The word of the week is switchover.
March 11 - We
miss you, Douglas
There are many authors that have influenced me over the
years, but few the extent Douglas Adams has.
Today marks his birthday.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series of books contains
leaps of imagination and zany humor such as I'd never seen before and it
captured me hook, line and sinker. Along with the works of Monty Python,
Douglas Adams had a profound influence on my sense of humor that has stayed
with me to this day. The recent movie starring Zoey Deschanel and Martin
Freeman was an excellent adaptation of Adams's work which I thoroughly enjoyed,
as it captured the wacky universe that Douglas depicted.
It's a crime against the universe that Douglas Adams left us
so soon, but we still have his works to enjoy and for that I'll always be
grateful. Thanks to him, I always know where my towel is.
March 12 - It's a
Sine!
Well, this is neat!
I really love science; for years I had a subscription to Popular Science magazine just so I can keep up with all the latest developments that
technology was bringing us. With the rise of the Internet, I've been able to
find my own sources outside of PopSci, which is fantastic: science is more
popular now than ever with the rise of G33k culture.
Things like the video below fill me with a childlike wonder
whenever I see them. Science is always discovering something new and exciting
in our world, so frequently that sometimes I forget how rapid the advance of
modern technology has been in my lifetime alone. Watch the video and be amazed
all over again by the world you live in:
March 13 - Sunstones
I like to dabble in history, especially the more interesting
parts.
Recently, scientists unearthed a fascinating relic that
turned out to be even older than they first thought: it's a Viking Sunstone.
These stones were used by the Vikings in order to navigate
on the open ocean even when the sun was not visible through the clouds. The natural
crystal of the stone is translucent and focuses the week sunlight to the point
where the direction of the sun can be determined easily by a trained eye.
Discoveries like this fascinate me, as it shows yet again
that the ancient world was full of wonders that we are unaware of today save
through layers of myth and half understood texts. My creativity is fired every
time something new comes out of history, revealed to the modern world. I
imagine places, people and things that may have existed or may not, depending
on your sources and how willing you are to believe in legends.
The Sunstone is possible proof that some of those legends are
true. If so, then what else may have existed that today we think was only myth?
March 14 - Defiance
and me
In the world we live in, coincidence happens fairly often.
When it involves creative properties, things may get a little
heated.
Take, for example, the new sci-fi TV show Defiance. It's a
story about aliens who come to earth, fight a war and we get to see the aftermath.
Sounds great, right?
My problem is that it sounds a lot like my novel. Cue frustrated author feelings, focus on me.
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| A redhead? Seriously? I was there first... |
I'm not saying that one story is a carbon copy of the other,
but it annoys me to have worked so hard to come up with my own unique world
just to have something similar pop up out of nowhere on television. I'm not
claiming to be utterly unique in my creation but I certainly didn't borrow from
anyone or anything knowingly or unwittingly; I did the best that I could with
the stories in my mind.
Which makes me wonder if the arrival of Defiance will help
or hinder my novel when it makes it to market eventually. I'll say it here
first: there will likely be comparisons between the show and my book, but that
I wasn't aware of defiance until Fall 2012 well after my novel's first draft
was completed at the end of August 2012. I'm almost loath to find out anything
about the show for fear of contaminating the third draft of my book that I'm
currently working on. You can read all about Defiance on the web and if you
want to do so spoiler-free, have a gander at this article - I did and I can say
that I was surprised to learn that it's being classified as a Western, which my
novel definitely isn't. As well, there are no humans anywhere in my book and no
mention of Earth at all, which is a small comfort as I can just imagine agents
comparing the two and quietly slipping my book into the Rejection Pile with
little thought.
I have to be positive and believe that my work will stand on
its own, regardless of some interdimensional trickster playing pranks on my
psyche as I try to get published.
March 15 - One month employed!
One month ago today, I started my new job.
It's been a month of midnights, stocking shelves five days a week, and I've enjoyed most every
minute of it. Unexpectedly, at that, though I knew that the stress levels would
be far less than at my last job.
One of the unexpected benefits of the new job is that it's
been very therapeutic for my tendinitis. My arms no longer ache after a day's
simple activities or even after moderate exertion, such as working with boxes
all night long. I've been very careful not to strain either arm unnecessarily
and I believe the regular exertions I've put them through has been beneficial;
I can feel much of my strength returned to my arms along with a new firmness to
my grip for which I'm very grateful.
I'm also pleased that I've lost 10 pounds in the last
month, as it's obvious it was just an excess that was doing me no good. I still
feel energetic enough to ride my bike at speed twice a day to work and back,
though I have been tired after some of the heavier midnight shifts. I like to
think of it as paring myself down to the essentials so that I can build myself
back up again as I see fit - if you'll pardon the pun.
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| Wrong eyes and hair, but close enough of a resemblance to me... |
That's the idea this year: to move forward and to make more
of myself. To focus on what I need to do to lead the life I want and to leave
behind the problems that I've carried for so many years.
It's happening now; I just have to find a balance between
work and the other elements of my plans for this year so that I don't lose
focus and I can achieve as many of my goals as possible.
March 16 - Adjustment
Today I began adjusting my body clock so I can work days
again.
I actually began planning for this a month ago, as I knew I
wouldn't be staying on midnight shifts long-term. Each night, I brought a large
thermos of tea to work with me, half of which I had midnight and the other half
at 4 AM p.m. I did this consistently, so that my body quickly became used to
the boost that the caffeine gave me and so carried me through the night without
relying too heavily on such a thing.
When I got home from work this morning, I was very tired as
I hadn't had my full dose of tea last night - just a small amount at midnight
and that was it. I slept for only four hours and then woke myself, pouring some
fresh tea to kickstart my body clocks adjustment. I stayed up, unfortunately
well past midnight until I could finally fall asleep and woke again well before
dawn on Sunday, again only having got four hours sleep - not what I had in mind
but that's the human body for you, always full of surprises.
My exclusion of caffeine seems to have done the trick, as
I'm getting tired already at the right times in the evening. I'm hoping that
I'll be able to sleep through Sunday night to wake was a fairly normal
circadian rhythm and the reset body clock on Monday morning. A few days of
light therapy should also help, as has the sunny weekend: I've spent quite a
few hours in bright sunlight all told on Saturday and Sunday so I am fairly
certain that I've given the right marching orders for sleeping at night.
Dreaming, well… that's another matter altogether.
March 17 - Green
St. Patrick's Day is my favorite unofficial holiday of the
year, but not for the reason you think.
Some people like it for the social aspect, seeing many of
their friends in close proximity at a local pub or house party. Others simply
like it for the drink, as it's an excuse for imbibing more than is good for you
in a short period of time over one evening. There are also some folk who simply
enjoy the energy of the evening, wherever they are, with the enthusiasm of a
shared celebration by everyone around them.
For me, I like St. Patrick's Day because of the color green.
Green is, after all, my favorite color. There are many reasons
why and I won't bore you with them; suffice to say that above all other shades
of the rainbow, the color green speaks to me the most. As Kermit the frog said,
it's not easy being green, but I prefer to think of the color as denoting
growth, which I can definitely relate to my life in the present with all the
changes I have gone through and am planning to undertake this year.
Green is good.
It's late and I'm done the blog. Now to try for some sleep before my dayshift; here's hoping! See you next week.
