The word of the week is memory.
March 26 - Time
Today was a very sad day for me: my grandmother passed away, aged 89.
She went peacefully, which is all any of us can ask for.
How big a part of your life is your family? What holes do they leave in your life when they are gone? These and many other questions ran through my mind today as I thought back on all the good memories I had of my grandmother, who was always unfailingly kind to me. Others may paint a different picture of her, but to me she will always be the one who dried my tears after a visit to the doctor's and whose calm British voice made every visit to her home one of relaxed enjoyment, especially around tea time.
March 26 - Time
Today was a very sad day for me: my grandmother passed away, aged 89.
She went peacefully, which is all any of us can ask for.
How big a part of your life is your family? What holes do they leave in your life when they are gone? These and many other questions ran through my mind today as I thought back on all the good memories I had of my grandmother, who was always unfailingly kind to me. Others may paint a different picture of her, but to me she will always be the one who dried my tears after a visit to the doctor's and whose calm British voice made every visit to her home one of relaxed enjoyment, especially around tea time.
Distance matters not,
Now that you've left us, to rest.
Be at peace; be loved.
Now that you've left us, to rest.
Be at peace; be loved.
Good-bye, Gran.
March 27 - My sister arrives!!!
Change is in the air; today, so was my sister! She landed here in Victoria this AM, having moved here to the Island permanently. She and I will be searching for a place to rent in the coming month, to continue my plan of total independence that I began so many years ago. It is our hope that we can find a unit in Victoria itself, as this time of year sees a LOT of places come up for rent as university students leave the city once the school year has ended in April. Having a place in the city itself is important for many reasons, some of which being transit and easy access to social venues such as Cook St. Village. Sadly, I had access to Cook St. Village when I first moved here, but I wasn't able to take advantage of the social aspect for several reasons: a busy job and a lack of contacts in Victoria meant I met few people my first year here. That has changed since and with the entirety of 2012 open to me to Be Social, I hope that I will be spending a lot of my time OUT of the house!
March 28 - Kindle and SciFi
THIS is the news I WANTED to hear as an author: that new methods of publishing stories is making it MUCH easier for NEW authors( such as me! )to get their work Out There and to find an audience! It's incredibly exciting to think that I don't necessarily have to languish on a slush pile somewhere for years; the New Media of today means I can actively PURSUE an audience. The harder I work, the better my chances of getting noticed and reviewed; building a brand is all part of the process of finding readers for one's stories. To be sure, I will still submit pieces to online magazines and try for other venues, but just to KNOW that I can break into eBooks( and do a better job than many of the current best-sellers on there )is a hugely liberating thought!
Sadly, my wrists STILL hurt this week after only a little effort, so I have been remiss in plugging at my novel, understandably. I'm investigating methods and exercises to get them back up to snuff while avoiding any future relapses - I'll also be using my voice recognition software to get basic draft work done.
March 29 - D&D no longer uncool?
Here I could write pages about how D&D was a huge part of my childhood, but others have done that far better than I can. Just recently I realized that it helped fuel my creative desire to tell stories, steering me towards finding my way as an author at this point in my life. While I wasn't the greatest D&D player ever, I know that when I was telling a story through the artifice of the game, I was in my element - and my audience, captive though they were, did experience the magic of being transported into the world I had created. That feeling is what I long to capture in my writing and is one that I always experience in the best stories: to leave yourself behind and enter the world that the author crafts through their words. Unlike any other form of storytelling, when you engage the mind's eye, real magic can happen. Believe.
March 27 - My sister arrives!!!
Change is in the air; today, so was my sister! She landed here in Victoria this AM, having moved here to the Island permanently. She and I will be searching for a place to rent in the coming month, to continue my plan of total independence that I began so many years ago. It is our hope that we can find a unit in Victoria itself, as this time of year sees a LOT of places come up for rent as university students leave the city once the school year has ended in April. Having a place in the city itself is important for many reasons, some of which being transit and easy access to social venues such as Cook St. Village. Sadly, I had access to Cook St. Village when I first moved here, but I wasn't able to take advantage of the social aspect for several reasons: a busy job and a lack of contacts in Victoria meant I met few people my first year here. That has changed since and with the entirety of 2012 open to me to Be Social, I hope that I will be spending a lot of my time OUT of the house!
March 28 - Kindle and SciFi
THIS is the news I WANTED to hear as an author: that new methods of publishing stories is making it MUCH easier for NEW authors( such as me! )to get their work Out There and to find an audience! It's incredibly exciting to think that I don't necessarily have to languish on a slush pile somewhere for years; the New Media of today means I can actively PURSUE an audience. The harder I work, the better my chances of getting noticed and reviewed; building a brand is all part of the process of finding readers for one's stories. To be sure, I will still submit pieces to online magazines and try for other venues, but just to KNOW that I can break into eBooks( and do a better job than many of the current best-sellers on there )is a hugely liberating thought!
Sadly, my wrists STILL hurt this week after only a little effort, so I have been remiss in plugging at my novel, understandably. I'm investigating methods and exercises to get them back up to snuff while avoiding any future relapses - I'll also be using my voice recognition software to get basic draft work done.
March 29 - D&D no longer uncool?
Here I could write pages about how D&D was a huge part of my childhood, but others have done that far better than I can. Just recently I realized that it helped fuel my creative desire to tell stories, steering me towards finding my way as an author at this point in my life. While I wasn't the greatest D&D player ever, I know that when I was telling a story through the artifice of the game, I was in my element - and my audience, captive though they were, did experience the magic of being transported into the world I had created. That feeling is what I long to capture in my writing and is one that I always experience in the best stories: to leave yourself behind and enter the world that the author crafts through their words. Unlike any other form of storytelling, when you engage the mind's eye, real magic can happen. Believe.
March 30 - Wine?
Wine is one of those things that becomes common ground among many as we get older; like golf, perhaps, you can debate the fine points endlessly. Myself, I don't like red wine as the tannins give me headaches and in general I don't see myself as ending up with a wine cellar, cooler or collection of more than a couple of bottles for company. It's a BIG topic, for once you have the wine bug bite you then you can't really go back… and it's fashionable too, as you can spend an evening feeling sophisticated talking about wine, as opposed to debating the merits of beer. Hard liquor aficionados need not apply. All I want to know usually though, is how long that bottle of wine I've forgotten in my cupboard is good for. Thanks to the folks at CellarNotes.net, I can consult a handy chart to tell just that. Or, I could just ask a friend.
March 31 - Rentals and Gaming
After narrowing down the rental possibilities to about a dozen places( thus far )my sister and I went to see one today. Disappointing; it was only a few minutes' walk down the road, a newer( 2004 )basement suite on a quiet street with all utilities included in the rental price… and it stank of mildew. Sigh.
Tonight's NWN gaming session( a day earlier than usual )was fantastic! Five new characters were specifically created to game together as part of a new story arc, which incorporates each of their backgrounds into the overall plot. We had a blast, as there was a lot more roleplaying than usual with the group that gathers - planning ahead with new characters definitely paid off here! It was a big deal for me as well, as I am loathe to create new characters in NWN; odd for a writer to whom new characters should come as easily as changing socks. Perhaps I don’t like playing them as much as I do writing them, at least that's how I see it. In any case, my entire evening vanished in a happy twinkle as I gamed with my friends and let the world outside vanish.
Oh and today is possibly the world's most boring special day: World Backup Day. I've been doing this regularly for ten years and it's not exciting. But necessary.
April 1 - Not Foolish
Yes, it's April Fool's Day today. I didn't do anything or fool anyone, which I haven't for years now, not since my first year on the Island here. Not having had a fun workplace for the last few years might have had something to do with it. I do like browsing through the fun stuff that they come up with at ThinkGeek.com for April Fool's, like the Beta-to-HD-DVD convertor - fake, of course. I also liked the Inflatable Star Trek Captain's Chair, which just happens to be real and unfortunately sized for kids only; pity.
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| Click image for a full-size Coraline wallpaper! |
No, today was very much a homebody day; I didn't end up going out to a party last night as it turns out I wasn't invited. Which happens and was honestly expected, but it still tweaks a little Hurt Button inside me all the same. I myself have forgotten ALL SORTS of similar things over the years, so really this is just karmic payback - paying attention to the details is what I've learned from it. All in all, I've done fairly well in not unintentionally offending anyone in the last ten years or so - but if I have, would you tell me? There's the question… and finishing up the day by watching Coraline with my family really put the Weird But Wonderful badge on today. Next time: watching it in 3D!
My cold has lingered on all this week, moving from my throat to my nose and leaving me with very little energy until this very night, April 1st. Now that my system is recovering, I will be diving right into the rental search AND my novel work - there's lots to do and the clock is ticking for 2012!!!!!!!!!!!
My cold has lingered on all this week, moving from my throat to my nose and leaving me with very little energy until this very night, April 1st. Now that my system is recovering, I will be diving right into the rental search AND my novel work - there's lots to do and the clock is ticking for 2012!!!!!!!!!!!
