The word of the week is indescribable.
Sept 22 - Smooth
There's some big news this week; skip down to the 25th to see
what it is!
In other news, my workload at the day job's all caught up, in terms of volume.
It's been rather a heavy load the last month, in terms of how much each of us
have had to process, but the end's in sight and we're all happier for knowing
it. Plowing through the piles of papers in our morning inboxes day after day
has meant that things should get less pressured in October, as we have both the
numbers of people and the skill levels to handle the volume - good news for us,
good news for people wanting to get paid quickly by the government.
For tonight's writing group, I did a thorough presentation
on preparing for NaNoWriMo, which for those of you who don't know, is National
Novel Writing Month, coming up this November. It's a collective,
internet-community-led writing effort that seeks to jumpstart novels for
writers the world over. Last year, more than 300,000 people participated - you
can check out the amazing stats for 2013's NaNo here.
I won't be participating this year in one sense, but in
another, I will: if I can get back to writing Book Two regularly, then I will
sign up for NaNoWriMo and get my stats going in to participate.
I should know in a few weeks if that's going to happen or not.
Sept 23 - A Week Left to Study
My permanent position interview is one week from today.
Without boring you with all the details, it's a Big Thing to
me to land this job long-term. As I've said in previous posts, there are so
many good things about this job compared to my previous employments that it
almost seems like a different world altogether - and being government, it
really is, in some ways.
Studying has been the name of the game this week, each
evening poring over all the details I can gather about what to expect in the
interview. Fortunately, I've had some good resources to draw on, which I'm
extremely thankful for, as this sort of job interview is rather different from
the private sector. The Competencies I've mentioned are what's being scored and
for each question I'm asked, I have to hit ALL of the points expected in my
answers in order to score sufficiently well to be considered for a spot.
To say it's nerve-wracking would be overdoing it a touch,
but it is stressful. I'll be quite glad when I'm well into the first week of
October and the interview is behind me, so that all I have to do is wait for
the final list to be announced. In a way, it's kind of like my entry into the
Dark Crystal AuthorQuest contest, when I waited to find out if I was one of the
Final Five. While that didn't turn out as I expected, it did result in a huge
boost to my confidence as a writer, so I'm open to all possibilities.
I do want to nail the interview though, so it's study,
study, study all this week.
Wish me luck!
Sept 24 - Cutscenes
Why do I play videogames?
It's an interesting question, as I've realized that I have
rarely ever finished a game.
Instead, I think I play them for the stories.
That makes sense, in many ways, for as a writer, I want to
hear( and see and read... )more stories all the time. Videogames are interactive
stories( at least, the better-made ones are )and the best have cutscenes that
play out like movies made in the finest Hollywood tradition.
Last week, I mentioned the HALO series, whose storylines
I've enjoyed. This week, I give you Starcraft 2, which has some of the best CGI
ever produced, in any medium; Blizzard really needs to produce games AND
movies, in my opinion. Have a gander at some of their finest work, to date:
What I like about the modern internet is that I can find so
MANY cutscenes easily, right on YouTube, to enjoy. Meaning that if I didn't
really like, or feel like playing, a particular game but thought the story is interesting,
I can always sit back and just enjoy the cutscenes.
How's that for free entertainment?
Sept 25 - The Henson Invite
An amazing email showed up for me today!
Waiting in the silicon ether was an invitation from Cheryl
Henson, daughter of Jim Henson and the woman running the Jim Henson Foundation
which takes care of all of her father's legacies - one of which is The Dark
Crystal.
Wouldn't you know that there's a film festival being held in
New York in late October, where The Dark Crystal is being shown and The Jim
Henson Group is holding a reception afterwards which is invite-only… and I'm on
the list!
It's a long way to NYC and back though, so my initial
reaction was "That's wonderful, what an honour, but I can't afford to
go." However, I hadn't counted on my family's reaction which was, very
simply: "You're going."
Did I mention my family is very important to me? Likewise. :-)
Their instant support made me realize something new about
the invitation: this is the first time that I've received an invite to an event
because of something I wrote. That singular thought kept a smile on my face all
this week!
More on this as the date approaches; for now, it's enough to
know I'm going to New York!
Sept 26 - Intermittent Z's
Sleep has been an issue this week.
Since I can track my sleep quality using my phone( and since
last week, also my Pebble )I've noticed a decline in the last few weeks -
probably due to stress over the upcoming interview. I've made every effort to
go to bed at the same time, getting around 7 hours each night and doing nothing
that would keep me from falling asleep fairly quickly, like watching TV, having
caffeine after dinner or the like.
Last night's sleep was rated at 35%, the lowest I've had in
years and much lower than the spates of 50-60% range in the last month,
terrible compared to the 70-80% I was getting earlier in the summer. I can't
think of anything else that might be affecting me, as I haven't changed my
eating habits nor taken on large projects of writing of late. Perhaps more exercise
will help, as I found I slept better after having ridden my then-typical 8km a
day to and from Staples 4 or 5 times a week. Tired body = good sleeping.
Early to bed, early to rise, might be the watchword for me
for the next while. Seeing as my flight to NYC is an overnight, I'll at least
be able to catch up on some sleep as I travel and feel rested for the time I
spend in the States. As a plus, I'll have my Parrot Ziks with me, so say goodby
to engine / flight noise as I travel through the clouds - ah, bliss.
That's the theory, anyway; the Ziks will have to prove their
worth in the air.
Sept 27 - Cousin(s) from Afar
We had some long-lost family visit us from the States today.
One of our cousins, found through my mother's researches
using Ancestry.com, came up to see us. We gave her a tour of the Island, rather
leisurely to be sure, which took up most of the day. It included a visit to the
top of Mt. Douglas, where the views were simple spectacular thanks to the
cloudless blue sky and calm winds - here's an image I snapped:
 |
| Atop Mt. Douglas, looking north |
I also booked my tickets to NY today( Brooklyn, actually,
but close enough ).
My family and I were at lunch, waiting for our cousin to
arrive on a ferry that had been delayed by an hour due to fog. I had brought
along my laptop, so I browsed the saved flight / hotel searches I had saved
and worked down the list until the perfect one came up. After that, it was just
a matter of discussing the details with my family and then zap: I booked it
online, locking in my trip.
It made for a very interesting day, with the bubbling
excitement that I was committed to the journey!
Sept 28 - Studyday
Today, I overheard an amusing comment while out cycling for
a bit.
Stopping at a shop to get passport photos done, there was a
man struggling to lock up his fancy bike at a poorly-designed rack. He briefly
exchanged comments with another cyclist there, one of which was "You don't
put a kickstand on a bike like this one."
I found that a striking thing to say, as it indicated that
the man considered struggling with his obviously-expensive bike worthwhile, if the
addition of a practical accessory meant he could brag about his cycling image. That
sort of thinking has never entered into my mind and I found myself biting my
tongue as I propped up MY bike with its convenient kickstand, locked it securely
and went on my merry way, while the man struggled a little more with his bike
as he propped it against his leg
No words needed.
Part of the afternoon and a good part of the evening was
again spent studying for my interview, memorizing acronyms and applying them to
stories from my work / personal life in a manner that illustrated all the
points to be discussed. It's a very structured way of thinking and hard on the
mind, as the writer in me keeps wanting to ADD details, when what I actually
have to do is stick to the straight-and-narrow to get across Just The Facts,
Ma'am.
By evening's end I was exhausted, having taken 'breaks' to
type up the blog you're reading now. At one point I had to open a window, as I
was finding it hard to breathe; while not a panic attack, that reminded me that
I couldn't focus TOO intensely on the studying or I'd forget to maintain a
balance that would aid my retention of the information. Very important, that
bit.
To bed at a regular time tonight. I've a lot to do in the next 48 hours; I hope that tonight and tomorrow I can get some quality sleep so that I'm well-balanced for Tuesday!
