Day 18 - 7/10/21 - Saturday.
- mainemoviepirate
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
Actual Journal Entry:
“First truly good night’s sleep since I arrived here. I’m really digging this setup; lots of writing. Funny how I can write all day here but only in the morning at home. The real world is too much of a distraction for me, I guess. Must change that when I get home. Re-reading The Twilight Zone Companion inspires me also. Rod Serling wrote like a crazy person all his life; once he had an early success, he dug out the trunk stories and cashed in. I wonder how many other successful writers have done the same. A lot, I bet.
Publishing Idea: A magazine and website that is fiction/non-fiction 100% written by inmates. You must have a print version so the prisoners can receive them; you would have a captive audience. Yes, you will get a lot of crap (just like the ‘real’ publishing world), but what about those diamonds in the rough? There may already be one; if so, why aren’t I submitting stuff!?! Research This.
Started a new short story tentatively called, Visiting Hours, and it’s not about a prison! A straight-up drama, different for me and slightly based on events in my own life. Still on the fence. May finish it and destroy it if I can’t handle it. Destroying Art—that would be a first for me.
I wonder how often they will forget me up here in the penthouse SHU suite. I still haven’t got my morning meds. I can’t exactly call up and lodge a complaint with management. Hmmm…
Business Idea: (Man, I’m busting open with ideas today; that’s what a good night’s sleep does for you.) This is actually a re-hash of an idea I had years ago. I was too busy fighting financially to pursue it. I had already planned to get into real estate upon my release—slowly, small ventures first as I learn the ropes. But once I am established, I also want to get into the legal pot business (after my acquittal or pardon, of course) and pursue building mini-strip malls with a pot store as an anchor store. Maybe I’ll buy run-down ones at first. No matter how economically depressed an area is, as long as I can get a pot license there. Yes, some other tenants will be opposed to being next to a pot store, but f*ck ‘em; the smart ones will realize the traffic it will bring. It could work, and be fun to experiment with.
Another thing I realized just the other day is that my goal to become a minimalist has been realized. Now, if I can perfect it, refine it, and engrain it into my head and my habits when I exit the SHU/Prison, I can incorporate it into my everyday life. Might be a challenge, we’ll see.
BRUNCH: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, an Orange. Funny, at home when T. makes pancakes for the kids, I always turn them down. Today I went down on those two pancakes like a fat kid on a bowl of triple-scoop ice cream. Medium Brunch; there have been better. But I ate it all.
Wrote most of the day on Null, the Journal rewrites (this), and letters to Mom and T. I doubt the rest of this entry will fit on this page. My first three-pager! I’m a writing fool. Worked out, read, took naps; not much happening here on my second day in Solitary Confinement. I still feel I’m doing okay. But how do you really know if your mental health is suffering? I’m not particularly sad, depressed, or anxious. I mean, I want to go to the camp, but I also want to keep writing like this. Since I shared half my batteries with ‘E’ when he walked by yesterday, I have to preserve my batteries till Wednesday. Not a lot of radio listening—just time checks and news briefs. This whole thing is a test of willpower, but I think I’m passing. Chilling and waiting on supper unless they forget me. But they haven’t yet. It is my goal to beat E’s record of 23 days. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble beating that. One thing I do miss from the lower level is the hall quotes from CO’s and other inmates. Maybe I can ask ‘E’ if he’s still talking to me.
SUPPER: Weirdly similar to last night—chicken, unknown veggies, and pasta. Also collard greens (served a lot) and bread. The chicken/pasta was way better because I think it had peppers in it. I ate it all.
Worked out (again), shower, reading & bed. Another day down. Done! I was wrong; got it all on two pages!”
Notes for Day 18 (Four Years Later)
The effect of me being all alone definitely showed in this entry. This is how I intended every journal entry to be (even today)—full of ideas, thoughts, partial stories, and quotes. It’s kind of funny: the fuller my actual journal is, the less I have to write in these updated notes.
I do think the journal basically replaced my conversations with ‘E’; that could be one reason these entries are longer.
One final thing: when I mentioned giving the batteries to ‘E’, there’s a rule that SHU inmates cannot pass any items to each other. But guess who was transporting ‘E’ back down to our old cell? Yup, “Game Time.” He gave me permission to roll a couple of batteries under the door to my buddy. This shows “Game Time” was a decent guy after all. Honestly, it was my general experience that most of the guards were decent people. Another prison stereotype destroyed by actually living the situation. That’s all I’ve got for this one.
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