Every time I see him I am reminded of why opening up your heart to anyone is at best a calculated risk, and at worst a fool’s errand. He is strong and capable, but simultaneously tormented and weak. He is—despite his claims to the contrary—too human for his own good.

The fact that he is not really real should keep me from feeling too sad, but it doesn’t…because I am in love with Shane Walsh.

Who is Shane Walsh? He is a character from The Walking Dead—a series of graphic novels by Robert Kirkman turned into one of the world’s hottest cable television shows by AMC and an insanely talented production crew.

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By Yours Truly, with an assist from the other half of my brain RC Murphy

When we look at the world around us today, there is plenty to dampen our mood or scare us into near emotional paralysis. Wars. Human rights abuses. Wacky weather. Government meltdowns. Corporate greed. And all that beyond whatever may be happening for us individually at work, at home, in our relationships.

But still there is plenty to be thankful for. (Yes, tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S. and we’ve purposely chosen to run with this now even though the idea has been percolating for some time.)

Anyone who knows either Renee or myself knows we are huge fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead and Commanders on the Zombie Survival Crew, so some of you may be able to guess where this is going.

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Had a rough week? I’ve got your cure.

I’m not going to spoil the following for you.

I will merely say thank you to CNN’s Anderson Cooper for the biggest laugh I’ve had in weeks….and happy Friday everybody!

For some time now I have been searching for an adequate way to explain why I disappeared from my personal blog for so long. The reason, put simply, is zombies. But somehow, that single word just doesn’t quite capture the insanity of the last few months.

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It started back in November 2010 when I claimed I’m not crazy, but my zombie crew may be and strategized the kinds of skill sets a survivors’ crew would really need to survive the Zombieapocalypse. The response was overwhelming.

In a few short weeks, I created an official command structure and gathered a formidable force of co-Commanders that includes Norman Reedus, Jinxie G, Anthony Guajardo, Irone Singleton, RC Murphy and LK Gardner-Griffie to help lead the official Zombie Survival Crew.

Over the last few months – as the Command crew has traveled around the U.S. (and virtually around the world) to recruit crew members – we’ve been attacked repeatedly by Jason Voorhees, crossed light sabers with a half-dozen Jedis and realized that having a solid plan for a zombie infestation, earthquake or manmade disaster and the crew to back it up is something that many people take very seriously.

As a result, everyone in Command has been working like mad (on top of their normal day job responsibilities) to make the Zombie Survival Crew a space where horror fans, survivalists, authors, artists, the socially conscious and those who need some help in formulating a solid plan can come together and plan to survive.

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It’s not easy. And it certainly generates a massive amount of stress – and, sometimes, keeps me away from my favorite little writing nook, this blog. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I love every crazy over-caffeinated second of it! But sometimes (well, a lot of the time actually) I release some of the stress by engaging in “poke wars” with friends on Facebook.

Little did I know that all the poking would result in the most sublime assessment thus far of what my life is like as commander in chief of the Zombie Survival Crew, compliments of my poke buddy and proud Zombie Survival Crew brigade member Jennifer Curry (a.k.a. @jennlynn77).

She calls me the Pokarina and crafted the following in my honor. (Try humming the song, “Escape” …you know, The Pina Colada Song, as you read)

If you like Pina Coladas…and getting POKED in the rain…If you’re really into zombies…if you can shoot them in the brain…If you like coffee at midnight…in the light of the Con…then she’s the one that you’ve searched for…come poke her and escape.

So know you all know why I’ve been so quiet around here in recent months. It was, hopefully, a temporary absence and I’m chomping at the bit (no zombie pun intended I swear) to get back to human rights, environmental topics and vampires.

But if you come knocking and I don’t appear to be around?

Well that just means I’m out slaying zombies…

I thought I was going to make it. I really did.

Yes, barring any sort of a confundus charm to dull my wits the end of Harry Potter was going to hurt. But with True Blood’s Eric Northman-heavy season heading into episode four, and filming of my other favorite television show The Walking Dead underway around Atlanta, I thought I’d make through today without shedding a tear.

Boy was I wrong. Repeatedly.

So what’s today? Premiere night for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 if you’re living under a rock …or just couldn’t make sense of the fools in cloaks gathering at your local movie theater.

Yes, this is it. The end of a decade-long fascination with the world of Harry Potter, of countless hours spent wandering the halls of Hogwarts thanks to the brilliant mind of one J.K. Rowling. And now, my mind feels as though it’s fallen victim to an evil wizard’s casting of a crucio spell. Like the spider tormented by Mad-Eye Moody (sob) in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire I’m twitching, screaming silently, desperate for the pain to end… and yet, when the doors fly open for the midnight showings tonight I won’t be entering the theater.

A lot has been written over the last couple days about the worldwide phenomena that is Harry Potter. The series about a young wizard coming of age amidst a battle against the most evil wizard to ever live, the story of a young man forced to fight a grownup’s battle, a story of love and friendship and triumph that captured hearts worldwide. Harry Potter’s brave fight resonated across linguistic, cultural and societal barriers to unite fans around the world in Pottermania.

It was, and is,  ..well… magical.

As Chris Heller wrote for NPR, the Potter generation – those who were children when the series’ first book was published in 1995 – lived much of Harry’s experiences, identified with each growing pain, and recognized themselves in the boy wizard’s journey from awkward childhood to capable adult.

But what about the rest of us? What possible excuse could I, or any other adult, have for knowing precisely what “avada kedavra” does or why Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore never sought the coveted Minister of Magic position?

Love.

That is the true magic of Harry Potter. From the moment any of us met “The Boy Who Lived” we were smitten. As the characters of the Potterverse battled through jealousy, power struggles, discrimination, deception, self-doubt, betrayal and all the other ills that plague the human condition, love was their only true abiding hope.

So, yeah, I shed some tears today ….and I’m not ready to let go of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and least of all Severus Snape, even though I know going to the theater this weekend for “the end” is an absolute must.

But not tonight….as Muggles flock to the theater for the final battle of Hogwarts I’ll be starting (yet another) Harry Potter marathon from the very beginning and hoping, somehow, that the story doesn’t really have to end.

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First time I ever laid eyes on Anthony Guajardo he was covered in tattoos and calling everybody “puto.” Little did I know at the time that beneath The Walking Dead grime of a character named Miguel dwelt a young actor with a heart of gold.

 

As many of my regular readers know, Anthony has since come onboard as a co-captain of the Zombie Survival Crew, issuing video dispatches from the ZSC Command Center for the brigades.

The truth is there’s a lot more to this intelligent, engaged teenage actor from San Antonio, TX than zombies and temporary tattoos. I asked Anthony to make an appearance here to talk about something besides walkers and share his hopes for 2011.

Somehow I convinced Anthony to take me on essay style in a battle to the death of his fingers …. He gets points for bravery, especially after what happened to IronE “T-Dog” Singleton when he decided to take on the crew!

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Anybody who follows me as @jterzieff on twitter (and really? If you’re not, what are you waiting for?) or reads this blog on any sort of the regular basis knows that I was overrun by the shambling hordes after I publicly admitted to having a zombie crew pre-arranged to ensure survival during a zombiepocalypse.

To keep the rotting corpses from pulling me under – and because the strategy sessions were off the hook – I decided, with a few trusty co-captains, to make Zombie Survival Crew official.

Just in the last few days we have thrown open the doors to the ZSC Command Center to begin worldwide recruitment.

But amidst all the plotting, planning, weapons practice and survival supply procurement, I discovered there is a price to pay for being ready to survive a global cataclysmic event.  

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Sleep deprivation.

 

We’re talking walking into walls, spill coffee down your shirt, call people by the wrong names, fall asleep standing up in the shower…. sleep deprivation.

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As my regular readers know I have been assaulted by the shambling hordes of The Walking Dead in recent weeks following my blog statement “I’m Not Crazy, but my Zombie Crew may be” …

So I was a little shocked – but delighted — when @kysilka came at me with the idea to host a Twelve Days of Christmas blogathon! It was, I thought, a chance to escape the rotting flesh for a few moments and bring my readers back to the days when my freak flag wasn’t flying full mast.

Ummm, yeah,…. about that.

Like everything else in recent weeks, it didn’t turn out exactly like I planned…because as soon as I sat down to think about what I would want my true love to bring me, welllllll, you’ll see ….

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How it works: Participating bloggers are putting up their personal version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” on their blogs and leaving their post URLs in the comment section below this post.

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So here it is and try not to cry …. Juliette’s Twelve Days of Christmas dedicated to my TBFF Pauline, a.k.a. @AspiringMama without whom I literally could not have done this …

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On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,

A zombie lurkin’ in a hashtag

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On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,

Two shiny crossbows,

And a zombie lurkin’ in a hashtag.

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On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,

Three Walking Dead,

Two shiny crossbows,

And a zombie lurkin’ in a hashtag.

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I know you will all be terribly shocked and scandalized to find that today’s little offering has nothing to do with zombies or The Walking Dead. *pauses as ripple of indignation passes through the crowd*

Yep, it’s true … today we’re talking vampires … or rather #zombiesurvivalcrew mate @Alta03 is writing them!

Her entry – I Vampire Kissed a Girl and I Liked It – made it to the final round of Devin O’Branagan’s Vampire Kissed Flash Fiction Contest. Way to go Alta!! I am going to keep my words short and let Alta’s efforts speak for her …. Check out her entry via the title link above and give her a vote! Voting ends Dec. 31.

Good luck Alta!!!

 

#zombiesurvivalcrew lurves you!!

 

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 Top Moments of The Walking Dead Season 1

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It’s over. (*sobs*) And now fans of The Walking Dead are left to ponder and pine for almost a year before we get to see Rick Grimes and crew decapitate more zombies.

Anyone who was on twitter the night of the finale got to laugh, squeal, shake their head as I bit my finger bloody through the explosive last episode.

I got so thoroughly over-excited that had it not been for faithful #zombiesurvivalcrew members @PatriciaIVicens, @jogden38 and @creativeconduit I would have missed the code to enter for the shamble on role – thank you again ladies!

Our only solace in the immediate aftermath of the finale was the generosity of IronE Singleton – a.k.a. TDog – our #zombiesurvivalcrew co-captain, who came on to the blog and answered all our questions with a depth of sincerity that was astounding.

I ended up having to go back and watch the finale two more times before I was even able to begin processing what I actually saw. Sitting down to think about it after, I began running through my

 top moments of season one

 

Here is where I landed ….

1 – Rick & Glenn take a walk –

Anyone who wasn’t shaking on their couch when walker-goo-covered Rick & Glenn took a horrifying walk through Atlanta’s zombie-infested streets just simply isn’t human. This was the epitome of (fictional) bravery and left many of us watchers wondering – could we do the same?

This was the perfect example of what it would take from each individual to survive a zombie apocalypse, and if you can’t hack it – you’ll be meat.

2 – Dale & Andrea –

A lot of people have asked and here is the answer. The scene near the finale’s end when Dale makes his amazing sacrifice was the moment my finger began to bleed. If the interplay between this loving, wise, generous father figure and the “daughter” he’s devoted to had gotten any more real I probably would have ended up in the hospital.

It’s moments like this that will carry The Walking Dead forward. And, yes, I know that death stalks them all, but I’m hoping Darabont, Kirkman and crew will keep this kind of character interaction very much alive.

3 – Daryl’s Squirrel toss –

Daryl had the best entrance of all the characters (with the exception of maybe Glenn). Three plus weeks later I’m still trying to figure out my favorite part. It’s a hard choice, because everything in that sequence was sublime — from the squirrel toss and the illegal choke hold, to “C’mon people, what the hell?!? It’s gotta be the brain. Dontcha all know nothin’?!?” and tears for his brother.

In the span of just a couple minutes The Walking Dead gave us a multi-dimensional character you just knew you were going to love to hate.  This was refreshing compared to the very one-dimensional introductions we received to most of the other characters. And, of course, it wasn’t much of a surprise that Daryl quickly became a fan favorite.

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