Shadows, Stress and Some of the Same

The word of the week is morose.

Jan 29 - Bright

Netflix has been pretty good lately when it comes to original content, coming up with quite a few new original shows in 2017, including an interesting twist on the "buddy cop drama" theme: setting it in a world of magic, with elves, orcs and more...

Also starring Wil Smith, because... why not?

Bright was an interesting film: well-produced, decently written and with solid characters set in a world where orcs and elves have 'returned' to co-habitate alongside humans. Obviously there's all sorts of tensions involved, and you can read a summary of the show here; I can't be bothered.

It was a fun watch, which surprised me, but I can't say I'd like to go back to that world again; the backstory seemed weak, and the plot centered around a magic item that seemed TOO powerful... along with a "gee, I wonder who it is" moment that was telegraphed from the first ten minutes of the show. It's again a case of $50 million for the production, and $5 spent on the script: you get what you pay for.

I applaud Netflix for making Bright, and hope they'll do more original programming in the future: though it appears that Bright is getting a sequel, I don't think I'll be watching it.

Wanna bet they'll call it 'Brighter' ?

Jan 30 – Eyeballs

My eyes still hurt, but less each week than the last: so, um, good.

I believe it's because I'm getting better at switching glasses for each of my tasks: Real Close, Close-to-Midrange( one to five feet )and finally Everything Past Five Feet Away. Being consistent about it means that my eyes don't 'tweak' in pain when I try to look at something 'out of the range' of the pair I'm currently wearing, so I'm taking that as a sign that I'm doing things right.

I'm also switching distances every 20-30 minutes, to give my eyes a break from focusing at the same range for too long( the ol' 20-20-20 Rule )which is also helping. One trick I've found is to 'defocus' my eyes when I'm doing something close to the range-limit, so that my eyes aren't trying to make the details 'crisp' - I can still see well enough, and it works as well when I'm not wearing glasses.

This week as well, my order of Lutien Plus came in, which I'm taking twice a day. I'm not expecting miracles, but rather I hope the supplements( benefits are listed HERE )will help 'round out' my eye health, letting get back to being more flexible and relaxed of a day. Heck, I'd LOVE it if the stuff helped my night vision become less ultra-sensitive so I don't have to avert my eyes from oncoming cars in pain. One more reason to pay attention to your eye health.

Small things, but they all add up to quality of life: the eyes have it!

Jan 31 – Pulling The Shades

It's an interesting thing, privacy: it's what you make it, these days.

I'm a private person, though you wouldn't know it from this blog, tossing things out there for the entire internet to see, if it cared to look. Most people don't, though; I doubt I've had more than one random visitor a month over the last decade, and none of them likely stayed too long; why would they?

In the early days of the internet, it was a different story. People put all sorts of info online: home address, phone numbers, email addresses... all through the 90's, things that are completely are-you-NUTS? today. I was one of the few who did my best to keep my personal info OFF the web, and it shows even today: I barely get any spam, only a few marketing calls a month, and no junk mail whatsoever. Keeping a low profile online has many advantages, especially when it comes to social media, where people 'creep' your profile regularly to try to pry out info they can use to sell you things, or worse, sell to spammers to sneak past your spam filters: I still get email derived from spambots scraping my online profiles for friend's names, which irks me.

Offline, I like to keep my blinds closed, and it weirds me out that so many people leave theirs open; don't they care that other people can see their activities? Not to mention advertising their nice big-screen TV, art collection, and what-have you. While I'm no Harrison Ford, I do value my privacy, all the more so having lived on a main street for the last five years with constant traffic twenty feet away. Time to myself, the privacy of my own thoughts without interruption or distraction, is precious indeed.

Retreating to a cabin in the woods can't happen soon enough for me.

Feb 1 – Try Not To Lose

When I'm stressed, I don't want to think: I want to relax.

Which leads to problems like not enjoying semi-complicated boardgames, stimulating conversations, or other medium-to-hard mental activities: they're stressful.

Ah, conundrums...

It's really frustrating: I want to relax, to play a game... but I don't like to lose, which undercuts my self-esteem. What I seem to want is to win without trying, which my logical mind *knows* is laughable, but at the same time I can't put in the effort, because it seems too much like work, which I'm trying to avoid.

*rubs his eyes with a tired hand*

I don't have a solution to this, apart from not playing games where I can't lose, like co-operative games:

Feb 2 – It's that Day again!

Groundhog Day never fails to relax me... even if only for a while.

This week has been especially trying, as I've been at work with a cold, focusing as best I could while killing Kleenexes - not fun, but I'm damned if I'll use up my previous sick days for just a head cold. I've needed them in the past for when I'm too sick to BE at work, and I want to ensure that 2018's supply isn't wasted early on...

Anyway: great movie, one that never fails to move me. Just what I needed tonight.

It's also the 25th anniversary of the film, and worth mentioning because I've been watching it for nigh into twenty of those years, every year... and still not tired of it.

The same can't be said for the people of Woodstock, Illinois, where Groundhog Day was filmed for five weeks in 1995: the town has moved on, but much of the town has remained the same...

Definitely not a timewarp, but something else - kind of like this 15-minute video, whose creator went to Woodstock to capture many of the film's locations as they are today:

 

Feb 3 – Eyeballs

I'm feeling down this week.

Maybe it's the total lack of sunshine, or the constant rain, or the depressing size of my chequing account... a combination of many, MANY factors, but I'm down.

I'm sure the cold's not helping either, though I'm mostly over it by now. I haven't swam this past week because of it, but I'm determined to go THIS week as I NEED the exercise, to keep my health improving: I've lost 5lbs over the last 10 days, which isn't good, so exercise and eating well are the orders for February.

Quicksand Rhino isn't enjoying himself right now...

Perhaps I'm just tired: tired of hanging on to the ledge with my fingertips for so long, that they've gone numb. I'm tired of looking up from my long trudge and seeing the future no closer, my book(s) still not published( don't get me started on THAT side-quest )and each day seeming like the same "Wake, Work, Worry, Wish, Repeat" cycle - it gets old, trying to be optimistic when nothing changes for the better.

Yet 2018's here: I made it through 2017, and something's GOTTA give as long as I keep pushing, though from past experience it might be a tendon of mine.

Each day's another opportunity to push: to take another step towards the goals I've set, and nevermind that the light seems to always remain just as far away...

At least it's stopped flickering.

Feb 4 – Timing

Ergh.

I must have woken on the wrong side of the bed today, because everything hurt: my neck, my head and most of all, my mood: it was foul and decidedly down.

Writing the blog in the morning helped somewhat with the mood, but by noon my head was aching abysmally, so much so that I popped a second Tylenol, which was unusual of late.

By the time I met my lady downtown at the main library for an afternoon poetry session being presented by Victoria's Poet Laurate Yvonne Blomer, my head and neck still ached. I persevered through the presentations, which admittedly were lovely when I could focus enough on the words being spoken. It was a shame I couldn't fully take everything in, but I gritted my( mental )teeth to enjoy as much as I could through the pounding in my head, which thankfully had faded to a dull ache by the time things wrapped up a few hours later.

My lady suggested a late lunch / early dinner at Shiki Sushi, which combined with her gracious company really helped lift my mood. We ended the day with a long walk that looped over to Cherry Bomb Toys, where a friend had earlier today said some Babylon 5 toys had come in! Unfortunately, someone had beat me to the Shadow Sentient by ten minutes( ARGH!!!!!!!! )but we were still able to enjoy the rare sight of a good number of B5 toys on display:

Middle Left: Shadow Sentient, usually goes for $150 USD, IF you can find it...

Not that I could have afforded to purchase the figure, mind you, but I would have liked to have held it, at least... kind of like finding a unicorn and being allowed to pet its nose.

Pshew... I'm glad this week's over with, especially Sunday: what with the cold, body aches, stress and the mood I was in, I was fit to chew adamantium... but, sometimes the elephant sits on you, and all you can do is wriggle out from under: no butts about it.