Musings, Mojo and Major Movie Time!

The word of the week is tenacity.

April 2 ­- Goldilocks and Ideal Self

This was a short week, with a holiday today and Friday off.

Good; I can use the rest.

Working all of last week on my novel submission to Baen( go me! )was a strain on my eyes, and while I took precautions like leavening my writing time with 20-20-20 breaks, my weaker right eye is still paining me today. But not terribly.

What's paining me more is... happiness?

I'm a motivated person, as many of you know, though I feel what I've accomplished in life to date to be small and unremarkable, at least in terms of the impact on others, as well as my own life; one glance at my finances makes a good example of the latter. Still, we're not just balance sheets: life's a lot more than that. Challenging yourself and staying motivated is key to getting a grip on life, which when you follow the Goldilocks Rule, starts to make sense:

Right now I'm not challenged at my day job( and I've received word it's going to be changing later this year, so that's worrisome... )but I've been using that 'lack of challenge' to my advantage by learning via YouTube at work while my hands are busy but my brain... isn't. I've gone from a mix more of entertaining myself( a process of relaxation )to a majority of educating myself about writing, as well as the science involved in my novels, which has kept my motivation up.

It's also been a case of worrying less, which is a challenge unto itself.

Yet I know it's a process, a series of small hills, rather than a trudge up an unending( and unyielding )mountain:

For now, I'm simplifying, just being, and seeing how the rest of 2018 shows up as I crest each new hill.

April 3 - In the Swim

My water routine seems to be working out.

Twice a week, I'm up early before work on Tuesdays and Fridays, to get to the swimming pool by the 7am open-time and in the water ASAP in case other people trickle in; I like having the place to myself, as it seems like it's my own private pool... if only for a brief time.

I just LOVE hottubs!

This week and last, I've been soaking my legs in the hottub for 5-7 minutes beforehand, to loosen up the muscles before I stretch, and it's been helping. I've managed to swim for about 20 minutes without pause, with good flexion and a nice, tired feeling at the end that tells me I've burned some solid calories while moving around.

Being sensitized to my own body as much as I am( thanks, 2017 anxiety... )means I can tell exactly when my muscles are tweaking / close to strain, and I back off the effort level for a minute, then go again. My goal is to make it a full 30 minutes of exercise at decent effort levels, though that's tricky since I have to factor in a shower, changing and getting to work... as well as fitting breakfast in there somewhere. Fortunately, the place with the best deal on breakfast also lets me phone in an order, so it's ready by the time I walk there from the pool; yes!

Once the current cardpass runs out in a few months, I'm considering getting a basic gym membership, as the pass went up to $80.00 / 20 visits, which at two visits / week is only 2.5 month’s worth.

Then again, I have a fitness bike just taking up space in my apartment... one that I'm loathe to get back on, should I suffer a repeat of the tendon injuries from 2016.

Maybe I'll just take things slow for now, and see how I feel by May.

April 4 - That One Thing...

Another note on happiness: it's all about quality.

A study by Harvard that's been going for 75 years( wow! )showed that when it comes to people being happy, the thing that matters most is love:

Now, I've read years ago that the threshold of financial happiness is around $75,000... but it's now around $83,000 AND that has nothing to do with being happy in life, just non-stressed about being able to pay your bills, buy some geegaws, and save for retirement. All of which I'd like to be able to do without getting tired from the continuous juggling.

Yet, I'm lucky in love, according to the Harvard study, as I have many quality relationships in my life when it comes to friends and family, as well as my remarkable girlfriend. There's a Ted Talk that goes into a little more detail about the Harvard study here, and it's worth the 12 minutes of your day to watch:

April 5 - Isaac Arthur

As mentioned above, I'm learning at work about science, specific to the concepts that I am using to write my novel trilogy.

YouTube is a big place to poke around in, but I'm incredibly grateful that I stumbled across Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur earlier this year. He's a math guy, so the numbers make for a solid foundation to build each of his videos upon... and given that he's been releasing one per week for a couple of years now, there's over a hundred available, varying in time from 20 to 60 minutes. Gold!

Here's an example of an early video of his, which is still crammed full of great information:

I highly recommend his channel, as the 'later' videos( circa 2016 )are fabulous, many with animations and data charts worth pausing on to soak in the full concepts and ideas. I'll be re-watching some of his videos in the next few weeks, this time taking some notes as time permits each day as the ideas coalesce...

Bonus: in the evening, I went out to my writing group's Meet N'Greet!

It's been months since I last attended a Meetup, and even that was our State of The Union meeting, so it doesn't count; the last one was in November, five months ago. So tonight was well overdue for me making an appearance, and I'm glad I did: the group took my initial comments about genre and ran with them! We had a lively discussion for an hour and a half, then things wound down nicely a little after 8pm; plenty of time for me to head home to get a few things done.

I was also pleased that I'd managed to sit upright in my chair for all that time with nary an abdominal twinge; my exercise and movement efforts are paying off!

April 6 - Ready Player One

Two years after reading the book, I got to see the movie today!

For those of you who don't know, here's a spoiler-free summary of RPO:

In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spends their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone-the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends-aka the High Five-are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS.

I went into the movie today with the understanding that there were some significant changes made from the book to the film, but I understood that some parts of the book( author Ernest Cline's first novel! )weren't well-suited to filming - this article goes into the details of why that was.

Did I enjoy the film? HECK yeah!

Was it good? Overall, with only one viewing, I'd give it a solid 8/10 for a fun ride through 80's nostalgia, a 9/10 for visual effects, a 7/10 for story... and a 5/10 for plot execution.

I'll explain that last score: it was... clumsy, which surprised me for a Spielberg film. There were many missed opportunities for character nuance, tidier plotlines and so forth, as the film simply barreled along to the end. It meant there were few slow spots, which was good, but I found myself wishing that things had been done somewhat tidier, which is the writer in me nitpicking( with good reason )on things.

Now, some people out there think the film is great, while others hate it... and I have to say, if I wasn't an 80's kid, I'd probably see it as just an OK action-VR-video-game film. But since I am who I am, I'll be seeing it at least one more time, in IMAX, to soak up the visuals, and definitely purchasing the film on Blue-Ray to pause saidsame visuals to savour all the easter eggs that I missed.

Which, in a movie whose central plot is about finding an easter egg, there's a TON of them!

April 7 - Complications...

It's never easy, or at least it seems that way some days.

Earlier this week, I received a reply to an email I'd sent to Glowforge, to make sure my unit was still being held in queue for delivery, once I figured out the details which included picking up from a USA address to save $425 USD in shipping to Canada. I mentioned as much in my email, and this was the response:

From the last sentence of his reply, what I take it to mean is that while I *can* have it shipped to the USA, I have to ensure I inspect it FULLY when picking it up in order for the warranty to be in effect. Meaning I have to call up the receiving company and ensure that I'll be allowed to do the testing, which will take about 30 minutes and some portion of their space - plus a power outlet.

It's not a huge problem... but it's one more consideration, on top of the estimated $400 I'll be paying in taxes / duties, according to my research this week.

Meaning my estimated payback, just for the cost of the Glowforge, will be about two years, based on a flat monthly income. Less, of course, if the business takes off later this year with some good local word-of-mouth and online website.

First though, I have to get it here intact.

April 8 - Comics!

As I wasn't feeling particularly well yesterday, I took it easy today. My girlfriend wasn't on top of the world either, so perhaps there's something going around, a spring bug? I'm hoping she feels better soon.

It could have been an incipient headache, or something I ate( dairy? )this week, but I was feeling a bit wiped, so just relaxing was key. Even a quick trip to the grocery store for some almond milk was an exercise in energy conservation and patience, as it was rather crowded. All I wanted was to get out of there ASAP... but I just kept calm and let the noises pass me by as I focused on just Getting It Done. Which worked!

I also read a few of the comics I'd picked up over the last few months, some of them crossovers( Ghostbusters / TMNT )and others unique( The Tick, BSG vs BSG ). I've rarely purchased a comic, or even a graphic novel, in the last twenty years, as I tend to simply read the word-balloons and take passing note of the artwork only as it serves to illustrate the story... which since comics are a highly visual medium, is a disservice to the artists. Still, that's how I'd read them.

Now, being aware of that, I'm taking more time to enjoy them, page by page. Today I ready BSG vs BSG #3( series written by the great Peter David, too! )the cover of which I was surprised to find out was done by none other than Adam Mojo Lebowitz of Babylon 5 fame! As a bonus, I'm connected with him on FBook, and we traded a few comments back and forth on the art as well as related subjects; how cool is that? Check out the cover in all its glory, courtesy of Mojo himself:

That's the fun part about social media: you can connect directly with people whose work you admire, and while bearing in mind not to pester them, you can engage with them regarding their work when they have time. One more reason for me to stick around FBook, despite the negativity it's been garnering of late.

I'm probably going to be there for the long haul, but with some changes: more on that soon.

Well, it's a full five-day week ahead, but I've got little scheduled other than what I choose to catch up on this week. I think, given my low-level eyestrain, that I'm going to keep it to reading, some light Netflix-watching, and staying in to save funds( it's also going to rain all week, not great go-for-a-walk weather ). Low-key is the watchword(s) for this week, while I kick whatever minor bug's bothering me.