09 Jun 08

From Iron Man (Letter 3)

Iron Man - A martial-arts expert and personal trainer whose crimes include smashing someone’s door down: "I didn’t hurt anyone. I just wanted my fuckin’ money." His workouts are brutal. "I’ll have you in the best shape of your life by the time you get out," he told me.


June 1st, 2008

Shaun,

Hello, brother. I hope that all is well with you and your family there across the pond.

It is 12:00 noon right now and I just woke up from a 2 hour nap. Had a massive chest workout this morning including 30 minutes of hardcore burpies, 10 sets of dips and an additional 500 pushups. It was divine.
We do our burpies at dawn now, 3 days a week minimum. There just isn’t anything quite like feeling your heart hammering inside your chest, and the sound of blood rushing in your ears as the sun breaks over the horizon. Downright fucking mystical.

Thanks for your recent letter. It was great to hear from you. I read your recent blog entries that you sent to Shannon as well. I’m sorry to hear about your literary agent. I pray that she wins her battle with cancer.
I can tell by the tone of your letter and recent blog entries that you are having a battle within yourself and are facing a lot of turmoil and frustration over your plans. Stay strong, my brother. Perseverance is the best evidence of sincerity, and things are always the hardest before a major breakthrough. Commitment and dedication to the achievement of your goals will result in the accomplishment of your goals. I know that you know this already, but sometimes it helps to hear it from those who believe in you.

I saw the pictures of you and Cat Eyes doing the flying bow. She looks and sounds like a lot of fun. I read the comment about how she wondered how easily or long I could hold her in a flying bow. The answer is as long as she wanted me to.
Hopefully you’ve cut all ties with Posh Bird by now because she sounds like a wily creature indeed. Remember, a good smart warrior never picks a battle he cannot win.

My medical issue seems to be straightening itself out. Must have been the food. They’ve since changed the menu to a new “Heart Healthy” menu. Basically they’ve done away with all the special diets except the vegetarian diet, and cut the portion sizes in half. They’ve also raised all the prices in the commissary, and cut everybody’s job hours. Less food, less money to buy food in the commissary, and higher prices for food in the store. There are a lot of hungry, angry men walking around here.

Life in my side of the dorm is a lot better than it used to be. The noise level has gone way down since I lost my cool about a month ago. I’d had my fill of noisy, disrespectful assholes in here yelling and fucking around all the time, so I waited until after the 8:30 pm count, and threw down the gauntlet – in a big way. You know how it is, brother: what you are willing to put up with is exactly what you will have. Well, now everyone here knows what I am willing to put up with, and things are going along smoothly and quietly.

I got to meet my newest grandson last week for the first time. He is 6 months old and just the happiest little guy you’d ever meet. Holding him really helped to put things in perspective for me.

Shaun, my brother, I know that things can get discouraging sometimes out there. I also know that you have great strength and spirit within you. You do have what it takes to make for yourself whatever it is you want.

Reach inside yourself and seize that power within yourself. Seize the fucking day!

Love and Respect,

Iron Man

Email comments to writeinside@hotmail.com or post them below

Copyright © 2007-2008 Shaun P. Attwood