metal karasu He climbe the steps to the room where the ghosts played their incessant card game. somethng about the effect they had on the cards forced him to buy them a new deck every three or four days they had the same effect on the wooden chairs and table they had been playing at since he had come to inhabit the house, for this reason, though they complained about it he had bought them a metal folding table and a set of ordinary steel folding chairs he brought them the new deck and did the honorary first shuffle before passing it to the tall slim spectre who had been the de facto dealer for a number of years the old deck sat, semi transparent, on the desk across the room and as he picked it up and prepared to dispose of it, he finally realized why they no longer wanted to play with the old decks they had almost no weight and as he fanned them out in his hand like an old sleight-of-hand artist and realized he could see the face sides of each card though they were turned away from him the chair and table were another story they maintained the appearance of solidity, but had become so ethereal that even this motley assemblage of apparitions had begun to fall through them if they did not remain focused on the act of remaining seated he bargained with the two burly ghosts on opposite sides of the table to carry that stuff to the attic on the promise that he would acquire and burn a couple of fine cuban cigars as an offering to them whn they were done the toll of the effort was quite visible as they strained to shift themselves to the same plane as the furniture as added compensation for their efforts, he poured a couple of six-packs into the soil and twisted the arms of the right people to get a whole box of cubans smuggled by a vacationing concierge from a casino in Berlin when he went up to express his thanks for the effort, he could see that the party was in high gear with each of his companions enjoying the party favors he had provided he brought along his bottle of scotch and the cigar he had kept for himself and they dealt him in for a few rounds the game was going well until he turned over his cards and realized he was holding the dead_man's_hand, and where the rest of them could laugh it off on the basis that they were already there, they regarded him gravely and shared his concern, he excused himself from the table the cockroach found a little gap in the wood paneling and slipped between 010621 ... guitar_freak perfection in complication 011122 ... sharkieandgeorge "Ooohhh! Shiny meatal!" 020704 ... psychobabe GAH RAGE INSANITY GRIPPING AT MY VEINS!!!!!!!!! RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! *mosh* *mosh* *mosh* *mosh* 040803 ... guitar_freak So I finally got to go to a Metallica concert (with Godsmack). I haven't been so psyched for anything in years. It was awesome! so so awesome. I've wanted to go to a Metallica concert since I was like 14 years old! Years later- there I was. hehhe I feel giddy as a teenage girl. 040908 ... guitar_freak thats funny considering i still am a teenage girl. 3 more months and I thankfully will not have that distinction any more 041112 what's it to you? who go blather from