Another week, another delayed blog update; Monday was a wash, and you can find out why in next week's blog as to the reason for this week's delay.
Nov 24 - The Right Words
Last year at this time I was fighting off a cold, as well as trying to settle into the New Ways of Doing Things here at MMart in BC. The combination was not fun, I can assure you, though I am happy that this year I seem to be cold-free( so far ).
On the note of Doing Things The Right Way, searching that phrase on Google turned up a lot of irrelevant results - moreso than usual. A lot of Right-Wing political sites as well as etiquette hits dominated the results - a far cry from searching for "French Military Victories" as I have mentioned before.
I learned a little bit more about the book industry today, after perusing some of the various industry magazines I have been collecting over the years. Apparently the 'average' novel size on today's market ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 words, which is great news, as it puts my own Novel Project within my grasp - my blog accounts for almost as many words per year as a novel, so my practice with that will bear fruit in creating a novel... in that I have to keep at it, week to week, and write a decent amount of copy so I can trim it down viciously and start building it back up again.
Which is exciting. :-)
Nov 25 - Demise of Dating
Life is full of odd coincidences. Take for example, dating sites. I have tried various sites on and off over the years, with no real results save for their taking my membership money while danging the carrot of the Ultimate Relationship Match in front of the salivating singles crowd.
What I find amusing is that twice now, on the very day I canceled my memberships at one of these sites, people have contacted me... damned odd, as it might be months in between messages or matches. What is the old saying? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action... which means I might as well start updating my Nemester.com account with these people - you never know what devious forms Evil will take; what better a supposedly beautiful single on a dating site? Hmmm... I think there is a story in there somewhere, have to work on that one.
Myself, I find online dating amusing in many ways... as apparently these folks here do. Have a look, as it seems even the living impaired have their own dating website; brings new meaning to the phrase 'internet zombies' ya know. I wonder if there is a dating site for aliens living on earth...?
Nov 26 - Senior Chill
Today was Pension Day, and a markedly quiet one at that. At the larger branches, it was fairly steady from what I hear, but at my branch things dropped off noticeably once the sun went down - every other person was talking about "how cold it was" outside. Which made me smile, as temps approaching zero are chilly, but not cold to my minus-teens memories of Niagara. Which are nothing compared to the arctic blasts that sock in Ottawa at times - I remember being damned cold inside Aaron's old place during a visit far too many years ago, as I felt full force how cold our nation's capitol can be. Now that I am here, in a provincial capitol, I just smile to hear people proving how flexible their definition of cold can be.
In my own case, my Cheapo Window Insulation Kit seems to be working well, keeping temps inside my place cool but not chilly. I may not even need to turn on the heat this winter, which will be most gratifying to my wallet - having sweated during the summer heat, I think I can do with tossing on a few sweaters( oh, the irony ). I'm hoping that my preparations will see me through the cool winter months here, as I'd rather save money than sweat in comfort. If I could design an inexpensive in-home solar heat retention kit, I'm sure I'd make a killing - these Kiwis seem to have hit on a similar idea.
Nov 27 - Bored Games
One thing I miss about my high-school days is the board game. I have a few favourites still collecting dust on my shelves, ones that I could not bear to part with though I never did pick up a Monopoly board. While some people I know have( or had? )dozens of games, I enjoyed quite a few sessions of Axis & Allies despite the fact that Aaron always managed to win or come close in the time we had.
This blog has a fascinating list of old board games, going back 500 years - amazing to see what was considering fun and entertaining centuries ago. Even older games have been found in Persia dating back three thousand years... even before the time when the first d20 was invented by the Romans, according to some legends.
Decades ago, electronic board games seemed to be poised to bridge the gap between the old and new, for computers to take their place and 'enhance' the games of old. Yet after a flurry of early electronic attempts, the trend seems to have tapered off, perhaps due to the added expense and unnecessary complication of already simple game design. There is a great Classic Electronic Game List here, which has quite a few games that I wanted back in the day... but again, due to the expense, never managed to pick up.
I'm quite happy that my parents were not the type to discourage me from my gaming habits when I was younger, especially RPG's - sites like this one are obviously a patient response to the other type of parent who just "doesn't get" certain types of games their kids play. I won't get into the usual stupidity of the old D&D Debate, which thankfully seems to have died out thanks in large to the internet and now turned simply into another facet of 'g33k' cultural stigma.
Nov 28 - Black Friday
Today is Black Friday in the USA, the day after their Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, to use a football image - again, quite appropriate to an American holiday image.
The Canadian Guide to Black Friday Ads is always useful for those who are looking to snag some pre-Christmas deals. Not that it is a great idea to be cross-border shopping now, given the swing that the dollar has made towards favouring the US, but sometimes there are things you simply cannot get in Canada, like TiVo - the real TiVo, not the watered-down version releasted here in early 2008.
Given the current economic uncertainty, days like Black Friday can provide an inkling for retailers and economists in general as to the shape of the upcoming holiday season. According to this article from the New York Times, today showed a spike in sales as shoppers flocked to find deals... but the doom-and-gloom feeling seems to be hovering over the whole world. Not a good time for many, right now, especially given the housing slump in the US.
More in this in an upcoming blog.
Nov 29 - Birthday Belly Dancing
Out for lunch today at John's Place downtown, to celebrate my Dad's birthday. I love quirky, unique restaurants for their ambiance almost as much as for their tasty menu, and John's has both. As previously mentioned, the place is always packed - so much so that they will only take reservations for tables of four or more people! The staff are fast, friendly and efficient, moving tables fast to get folks waiting by the door seated and served. Did I mention the food? I ordered a 3-stack of pancakes, a nice simple breakfast served all-day on weekends here... and couldn't down more than two pancakes, they were so gigantic! Perfectly cooked too, not crumbly or soggy inside - just fantastic! Love this place.
Later in the evening I was out again, this time for a trek downtown. It's been a while since I was down there on a Saturday night, not that I missed all the loudly-singing folks, or the strange sights and smells... well, maybe a little, but that soon passed. A little time was spent in Chapters looking for new books in a few series I read showed that the Holiday Rush is in full swing - small swarms of book lovers buzzed around the shelves hunting for gifts and good reads. The Starbuck's upstairs wasn't crowded though; perhaps the news of the massive store closings in the States had people scared?
I had dinner with a friend at Periklis, a Greek restaurant that is MUCH larger on the inside than it appears! Much like Al's House was, it is a multi-level dimly-lit whitewashed hidden gem of the city. I stuck to my usual chicken slouvlaki and hummus, both of which were served fast and fresh - geez, I'm starting to sound like a food critic, something for which I am eminently unqualified.
The highlight of the evening was live belly dancing... better than dead, which tonight's crowd was. The dancer gave it her best though, smiling and energetic throughout the half-hour she spent under coloured lights with her bells, as well as among the tables. The poor guy whose birthday happened to be tonight got a lot of attention; guess he should have paid more mind to the 'Live Belly Dancing on Saturdays!' sign before he sat down to dinner here. Too bad I was spoiled by Moira The Black back in my SCA days; she had the energy of ten dancers and did backflips around the campfire - amazing, I've never seen the like before or since. This YouTube video is a pale imitation, but serves to illustrate my point - I think I'd pop a gut if I tried to move like those well-trained folks.
Nov 30 - Duty Calls Silently
Ah, back to the Sunday Slog... which isn't so bad of late really while waiting for the holiday rush to commence. Today was actually a steady day, indicative of things to come perhaps, but everyone who came in was quite pleasant despite their hurry to be somewhere else. Given that it was a somber, rainy weekend, I think that some folk welcome the bright, if crowded, malls all bedecked for the season.
It looks like I won't be playing Xbox online with some of my friends for the next while, as they have all jumped ship, so to speak, to the next Big Game... Call of Duty 5: World At War. While I am a fan of WWII sims as well as the COD series, I hate buying a new game every year and watching the old one sit on the shelf gathering dust. This may be the way things are, but I still miss older multiplayer games like Battlefield 1942 and its ilk. Unplayable now that I have been 'spoiled' by the new control methods and slick graphics of newer games; like trying to fit into an old short two sizes too small, it's just uncomfortable for very long.
We'll see how this coming year shapes up in terms of free time for me; I plan on being busy on various projects which I hope will start to turn a profit, in some manner, for me after some hard work. Which means time will be an issue, and as always something has to give... if that means I lose out on playing games with my friends a few weekends a month, well, that stinks. But I can't do good work when I am tired, and losing sleep to further projects is itself a losing project, so we'll see how I can manage to balance things depending on what presents itself in the near future.
No spiders in this week's blog( sorry Lucas )yet there is always hope of an arachnid making an appearance in these storied pages... we'll see. Faith, good readers, is something to cling to when something else is clinging to your face in the middle of the night...
Nov 24 - The Right Words
Last year at this time I was fighting off a cold, as well as trying to settle into the New Ways of Doing Things here at MMart in BC. The combination was not fun, I can assure you, though I am happy that this year I seem to be cold-free( so far ).
On the note of Doing Things The Right Way, searching that phrase on Google turned up a lot of irrelevant results - moreso than usual. A lot of Right-Wing political sites as well as etiquette hits dominated the results - a far cry from searching for "French Military Victories" as I have mentioned before.
I learned a little bit more about the book industry today, after perusing some of the various industry magazines I have been collecting over the years. Apparently the 'average' novel size on today's market ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 words, which is great news, as it puts my own Novel Project within my grasp - my blog accounts for almost as many words per year as a novel, so my practice with that will bear fruit in creating a novel... in that I have to keep at it, week to week, and write a decent amount of copy so I can trim it down viciously and start building it back up again.
Which is exciting. :-)
Nov 25 - Demise of Dating
Life is full of odd coincidences. Take for example, dating sites. I have tried various sites on and off over the years, with no real results save for their taking my membership money while danging the carrot of the Ultimate Relationship Match in front of the salivating singles crowd.
What I find amusing is that twice now, on the very day I canceled my memberships at one of these sites, people have contacted me... damned odd, as it might be months in between messages or matches. What is the old saying? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action... which means I might as well start updating my Nemester.com account with these people - you never know what devious forms Evil will take; what better a supposedly beautiful single on a dating site? Hmmm... I think there is a story in there somewhere, have to work on that one.
Myself, I find online dating amusing in many ways... as apparently these folks here do. Have a look, as it seems even the living impaired have their own dating website; brings new meaning to the phrase 'internet zombies' ya know. I wonder if there is a dating site for aliens living on earth...?
Nov 26 - Senior Chill
Today was Pension Day, and a markedly quiet one at that. At the larger branches, it was fairly steady from what I hear, but at my branch things dropped off noticeably once the sun went down - every other person was talking about "how cold it was" outside. Which made me smile, as temps approaching zero are chilly, but not cold to my minus-teens memories of Niagara. Which are nothing compared to the arctic blasts that sock in Ottawa at times - I remember being damned cold inside Aaron's old place during a visit far too many years ago, as I felt full force how cold our nation's capitol can be. Now that I am here, in a provincial capitol, I just smile to hear people proving how flexible their definition of cold can be.
In my own case, my Cheapo Window Insulation Kit seems to be working well, keeping temps inside my place cool but not chilly. I may not even need to turn on the heat this winter, which will be most gratifying to my wallet - having sweated during the summer heat, I think I can do with tossing on a few sweaters( oh, the irony ). I'm hoping that my preparations will see me through the cool winter months here, as I'd rather save money than sweat in comfort. If I could design an inexpensive in-home solar heat retention kit, I'm sure I'd make a killing - these Kiwis seem to have hit on a similar idea.
Nov 27 - Bored Games
One thing I miss about my high-school days is the board game. I have a few favourites still collecting dust on my shelves, ones that I could not bear to part with though I never did pick up a Monopoly board. While some people I know have( or had? )dozens of games, I enjoyed quite a few sessions of Axis & Allies despite the fact that Aaron always managed to win or come close in the time we had.
This blog has a fascinating list of old board games, going back 500 years - amazing to see what was considering fun and entertaining centuries ago. Even older games have been found in Persia dating back three thousand years... even before the time when the first d20 was invented by the Romans, according to some legends.
Decades ago, electronic board games seemed to be poised to bridge the gap between the old and new, for computers to take their place and 'enhance' the games of old. Yet after a flurry of early electronic attempts, the trend seems to have tapered off, perhaps due to the added expense and unnecessary complication of already simple game design. There is a great Classic Electronic Game List here, which has quite a few games that I wanted back in the day... but again, due to the expense, never managed to pick up.
I'm quite happy that my parents were not the type to discourage me from my gaming habits when I was younger, especially RPG's - sites like this one are obviously a patient response to the other type of parent who just "doesn't get" certain types of games their kids play. I won't get into the usual stupidity of the old D&D Debate, which thankfully seems to have died out thanks in large to the internet and now turned simply into another facet of 'g33k' cultural stigma.
Nov 28 - Black Friday
Today is Black Friday in the USA, the day after their Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, to use a football image - again, quite appropriate to an American holiday image.
The Canadian Guide to Black Friday Ads is always useful for those who are looking to snag some pre-Christmas deals. Not that it is a great idea to be cross-border shopping now, given the swing that the dollar has made towards favouring the US, but sometimes there are things you simply cannot get in Canada, like TiVo - the real TiVo, not the watered-down version releasted here in early 2008.
Given the current economic uncertainty, days like Black Friday can provide an inkling for retailers and economists in general as to the shape of the upcoming holiday season. According to this article from the New York Times, today showed a spike in sales as shoppers flocked to find deals... but the doom-and-gloom feeling seems to be hovering over the whole world. Not a good time for many, right now, especially given the housing slump in the US.
More in this in an upcoming blog.
Nov 29 - Birthday Belly Dancing
Out for lunch today at John's Place downtown, to celebrate my Dad's birthday. I love quirky, unique restaurants for their ambiance almost as much as for their tasty menu, and John's has both. As previously mentioned, the place is always packed - so much so that they will only take reservations for tables of four or more people! The staff are fast, friendly and efficient, moving tables fast to get folks waiting by the door seated and served. Did I mention the food? I ordered a 3-stack of pancakes, a nice simple breakfast served all-day on weekends here... and couldn't down more than two pancakes, they were so gigantic! Perfectly cooked too, not crumbly or soggy inside - just fantastic! Love this place.
Later in the evening I was out again, this time for a trek downtown. It's been a while since I was down there on a Saturday night, not that I missed all the loudly-singing folks, or the strange sights and smells... well, maybe a little, but that soon passed. A little time was spent in Chapters looking for new books in a few series I read showed that the Holiday Rush is in full swing - small swarms of book lovers buzzed around the shelves hunting for gifts and good reads. The Starbuck's upstairs wasn't crowded though; perhaps the news of the massive store closings in the States had people scared?
I had dinner with a friend at Periklis, a Greek restaurant that is MUCH larger on the inside than it appears! Much like Al's House was, it is a multi-level dimly-lit whitewashed hidden gem of the city. I stuck to my usual chicken slouvlaki and hummus, both of which were served fast and fresh - geez, I'm starting to sound like a food critic, something for which I am eminently unqualified.
The highlight of the evening was live belly dancing... better than dead, which tonight's crowd was. The dancer gave it her best though, smiling and energetic throughout the half-hour she spent under coloured lights with her bells, as well as among the tables. The poor guy whose birthday happened to be tonight got a lot of attention; guess he should have paid more mind to the 'Live Belly Dancing on Saturdays!' sign before he sat down to dinner here. Too bad I was spoiled by Moira The Black back in my SCA days; she had the energy of ten dancers and did backflips around the campfire - amazing, I've never seen the like before or since. This YouTube video is a pale imitation, but serves to illustrate my point - I think I'd pop a gut if I tried to move like those well-trained folks.
Nov 30 - Duty Calls Silently
Ah, back to the Sunday Slog... which isn't so bad of late really while waiting for the holiday rush to commence. Today was actually a steady day, indicative of things to come perhaps, but everyone who came in was quite pleasant despite their hurry to be somewhere else. Given that it was a somber, rainy weekend, I think that some folk welcome the bright, if crowded, malls all bedecked for the season.
It looks like I won't be playing Xbox online with some of my friends for the next while, as they have all jumped ship, so to speak, to the next Big Game... Call of Duty 5: World At War. While I am a fan of WWII sims as well as the COD series, I hate buying a new game every year and watching the old one sit on the shelf gathering dust. This may be the way things are, but I still miss older multiplayer games like Battlefield 1942 and its ilk. Unplayable now that I have been 'spoiled' by the new control methods and slick graphics of newer games; like trying to fit into an old short two sizes too small, it's just uncomfortable for very long.
We'll see how this coming year shapes up in terms of free time for me; I plan on being busy on various projects which I hope will start to turn a profit, in some manner, for me after some hard work. Which means time will be an issue, and as always something has to give... if that means I lose out on playing games with my friends a few weekends a month, well, that stinks. But I can't do good work when I am tired, and losing sleep to further projects is itself a losing project, so we'll see how I can manage to balance things depending on what presents itself in the near future.
No spiders in this week's blog( sorry Lucas )yet there is always hope of an arachnid making an appearance in these storied pages... we'll see. Faith, good readers, is something to cling to when something else is clinging to your face in the middle of the night...
