Burn With Me

I'm a horror and thriller writer, martial artist, motorcyclist, cigar aficionado, and family man, and this is what I'm into. MikeOliveri.com

[mikeoliveri]

Hell yeah! Welcome back, Heavy Metal! 🤘

[mikeoliveri]

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, but if a contractor parks his truck too close to your mailbox you ain't getting your mail until tomorrow, bitch.

[mikeoliveri]

Last weekend, I tested with my instructors at the Kosho School of Karate in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was promoted to yondan (4th degree).

I've been training for 18 years next month, but compared to any one of the members of this board, I'm a rookie. Sensei Richard Awad, third from the left, has been training since 1966!

[mikeoliveri]

I entered this as my preferred name on my Verizon account years ago, and it's never stopped being funny.

[mikeoliveri]

I'm getting tired of performative patriotism like this. Dude's so eager to show off his 'Murica boner that he doesn't realize, given all of the road filth on that flag, he may as well just drag it through the mud.

[mikeoliveri]

Coming soon: Heavy Metal Magazine #1

The World's Greatest Illustrated Magazine of Sci-Fi Fantasy and Horror

I was a subscriber for years, and have some back issues that go away back before that time. I'm looking forward to finding out if they can recapture the original spirit of the mag.

[mikeoliveri]

I work for a K-12 public school district. Last school year, we had three FOIA requests demanding a list of all books available in our library.

Every one of those people can get fucked.

[mikeoliveri]

A little perspective.

[mikeoliveri]

The written BuJo method doesn't really fit my needs, but I've fallen down the rabbit hole of the creator's videos, and there's a lot in there to chew on.

Though the thing that continues to nag at me about a lot of videos like this, regardless of the creator, is they never really talk about how to fit their rituals or methods into a regular person's busy day.

I mean sure, I could probably spend a little less time on social media, but I have a full-time job, I run a part-time business, I try to work out regularly, and I have a family. It's not like my days are wasted.

[mikeoliveri]

Donate to Vortex Books & Comics Expansion, organized by Brian Keene

Thanks to the support of our customers, creatives, and the community, things have been so … Brian Keene needs your support for Vortex Books

Help my man @briankeene build out an awesome spot for author events!

[mikeoliveri]

So. We meet again.

[mikeoliveri]

This is a kobudo workout I ran through last week. It was a hell of a sweat.

The check marks are my own methodology for reviewing my workout. A green check means I was pretty happy with it, and the red slash means a minor mistake. Red checks mean I made a mistake but finished, a red X means I done messed up and had to start over. The blue check means I had to walk through it slowly, and probably with the help of a reference like my notes, a book, or a video.

Working like this helps keep my kata fresh, but the main goal is to just keep moving.

[mikeoliveri]

I had a great weekend of training at the Kosho School of Karate in Cincinnati, Ohio. I took a couple of friends out there to train with my teachers, and between Friday night and Saturday morning, we got in a good five hours of training.

I like to get over to Kosho as often as I can. Sensei Dave Hamann (9th Dan Shuri-ryu), on the left in the photo, is an excellent instructor. Another Kosho instructor, Sensei Nate England (6th Dan Shuri-ryu), started his training at the same school I did, and he is currently my Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo instructor as well. It's always a good, hard workout, I learn something, and it motivates me to get my own training back in order rather than just teaching all the time.

I just learned this blog is now 12 years old, and this post reminds me of why I started it. Time to dust off the cobwebs and get back to it.

[mikeoliveri]

This is a great introductory video to Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo. I'm currently a Shodan (1st degree black belt) in the art, though I hope to test for Nidan (2nd) later this year or early next.

[mathieublz-deactivated20260420]

I definitely wanna see that movie.

[mikeoliveri]

Illinois students hire bagpiper to follow high school principal around in noisy senior prank

“We get a fair amount of gig requests,” the 34-year-old bagpiper told the Star Journal. “Most are funerals or weddings. Maybe a birthday. Bu

This piper is a good friend, former co-worker, and my kids' former band teacher, and I promise you they could not have picked a better guy to harass an administrator.

[mikeoliveri]

Remnants of a Legendary Typeface Rescued From the River Thames

The Doves typeface was thrown into the water a century ago, following a dispute between its creators. Pieces of it are now on show in London

Imagine being a typography or book nerd and finding a lost typeface in a river.