Corruption of a Minor

Today’s misdemeanor :
Corruption of  a Minor

Because ‘statutory rape’ sounds so….well, arrest worthy. 

If you’ve been following for a while, you’d know that I usually start off these misdemeanor posts with an anecdote from my own rebellion filing cabinet. (I originally wrote ‘cabinets’ but deleted the ‘s’ because, let’s face it- there’s only really one cabinet, way back in a dark corner.  And its contents are quickly being depleted by these posts.  I might just have to go out and start committing misdemeanors so I’ll have more material.)

As I was saying- yes, my experience.  So, long story short: I was sixteen.  He was eighteen.  And in the heat of summer, while the moon shone down upon us on the sandy-covered beach we…pfft! (Yeah- like I’m really going to blog about that.  You thought I would, didn’t you?  Bunch a perves=)

Seriously though, has anyone else purposely waited until their characters were ‘legal’ before the sex scene is written or implied?  I’ve been noticing this as I read through some of the YA books that came in recently.  The mc’s are virgins and if they aren’t eighteen already, they either get down to business after their birthdays or quite near to it.  Ofcourse, there are more than enough literary examples of under-aged girls hooking up with an older guys sans problem as well.

What do you think about younger mc’s doing the 'woohoo' with an older counterpart in literature?  Do you think it’s something we as authors need to be conscious of or would you let the characters play out despite going against social norms?

If you’d like to catch up on Creepy’s Misdemeanor Mondays- click here.

**I apologise to my old-time followers for the shameless rerun.  The kids and I all went back to school/work today so I had about zero time this afternoon. Hope you all had a great weekend!**

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

The Microsoft Word demo on our new computer has run out and I'm officially on 'word. doc lock-down' until I (locate our old version amidst the various software in our desk drawers/make hubby sit down to actually..) install it.  Therefore I apologise in advance for all the hideous spelling errors this post will inevitably contain.  I feel like I'm giving a lecture with my clothes off.

Today's Monday Misdemeanor:  Defamation
Some of the great plot twists in many books or movies is the moment where we feel the MC has hit rock bottom.  Maybe they've lost a battle, a friend, a family member.


Or maybe they've simply lost their reputation.


Slander is a plot device used by some of the most memorable antagonists.  Whether it's a highschool girl suffering from rumors propogated by her arch nemesis, or a spectacled wizard being called a lunatic in the local papers because he says the wizarding world's equivilent of Hitler is back on the loose- slander is used in order to discredit and bring down the MC.  What works with this method is that it really gives the reader a sense of true loss.  


After all, everyone can relate.  No one likes to have hurtful or false things said about them.  It's painful to think those around us view us in a negative light.  But the most powerful thing about slander and defamation is that often times, if we hear it enough and enough people believe these negative things  - WE could start to believe them.  And when that day comes, all  is truly lost. 


Thankfully, most stories serve as an example that slander can be overcome by knowing who you are, having confidence, determination, and excluding those that think less of you from your life.  


Those stories that show how slander can destroy a person to their very core serve as a reminder that nothing anyone says, writes, or spreads about you should be allowed to determine your self worth and you have the power to overcome it.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today’s Misdemeanor :  Loitering

There’s no great club without a clubhouse-  That little place where your characters meet to discuss the bad guy or revenge tactics.  It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, like you’re a part of their inner circle.  Or in the case of the men from ‘Fight Club’-the basement of some abandoned building where they can bond while punching the living crap out of each other.

In some books it’s the habitual campfire on the beach, or in the woods.  Sometimes it’s the parking lot of some abandoned building or a hut located on the outskirts of an enchanted school of witchcraft and wizardry (gotta have an HP reference.  Now I know why JK Rowling rocks.  She’s got EVERYTHING in her books).

We used to hang out in all of the above.  Well, minus the hut.  Across the railroad tracks and through the woods, to the bonfire keg party we go.  But there was also the Mcdonalds parking lot.  The Baker’s Dozen parking lot.  The 7eleven parking lot.  And the Hank’s Dairy Bar parking lot…you get the picture.  It was a small town.  I consider myself lucky that we didn’t tip cows for fun.

What places have you loitered and what is your favorite meeting place in movies or literature?

To catch up on more Creepy Misdemeanors- click here.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today's Misdemeanor: Vandalism

You never really know what the villain is intending until it shows up written in blood, paint, or lipstick- preferably across a large surface like a wall, your car windshield, or your bathroom mirror (which would be both breaking & entering and vandalism- and pretty frickin creepy in either case)

I tried to think.  I really did.  But I could come up with absolutely NO instances from my past where I resorted to vandalism to get my point across.  It’s just not my style.  I mean, how the hell are you supposed to get even if your intentions are written in BIG RED LETTERS somewhere?  I don’t know about you, but you’d think for a villain- it’d be like shooting yourself in the foot.

Yet even 16 year old Voldemort went a little nuts with the bloody spray paint in ‘The Chamber of Secrets’.  And he still managed to lure his victim into his domain.  Which means the vandalism plot device in thrillers is mostly there for…the thrill.  And it works!

What are some of your favorite/least favorite/creepiest/funniest vandalism scenes in movies and literature?

To catch up on other Creepy Misdemeanors- click here.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Kick-ass characters kicking ass in a kickity ass setting?  What more could you ask for?

Oh, admit it- When George and Fred pulled out their flaming fireworks display during the O.W.L. exams- blew up the wall of overbearing rules, and knocked around the terrible Umbridge in their farewell shebang- you were pumped up right alongside them, weren’t you?

Or how about when the group of mismatched misfits gave Principle Vernon the run around in The Breakfast Club?

Sometimes the stakes are high enough that a little ‘disturbing of the peace’ is in order- The kind of scene that makes you wanna stomp your feet, throw a fist in the air and start chanting Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You.’

 As some of you know, I usually meet my ends in a more roundabout way with small affirmations of who I am and what I stand for. (See my silent protestation of the word ‘sneaked’)

 OK, fine!  I might have participated in my high school walkout to protest against….shit. I don’t remember.

And I might have gotten kicked out of a movie theater when I was fourteen. Well- kicked out by association. The rowdy boys we went with wouldn’t shut their traps and the usher asked our whole row to leave.  In retrospect, what was he thinking?  Who lets a group of preteens loose in the streets of downtown Bordumsville?  It wasn’t pretty.  In the end I succeeded in talking the usher into letting my friend and I back into the building so that when our parents showed up, they wouldn’t suspect that their post pubescent daughters were out wandering the streets with a group of crazed delinquents. 

A week later, however my friend’s mother told her we’d been spotted outside the local Mcdonalds that night and didn't hesitate to call my parents as well.  BAM!!!- Grounded.  Two weeks.  Ugh.  No good deed goes unpunished.

Anyways- 
What's your favorite ‘we will rock you’ scene in books or movies?

If you'd like to catch up on Creepy's Misdemeanors- click here.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today’s Misdemeanor :             Reckless Driving         
A high speed chase in a book or movie can be a cheap thrill or a buzz kill. I admit, I enjoy the crazy maneuvering- the screeching of wheels and shifting of gears.  And my favorite is when the car ‘flies’ off of some higher surface to land with impossible accuracy on a moving object- like a freight train, boat, or big ass tow truck. 

When the mc’s best friend/lover/mother/father

/sister/goldfish is in absolute danger and the author has made you ADORE this character- the high speed reckless driving scene can be essential to the tension.  You want to grab the wheel and scream FASTER! and have to will yourself not to turn a page or two ahead just to make sure they’re safe. (or maybe that’s just me)

Unfortunately, if I were behind the wheel, I’d probably end up driving my car into some obscure, completely-out-of-my-lane object (like a gas tank) and the supporting character would be toast.  Sorry.

I’ve never been a very good driver-which is why I decided to take driving lessons in France in order to survive. You can’t just get away with knowing how to drive here.  Frenchmen let out some serious inner psycho on the road.  If you can’t predict what they’re going to do- you.will.not.live.

This is embarrassing.  But in the five years I had my license in the U.S., I managed to get pulled over for:

Speeding-  1^st transgression- I got a ticket for going 60 in a 45 and I decided to take it to court. (I was 18)  I told the judge that there was no way I was speeding since I had not only slowed down at the 45m sign but was going uphill and my piece of junk car won’t go faster than that when I go uphill.  (yes, I seriously did use this as an argument).  He must have thought I was funny because he went on to explain that they’d got me with a radar-but he told me to get my speedometer checked and waved the ticket.

2^nd transgression-  The officer pulled me over and said I’d been going 65 in a 45.  I told him that was impossible because my car was overheating and I was crawling to get home.  My car WAS overheating.  You could see the smoke.  He let me go with a warning. (You starting to see a pattern here?)

Headlight out-  I had a Ford Probe with those stupid batmat flip-up headlights.  One of them wouldn’t open, but I had a special way of ‘fixing’ it.  When the officer pulled me over and said I had a headlight out I asked him 'if I could get out of the car?'  He said yes.  I took my hustry trusty headband, pulled up the headlight and jambed it in underneath to prop it up.  The officer scratched his chin and rolled his eyes heavenward muttering something about ‘women’ before letting me go.

Backing Down a Highway On-ramp because there was nobody around to see me....except the officer waiting for me at the end.  Sorry folks- there’s just no getting out of that one:)

What do you think about reckless driving scenes in movies and literature?  Cheap thrill or buzz kill?


If you'd like to catch up on more of Creepy's Misdemeanors-  click here.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today’s Misdemeanor:  Stalking

Boy meets Girl.  Boy follows Girl.  Boy can’t get Girl out of his head.  Boy starts showing up where the girl is supposed to be….obvious places…like her bedroom.  Sound familiar?

I think the worst ‘stalker moment’ I had while under the influence of puberty pool molecules was calling up cute boys and hanging up as soon as they answered.  Thankfully this was before the invention of caller ID.

And I myself have never been stalked by a handsome devil in black who will stop at nothing to have me (much to my dismay).  But perhaps that’s what makes the literary ‘stalker’ so appealing…

While stalking has been debated about with recent YA titles like ‘Twilight’ and ‘Hush Hush’- It’s actually been used to create romantical (yes, I’m totally making up that word) tension throughout the ages.

Romeo sees Juliette and goes a little nuts.  He throws rocks at her window, convinces her- not only to get married against her parents' will, but to down some poison to knock her out dead for a few days so they could be together.  Looked at it this way, it all sounds a bit psycho.  But Shakespeare’s play remains one of the most romantic stories in history.

'Crazy Man Behavior' (or what I like to refer to as 'CMB') shows up in a myriad of novels, genres, and scenarios.  Many people can’t make heads nor tails of it.  Shouldn’t the female mc’s be a little freaked out?  How can they find this ‘I will have you’ attitude appealing?

As for myself, ahem, I’ll be honest. I think it’s kind of flattering when the dark brooding hottie goes after the mc with everything he’s got—social norms be dammed!  

What do you think about stalking behavior in literature?  Crazy romantic?  Or just plain crazy?

If you'd like to catch up on other Creepy Misdemeanors- click here

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today’s misdemeanor :  Corruption of  a Minor

Because ‘statutory rape’ sounds so….well, arrest worthy. 

If you’ve been following for a while, you’d know that I usually start off these misdemeanor posts with an anecdote from my own rebellion filing cabinet. (I originally wrote ‘cabinets’ but deleted the ‘s’ because, let’s face it- there’s only really one cabinet, way back in a dark corner.  And its contents are quickly being depleted by these posts.  I might just have to go out and start committing misdemeanors so I’ll have more material.)

As I was saying- yes, my experience.  So, long story short: I was sixteen.  He was eighteen.  And in the heat of summer while the moon shone down upon us on the sandy covered beach we…pfft!  (Yeah- like I’m really going to blog about that.  You thought I would, didn’t you?  Bunch a perves=)

Seriously though, has anyone else purposely waited until their characters were ‘legal’ before the sex scene is written or implied?  I’ve been noticing this as I read through some of the YA books that came in recently.  The mc’s are virgins and if they aren’t eighteen already, they either get down to business after their birthdays or quite near to it.  Ofcourse, there are more than enough literary examples of under-aged girls hooking up with an older guys sans problem as well.

What do you think about younger mc’s doing the 'woohoo' with an older counterpart in literature?  Do you think it’s something we as authors need to be conscious of or would you let the characters play out despite going against social norms?

If you’d like to catch up on Creepy’s Misdemeanor Mondays- click here.

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Underage Drinking

Like any red blooded american teenager, I had my fair share of run ins with underage drinking. Surprisingly enough, the very first time is easy to recall.  I was fifteen and sleeping over my friend Jess's house.  (The ‘sleepover’ antics seem to be a reoccurring theme in these posts. I think I’m going to have to keep a very close eye on my daughters in the future.)

Jess had her license and we picked up some older boys and  headed over to the 7 eleven.  (Yes, small town. That’s where we hung out. Stop laughing) One of them broke out a bottle of southern comfort (I said stop laughing) and we mixed it into our grape slushies.  Breakfast of champions.

Drunken scenes have been slipped into literature since the Fiddler on the Roof sang ‘La Kayim!’ and understandably so.  Adding alcohol to the mix can diminish a writer’s inhibitions on the page about as well as in real life. 

Bad & sad things can happen when people drink.  But good and funny situations can derive from a ‘night out on the town’ as well.  How many times have I read a scene that featured the MC waking up next to the guy she swore she’d never date?  Or having too much champagne and sticking her foot in her mouth? 

Alcohol allows a writer to explore a situation, a character, or even gives them an excuse for their mc do something completely out of character in order to move along the plot.  Many a blogs have debated the ethics of featuring substance abuse in YA and if you're interested, Punk Writer Kid had some interesting things to say on the subject.

I don’t usually do this, but all this talk of drunkenness makes me daring.  So I’m posting an excerpt from my recently finished manuscript where one of the characters is 'under the influence'.

*    *    *

The metallic car came to a stop and swayed as Avery got in.  She felt the cold metal through her jeans as she scooted over to make room for Scott.

“What the hell, man!!??” 

Avery looked up, startled by a commotion near the ticket line and then jumped back as a muscled body pushed his way into the passenger car. 

“Keep the change!”  Craig barked at the carny with the backwards cap.  The man frowned but looked down at the long line of tickets in one hand and shrugged, closing the compartment door behind him.  Avery caught a glimpse of Scott’s angry face as the machine lurched forward and they were pulled out of sight.

            Her jaw hung open.  “What the HELL Craig?”

Craig turned towards her and burst out laughing. “God, you should see the look on your face,” he snorted.

Avery’s eyes widened.  “Holy shit, you’re drunk.”  She threw her hands up. “Un-believable.”

Craig’s dark brown eyes were slightly out of focus and his smile wide.  “I am not.  We just had a few beers out in the parking lot.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You smell like you fell into a keg.”

“Thank you.” He leaned in and sniffed her hair.  “Mmmmm. You smell like…apples…and vanilla.”

Avery cracked a smile but caught herself and grit her teeth.  “That was a real jackass maneuver you pulled back there.  Scott has good reason to hate you.  And so do I.”

“Do you?” Craig’s smile faded into a friendly pout.

            “Well, what do you expect Craig?  You’re like a walking, talking, breathing hypocrisy!”

Craig leaned back, throwing one of his legs over hers.  “Yeah, No.  I’m not following.”

Avery rolled her eyes and pushed his leg back over to his side.  The car continued to bring them higher into the air, the carnival lights spanning out before them in all directions.

“Ugh.  You try and build this image of mister muscles for brains, when, truth is, you have real interests.  You have your own mind!  I just don’t see why you’re so ashamed of it.”

Craig stared forward, his head wobbling with the movement of their car.  “I’m not ashamed of it Avery.  I can be whoever the hell I want to be.  I can have….interests.” He paused and swallowed hard, his eyes closing for a moment.  “And not have to tell everyone about them.  Jesus, I’m not like you.  I like to keep some things to myself.”

Avery folded her arms.  “Whatever.”

“Yeah, whatever.”  He leaned his head on her shoulder.  “You’re warm.”

Avery stiffened.  His hair was silky soft against her cheek and she couldn’t help breathing in the familiar scent of his shampoo.  His breath warmed her skin.  “Mmmn, why do you have to smell so good?”  He brought his lips to her neck.  Avery’s skin tingled and her body grew warm in response. “Craig.”

“Avery.” Craig continued to place wet kisses on her skin.

“Craig.”

“Avery….” He buried his head in her hair and grabbed her thigh, his mouth nibbling and sucking on the spot above her collar bone.

“Craig!”  Avery dug her nails into his hand and pushed his chest upwards.  “Knock it off!  Seriously, this is about to turn into an afterschool special.  Now get your freaking drunk ass OFF ME NOW!”

Craig’s head hit the back of the metal bench with a thud.   “Ouch.” He frowned and rubbed it, eyes closed.  “Jesus Avery.” His full lips pouted.  “Why do we always gotta fight all the time?”

“Because you are a dumbass stuck up hypocrite that’s why.  Tell me, is getting drunk part of your master plan to ‘becoming someone’?  Because it seems like a real loser thing to do.”

Craig’s chest rose in a heavy sigh.  “Hey, every guy’s gotta let off a little steam,” he gave a half smile.  “Look at you, being all judgmental for a change.”  He sat up, his eyes focusing in on her face.  “Tell me, why do you think I need to tell everyone about Yale, and my grades, and all that anyway?  What’s it to you?”

Avery frowned.  “I just don’t get it, that’s all.  You should be proud of who you are.  I think a boy who works hard at what he wants….” She sat up straight and looked him in the eye.  “..someone with ambitions and a good head on his shoulders is a lot more interesting than some domineering jock.”

Craig searched her features.  “Do you?”  He brought a hand up to caress her hair.  “Avery, I…..”  He frowned.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Oh.  That’s just wonderful.” Avery’s voice flattened.  She pushed him against the backside of the bench and then scooted into the opposite corner. “Just don’t move.  Breath.  And I swear to God if you puke on me, I’ll throw you off this thing.”

Craig smiled, his eyes closed.  “I know you want me Ave.  Just as much as I want you.  I can feel it across a crowded room.”
Avery blew hair out of her eyes. 
 “And for the love of God, please stop talking.” 

Monday Misdemeanor and Other Such Rot

First of all, I want to thank everyone who read and commented on the interview with Harry Bingham.  He’s a great guy in addition to being a top notch writer so thanks!

Secondly,  the Query Spoof Contest ends Thursday night- May 27th!  Everyone who wants to win a one hour over-the-phone publishing consultation with an author-editor at The Writer’s Workshop (yes -they do read your work and talk to you about where you should be going with it) should get cracking! Also up for grabs is a critique of your first 30 pages by the members of the 3Critics Club, and third prize is a bottle of champagne or chocolates sent from yours truly.

I don’t know if ya’ll have noticed a change in my side bar but Creepy finally succumbed to the pressure and joined 

I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing and the 140 character limit is a constant slap in the face since I'm an over-writer by nature.

Finally, I want to shout out a huge CONGRATS to Elana Johnson who received news last week of a book deal!  Wherever you are Elana (and seriously I wouldn’t be surprised to hear you’re out running naked in the streets, walking on water, or hand gliding after news like that) – You are an inspiration to us all!

Now without further ado:  Monday’s Misdemeanor

Breaking Curfew

I wasn’t one of those girls who would sneak out of her window at night to go meet up with a group of delinquent kids.  Oh no.  I was the kind of girl that would sneak out of OTHER people’s windows to meet up.  Translation:  The only time I ever ‘snuck out’ was while sleeping over at my friends’ houses.  For some reason it felt safer- at least if we got caught it wouldn’t be MY parents doing the catching.  Not that there won’t be karmic retributions somewhere down the road…

In any case, it got me thinking.  ‘Breaking Curfew’ has been used as a YA plot device ever since Romeo threw stones at Juliette’s window.  I mean, how much trouble would Harry, Ron and Hermione have gotten into if they had just stopped roaming the castle or sneaking out to see Hagrid after hours?

I realized that I use ‘Breaking Curfew’ in both of my novels but the question is why?  And I suppose the answer is the same reason kids do it in real life- it adds excitement and tension to the scene.   In addition to the after-hours adventure, there’s always that chance of discovery looming over their heads.  Whether you’ve ever broke curfew or not, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement.

What do you think about ‘Breaking Curfew’ scenes in books and have you ever used one?


Paying it Forward:  thanks Dawn for including me in this.  My Pay it Forward picks are:


Tessa's Blurb
Suzanne Casamento
Kelly Dexter
T.J. Carson

Creepy's Monday Misdemeanor

Today’s Misdemeanor :  Petty Theft

I think a lot of people have the same story.  ‘I was six years old and I stole a pack of gum from the grocery store check-out line.’

Well, so did I.  But I don’t know how many other people’s parents made them go back in and give the already-opened-and-chewing-a-piece bubblegum pack back to the security officer who they’d dooped just a few minutes before.  Except my mother, ofcourse.

My next attempt, at age thirteen, was more lucrative.  I was shopping with a group of seasoned adolescent girls who had been shoplifting ever since they realized they could.  It was ‘all the rage’.  We went into one of my favorite stores at the mall and I decided that for my first attempt, I was going to steal a necklace that was on one of the mannequins.  It had no price tag and the clasp was at eye level. 

I thought I was real smooth.  First I pretended to examine the shirt while unclasping the necklace and letting it fall to the floor.  Then I took another tour around the store before bending down to pretend to tie my shoe and picking up the fallen necklace; sticking it in my jeans pocket.  Nobody stopped me and I got away with grand jewelry theft (ok, the thing probably cost five whole dollars) scot free.

Two weeks later a few of my besties were held up at the downtown pharmacy and their parents and the police were called.  Let’s just say shoplifting went from ‘cool’ to ‘stupid’ pretty quick.

But that doesn’t mean that I don’t still do it….when I write.

Think about it.  How many times do we see a person, article, place, or building and think ‘This would be really useful in my story.'?  We pick it up, put in our pockets and examine it closer when we arrive in the safety of our own homes.  Most of the time, we don’t even do this intentionally.  It just happens. But if we look at our manuscripts- really look, I’m sure almost everyone will find little scraps, bits, and pieces taken from a myriad of places and people. Like somebody’s dumped out my pre-teen handbag.

Do you ever find yourself being a ‘petty thief’ for the purpose of writing?

Don't forget to enter!

1^st Prize winner will receive an over-the-phone publishing consultation from one of the accomplished authors/editors at The Writer’s Workshop! (Thank you SO much Harry Bingham)

2^nd Prize winner will receive a 30 page critique from the members of the ‘3Critics Club’ (my critiquing group) on The Word Cloud

3^rd Prize winner will receive a choice of champagne or gourmet chocolates shipped directly from yours truly (in France:)

Monday Misdemeanor

Starting this week, Mondays are going to be dedicated to some of the slightly rebellious escapades that I find have contributed to my stories, characters, and imagination in general.

Today’s Misdemeanor:  Trespassing

The house where I grew up was located on a cul-de-sac with nothing but forests and farmland for about a half mile in all directions. The neighborhood kids and myself used to like to play in the surrounding woods.  We always knew where the properties for the farms began because of the barbed wire-slash-decaying stone wall that marked the boundaries.

The barbed wire wasn’t easy to get over, but eventually we found a way to weigh it down and explore ‘forbidden territory’. 

To this day, I swear that some places exist just to inspire the imagination.  That was the case with what we discovered beyond that wire.  The field stretched out into the distance with a few sparse trees in its midst.

One of the tall trees bordering the field had been outlaid with a tree house platform and barriers à la Punky Brewster.  In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the most stable contraption in the world.  Everything squeaked a bit when the wind blew.  But for me, it was like I had walked onto the set of the film version of how childhood is supposed to be.

The best day was when I wondered into that field one morning to find six or seven horses grazing.  I’m still not sure if they were farm horses or a few specimens from the nearby glue factory but I was SO excited to see them up close.  It was just magical.  The entire place was, really, and I could spend hours up in that old rickety tree house wondering who made it, and for whom.  My mind made up a thousand different versions of who had climbed the nailed-on wooden chunks that passed for a ladder before I had.  And the farm itself was owned by the cast of ‘Charolottes Web’.  Ofcourse.   I never did see the horses again.

So that’s my misdemeanor of the day and what it led me to.  

Has anyone else ever unexpectedly stumbled onto a place that just seemed unreal or inspired their imaginations in some way?


I keep forgetting to post my entry to 'Where in the World is Candyland?' contest.  Here it is Candy!  You're psychadelic dude.