Time, Turmoil and Thanksgiving

The word of the week is solitude.

Oct 7 - Little Progress

I've only been able to work on a few chapters of my book to date.

It's intensely frustrating to spend so much time and energy at a day job and not have much left over to do what I really want to: edit my novel so that I can send it out into the world with my head held high.

I know that I'm capable. I know that the book is in me. I know that it's going to take a lot more than I've been able to give up to now in order to make that happen.

The stress of not working versus the stress of working are two sides of the same coin. Not having an income versus not having any energy and still not getting ahead makes me just close my eyes and wonder about the world some days. I can understand why some authors took years or decades to finish their books, given the circumstances of their lives at the time.

I want to finish my book and get it out into the world. Whatever that takes, I'll have to find a way to make that happen. I only hope that I have the energy and willpower to sustain me on that journey of an unknown length.

One of the reasons I write this blog is to get these feelings out there, to give them voice, so to speak. Sometimes this blog contains a little of my inner monologue, sometimes morseo, but always it's honest and always it strives to inform as to what's going on in my life.

Never to complain; who wants to read that?

Oct 8 - Voices

I'm still working on my voice acting abilities, on the side.

Admittedly, my voice does not have a vast range, though I haven't explored much of it by practicing at any length. I do some decent impressions of people and characters, but in the main I haven't practiced much beyond ones that are fairly easy to imitate.

Some people are very good at this and you can find examples of great imitations all over the Internet, including YouTube and other more specific sites dedicated to voice acting in general.

Wired magazine recently published an article entitled Top 10 Most Recognizable Pop-Culture Voices. It has some very recognizable characters from the last few decades, one of which I am trying to practice with as it's my Halloween costume this year. Of course, it's a very difficult voice and very few amateurs would be able to imitate it perfectly, so I'm doing my best.

Oct 9 - What have you read lately?

How many books have you read in your lifetime?

That question arose in my mind this week and I surprised myself by being unable to answer it right off the bat. Numbers are a tricky thing to put into place when it comes to quantifying the number books someone is read in their lifetime, as there are many factors that can be read into that - pun intended.

Stephen King says that he reads 80 books a year. As the famous authors turning 66 this year, if we extrapolate 50 years of reading it works out to 4,000 books, give or take, that he's read in total.

For myself, I believe the number is far higher, as I devoured books from an early age and only really saw my reading numbers decline when I got to work on my novel in mid-2012. I probably averaged about two books a week from when I was 10 years old, sometimes going up to a book every day when I was really into a series or just had the time. If we put it down at 100 books a year over 30 years, then that works out to only 3,000 books, which again I think is a very low number considering the amount of knowledge that I know I've stuffed into my head. I'm not counting magazine articles, textbooks, articles read on the Internet or from other sources - just novels and full-length books.

The fact that I own 2,000 books personally and have read every single one of them, then I have to consider that I've read at least that many more over my lifetime and I'd peg the number at closer to 8,000 books. Which still seems conservative to me.

How many have you read?

Oct 10 - Living Under The Line

It's not easy right now for me, but I'm used to that.

I'm speaking about income, which I don't usually do. The topics been on my mind for months and while I'm not wont to discuss such things here my blog, I'm learning that it doesn't do a lot of good to keep so much to myself when it doesn't really matter in the long run.

My current job doesn't pay very well; despite my having near full-time hours, hourly I'm earning about half of what I was at MMart even before counting the overtime that was added on to my regular hours. All told, I'm bringing in a little over a third of what I was earning previously, which is in no way helping me get ahead in life.

According to a current article about living wages here in Victoria, I should be earning about $18 an hour as part of a couple to be able to 'get ahead' in life. Yet the article states that the monetary budget doesn't allow for major things like home ownership or saving for a child's education.

I know that as a single person without a well-paying job I can't even afford a car, let alone a house. Just for fun a few years ago, I worked out what I would need to earn on my own in order to have a modest two-bedroom house, a car and a conservative yet decent lifestyle that includes savings, travel, entertainment, hobbies etc.. Given that the current 25-year mortgage in Victoria works out to around $1500.00 per month, any guesses as to what I need to be earning an hour?

I'll bet you didn't know I worked it out to around $30 an hour before tax.

You go ahead and think about that. I'm done with it, for a while.

Oct 11 - Happiness

Nobody's looking over my shoulder to make sure I'm smiling these days - except my sister, and I'm so very grateful to have her doing so. When she's around.

It's all part of being an adult: if you're not in a relationship, there's nobody to be there every day to get used to your moods and to be able to tell when they're off. If you're the kind of person who brings their moods to work, then your coworkers will probably not appreciate such after a while, as they have their own things to work through everyday.

Being an adult means being happy or sad or angry or any combination thereof are all YOUR responsibility. Were all in charge of walking our own road and while some of us are lucky enough to have someone there with us every step of the journey, others have to take many of those steps alone.

I'm fortunate enough to have many fantastic friends and a supportive family. Yet I'm still subject to many days where I wonder where I'll be and what mental state I'll be in while I'm there. I'm cursed with, and fortunate to have, a mind that's constantly working on many things at once and I'll tell you that it makes it really hard to focus when there's a lot of problems to be solved that don't have easy answers.

Then again, who wants easy? Nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy, to use the old tired phrase. Personally, I'd really like a few stretches of easy to come around, as all the hard sections I've walked so far have made me well able to recognize the easy when they come along and I definitely appreciate them.

I have my good days among the deplorable and the desperate. Those days that are a wondrous combination of happiness, energy and creativity have been too few in my estimate in the last few decades. There's always too many things dragging me down compared to those that bouy me up and I'm so very tired of trying to see sunshine no matter what.

Maybe I should have moved to Arizona?

Oct 12 - A Year Ago, Again

One year ago today, I finished the second draft of my novel.

I'd spent at least a dozen or more grueling hours every day for six weeks refining it from the first draft, so that I could submit it within the deadline for the open submission put out by Harper Collins Canada.

As it turned out, they turned down my submission, but that was a good thing in hindsight, as I feel the tremendously positive feedback I received plus the critical review from my critique group meant that I could make the book so much better still. The fact that I came down with pneumonia after pushing myself so hard isn't lost on me and I'm being careful to keep that lesson in mind as I work my day job while creating the third draft in my free time, such as it is.

I'm as excited as anyone to be able to read the third draft in its final form. I can feel its general outline in my head as I slowly chip away at each chapter, making the words and ideas flow together as perfectly as I can.

I want it to be the best that I can possibly make it.

Oct 13 - Thanks

This week's blog hasn't been a happy one, sorry to say.

Yet it's Thanksgiving, so let's brighten the mood a little. It's the time of year to be thankful for what we have and, when I think about it, most everything in my life could be so much different. I have no worries for my immediate family anymore, just myself, and my friends all seem to be doing just fine in their own lives.

I was at two Thanksgiving dinners this week, which is two more than I thought would happen. I had a lovely turkey dinner on Thursday with my parents and sister at Denny's, with a wonderful waitress and just basking in the happiness of my family. It was fantastic to just reminisce and not let the worries of the day intrude but rather spend every moment enjoying each other's company. 

As it should be.

Yesterday night I went along with my sister to a combination birthday party / Thanksgiving dinner with her group of friends, who were all very successful people yet all very down to earth. It's enlightening to spend time in the company of such people, whose lives don't revolve around trying to get ahead but rather enjoying life on their own terms instead of letting their paycheques define how they see the world. It was refreshing to simply talk to people whose interest in the world takes a close measure along what their own perspectives bring, whose worldviews are shaped by what they choose to surround themselves with. I had a wonderful time just talking to everyone, who seemed interested in me just for me, including my aspirations to be an author. From what I saw, everyone there followed their own dreams and they view of my own desires to make my words my living as perfectly possible.

There can be no better way to spend a night than in the company of good dreams.

Every day from here on in until the end of the year is precious for my writing. When I'm not working, I'll be writing or sleeping - that's all I've got planned and whatever else comes up has to take a back seat to that. There's too much else on my mind to focus and I need every erg of energy to put into my book's third draft. That's all.

Life, Loss and Learning

The word of the week is absence.

Sept 30 - Positive Signs

Life's shaking itself out around here lately.

For me, it's just come down to my day job and writing - that's it. My sister has been finding her own way, creating a happy support path for herself that I don't have to parallel in order to keep both our heads above water. That's been a major relief to me as she seems to be manifesting the happiness that she needs in her life fairly easily and looks to be heading towards a bright future here in Victoria.

Which leaves me to do my own thing, whatever shape that will take. It seems likely that I'll be staying here in Cook Street Village, in the same building that I've come to adore for many reasons, its location and its residents among them. I can see myself getting the day job balanced with my writing ambitions, pushing myself above the ceiling in terms of training and becoming comfortable to the point where I leave for home with as much energy as I arrived at work with. Meaning that I can get a good few hours of writing done every day, in harmony with doing my job properly and enjoying it both, alongside having decent social life and just enjoying myself without any other burdens competing for my attention.

Eventually the transition will happen where my day job IS the writing, and I won't have to pay the bills any other way.

Oct 1 - ReBoot Returns!!!

Finally, some great news!

Almost twenty years after it went off the airwaves, the ground-breaking CGI cartoon ReBoot is coming back! Not just in-reruns either, but as a brand-new updated series, using current state-of-the-art technology and new characters - you can read the official Press Release here.

I'm very, very excited; I own the series on DVD( it's not all that easy to find )and it's eminently re-watchable, especially the third season which has some fantastic storytelling arc points. I first watched the show while I was attending university and fell in love with it immediately, not only because of its CGI graphics but the story BEHIND those pixels was quite compelling. Still is, when I think about it, really.

Oh, and Rainmaker is apparently working on a Ratchet and Clank film slated for a 2015 release; sweet!

Oct 2 - Loss of a friend

I found out from a friend that another friend has died this week, far too young.

That was shocking to hear. Even though I hadn't seen much of them since I'd left Niagara in 2007, they were still on my social radar and good people, to boot. A further shock was that they died from complications arising from what I'd had last year: pneumonia.

That's… scary, to think of what might have been. And sobering, to see it played out as an end someone else's life. To have had their family's dreams for their future cut short, to have them suddenly vanish from the lives of their friends and co-workers, to see all the plans and hopes and dreams just… stop.

Over the years, I've been well aware of my own mortality and that of others. There have been numerous close calls both for myself and people I know, where things could have gone horribly wrong and that would've been it. Even now, when the days are dull and dreary and things seem as though they'll never change for the better, I know that we only get one shot at doing things on this mortal coil and that's it. For good or bad, we are here to make the best of it and to never take for granted the time that were given to do so.

Once you are gone, the hope is that you will be missed and not be forgotten. I know that I make a point to remember those I've met and befriended who have passed on already as often as I can, for when I do, they live again, if only in my memories.

Be sure to tell those around you how much they mean to you today, in case tomorrow never comes.

Oct 3 - Life Envy

Some days it's hard to get focused.

There's a lot that can distract you from the now, as it's called: money, career, romance, family and half the hundred things that all dance around in your head, vying for your attention without pause.

Being who I am, I'm always thinking, always pondering the possible and mulling over the probable of what could be, what is and what was. For me, what could be sometimes gets confused with What Could Have Been and even What Should Have Been, neither of which is not really relevant to my life now.

Sure, I could be decades into a career, climbing ladders and punching cards towards the glimmer of success just outside my grasp. Or I could have already achieved success, to the point where I'm wondering what to do with my life as a next step. I could be a happy family man, content to support my wife and children with an unremarkable career that means a secure, steady paycheck.

But I am none of those things right now.

I'm a man who has journeyed far, standing at the top of the mountain pass with the cold winds behind him, looking down towards the valleys and hills and wondering where they will lead me next.

Green pastures? Desert lands? Surely it will be a road to places I've not imagined yet, but I'll keep putting 1 foot in front of the other to get myself there regardless. I'm the sort of person who doesn't give up but keeps on going in the certainty that the horizon will still be there whether or not I can see it at the present.

For me, that's what keeps me going. For now, that's all I need.

Oct 4 - No Pity

I'm of two minds when it comes to thinking about how the universe works.

On the one hand, I grew up believing the universe was a logical place, where what we  now mostly understand Make Things Happen. Gravity, atomic structure, physics and all the forces that science knows make the universe tick like a vast, unimaginably complicated clock from one millisecond to the next. That such a universe has a place for everyone and everything, big and small, in it's order and chaos both. And that such a place has no malice or beneficence implicit in its design; it just IS.

On the other hand, of late I've been leaning towards the 'Benevolent Universe' model. Mainly this is based on 'wants and needs' in terms of making one's world aware of what you want and/or need. Positive reinforces positive and conversely negative begets the same, so those who wear a smile on their face and in their heart will find such reflected back at them… and vice-versa.

It's been interesting to discover how the latter has worked on a daily basis, week to week as I attempt to focus on the positive things in life. The little coincidences that we may take for granted every day suddenly become much more significant in terms of noticing patterns and responses, given one's train of thought at the time. An interesting example of a need being met was several weeks ago, when the desk that we had been using for our backup PC had to be given back to its owner, who had suddenly  changed their mind about our using it. 

That very evening, I was walking home along Cook Street when I espied a small compact computer desk sitting by the roadside, looking lonely in the dark. It was in perfect condition and exactly what we needed for our space-challenged apartment, so I immediately took it home with me with a feeling of gratitude suffusing my mind. I could give other examples of things appearing when needed but I'll simply say that if you're not watching for them, you could walk right on by or even worse just take them for granted, which I try not to do.

I am however still waiting for a briefcase full of money to show up; I think about it every day. The odd part is, that's a want, not a need.

Sure would solve a few problems though, I have to admit.

Oct 5 - Praise

One thing I'm terrible at is giving out compliments.

However, the corollary to that is that I seem to attract quite a few of them - for which I'm quite grateful and humbled sometimes.

Today was an example of such; I was feeling rather down, so I went out to Moka House to try and lift my spirits with some tea and confectionery goodies. As I placed my order at the counter, the server pause and a smile brightened his face before he said "You know, I have to say that it's always a pleasure serving you as you're always so polite and never make it difficult with your order."

This is a BIG printable sheet - go ahead and pass it around!

It was so unexpected that I babbled some sort of pleasantry in response, then paid and waited off to the side feeling rather much happier than I had been moments before - such is the power of a compliment. Especially one that is unexpected and possibly even deserved, as I do try to make things easy for people who deal with me as much as possible.

Where I am weak is in giving OUT those kinds of compliments to people for jobs well done, among other things. I tend to live a lot in my head, giving a nod or smile in appreciation instead of actually saying something and that's not quite good enough, as this afternoon a few words proved that they can make a big difference in someone's day.

Be sure to give those words voice when they are deserved.

Oct 6 - Balancing isn't an act

Yesterday was my day off and today feels better because of it.

I managed to accomplish a lot yesterday, despite falling asleep exhausted on the couch for most of the morning. I'm still losing weight, not eating enough and not getting enough of the right things, such as protein, on a daily basis - that's going to change starting this week as I up my intake and adjust my diet.

It's all about balance, of finding the right mix of time and energy to devote to various tasks - personal, professional and domestic all. Yesterday I made real progress on revising my novel's third draft, getting the ball rolling quite nicely for a few hours. I also spent a few hours outside in the sunshine, sitting on the patio at Moka House reading a few science-fiction stories and letting my whole being... just be.

That's the best part about living where I am: there's a LOT I can do, right here in the heart of the city, that ISN'T about spending money - it's about spending time with myself, not at home, or at work.

That's restful.

It's a new month and a new week. I've less on my mind of late, which is a good thing all around as I have a LOT to do yet writing-wise in the next few months. In addition to getting on track at work. Until next week, then...

Challenges, Changes and Constants

The word of the week is obsolescence.

Sept 23 - Settling In For the Season

Now that the fall is here, things have settled down into a pattern somewhat.

Four or five days a week, I go to work and try to get some writing in at some point on those days. My days off, I generally catch up on other things and try to set aside a solid block of time to also get some writing in.

So far, that's being of limited success, as I've been very stressed and very tired for the last few months. With learning all the hundreds of details in Copy, along with the insanity of back-to-school, it's been very wearing on me. Add onto that getting the dozens of copies of my novel printed and distributed along with all the usual fun things that cause one's money to disappear and I've been rather occupied. Time is vanishing far too quickly right now.

On that related note, most people have by now got their copies of my novel's second draft. However, there's still over a dozen people who, for various known( and unknown )reasons, have yet to pay for their books( and thus pick them up to begin reading them ). It's a little frustrating to me as I've gone to great lengths to print the books out of my own pocket initially, at cost, and then arrange to have them sent out for as little cost as possible so that people can pick them up. I've got at least two dozen more people who would like copies of the draft but I have none left to give nor have I the funds to produce more, especially as I'm still waiting for some of those same funds to come back to me through the people who haven't paid yet. At some point I'll have to put my foot down and make their copies available to other people, as I can't wait indefinitely for someone to get around to sending me payment.

On the bright side, those folks who have received their novels and have read a good portion of them have been glowing in their feedback. I am always thrilled to hear people ask me things about my book and I believe that I will never grow tired of that feeling as an author.

Sept 24 - Failure

Why is it that silly things happen on my days off, when I want to get work done?

Like a RAID hard drive card controller failing - again. Ironic, as a RAID is supposed to allow for one drive of a pair failing without losing any of my precious data. In this case, the drives themselves are fine - it's the CARD that's controlling them which has died. It's under warranty, thankfully; heck, it didn't even make it a year before dying and I have an extended warranty for it on top of all that, which is useless now as it's non-transferable. So much for that aspect of trying to be prepared for data disaster.

Once the replacement arrives, I hope that I'll be able to just plug in the card and my drives will be back to normal. However, I'll be shopping for a new brand, as Rosewill's not cutting it in keeping my days off stress-free regarding my PC. 

Definitely not.

Sept 25 - Boardgames, New and Old

By now, you probably know that I am a Car Wars fan.

Yet it's probably been over a decade since I last played the game with anyone and even then it was one of the later versions. I'd almost given up hope that such a game would be re-released in any form, tabletop or even as software. But then I heard that Steve Jackson Games had put Car Wars on the table as part of a 2012 Kickstarter for another one of their games( the futuristic Ogre system ) to be re-released if Ogre was fully funded.

Mines, oil slicks and weapons fire: those were the days!

Thankfully, the Ogre Kickstarter smashed it's goal many times over, raising close to $1 million which definitely qualified for getting Car Wars re-released. After checking out a whole bunch of message boards, I discovered that until the new Ogre game is complete, there will be no funding for Car Wars, most likely putting it off until 2015 or so. But: the important part is that it's going to happen! And that makes me very pleased.

Now all I have to do is introduce my board gaming friends around here to the joys of vehicular combat…

Sept 26 - Future Rez

I just can't get small houses out of my head. It could be a mental bug; I'm not sure.

One of these days I'm going to trip across a plot of land here in Victoria and that will be it; all have to purchase it somehow and then figure out what tiny home I'm going to plop onto it to live in. Problem is, there's just so many of the darn things to choose from.

Apart from ones I've already mentioned in the blog, there's also student residence concepts to consider - at least the individual ones and not the gigantic blocks of cubbyholes stacked together that you may think of.

One interesting concept is the Tengbom Student Flat, which has some unique features, including the fact that it's made entirely out of wood. In keeping with the tiny home philosophy, everything that a person needs to live comfortably by themselves is contained within the structure. Sleeping area, eating area, bathroom, living area and some storage are all present in various forms. Space is as always at a premium and function seems to have been given priority, which is fine if you don't have much in the way of possessions.

Maybe I could put two of these together, to have space to keep MY stuff?

Sept 27 - Twilight Imperium

After a long day of work, gaming with your friends is a great way to unwind. Especially if you're taking over the galaxy!

While I was getting changed to go home today around dinnertime, I got a message from a fellow writer friend: what I like be the fourth in game of Twilight Imperium tonight? Of course I said yes and since their place was very close to my work, I was able to get there fairly quickly after they messaged me.

I'm the green player; appropriate, as I played a race of slimy bugs...

The only problem was, we didn't actually GET to the first( and only! )combat until midnight, 6 hours after we started playing. It's also similar to the vastly popular Settlers of Catan game, that I've not played enough of over the years. The majority of game time was spent expanding our respective little empires, planet by planet, as well as building up our forces as we prepared for contact with each other. I have to admit that I do enjoy that stage of the game, but it shouldn't take more than a few hours to complete, in my opinion.

Next time, I think I'll suggest that we streamline the building phase in order to get up to the combat phase fairly quickly. I think that's the most enjoyable part of the game, where one matches one's resources, wits, skill and luck against other players to see who comes out victorious in the end.

After all, the galaxy can only have one supreme ruler@

Sept 28 - Daze Off

Last week I neglected to mention that on Friday, I attended a wonderful comedy evening at the Royal Victoria Theatre. It featured the cast of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" doing improv for a few hours on stage:

Whose Live Anyway returns to Victoria with an all new show. Join Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff Davis and substituting for Chip Esten - Joel Murray (star of Dharma & Greg and Mad Men) for 90 minutes of hilarious improv comedy and song made up on your suggestions.

It had been many years, probably more a decade, since I attended any kind of comedy night and it was fantastic. I laughed longer and more heartily than I have in quite some time and really enjoyed the live aspect of the show, as only improv can provide. The audience was very enthusiastic and receptive, with several members been brought up onto the stage at various times who really added to the verisimilitude of the performance - in other words, the comedians got lucky in their choices. 

It was really great. :-)

Domestic chores and other catching up duties took up a too-large portion of my day today, along with a nap that turned into 90 min. of total exhaustion collapse on the couch. I didn't even hear the alarm I'd set go off; I slept right through it, which was unusual for me.

In the evening, I caught a ride to my end-of-summer workplace barbecue, hosted by the store's general manager. It was a relaxed and funny time with my coworkers, most of whom came out despite the rain and the distance to the manager's home - the offer free food probably has something to do with that. I was reminded yet again how extremely fortunate I am to have found a workplace with such wonderful people and such folk make the daily job stress much easier to bear, as I've said many times before. I did call it an early night due to my being rather tired and I was home again easily several hours before midnight.

Sept 29 - The Weather And Me

Today was a long day at work for me, mentally.

It's difficult for me sometimes, realizing that I'm starting over in the work world after 20 years. I have a ton of experience and I know a fair bit more than most people about various things, yet I'm still on the lowest rung of the company ladder. There's still far more for me to learn then I currently know and it's discouraging some days when I think about how I went from a position where I knew most every aspect of the job thoroughly to one where I'm constantly having to perform my job on the fly, with only partial knowledge of what I'm doing. 

That sort of thinking leads quite quickly to a mindset of being behind everyone else in life and I don't want to go there. I have things to do and I know that just having a job right now should be enough, considering where I was a year ago: unemployed. It's true that I'd like to be a lot more comfortable in my positional knowledge at work and like anyone I'd like to be earning more( especially compared to what I was making previously ) yet I have to focus on the many positive things about my workplace and not let my mental mumblings get the better of me.

Getting home tonight was rather interesting, as the winds had picked up substantially and along with them came quite a lot of driving rain. Although I had my full set of waterproof gear on, it was still an uncomfortable ride as my face was exposed and the direction of the prevailing winds made cycling very strenuous. There was a fair amount of debris on the road and since I wasn't able to wear my glasses, it was a constant challenge to be able to see things before I ran over them with my slippery bike tires. 

Fortunately I made it home without incident, despite a couple of serious wobbles, and I hope that evenings like this will be a rarity as the weather turns wetter and colder for the winter here. I'm also thankful that I'm not trying to ride my bike through snow and ice along the same route, which would frankly be impossible for me. 

Good thing I live where I do: in Victoria!

There's not much else to say about this week; my left arm's been bothering me while the right' s still healing at a steady pace, which is good. According to the forecast, it's going to rain all week long, which should be an excellent test of my gear and wet-weather cycling skills. See you all when the sun's shining again.

Maps, Mortality and Mail Arrivals

The word of the week is succinct.

Sept 16 - Who, me?

Something cool happened today: I got a personal message from one of the publishers of Babylon 5 books, people to whom I've given a decent chunk of change to over the years for some of their fantastic publications. One of the editors there had been referred to me by none other than Claudia Christian, regarding one of the videos I took at Phoenix Comicon 2013 of that worthy lady's seminar, which you can see below:

The editor was interested to know if I still had the original recording, which would be of higher quality. Of course I answered that I did, as I keep everything given the decent storage space I built here on my home PC. After a brief back-and-forth, I learned that they wanted to use the recording in an upcoming project of theirs. Tickled, I quickly acquiesced to their request for my help. My unasked-for reward will be a free copy of that mystery project, which I think is more than compensation enough as I'll have contributed a small part to it myself.

Which is a pretty cool thing for a Babylon 5 fan, I think.

Sept 17 - Escaping Escapism

One can't escape escapism, ironically.

It's very popular nowadays, with many problems people try to leave behind when they get home from a long day. Some escape through television, others through various hobbies and some through other means best left unmentioned here. Yet the people with more imagination escape to places they find within the pages of a book. For many people, escapism is the only way they can deal with their problems.

I've mentioned the topic before in my blog a few times. It's something that I know I've struggled with here and there over the years, as it's been much easier to run away from a particular problem into a fantasy world rather than formulate a strategy to deal with it.

However, like anything in life, you should try to learn from what your problems are. For me, reading as much as I did, I realize that in many of the stories I read there was no escape for the protagonists: they had to deal with their problems, which were a lot bigger ones than mine have been. Not to belittle my own issues, but they do tend to pale when there's total universal destruction weighing in the balance.

I still escape from time to time, but it's of my own choosing and for some time now, I haven't done so just to leave a problem behind. More like gain a little space to think about a solution, which I think is a lot healthier.

Sept 18 - The answer is… 42 - maps!

Maps are awesome

They can do a lot more than just let you know where you are. Tons of information can be packed into maps, representing in a visual manner different types of data that you wouldn't be able to conceptualize if it were just presented in printed form. I'm currently working on a map for my novel and I have quickly come to realize that I'm no cartographer, but I'll still do my best nonetheless.

A recent video on YouTube called "42 Amazing Maps" has gone viral, thanks to the enthusiasm of the presenter and the vivid detail of his material, the aforementioned maps in question. Have a gander at what he has to say and marvel at the mappy visuals he presents:

Sept 19 - Immortality?

Who doesn't want to live forever?

If Google has their way, it seems that everyone will be able to. That's kind of mind-boggling, to be quite honest, as humans have been grappling with their mortality first long as we've been around.

Some folk believe that a brief life lived well is best, while others think that we should all get a crack at having more than a century on average to do things. I happen to come down on the latter fence's side, as I believe there's a lot to be experienced in this universe, too much for us not to try to reach out for it all. Especially given that humans are currently limited to a brief lifespan spent on a single planet - that's not really fair, is it?

What would it be like I wonder, if we were all still around 1000 years from now? Will humanity have achieved the Singularity state, left Earth and journeyed to the stars?

There are so many questions that I have and so many things that I'd like to see, so much that can't be done in a single human lifetime on this planet. I'm hoping that myself personally or a close analogue of me will still be around to find out, if Google's project pans out successfully within my lifetime.

That's pretty exciting.

Sept 20 - New Wheels?

The invention of the wheel changed the world.

Since that fateful day so long ago, we've tried to reinvent it over and over again. So much so that the very phrase that embodies the reinvention of the wheel has come to mean "Why fix something that's not broken?"

Well, for one thing, a tire is a type wheel and those definitely could use some improvement, as they tend to explode when things penetrate them. New technologies and materials have meant that the run-flat tire is now morphing into solid tires - again a technology from my much-beloved game of Car Wars from the 1980s. Just goes to show that I was ahead of the game( pardon the pun )again, I guess.

I like Hankook's new take on the idea of an airless tire; it gives me a sense of safety when I think about it. I've had too many flat tires over the years, including one run of no less than five on a family vacation to Florida many years ago. Having solid tires only makes sense in a world full of sharp pointy things.

Sept 21 - B5 At 20 arrives

A very special book arrived in the mail today - I'm so excited!

Babylon 5  at Twenty is a massive coffee-table book measuring a full square foot in size. It's filled with an incredible number of high-quality photos and information culled from hard-to-find sources, many of which have not been seen in any form of publication until now.

It arrived in a shiny purple package - snazzy! And SO COOL!

I think it's a fitting companion to my experience in Arizona this past May in 2013. It's a physical documentation of the journey of my favorite television experience, Babylon 5, since its inception 20 years ago until today. I'll planning to be frugal in reading through it, turning only a few pages per day in order to prolong my first read of this amazing collector's item that I was privileged to be able to purchase at an affordable price - that's saying a lot considering my current budget.

Given that I don't have a lot of collectibles( or the urge to build said collection ) than it is all the more noteworthy that I purchase something like this to keep for many decades to come; it's archival-quality pages will be just as fresh twenty years from now as they are today.

Would that I can say the same thing about myself then; we'll see, won't we?

Sept 22 - Up in Arms

My arms have been aching on and off for the last few weeks, but good news: my right arm's muscle tear seems to be healing, if somewhat slowly. I am again quite thankful that I'm not on the floor at work hauling printers and chairs and desks every day, which has allowed my arm to slowly heal. I'm still unable to play video games or type for more than 15 min. of the time, but at least my arms don't ache at the end of the day very much compared to how they did just a year ago. I'm hoping that in another year, I'll be able to go back to using them as normal and not have to worry about every move I make with them when it comes to any kind of weight or extended usage. I'm just glad that they're still attached and usable.

A related note, I'm also surprised by how much time domestic chores take up of a day. It's quite a lot, even living in an apartment, without having to tend to the needs of a lawn or garden or even a vehicle. There's still quite a few minutes of the day that get eaten up by chores and having thought about it, I'm again grateful to have both the dishwasher and access to a laundry in the building on the same floor. These time-savers do eat up some minutes, but I shudder to think what it would be like if I had to travel to do laundry or wash the number dishes we use on a daily basis.

In the end, it's all about what we do with our time and for me, it's becoming more and more precious these days. Sometimes we have to think about the mundane to appreciate that it's not all that there is in our lives, that the necessary paves the way for the extraordinary.

It's been a long week, with some low points, but now it's the end of the weekend - and the end of summer - and I think I have a handle on things. See you all next week.