User blog:Spikewitwicky/July 19, 2017 - Spike's Journal Entry



I spent the night on Buster and Jesse's couch, since it was getting late. We talked quite a bit, about dad, about work, about the Autobots, about DJ.

Buster's boss looked at his book, or at least part of it. So did I. It's definitely not lazy. I can tell he put his heart and soul into it. And, I don't know if it's the mechanic aspect of me, or I'm too much of a literalist, but it reminded me of some of the sci-fi and fantasy books that Buster used to read. I'm not talking the Vonnegut or even Nail Gaiman books. I'm talking about the ones where you practically need a side reference book to keep track of the characters, the dialect, etc. It would be like me trying to explain a Dream Theatre album to dad.

Anyway, Buster's boss, or dean, I should say...he's one of those guys that seem to be so perfect, you'd think the college got him on a display rack. He does half marathons. He writes a book every two years that's very popular, but at the same time, is a hit with the critics. Anyway, he's urging Buster's book, his passion project pretty much, be his second book...and have him write about us. And I mean...ALL of us. Back to Archibald.

The good news - this will give the world a chance to know mom. I know she had a few essays published in her college years, but even those aren't available on the Internet. And though I was too young to actually get this out of her, I know it was probably very much her dream to have her name published for a mass audience to see.

The more troublesome aspect is dad. Dad has already talked to a university student about his experience in the Korean War. He's been notoriously guarded about it, saying he just wants the tapes of the interviews released to us after he dies. I urged Buster to give dad another try. I don't know what exactly he is so guarded about - but since I've never been a POW (captured by Decepticons, yes, but that's a piece of cake compared to what dad went though), I haven't pushed the matter.

Buster wants me to turn over my journal entries, which I'm going to do. But I will do some editing. We've come so far - I don't think he needs to see the pages where I rant on and on about him during our lowest. At one point, I know he said "I hope you die on the operating table." And at some point, I was fine with just leaving Buster with Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron, and having dad and I be with the Autobots full-time without so much as a second thought. I did tell him (not that he needs my permission) to make it honest. I was a dick to him as a kid. I was selfish and thoughtless - too afraid of losing a once-in-a-lifetime experience than to think of my own brother's well-being. That should be documented to get "the full story" out.

I'm laughing a bit thinking about this - maybe in two years or so. Buster was so geeked about Archibald that he said he could write an entire book about him. I think the dean is expecting a very Autobot-heavy book. And I'm picturing the look on his face if he turns to the index and looks for Optimus Prime, and sees all of 3 pages referenced in a 550 page book. Honestly, he'll probably spend more time talking about Ratchet, because that's probably the Autobot he's most closest to. But I'm hoping for a nice, compact 190-page book. Keep it honest, readable, and to the point.