didn’t want food yet. But they would probably get something later.

​“Have you always wanted to try the house wine?” Andrew asked his best friend.
“I wasn’t too crazy about it until now,” Brody replied.
“Really? I’m shocked to hear that.”
“I’ve always wanted to try the beer.”
“What do you think Adam and David will get?” Andrew questioned.
“Hard to say, really,” Brody answered.
“I predict that Adam will get the exact same thing as us.”
“The house wine?”
“And David will probably try a hard cider.”
“Those are his favorite.”