The word of the week is mitigation.
June 26 – Wonderful Writers!
I truly enjoy being a writer,
especially when I'm helping other writers. Tonight was an excellent example of
that, and at a new venue too!
My writing group( going strong for
almost 5 years now in Victoria! )hosted Bennett Coles, a local
author and now a publisher, to discuss the oft-mysterious world of publishing
in no-nonsense terms.
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| That window to the right was like a sun-searchlight... wowsers! |
We hosted him at a new venue, a James
Bay( near downtown )restaurant called
The Bent Mast, which has a convenient pair of large rooms upstairs
capable of holding 12 and 40 people, respectively. We used the larger room( for
free!!! )to host the 38 people who showed up, all to listen to Ben lay out how
publishing actually works.
Now, this was much of the same information
I'd heard him deliver earlier in the year when attending his 3-session seminar
series in Sidney( at $20/session )with more detail and Q&A, so
getting the same info for free was a big score for everyone. Ben's candid
experiences in publishing his own scifi series( Virtues Of War )these
last 5 years, as well as those of starting his own publishing company locally( Promontory Press )were illuminating, and the audience was rapt for the nearly two hours
we spent in his company.
Evenings like this are when I feel
most like a 'real' writer: when I'm helping other writers to puzzle out their own
paths towards success, including publication. Discovering things on my own while helping others to learn along the way are fulfilling for me, and I'm so grateful
that I've managed to land as one of the two leaders of the VCWG. We've grown to
nearly 1,000 members here on Vancouver Island, all without charging membership
fees, and the feedback we've received for the work we've done has been
overwhelmingly positive.
Meaning there's more nights
like tonight to come, you can bet!
June 27 – Twins?
Have you ever wondered if you have a
twin?
I think it's something that many
people wonder, and I know I've been asked dozens of times, usually by
strangers, if they know me... as they've met someone who looks like me at some
point, but can't quite place who it is.
Now, there's technology that can find
those twins of yours!
Twinstrangers.net is a site that
purports to use specialized algorithms to match your image and description
against a database of other people who have done the same. Obviously, the more
people who use the website, the more likely you are to find a match!
I'm curious, and I'll probably sign
up in the next few months to give it a go. Since I've gone from having a dark goatee to a full-on silver beard
though, I've received way fewer 'Hey, do I know you...?' comments from people,
but I still think I'll give it a try with a variety of photos( clean-shaven, goatee, etc )to see if
there's another Me out there.
I love modern technology...
June 28 – More of the same
Tonight was the sixth Land Mark
session, the one I've been looking forward to attending for the last month and
a half, all because of the promising title:
'Getting Out Of the Money Trap' - sounds promising, right?
Two hours in, we arrived at the big
reveal, after the usual story-sharing, preparatory talks and me getting up to
stretch every 30 minutes( I'm doing better these days, but I'm not taking
chances )so I was all ready as the moment arrived: how to Get Out of the
Money Trap?
The big secret? Go fully into the trap,
because you can't get out.
*long mental pause on my part, then a
longer mental sigh*
Right. The same 'big secret' as the
Weekend Forum I attended 3 months ago: essentially that life is meaningless and you can't
do anything about your situation except step back from it and hope things will get better - thanks. I kept listening in case there were
contextual cues I'd missed, and reviewed what we'd been presented with up to
this point for the same reason. I like to be thorough before I made a decision.
Conclusion? No information that could
help me in my own financial situation.
Now, going into this seminar series,
I knew that it wasn't a 'traditional finance' course with budgets, terminology,
practical tests and/or advice, etc... but it was free because I'd done the
Forum, so that said a lot, and I'm always open to learning new ideas. I'm also
open to the fact that my focus may have been too narrow over the years I've
been wrestling with my finances and that I might have totally missed something vital.
After tonight, I'm pretty sure of
what my current financial options are, and totally certain that this evening was my last session
with Land Mark - they have nothing more to teach that I care to learn, ironic since
nothing is at the core of what they're proselytizing.
Disappointing, to say the least. But
I've still learned a fair bit from my experiences with them, discovering that I'm angry
deep-down( and how to channel that creatively )as well as that I'm down
to the financial options I've known for a year: spend less and/or earn more.
Plus, I'll be getting back 8
more evenings this July for editing!
June 29 – Stomaching
One thing I'll be doing less of from
this point on is stressing.
Much like earlier this year, when I
was stressed out about the Land Mark Forum weekend, my stomach tensed up daily,
causing me significant pain and discomfort.
Lately, this has been manifesting
itself every few days, usually on the weekend before the Monday group chat,
and for the next few days before the seminar. It's usually compounded by how I sit
at work, upright at my desk, though I take pains to get up and walk around
every 20 minutes to keep my core muscles moving. While it's not as bad as it was three months ago, where I had to sleep in an elevated position, it's still been quite painful if I move the wrong way or too quickly, feeling like I've been doing situps for an hour straight.
I've also been re-reading Deskbound, focusing on the problems I'm
having with these specific core muscle groups and looking at the
recommendations therein. So far, I haven't come up with much beyond what I'm
already doing: paying close attention to how I sit, ensuring my work ergonomics
are sound and not 'clenching' my abdominals while focusing on regular full-diaphragm
breathing.
Next week will be informative, as I
don't have a group chat on Monday(
holiday! )and I won't be attending the seminar on Wednesday. So if my
stomach / abdominals settle down to a nice, relaxed state, then I'll know for
sure that it's been the stress from Land Mark that's been the cause behind the
daily pain.
I'm looking forward to being free of that distraction,
I'll tell you!
June 30 – Decision Inspiration
It's funny how making a decision
helps settle things in one's life.
Wondering, waiting, planning,
thinking: the problem is that none of these are actually doing, but usually
just prevarications to avoid making decisions.
My decision to stop the Land Mark
series this week is good, in my eyes, because it means I can move firmly on to
doing other things that I haven't been able to devote my full attention to...
and also get rid of the stress that
accompanies such.
A particular quote resonates with me,
when it comes to decisions:
Nothing falls into line when you're
hovering at the decision door: you have to walk through to discover what's
waiting on the other side, and hope that what you find will aid you further,
now that you've made a decision.
In the past, I've been known to be
wishy-washy about decisions, as many people are. I held out for various
reasons: hope that things will change, agonizing that the decision I was
pondering might lead to a wrong choice( oh
no, a mistake! )or that what I was doing was ill-informed, so I had to keep
pondering on it.
Not so much any more.
I've come to trust my instincts,
which have been honed by experience and knowledge both. In coming to decisions now, I'm far better able to 'go with my gut feeling' first, and then take a little time to
back up that decision with some thought and research.
Right now, my guts are( literally )screaming at me to finish
editing my latest draft, so I can get on to planning my home business and
getting a better job. Nothing more - there's no room for
anything more in my life right now, apart from my( admittedly amazing )girlfriend and my family.
The kicker? There doesn't need to be
anything else: I'm good.
July 1st – Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!
Wow, what a busy day, but it
was so great!
Yet I woke up today with a
headache, which transitioned into a full-on migraine-pending on the way to my
parent's place today, brought on by the combination of a massively-bassy truck
following us and the strobe-like flashing of the brilliant low-angle morning
sun through the trees as we drove. I had to lie down for a while with a few
Tylenol when I arrived instead of visiting, and felt woozy until well after
lunch, when my head finally straightened out. It's the first time in many years
that's happened, and I'll have to watch out for the strobe effect if I'm feeling an incoming headache from now on - plus big nasty garbage trucks, too!
While I was at my parent's, I managed
to locate the comic copies of the Groo The Wanderer I'd been trying to
track down for years: I'm missing a few dozen issues, and early this week I
came across a HUGE pile of them at a local bookstore for a pittance! Unfortunately,
I'd misplaced the 'missing issue' list I'd made years ago, but today I copied
out what was missing, then picked up over 30 comics from this 'backlist' on the
way home - excellent! I'll find time to read them this fall... and I also found
something else at my parent's place I've been looking for for a decade today too - more next week
on that!
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| In the Russell Books bag: 32 missing issues, dirt cheap and in good shape! |
In the afternoon, my lady and I drove
out to Sooke( an hour's trip )to
attend the annual Canada Day BBQ at our friend Deborah's new place. She and her
husband Josh found a truly stunning and unique home, which sits on a hillside
with a fantastic view... and includes a full-size concert hall! Just look at these
pictures:
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| Breathtaking: the view, and the sheer ROOM inside this house - plus a hilltop gazebo! |
We spent a splendid few hours there at
dinnertime, chatting with folks about writing and just admiring the house... I
would never have thought such a property was affordable to anyone outside of a
millionaire's club. The house was sprawling, quirky, outdoors-focused and even
had secret rooms! It was a fun and relaxing evening, one I always look forward to
every year, and moreso now than ever - they could host hundreds of people at their new pad, though parking and the steep walk uphill might be issues. Still: wow!
We left Sooke as the sun started to
wane, arriving back in Victoria a little after 8:30pm to make our reservations
at Vista18, which was really busy for Canada Day, but far less crazy
than being among the 50,000 people packing the downtown core tonight. My lady
and I were seated facing south as the sun set, highlighting the lone Canadian
flag atop Beacon Hill against the magnificent view of the Olympus Mountains( see
below ) - truly a stunning picture to take in on our country's birthday.
The live jazz band that was playing was the perfect accompaniment to the
evening, and we enjoyed each's others company among many smiling faces for
hours until it was time for the sky-dance of lights to cap off the night.
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| Magnificence on the left, and a view of the crowd on the right |
We didn't see the fireworks full-on
due to the blocking-placement of another building to the west, but their reflections
were easy enough to watch in the windows of ours and other buildings. The
fireworks crawled like brilliant snakes across the glass as they burst, an
effect as enchanting as it sounds... and what a wonderful way to end an amazing
day!
July 2 – The Mystic Vale!
Today was less packed with things to do, but
still a fantastic Sunday!
After a late breakfast, my girlfriend suggested
that we go and visit the gardens near Uvic, which I've not yet seen in all my
time here - great idea!
We arrived shortly after noon, and after parking
the car in some shade, we descended into... The Mystic Vale! I had no
idea the place existed, to be honest: it's a small hidden-away ravine located on the UVic
campus, but in the summer sunshine it was... magical. It reminded me greatly of
the simple suburban ravine that I grew up next to in Ontario, and the pictures speak for
themselves:
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| The Vale is... deceptively cool and green! |
I loved that it was a cool, quiet green space in
the middle of a busy city, where you could barely hear the occasional large
truck in the distance. The insects that were around didn't bother us at all,
and we only ran into two people the whole time we were walking the well-kept
trails, out of the burning-bright sunshine.
Across the Uvic entry boulevard, we then visited Finnerty Gardens, which are gorgeous
and feature only plants native to Vancouver Island. The many wending paths
mostly offered shade from the sun, with ample numbers of benches to sit and
admire the botanical delights. I was soon grinning from the magnificent display
of well-tended plants, and I think we'll go back again soon for a picnic!
After a few more hours out for milkshakes( white
chocolate and hazelnut for me! )at the Interactivity Games Cafe, we
called it a day so I could get home and work on my blog. I wasn't tired, per
se, but I felt it's been a weekend well-spent.
And I still have tomorrow off, which I
plan to use to write all day long... glorious!
This week's blog took longer to
write, as my Dragon Dictate software decided that THIS Sunday evening was the
perfect time for it to 'optimize' its databases... and shut me out from using
it to write my blog - thanks. Good thing my manual typing skills haven't
atrophied much, doing all the editing I have for the last year, but it's still
frustrating to have a useful tool make itself unavailable.
