Support, Stability and Sane Choices

The word of the week is reciprocity.

Sept 15 - Stabilization

I'm doing better this week.

The detailed feedback I received last week really threw me for a loop, so much so that tonight I took my writing critique group out to a coffee shop for a long talk about all aspects of my novel and writing in general.

It was a good decision.

By the end of the evening, after confections, coffee and tea had flowed liberally along with the conversation, I felt much better. I am more at ease now with how the feedback fits into my work, able to step back and see that there's no reason whatsoever to panic, which would have upset Douglas Adams, I think. Work on my second book will resume as soon as I have completed whatever steps are necessary to secure a permanent day job in the next month. After that, my evenings can be filled with new writing on my second book, with revisions for the first book waiting until 2015. At the moment, my mind is definitely not on a creative track, though I do have to keep my Muse happy somehow…

For inspiration, I had only to wait until the end of this week to spot this:

Marc Zicree, writer, living his dream... see below:

Reading the following made me realize that my dreams of writing for a living are more possible than I had hoped( and I've met Joe Haldeman, he was a fascinating, honest author ):

Just posted this to Joe Haldeman, author of The Forever War and my teacher at Clarion: Hi, Joe, Thought you'd be tickled to know last night I shot scenes with Bruce Boxleitner of Babylon 5 playing a character named General Haldeman after you. I'm writing, directing and producing the first of six Space Command movies, and we're two days away from finishing shooting the first film at our very own studio. Mira Furlan and Bill Mumy also star -- the first time the've acted in a project with Bruce since B5 -- along with Doug Jones of The Strain, Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, and Bob Picardo of Star Trek Voyager. It's a dream come true, and it all started with you teaching me at Clarion when I was nineteen. Thanks to that, I sold my first short story and realized I could make a go of being a professional writer. Everything since has been as a result of what you started there, and I am so very grateful to you. Here's a photo of Bruce Boxleitner, me and Bill Mumy from last night. You can tell I'm just overjoyed. Thanks so much for all of it, and my very best to Gay. Marc

I'd say that sums up things pretty well.

Sept 16 - Interview in 2 weeks

I'm on my way!

Today I found out that I've been selected for an interview for a permanent position with the government.

( Insert WAHOO! here - yes! )

It's a big step, but the road's not nearly done; I still have to pass the interview and possible take a written test, all part of the 'competition' for one of the limited number of positions made available. 

Needless to say, I'll be studying hard for the next two weeks, as I prepare myself for the hour-long interview. Most likely, I'll be asked to provide specific examples of situations relating to each of the Competencies that need to be demonstrated for the position. It's different from a public-sector job application, where one has to provide listings of relevant experience, along with perhaps a situational example or two.

Memorization is going to be the key here, where I can go in and know my examples cold, along with all the key points - in acronym form - for each Competency. That's about all I can tell you( and is most of what I know already )as there's surprisingly little info out there on the internet about the best way to go about applying for positions with the BC Government.

All the same, I'm SO excited to have been short-listed, as it means I have a chance at securing my long-term financial future. To have a day job that pays a living wage here in Victoria: that's all I've hoped for and in a few weeks, I'll give it my best shot in the interview!

Sept 17 - Doubling Up

Working once very other week isn't enough to survive on - duh!

Fortunately, I'm talking about my 'other' job at Staples, which I've kept as employment even though I'm rarely scheduled more than twice a month. That's still all right, as it keeps me on the books, which also keeps my Benefits active: I don't have those at my current employer, as I'm still 'temporary' until as such time I get a permanent position. It's strange, working only once or twice a month, at a place where I've spent 40+ hours / week at points( though not often enough, says my bank account )which was 'full time' hours-wise but not pay-wise. I've found myself forgetting all the little details of the job( which is fine )as well as working somewhat detachedly; I've mentioned in previous posts how management's attitude towards me has changed for the better, as they know I could leave at any time. 

Talk about wearing many hats...

Meaning that on nights like tonight, they'd have nobody to ask to cover a shift, which was exactly what they called me about. Being the guy I am( and not having other plans )I said yes. It turned out to be a pleasant half-shift and I even got to say hello to some of my old night-shift buddies that I haven't seen in ages. It's for that reason, the social aspect - more than any other, that I enjoy the 'occasional' status I've found myself in there now. With all the people that have left recently, there's only about four people there that I know well, so it's kind of like visiting a new workplace, when I do work; neat, in a way.

On an amusing note, people have been Parrot-spotting me around town.

I didn't realize it until I started wearing them, but my Parrot Ziks are a rather distinctive design, even the black-and-silver model I have which are WAY less 'bling' than the others available:

Rose gold and pure gold both say 'Rich Guy!' way too loudly for my tastes

Several people on the street have exclaimed "Hey, those are Parrots!" and one guy in the downtown mall went so far as to grill me( in a friendly way )about them, as he was considering getting a pair but lamented the expense. I'm not unaware of the danger of wearing expensive headphones around town; I certainly won't wear them at night and not anywhere that's crowded, to lessen any 'snatch-n-run' danger - I'm not paranoid, but I'm not stupid either. Besides, I still prefer walking around with my much cheaper Alurateks, despite the lack of Noise Cancellation, simply because I don't enjoy hearing the sound of my own footsteps constantly, which happens with the Parrots; they're THAT good at cancelling sound. It's  been fun to see people's eyes light up as they recognize the Parrots; obviously, they're quality!

Maybe I should wear a little parrot button, as an in-joke?

Sept 18 - Design My Own Phone?

*sigh* Why have phones become so costly?

The apple of my eye( not from Apple )is the HTC One M8, a gorgeous all-metal bit of phone tech, but an unlocked one will set me back close to $700.00 without a contract, which I consider unacceptable as it's the same price as a mid-range laptop. All the same, my out-of-warranty Samsung S3 has lately been giving me errors like 'Your phone data is corrupted, please Factory Reset your device' which understandably drives me batty. With that sort of device out of my budget, I've been searching around awhile but coming up empty, save for going on another multi-year contract with Telus, which I am loathe to do again. A new phone has to happen soon, within reason, for me to stay sane.

Then this week I found the Moto X( 2014 )which retails for $500 new - still pricey, but less so.

The only phone that can give you wood

It's not available yet in Canada, thought it went on sale this week in the USA in limited quantities. It's a flagship phone, meaning its specs put it in the same class as the HTC One M8, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Apply iPhone 5S. However, the MotoX is unique in several ways, one of them being that you can completely customize it if you order directly from Motorola and skip the middleman, for minimal additional cost.

Yes, that's right: the manufacturer will let you design a custom look for your phone.

We're not talking cases here, or stickers. Motorola offers a generous variety of colours, materials and combinations of such, including genuine leather and real wood.

Wood, on a cell phone: so very cool, and textured!

You can find out, if you like, right over the web. Motorola UK opened its online doors this week for the MotoX, using a site app called Motomaker, which has the full customization UI you can try out - free! You can play with all the designs and colours, see the phone in 3D right on the web and when you like a particular look, you can even email it to yourself.

I've played with a few designs already and I have to say, they look sharp. Navy blue leather paired with orange accents, or a walnut back paired with green accents; there's more than a few that appeal to me and the variety of customization options mean there's a MotoX look for almost anyone, case-free.

I'm still not totally sold due to the price though, as there's another option: the OnePlusOne, which has the same or better specs than the MotoX:

Speaking purely in terms of specs and cost, the OnePlusOne is in the same class as the MotoX and costs $150 less for the base model, which speaks directly to my wallet. However, at this moment, you can only get a OnePlusOne via a convoluted 'invite' system which is frankly stupid. News this week is that OnePlus will be scrapping the system and going to a 'Hey, we have a batch of phones available, come get one!' approach, which sounds more reasonable.

Hopefully my sanity will still be intact by the time I manage to get one of these phones...

Sept 19 - Bubblegum Crisis

An old favourite came back to see me this week.

Rather, I should say I watched an old favourite: Bubblegum Crisis 2040, a late-90's anime series I adore. I haven't seen it in almost fifteen years, so it was a treat when I discovered it on Netflix this past weekend - bonus!

Hardsuits = power armour = g33kout!

What I like about the series, in a nutshell: In the near future, a team of all-female vigilantes use advanced power armour( 'hardsuits' )to defend their cities from rogue 'boomers', which are the ubiquitous labour drones of the next generation that are supposed to make life easier; life has other plans, however.

BC:2040 is the last of the 'bubble' anime series to come out of Japan before the economic crisis of the 90's hit and it shows: the animation is solid, the backgrounds lush and the story detailed. There's little 'frippery' with the characters: each has motivations, a purpose and a relation to each other that's not perfect, by any means. The complexities of the show are what appeals to me the most: the way the characters are revealed as the main story progresses, as well as the main story itself, mesh with the incredibly fun visuals of the hardsuits in combat, whose detailed operation show a LOT of thought went into their design. There's evil corporations, bad family blood, a rock band and even a kid brother who's got a lot more going on than you might think. All of that adds up to my re-watching the entire series this week, which at 25 episodes is quite a lot of TV for me these days, but it's worth it...

It's great to just be along for the ride with a show like this. Knight Sabers, go!

Sept 20 - Pleasantries

Here we are, heading into fall tomorrow, and things are still green here.

In more than one sense: the grass and the trees don't seem to know summer's over, though to be fair, the grass looks like straw here in the summer if it's not watered. Here's a pic from my street:

Left side: sprinklers. Right side: not. See the difference?

It's green in other ways too. I'm feeling much more relaxed, with the 'late summer' we're experiencing here these last few weeks in Victoria.

Still, there's signs that the season's changing, despite the absolutely gorgeous weather we've lucked into here this weekend and last. Sitting at Moka House today, I had the occasional brown leaf land on my head, or spotted a chestnut as it bounced and rolled on the sidewalk after parting from its mother tree. There's small drifts of brown leaves under the bushes and more jackets clutched in the hands of passers-by, along with umbrellas here and there for the still-changeable weather.

Me, I'm eagerly awaiting the fall, but not for the reason you'd expect. I will miss wearing shorts and sandals( never often enough for me )or sitting outside at lunch, soaking up the rays in a short-sleeved shirt that's always too hot after only a few minutes.  Even the cloudy days aren't bad, as any rain quickly passes on and leaves everything fresh-seeming, with temperatures never really needing a jacket save late at night. 

What, then, do I like about the fall season, above all else? Simply, this: 

Fall means blissfully-quiet writing weather is on the way, soon enough.

NB: I fully condone the choice of those who like, love or are married to motorcycles. Passion is a wonderful thing and I can understand sharing it with the world. However, I am against sharing one's passion at full volume with a five-block radius - minimum - with those who do not share the same passion and perhaps are trying to pursue quieter pastimes. This concludes our Now You Know Service Announcement, At Reasonable Volume.

Sept 21 - Blissday

It's been a relaxing weekend.

Yesterday, I treated myself to breakfast out, then spent much of the later part of the day at Moka House on the patio. The weather had cleared up from Friday: sun and only a few puffy white clouds to give the sky that touch of perfection.

Just sit back and relax, enjoy your weekend...

Today was much the same: some Necessaries in the morning, then out the door and down the road to enjoy myself. I went for an hour-long bike ride around town first, doing this and that, for as I've said already I need to get myself back to where I'm exercising more regularly, if not on a full routine.

My Relax Routine led me to Moka in the afternoon, which I spent blissfully people-watching while I worked on my blog. That's right: I typed most of this week's entry, despite the twinges my left wrist has been giving me this week. Dictating my entries is fun, but composition via ten fingers has a rhythm all its own and I need to get my brain used to doing both if I'm to add true meaning to my novels when I edit them.

Looking at people as they passed by today, I was struck by how much variety there is, in all aspects of people's lives. From those sitting on chairs by the curb, poisoning themselves with coffin nails, to the happy group with two pets( who are likely used to the smell of wet dog, whew! )to the fellow walking around balancing a book on his head: one and all, their lives have briefly intersected here and perhaps will again, in new combinations. 

There's also those who I notice in my daily walks to and from work, people whose problems make my own seem petty and trivial. Physical ailments, age, mental afflictions, poverty, social anxiety: these and many more things I've observed in the people of Victoria, moving among the crowds of people, most of whom either affect not to notice out of politeness, embarrassment or just plain ignorance.

For the people with physical challenges, I feel the most empathy, as they must move through life with burdens unknown to the able-bodied. One young gentleman I see semi-regularly is always impeccably dressed, moving each foot carefully forward to take a step with a gait that looks to always be on the edge of escaping his control. Even so, there's a smile on his face as he goes forward; his gait is as much a part of him as his smile and from the energy he pours into his strides, he likely pays it little mind. 

I'm grateful that for the most part my body obeys my commands, albeit with little enough natural dexterity or an abundance of strength. The occasional twinge in my knee or burning in my wrists are not enough to keep me confined to bed; I can master such things with my will, using a mind that thankfully is keen and without too much of a rattle when I shake my head. 

I'm working on the social anxiety thing, which for now appears to be a simple lack of attention on my part. 

However, it's not reciprocal: I received an invite out to dinner tonight from friends, which I happily accepted, being a somewhat rare thing for me these last few years. On an evening like this, even with a wind that decided to stir the leaves I mentioned earlier, it was a treat to get out and socialize. Don't get me wrong: I'm no hermit, but in my books, seeing my friends twice a month on average isn't often enough. Compared to years past, when I spent three or four nights a week at the Kilt or Starbucks, I'm a hermit, but back then I didn't have a purpose as I do now, nor the impending stability I've yearned for, for so long. Long story short: it was a fun end to a fine weekend, one which I'd happily see repeated again soon.

Mayhaps, in a month's time, I'll be telling you about my plans from a perspective of someone with a permanent job. That will be quite the change, and I'm sure I'll be more than social about telling everyone, here on the blog and on FBook.

You just won't be able to see the smile on my face as I say it.  :-)

This was probably the most pleasant weekend that I've had in a long time, especially as I consciously make the effort to relax more than anything else on the docket. The perfect weather helped, as did the knowledge that I have an interview coming up, as a chance to convert my contract into a long-term position. I have an opportunity and I don't intend to waste it, so don't expect to hear about me being up to much next week apart from studying for the panel interview!