Injuries, Interests and Improvement

The word of the week is patience.

Note: I've decided to use Georgia as the blog font as of now. It's easier to read on most devices and just looks good. Enjoy!

November 5 - Another Manageable Monday!

My job club at WorkBC today was excellent: we were 'sent out' again to talk to people and try to network( without being annoying )in the downtown area. I went over to a nearby Telus store and had a wonderful conversation with one of the senior staffers there; not a manager, but it was very illuminating. I'm finding that I'm losing my inhibitions about walking up to people and introducing myself, which is great to discover! My professionalism, personable manner and simple friendliness are all coming to the fore, which is what I'll need if I'm to find a job sooner rather than later. A good few hours!

The evening was spent at my local writing group; it was Meet N'Greet night and we player some very amusing games! One of them was to create a story by having each person contribute three words, going around the table until we felt the tale was done. It was hilarious! Here's what we came up with… and don't try to make sense of it, just go with the absurdity( which is what I love about the group ):

Cats, Cracks and Toenails

The killer was a tall man hidden in the closet, where he held a knife and cut toenails of his murder victims. Until he cut himself badly and bled all over the carpet. The cat licked fervently at the pool of blood until it died from the poison that the murderer had consumed earlier in a crystal goblet he bought for his victim. This was Lucky, who was a ferret. He was always the gate of Helle in his heart and his pyjamas - this was lucky, as his toenails were so well defined in shape that they fell into the posh red velvet chair which was weird. Normally, velvet chairs did not exist in closets. But: the velvet was Helle's Finest Brand, Satan's gift to Lucky. He pulled apart the chair that stupid Lucky had chosen to do his business. Undead cats were purring madly outside, which made the velvet chair tremble in pleasure. Suddenly the murderer looked in the garbage and found a nervous ferret dropping a soul-stealing three-pronged fork. The demonic fork hit the ground clattering in a ruckus, opening up an old wound from past toenails found buried in the chest of Lucky. Cats and poisoning paraphernalia were sucked into a red velvet crack. The killer screamed with rapturous joy as everything disappeared.

November 6 - Wrist update

Just a brief update about the tendon tension in my wrists: it's easing, but only gradually. I still can't pick up heavy objects properly or hold things for very long, but the day-to-day pain has eased a fair bit. It still becomes very noticeable when I type for too long or try to game( none of my rare Xbox sessions lasts more than 60 mins )so I'm still far from where I'd like to be. But I'm treating each wrist( especially the left one )daily with heat and cold, so I hope that that's the reason for the gradual improvements I'm seeing. Maybe by the summer I'll be able to carry groceries all the way home without resorting to a backpack…

November 7 - A live Book Launch?

Today was very interesting, come the evening: I attended a live book launch on FBook.

Or tried to. There was a lot of enthusiasm on the author's part, but the planning sort of fell down in the face of having 400 people trying to keep up with a refreshed FBook fan page. All too soon, I scooted off to a TinyChat channel with about two dozen other people, and there the fun began!

Turns out that a few of those folks were friends with the author, one of the Babylon5 main cast whose book memoir launch it was this evening. It was totally unexpected and I ended up hanging around with them for quite a few hours, apart from the time spent trying to get my chat client to work properly. In the end, I was blathering merrily along on my webcam to the others, being an entertaining wit and managing to tie the discussion together quite neatly throughout the evening. I made a few new friends and felt quite good, as I felt that people were people no matter who they knew and that for myself, I was a person they enjoyed talking to, despite not being famous - I was just myself.

That made it a very bright evening indeed!

November 8 - Meeting People

The book launch yesterday got me thinking: how do I meet people? What do I do to meet people, online or off, and who am I when I do that?

It's an interesting line of thought, really. To a stranger, you're a totally new person - hence the need for a good first impression. But it's more than that: why would they still want to talk to you, if you're you?

Alex Debelov, co-founder of The Kairos Society, puts his money where his mouth is. As one of the creators of the invite-only entrepreneurial group of college students aiming to direct the future of their generation, he's done some pretty amazing things so far. Have a look at his words on how he met Steve Wozniak and the Russian president, using only honesty and bring straightforward about his goals. It's inspiring and like last night in a way, shows that you really can meet people from anywhere, anytime, just by being yourself.

November 9 - BSG: Blood and Chrome!

YES! After a LOT of back-and-forth, the SyFy( argh, that name! )Channel in the US finally released the pilot for the now-cancelled Battlestar Galactica: Blood And Chrome as a webseries today! The two hours is cut into twelve-minute chunks, making it a treat to watch; there's so MUCH eye-candy that it's nice to take it in smaller doses. Pin on your Viper wings and see what's waiting for you:

November 10 - New duds and LEGO

All right, it's been a VERY blah week for me, so two things to cheer me up.

One: a new winter jacket, the first I've bought in almost a decade. Yes, that means I'm either cheap or I take care of my things… or maybe both. It's warm, waterproof and best of all: stylish! For those of you who know me, my fashion sense can be, er, underwhelming at most times. So to wear something that fits perfectly AND looks good is a real ego-booster for me. I might even post a pic to FBook, I like it that much!

Two: LEGO! Yes, I admit I have a soft spot for the plastic bricks, but only because people can do so MANY amazing things with them! Check out this incredible meter-long ship, inspired by the Homeworld series of PC games from a few years ago. Incredible! Be sure to check out the rest of the photos from this fantastic set...

Click for a HUGE image to check out the details; those are real lights inside!

As well, there's gallery of a Stargate Atlantis diorama( if you can call it that )made by a fifteen-year-old boy! The detail work on the ship is magnificent, so make sure you check out the other pictures in the link. In the meantime, I give you the Daedalus:

You HAVE to click this to see the details!

 November 11 - Beauty Remembered

This morning I attended the Remembrance Day ceremonies here in Victoria, down at the Parliament Buildings - the first time I had done so anywhere, in many years. 

It was overcast, with occasional raindrops appearing here and there. A large crowd had gathered by the cenotaph at the end of Parliament's front lawn, silent save for low-voiced conversations. At the appointed hour, the ceremonies began and a quiet settled over the crowd; even the children were muted in their cries. At the time when two minutes of silent remembrance began, a wind rose across the gathering. Leaves from the trees fell in gentle showers in the silent crowd as the Canadian Flag flew at half-mast on the great flag post above them all. The only noise came as the wind died and a flight of five military prop-planes flew over in homage to the fallen. As the speeches of the Lt. Governor began, a gun crew let off shots once per minute, booming across the harbor as the skies poured a gentle mist of rain onto the peaceful gathered citizens. It was a beautiful experience and one I'll not soon forget, if ever.

The rest of my day was spent out, trying to gather some sunshine into the clouds of my life of late. It helped to be out with a friend, talking over coffee and enjoying the bustle of people going about their day despite the gloomy clouds. Being inside, among smiling faces, did me some good and I went home late in the afternoon in a mood changed for the better. Not a perfect one, but much improved, I think.

I managed to injure myself today - twice. The first was smashing my shin on the end of my bed, leaving a nasty gouge and quite a lot of pain. The second was when I passed out in the kitchen a few minutes later, probably from concern over the nasty-looking injury and stress. In doing so, I knocked a cast-iron frying pan off the counter… and onto my other leg: instant egg-sized bruise. Luckily I didn't smash my head into anything when I landed on the floor. What worries me was that I woke in a cold sweat. That's not good, especially as I'm not prone to passing out for no real reason; I handle shocks / stress very well. I'll be seeing the doctor ASAP about the cause, but it's a lousy, painful and worrying start to the week.