Summer Smartasses, Smoke and Soaps

The word of the week is exhilaration.

Aug 4 - Smoke and Mirrors

What would you do?

Around lunchtime today( I love Holiday Mondays! )I went down to my usual hangout Moka House to enjoy the sunshine and just relax. A lovely light breeze was wafting in all the beautiful summer smells from nearby: flowers, the hot scent of grass and green growing things all came in for everyone to enjoy.

Then the guy next to me lit up his e-cigarette.

I ignored it for the first 10 minutes, until the clouds of vapors that were obscuring the screen of my laptop became too frequent and too thick. I won't talk about the smell of the 'harmless' smoke which, from its particular odor, was likely alcohol-based instead of vegetable-based - yes, I do my research about things that I tend to encounter on a regular basis and that now includes e-cigarettes.

Why would this upset me, you ask? Aren't e-cigarettes said to be harmless, a much better choice than someone lighting up their smokes upwind?

Would you want to breathe deeply if this came at you?

Not quite. E-cigarettes are meant to be a transitional tool, by which someone who wants to quit smoking and doesn't want to go cold turkey or use a nicotine patch, can gradually wean themselves off their daily nicotine dose via e-cigarettes. However, the compounds that are combusted in these imperfectly-understood and currently unregulated devices are not harmless - not at all.

The reason I mention this is that after only five minutes, my nose and tongue started burning in reaction to the thick clouds of vapors that I was being enveloped in. I won't get into the issues of social acceptability of e-cigarettes here, save to say that unlike other forms of smoking, I have found that e-cigarette smokers have no compunctions about lighting up most places without asking anyone nearby if they mind. They simply pull out their devices and go at it, assuming that the clouds of 'harmless' smoke released are perfectly acceptable to spew onto everyone around them since they're not being produced from 'real' cigarettes.

I'm glad to see that many places in North America are banning e-cigarettes and I can't wait until that happens here. Just like I'm tired of having to hold my breath while walking to work half a dozen times to avoid the clouds of proven-to-be-deadly smoke released by regular smokers as I pass them, e-cigarette users should realize that their days are numbered as well.

Fortunately, I spent the late afternoon seeing Guardians Of the Galaxy a second time with a few friends from my gaming group and it was just as good for being seen again! The character I like the most was Rocket Raccoon, for his smartass remarks and the very human pathos of his origin story.

I may have to go and see it a third time this week!

And as an aside, if you aren't aware already: Bill Mantlo, creator of Rocket Raccoon( as well as many other memorable comic characters )hasn't worked in almost 20 years due to a severe brain injury he suffered. Read the article here and if you loved some of the characters he had a direct hand in creating, consider thanking him by sending a little moola his way - I'm sure any artist whose creations live in the hearts of their fans would love to know that karma CAN come back around full-circle.

Aug 5 - A Quarter Done!

Today I hit a milestone in writing Book Two!

By the end of the evening, my word count surpassed 30,000, meaning that in a little under five weeks I've written one-quarter the total word count of my first book's first draft. I'm very pleased with that, as it shows my productivity is quite high and that if I can maintain this pace, I'll be finished the first draft of Book Two by the end of 2014.

From here on in a gets harder, though, due to the complexities of the plot lines that I've created for the sequel to my first novel. Again, I wish I could tell you a few things, but I really don't want to spoil anything or give out hints that might be misconstrued.

Plots: this is QUITE the graphic and Death is apparently the most popular thing on it...

What I can tell you that there is a lot going on in this second book! I have at least six plot lines going simultaneously, continuing several threads from the first novel and expanding on a few other ideas while interweaving all of them together into a cohesive story. The first part of the book sets all this up and now I'm starting to get into the complicated task of juggling all the plotlines. I have to visit each often enough so that the reader doesn't feel lost, while ensuring that I don't give away too much of each plot line to early in the book as that might spoil a few things or even totally confuse the story.

My ability to listen to music at work daily has really informed my writing, I have to say. I've compiled a list of the songs that speak to be the most and this week I'll be attempting to put them all into a single playlist that I can listen to. While it's great that there are so many 'Epic Music Mixes' available on YouTube, there are enough songs in each that I don't particularly enjoy or have other qualities that don't mesh with my musical tastes as I see them for my book, that I really do need to create my own playlist. Being jarred out of my creative headspace by a screechy set of vocals or someone beating the hell out of a electric guitar isn't conducive to my Muse. Epic, orchestral music seems to work the best and I'll be compiling quite a few songs from the likes of Audiomachine, Two Steps From Hell and other bands with big sound but without any distracting vocals.

Who knew my Muse'd be writing to music in my head all day long?

Aug 6 - Soaps From Who?

One of my friends gave me a set of unique soaps today, as a gift from their travels, which I found very touching. They're perfect for a g33k like me - have a look:

 

Aren't those little Daleks just the cutest extermination machines?

To be honest, I never know what to do with these sorts of things. Do I take lots of pictures, put away one set and then use the other one I can no longer stand the suspense of not unwrapping them? Or do I carefully place them in a box so that they don't get scarred through the clear wrappings, as I've seen happen to many collectible soaps over the years?

Who knows? All I know is that I'm quite curious as to whether they're bigger on the inside!

Work-wise, things ended up being a bit stressful this week. Normally, there are only 1 or 2 'problems' in my day, where all the ducks don't line up in a row and the end result is More Work to do.

This week, I ended up having to deal with several dozen problems, generating a pile of letters and sundry related details. Resulting in a domino effect of carryovers from day to day that had me frazzled by the end of the week. I had to use my back massage for the first time in years to un-knot my shoulders from the accumulated stress, which admittedly was still about 10x's less than I experienced at MMart or, more recently, Staples.

All the same, I hope next week is a LOT calmer! 

Aug 7 - I can see clearly now...

Finally, they're here!

My two pairs of new glasses arrived in the mail today and I eagerly headed home from work to get them from the Post Office. It's been about 10 calendar days since I ordered them, which is pretty good considering they came from the States and through customs( no duty to pay, yay! ). Here's a picture of my current three pairs of glasses, including my long-suffering frames with one lens that tends to fall out every 10 min. or so despite my best efforts with thin strips of brown duct tape:

Two outta three ain't bad - literally!

I'm extraordinarily pleased with my purchase, which I made from Zenni Optical and that cost me less than $100 Canadian altogether including taxes, exchange and shipping. Considering that the lowest price I could get locally( with taxes )was more than $350 at Walmart, that's a hell of a savings, don't you think, even if I got $100 back from my benefits coverage? Additionally, Walmart couldn't add the features I truly wanted, such as the yellow tint for my computer glasses or an oleophobic coating for my main glasses, which repels fingerprints; how cool is that?

Buying glasses certainly has come a long way from the days when an entire paycheque would have to be set aside every few years in order for me to keep seeing properly. It means that while I am still going to be very careful with my glasses, I don't have to panic financially if something happens to my primary pair - I can just order another set at a quite acceptable cost without loss of quality. I'll be doing that in the next month or two, to get a backup pair of glasses as well as a dedicated pair of sunglasses that will have polarized lenses, as I've got used to them over the years.

I can definitely get used to these lower prices, too!

Aug 8 - CGI Star Wars?

As much as I love all things Star Wars, I'm not sold on this particular one - yet.

Star Wars: Rebels is a new animated CGI series coming this fall. It purports to follow the adventures of a series of rebels during the reign of the Empire, tweaking the noses of the Imperials in the usual Han Solo-ish fashion. Here's 7 minutes of the first episode:

Now, I know it's the first episode and all that, but it's a little… sloppy? Much akin to the short-lived animated series Droids from a few decades ago, this show doesn't seem quite sure of the audience it's aiming for: youth, teens, tweens, adults? Who, exactly, are they targeting?

It's a lot more sophisticated out there now, in a connected world with a wealth of social media to worry about. For a new show, I can understand the creators wanting to attract as broad an audience as possible… but you don't want to dumb down the show.

I liked a fair bit of what I saw; there were a few great moments in there - for characters and story both - to give me hope that the series will mature as it goes along, much like The Clone Wars did towards the end of the second season( and don't confuse it with the traditionally-animated 2003 series of the same name )which was great to see.

But hey: it's more new Star Wars on TV. That's never a bad thing!

Aug 9 - Aim for the legs!

Don't judge me; I'm a g3ek.

I made my first Lego purchase in almost 20 years today, which says quite a lot about my willpower in that I've resisted buying a whole bunch of cool Lego sets over the years despite that lovely company coming out with so many wonderful designs. It hasn't been easy!

Here's what I got from ToysRUs on the way home from my semi-weekly Staples shift:

Why this particular set?

Well, the Rebel Snowspeeder is, in my mind, my favorite Star Wars design( and toy )of all. It's compact, deadly and looks like it's just plain fun to fly; all big marks in my book. Plus, Luke Skywalker brought down an AT-AT in one using a just tow cable, which if you're up on Star Wars lore had never been done before, as the armoured walkers of the Empire had up until that point been considered almost unstoppable.

As a boy, I enjoyed playing with the snow speeder whenever I could and especially outside of the winter, where it zoomed around above the frozen landscapes of Hoth and crashed into same, fairly often. It was a great, tough toy that allowed me to have many adventures in my mind and this new Lego version, being much smaller( if quite a bit more fragile ) will have a place of honor on my display shelves.

Not that I have any display room at the moment in my place, being rather tight for space, but you get the idea. On the same note, check out this truly INCREDIBLE playset, created from scratch by an amazingly talented Star Wars fan - Post by Star Wars Plastic Playsets - here's a pic:

I highly recommend checking out the rest of the pics - I'm in awe of this person's skills and dedication in creating something truly inspiring to those who were at all disappointed with the Death Star toys that came out years ago.

If THAT kind of set had been available back then, I'd have saved for a year to buy it!

Aug 10 - Go Play Outside

This was a true day off for me!

By noon, I'd done everything around the apartment that needed doing and was itching to head outside; the weather was 'summer perfect' with sunshine and warm temperatures that begged to be experienced in shorts and sandals.

So I obliged.

I cycled down to Beacon Hill park, to take in a few hours of their free Concerts In the Park series, held at the bandshell there for anyone who wishes to attend. The band played musical hits from the 1920's and 1930's, so it was a fantastic aural experience and I have to say, the crowd was one of the most attentive that I've ever experienced:

A classy way to spend part of the day...

After that, I went on over to Moka House, to spend the rest of the afternoon on the patio. I'd just finished reading a friend's 40k-word story in the park( a mixed tale of Chinese invaders and werewolves, if you can believe it )and brought along a copy of the first eight chapters( eight!!! )of Book 2 to read as prep for doing outlines this week. I managed to get up to Chapter Four before I headed home, in the main because I kept getting distracted by all the viewing on the patio. Ah, summer...

I was also distracted by the foot of the guy next to me, who obviously had Restless Leg Syndrome. It's amazing how distracting that can be when you can't block it from your line of vision, unless you move. Which I did, several times; he had quite the case of it. Amusing, but distracting, as I said. I gave him a pass though, as he was reading a book.

My evening, just after dinnertime, was spent on a patio( again, huzzah! )at Garrick's Head Pub, meeting two friends of mine for dinner… and to pass along a copy of my novel. It was a very pleasant time, all told, on a busy pedestrian walkway on the heart of downtown. Most interesting passerby: the guy wearing a pink bandanna, talking into an upside-down cane in a carrying stentorian voice, having a conversation with a policeman in which he decried that he was disturbing the public peace with his simple phone call as he walked along.

I can't make this stuff up - seriously.

Back home, blog, read some of a copy of Hitchiker's Guide I was gifted with this week( sweet! )then abed with a smile; it was a great weekend!

That about sums it up: work, write, relax and repeat. Before you know it, summer will be a memory and the fall will be in full swing. I wonder if I'll attend any Halloween parties this year? We shall see!