Spaceballs, Shrinkage and Sweet Silence

The word of the week is flippant.

Aug 18 - Being Busy

It's crunch time: I can feel my world shrinking.

Maybe that's a good thing, though I'm not sure I like it.

Focus, perhaps, is the best way to describe the feeling I'm experiencing nowadays. I've set so much aside in order to concentrate on just two things: my day job and my writing.

That's it.

All the little projects and other things on my to-do lists are languishing; I just don't have the time. There's a huge backlog of Must-See Movies and Have-To-Read Books that I simply won't be getting to this year. I need to spend my time creating my work, writing in my creative space in order to bring the very best out of me to show to other people.

My day job is also taking up a lot of my energy, though thankfully not draining my creative side of things. Expectations have been raised again and while I'm keeping up, it's not been easy and I work extremely hard all day long to not only complete my work but to do so without errors in a timely fashion. This entire week, I've managed to keep ahead of the quotas that have been set, but it's left me rather fatigued some days. You never know if you're going to have a batch of simple work or if it's going to be a whole raft of problems; such are the joys and you have to deal with some as best you can.

As well, my contract will be finished at the end of October, which is only two months away. I've been prepping for writing a 'Competition' which is how the government system works, apparently. I'll be competing against other applicants for a limited number of permanent positions, which as you can imagine I'll be working very hard to obtain one of. This job is far too important and is such a good fit for my writing lifestyle to do anything else; it'd be the height of foolishness to lose this opportunity to ensure my financial security long-term with the goal towards launching my writing career based on such stability.

So it's work, study, write and repeat for the next two months for me; wish me luck!

Aug 19 - Marvel-ous Movie!

After work today, I met a friend to hear what he thought about my novel!

Only… he didn't want to tell me right away. In fact, he said that he just wanted to meet me to tell me that he wanted to be sure that I wouldn't be offended if he told me exactly what he thought about the novel, once he was done reading it. If that was okay?

Ummm… yes?

I suppose there must have been a miscommunication of some kind, but I was definitely puzzled when I showed up all excited after work only to find out that I suddenly had some time on my hands before my movie started. Not being one to pass up said unexpected free time, I sought out a place to eat and ran across Old Vic Fish and Chips, where I had had some fabulous fish and chips( obviously )that I was able to turn into Fish and Poutine; yum!

It really hit the spot and left me feeling definitely more balanced after the head-shaking a little bit earlier regarding my novel. Then I went to the movie; can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint:

It was just as good the third time around; I don't believe that I've ever seen a movie while it's still in the theatres three times, so it's a record for me. Even though I know what was going to happen, it was a thoroughly fun and enjoyable experience for me the whole way through and from the laughter, the audience around me felt the same way. What I'm most pleased about though, is that we'll be getting MORE movies like GotG, if the box office take figures have anything to say about it. 

The people have spoken: the Smart Space Opera is in! 

Aug 20 - What's missing?

Why do planes have windows and small ones at that?

It's a valid question, because it's a major design challenge for aircraft engineers to put in windows that don't compromise the integrity of the airframe while still allowing passengers to see outside.

While I haven't taken a whole lot of flights in my lifetime, more than half the time I've asked for a window seat. The views are spectacular - when the sun's not shining in bright enough to blind you - but for the most part people ignore the view for the majority of the trip to read, work on their computer or chat up their fellow passengers.

So why should the aerospace engineers rack their brains to put in windows if passengers are going to ignore the view 95 percent of the time? It's a good question, one that an aerospace company has asked itself and come up with unique answer:

I think the concept is revolutionary, not just for cost-reduction but for the many other potentialities that the video above implies. It's important to note that this is just a preliminary concept, one that can be applied to other forms of transport as well, not just aircraft. Imagine what it would be like to travel on an underwater submarine whose walls appeared to be transparent for almost their entire surface, which would be impossible for any submersible in all but the shallowest waters.

Hopefully will see some of these vehicles appear in a few years and show us things we've never seen before.

Aug 21 - Fics

I write, but I don't write fanfiction.

Which is odd, because I'm a fan of quite a few things that I could write about. When I think about it though, I've never really felt the driving need to further explore somebody else's universe in order to satisfy my curiosity about any 'What If's…' regarding characters or plot that I felt might have been unresolved.

Well that's not quite true; I did write a story about this sea-beast once....

Sort of. The story was actually based on a creature depicted in the 2002 Disney movie Atlantis: the Leviathan. Something about the gigantic mechanical monstrosity touched a creative nerve in my head and I had to scratch it by writing a story about the Leviathan's origins which were only briefly touched on in the film.

I actually rather like the story that appeared from my head; you can read it here, if you like, along with three other stories that I've posted. The story about the Leviathan seems to be the most popular however, as I've had it added to people's favorites now and then over the years about a dozen times....

So you can see why I don't write fan fiction: there's really no future in it in terms of making a living with such tiny audiences. However, it does serve to home one's skills, attract like-minded writers and most importantly to entertain people who found their way to your story that you so painstakingly created.

However you gather an audience, it's the writer's job to tell a good story, in the end.

Aug 22 - Polly Need!

I'm in love… with a parrot.

The Parrot Zik, to be precise: a glorious pair of headphone tech that I now own and have in-hand as of late today. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, I've been looking for over a year for a pair of headphones with noise-canceling technology and this week the Parrot Zik went on sale at a Canadian online store for more than $100 off, which was my signal to take the plunge. Expensive as they are, I'm already convinced that I've got my money's worth: in terms of technology, they're top-notch and you can read an in-depth review here. The sound is incredible: listening to songs I've heard 100 times, I've heard subtleties and notes that I've never noticed before, which just blows me away completely. I'm no audiophile and not even a headphone aficionado, but this is a whole new level of listening for me.

More on the Zik later as I get some real-world experience with their capabilities in various environments; I'm extraordinarily excited by what I've already experienced just tonight in using them briefly and glimpsing the potential benefits they'll have for me.

In the evening I saw a movie in the local Beacon Hill Park: Spaceballs!

It was a free presentation, part of the Victoria B-Film Festival that ran this summer with a variety of films, most of which I honestly couldn't say I wanted to see. However, I've not actually seen the entirety of Spaceballs, despite its being in constant reruns on television; I just never managed to catch a full performance, I guess. John Candy as Barf was always a favorite of mine in the film.

A very big, inflatable screen!

Hundreds of people showed up to the event, covering every available bench and all the grassy space around the bandstand. It was definitely a family event, with all sorts of folks out for the evening as dusk fell and the movie started. I have to say it was a well-behaved crowd, with everyone focused on the movie and not a single person being disruptive; everyone was just enjoying the show.

Who would've thought Spaceballs would still be so popular after all this time?

Aug 23 - Love For A Living

How do you make time to do what you love?

All of us have to make a living, though some very few of us are able to do so by doing what we love. And there are endless articles about this; I should know, I've read more than a few of them. For one I've been able to glean of what the many authors have said, the old adage holds true: hard work, not luck, is what gets people places. The ability to recognize opportunity is also critical: all your hard work will be for nothing if you walk right past an open door without realizing it, which any entrepreneur has to develop a sixth sense for.

The phrase 'Finding Your Passion' also comes up a lot, which I'm not sure I quite agree with. As I mentioned above, finding out what drives you is important and focusing on using that to move yourself towards your goals will take you most of the way there if you don't give up. Not that I'm advocating beating a dead horse: if you're thinking of developing the Ultimate Typewriter, then you might want to reconsider your business plan.

All I want to do is to turn my writing into a living and not have it remain a hobby. I think that would be a waste of my talents and I'm going to drive hard in the next few years to ensure that I give myself the opportunity to make it happen; persistence and patience are also keys towards making dreams happen.

In the late afternoon, I went to Sooke for an evening of gaming.

Again, it was a wonderful time, albeit too brief at a mere three hours of game time at the table. Highlights of the game session were an attack by a pack of chimeras, which I thought rather apt as monsters( see the description ), as well as a rather amusing ice golem guarding a hidden door that one of the characters almost got their tongue stuck on; it was that kind of an evening. These kinds of game sessions are exactly what I need right now: pure fun, unrelated to work or writing where I can be creative in the company of fellow creative, intelligent folk who are all there to just enjoy themselves and be whatever( whoever? )they want to be.

Say, doesn't that sounds like a perfect formula for a workplace?

Aug 24 - The Sounds of Silence

Walking around wearing my Parrot today was informative: I smiled a lot.

Inside my apartment, the wireless signal is great from my PC; I have access to my music library with no issues. With the Active Noise Cancellation feature turned on, the outside world disappears and if I pause my music, the loudest noise was the beating of my own heart - very cool.

Listening to epic music videos is again a joy, unimpinged-upon by passing traffic or even the somewhat-solid footsteps of the lady living above us - she's hardly a patch on the preposterously-loud sound of the people who came before her, so that's hardly a comparison. All the same, with the Parrot Zik active, her footsteps drop below the level of conscious hearing with only moderate music playing through the Zik.

Outside, walking down to Cook St. Village, I listened to an audio book for the first time on my phone: the very same Legends of Drizzt that I mentioned last week. Normally, the noise of passing traffic overwhelms the words( and often the music too! )in my headphones, whether in-ear earbuds or when using my lighter Aluratek headphones.

Not the Parrot: passing traffic turns into mere whispers, including most motorcycles. Joy!

Obviously, there's potential danger: not paying attention to traffic and not being able to HEAR said traffic is a recipe for disaster I'll be keenly aware of. It also goes without saying that I won't be wearing the Parrot while cycling( I never listen to music on a bicycle anyway, it's foolish )either. It definitely allows me to focus on what I'm listening to without being overwhelmed by traffic noises, which is amazing. I love technology!!!

All in all, it was pretty good weekend; I was thrilled to get the Parrot Zik in the mail in time to really put them through their paces. Just being able to sit on my couch in front of my PC and type without gritting my teeth every time an under-mufflered vehicle rumbled by 50 feet away brought to a silly grin to my face for long stretches of time. At one point, something passed by at a such a loud level of noise that the cat snapped awake from a deep sleep; I barely heard it at all.

It's been extremely wearing, if you'll pardon the pun, to keep my creative output focused while tuning out background noise; even with music, it's hard to ignore extremely loud vehicles passing by and for that alone, the Parrot Zik's performance has been spectacular. I truly think that now I'll be able to get some quality writing done right in my apartment, on a regular basis. despite not having a dedicated office or other space that is well away from the noise of my surroundings. The Parrot Zik allows me to have that space wherever or whenever I want, within reason - joy, again!

I just wish I'd been able to write the things off as a business expense; I'm still working on that end of things. Still worth every penny, though!

I hope to finish off a batch of upcoming scenes for Book 2 this week, giving me at least ten scenes to write in the course of the next two weeks. Then I'll repeat the process, hopefully with less of a break this time; it's been three weeks since I last wrote a scene and my muse is getting VERY antsy...