Dining, Downtime and Drive(s)

The word of the week is frippery.

Feb 2 - Grounded

I got a round of applause today, unexpectedly!

It wasn't at work, though I could have used one: it was an extremely busy day with the only downtime on the few minutes of my breaks / lunches, as it was the first of the month and we were inundated with callers. I don't think I've spoken continuously that long for quite some time.

But back to the applause: it was for a piece I'd written!

Last week at the freewriting group meeting, my story about a murder in an apple pie factory was well received, enough so that several people at tonight's meeting who were also there last week asked me to read it again. I happily obliged and when I was done, the entire group applauded me, which was a fantastic feeling, I have to tell you - I'm smiling all over again as I write this. More than a few people asked me to expand the story and I'm planning to do so this spring, to see where it takes me; I'll update you all here once a short draft is ready. Here’s a quick concept I did:

One of our regulars even commented afterwards that he thought it was impressive that I had managed to write such a solid, entertaining and cohesive story in less than 10 minutes. I don't think my Muse has stopped dancing in glee since.

Today is also Groundhog Day and I made time after getting home for my writing group to watch my favorite film, as I do every year at this time. No matter how many times I see it, I get something new out of the experience and that's something rare in today's world, in any medium.

Feb 3 – Round The Clock

Another day off, another 12 hours of busy!

It's a good thing that I only have these EDO’s once every two weeks or I'd be exhausted. Just kidding: I'm really grateful to be able to have a day off during the week that's completely paid for by my job, when you look at it.

I used the morning to pick up my Western Digital Dual-Drive from the courier. I had hoped it was  going to be everything I needed to bring my laptop up to speed in terms of storage and flexibility, but it wasn't to be. Turns out I hadn't done my research carefully enough and it was 2.5mm too tall to fit in my slim laptop's drive bay - dang. So back to the online store it goes... lesson learned.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be, beautiful...

Then I was off to my first session with an RMT in quite some time, to get my right leg looked at. The running injury from 2013 hasn’t gone away and she worked diligently to determine the extent of my intermittent pain and discomfort. The initial diagnosis? A major tendon in my right leg is too tight and is pulling the other muscles out of alignment, which is consistent with my own thoughts and what I've described to her. It will take a few more sessions but I'm already looking at things differently at how I move around to relieve the tension.

Still slightly tender but feeling good about how things went, I headed out for dinner with a couple of friends over at John's Place. The conversation was great and amusingly turned towards my love life, which ended up with my friends looking over a few of my old dating profiles to offer their thoughts. It was definitely one of the more unusual - yet delightful - dinners I've had with friends but also one of the most revealing and by the end of the evening I had a useful store of advice to apply.

One thing I didn't know: Victoria BC has an entry in the urban dictionary entitled ‘Chicktoria’ that references a 2011 Statistics Canada report on Victoria. According to the data, there are 65,000 single adult females in Victoria but only 50,000 single adult males, resulting in an imbalance towards the female side of things. Quite a surprise to me, to be honest.

I'd say the stats are in my favor, wouldn't you?

Feb 4 – Deep Breath?

What the heck was I going to write about today?

You may not believe it, but I do come up with a fair number of topics that I consider covering week to week in my blog. Some of them occur to me at the last minute, while others pop into my head at various times during my day. I consider all of them and pick the ones that I find most interesting, but sometimes a few of those go missing along the way.

Such as today's.

Written down in my Evernote scratchpad are two words: Deep Breath. I've no idea why these occurred to me on February 4 as a possible topic, though I have them written down as such. Perhaps I meant for them to be reflective, or to have to do with my sense of smell; both of those seem fairly plausible, but I didn't end up adding any notes to the two words after they appeared. My train of thought hit a bump and derailed, I suppose:

Words failed them

I can say for certain that I started developing a huge migraine today, but I managed to stave off its effects with the timely application of medication. The barometric pressure dropped like a rock this afternoon with the onset of rain forecast for this weekend and I was glad that I was able to sense it coming in time to avoid severe discomfort; it's been a while since that last happened.

Perhaps it was due in part to the derailment in my head?

Feb 5 – It’s My Idea, isn’t it?

Am I original?

I mean that in terms of my work, of my writing, my creative output. I worry that my subconscious is assembling things that I've seen out of such little pieces that I won't recognize where they all come from until suddenly it's too late: I've created something that isn't original but rather assembled from a myriad of sources I wasn't aware of at the time of creation.

That's the main reason why I haven't been reading much in the last few years. I tell people that it's because "my brain filled up" and I that needed to output instead of input, but really all I've been doing is avoiding unintentional imitation in order to fully own my creative process.

Apparently that's a silly thing to do, as I discovered today when reading a letter Mark Twain wrote to Helen Keller on the very topic. In the article, the famously creative Twain writes:

For substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources, and daily used by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them; whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his temperament, and which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing.

Reading that today, I was struck by how much my subconscious worry has ruled my leisure time since I started writing my novels back in early 2012. As much as I want to be original, I realized today that without crediting my influences, I would only be foundering around in the dark creatively and wondering where I was coming from. Learning that Mark Twain, one of my earliest literary influences, had such eloquent things to say on the subject, has made me feel far less fretful about where my ideas may or may not come from.

With that thought, I think I'll pick up a few books I've been meaning to get to later on this month and see where they lead me.

Feb 6 – SSD Success!

Sometimes, patience pays off - literally.

Maybe that's not quite correct… sometimes, patience will save you money, if you're a smart shopper. You can guess where I'm going with this: I picked up a great deal today on a new SSD for 50% off on Amazon.ca. That's really incredible timing, when you think about it, seeing as my purchased last week didn't work out – cool, when that sort of thing happens and goes to show you that you shouldn't stress out when it does as something better may come along.

What I found this week( and arrived yesterday, perfect timing again! )was a Crucial M500SSD, one of the top-rated SSD drives out there on the market right now. I paid a little over $100 for it( plus taxes and with free shipping, to boot )to replace my laptop’s drive… and boy, did THAT need upgrading! Apart from the meager storage space, it turns out the Samsung SSD was a little… underpowered. As in, a LOT – take a gander at the benchmarks I ran comparing the two drives:

New one on the left...

The improved score made my head spin, as did the increased speed which was immediately apparent. What really boggles my brain was that parts of the test showed the new drive was up to 40 times faster in certain operations, as you can see in the screenshot above.

In practical terms, it means my laptop feels like a new machine and that's really amazing for the little at I spent overall. My laptop can now pretty much do anything that my desktop can without any compromises( excluding games, but that's fine by me: I bought it primarily to write )and will allow me to work pretty much anywhere as needed without weighing me down too much. I've dreamed of having a piece of hardware like this for decades and finally I do, with the icing on the cake being that I've not paid through the nose for it by being patient in my purchases.

And man, is that new SSD drive fast.

Feb 7 – Weekend, at last!

Life is getting busier for me, but not in a bad way.

Actually, I should say that my life is opening up in some ways: the most immediately apparent is how my weekends have been freed up with only 1 job to my name - permanently. Most of my weeknights are free now as well, unless I fill them with social engagements and every other Monday is spoken for by my writing group. Not bad, when I look at it.

It's an odd feeling, this newfound freedom, but I like it.

Today was a good example: everything I did was by my choice and not constrained by having to fit things around a second job. I breakfasted leisurely, picked up my bike from the shop, completed a whole bunch of things around the house that had been languishing and generally enjoyed my day as I pleased. There were a few moments where I stopped to look around and thought “My day is more open than spoken for and I'm enjoying the flexibility.”

What I mean by that, I think, is that I could just put things aside if I wanted to and go for a walk. Or read. Or nap, or do any of 100 other things, rather than trying to cram just the necessary tasks into the waking time I had before or after having to work today.

Not counting my long stretch of unemployment in 2012, the last time I saw my weekends this completely open, I was in grade school. The entire time since then, a ‘weekend off’ has always been that: something unusual that I tried not to take for granted as it was a rarity.

Now, every one of my weekends for the foreseeable future is my own to do with as I see fit, and I love how that makes me feel.

Feb 8 – “Spring” already?

Today was a lovely day, in several senses of the word.

Not that anything exceptionally remarkable happened, but precisely because of that. For those of you who woke to the knowledge that today was yours and yours alone, you'll know what I'm talking about. I accomplished a lot today in terms of headspace and writing and for those two things alone, I'm grateful that I had the day off; may more of them be as carefree as today.

There was also a whiff of spring in the air: the clouds rolled back and a glimmer of sunshine greeted the city for a few hours around noon. With the green grass and fair numbers of people wandering around with jackets unzipped, it could easily have been sometime in April as I looked out my window. Especially since the trees seem to have been fooled as to which season it is here at the moment:

View St lived up to its name this week!

While writing this afternoon with the apartment windows braced open to admit a fresh breeze, I pause now and then to think about my situation as it is now. Just a little, but enough to be grateful for what I have managed to achieve: setting myself up to where the most stressful part in my life is wondering if I've written anything good on that particular day.

That's a wonderful place to be.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to writing this week's blog.

... and that's the blog for this week. A whole lot of rain and grey skies, but really nothing unexpected. A whole lot of positives for the week, which I'm happy to have mentioned above. This spring looks to be a MOST positive one, in which I'll work, write and repeat until I'm ready to start my third novel... I can hardly wait!

Niceties, Nightmares and New Ideas

The word of the week is fixative.

Jan 26 – Writing Free

Mondays are pretty routine for me, but that's okay: sometimes I get to write.

Even if I don't, there's always my local writing group that I help to run and tonight's meetup  was a smashing success!

It was a freewriting session this evening, led by another member with some experience in that particular craft. Essentially, freewriting is writing in its purest form: you put down every thought as it occurs in your head and never edit, just write:

After a few hours, I was quite happy with some of the pieces that I had scribbled on the page in front of me, including the seed for a science fiction story that I may develop. There was also a murder mystery that appeared from out of nowhere that everyone at the meeting was enraptured by, myself included, so there's that as well to look at. The idea keywords were ‘apple pie factory’ – here’s what my brain came up with on the fly:

   Apples. Apples everywhere, scattered in sticky piles. Sticky with sugar, with filling, with sweet bits of crumbly crust. 

   Sticky with blood.
   Frank stood, wiping off his hands, his wide mouth making a move of just taste. His shiny loafers squelched in the layer of apple guts and he winced as he felt something crunch under his heel. Probably a tooth.
   Pushing back his had to scratch his head, Frank turned to eyeball his partner.

I know, I know: not my usual fare, but it showed there's a lot more rattling around upstairs in my head than my Muse is letting out. Mine was just one of several dozen stories people came up with and it seemed to be a good evening all around for creative output, judging by all the laughter as we shared out work.

Jan 27 – Loving It

Just a brief job update: it’s going great!

I smiled for the entire walk to work today, as I had rolled out of bed feeling a bit blah. Once I'd woken up a touch after getting outside, I found myself questioning my attitude: why the heck was I feeling down? 

I could discover no good reason and so I did what I often do to perk up my mood: I quickly listed all the good things about my day I could look forward to:

• I was walking to work, on a lovely morning with no winter snow and sunshine
• I was going to a job where people like, respect and value me for who I am
• I was earning a wage that was far closer to being what I think I’m worth paying
• I was helping people over the phone, instead of in person, on serious matters
• I was working at a job where I didn’t have to stress to succeed

… and so on. By the time I was done listing all the positives regarding my day job, my smile had grown exponentially and that was reflected in my workday: I was tasked with invoices!

Far from being a dull shifting of numbers, invoices freed me to listen to epic music while not having to answer phones or perform other tasks, which is perhaps my favorite way to spend my workday. It allows me to feed my muse with music for hours on end. By the time I went home, I had a few more new ideas for my novel series, which I always consider indicators of a successful day. As a bonus, my mood was quite light thanks to the music I've been able to listen to all day long.

What's not to like about that?

Jan 28 – Nightmares? Not me.

I dream, but I don't have nightmares; I rarely ever have.

Why is that, I wonder? Thinking back, I don't think I've ever had a nightmare in my adult life: not a single one. Sure, I've had nights that I haven't slept well were slept badly, but never because of bad dreams. Not even once.

Realizing that peculiar datum of my life this week, I took a bit of time to research a bit further. The science of dreaming and nightmares is not a well understood one, though there are commonalities that most doctors familiar with the subject will talk about. A fair bit of that data is health related, but what I'm interested in is what's going on in the brain itself, not the body per se.

Turns out that people who are well-adjusted, have no major stress factors in their lives and aren’t prone to anxiety rarely have nightmares as all of those previous factors are triggers. The subconscious picks up on such things and worries them like a dog with a bone, to the point where a person sleep is fraught with imaginary peril at night.

I find the subject intriguing, if only because I've been so extremely stressed and anxious for the last 20 years of my life yet I've never experienced a nightmare because of that. I did discover that those people who have extraordinarily strong minds and great reserves of willpower generally don't suffer from nightmares and it seems that I fall firmly into that particular category, for which I'm quite grateful. I can't imagine what my mental state would be like nowadays if I had been prone to suffering from nightmares due to stress and anxiety.

I think I'll sleep better at night knowing that, if only a little bit.

Jan 29 – Work hard, Write Soft

I've been working extra all week long, with a few hours added on to each shift to lengthen my day. I'll be working this weekend as well, both days, so my paycheck in a week’s time should be fairly decent. I'll have worked the equivalent of another entire full work week; even after taxes and deductions, that will be a welcome bonus in February. 

Working so much overtime( a rare opportunity, I might add so I've taken advantage of it while I can )this week hasn't left time or energy for much else, so work on my second novel is had to take a back seat yet again. A few ideas pop up regularly during my days and I scribbled down for inclusion later in my work; but seems to be my process so far this year and it's a good indicator that my subconscious is still hard at work on the details.

I also have to start thinking about finding an agent later this year, once the fourth draft of Book 1 is solidly underway. I believe the third draft is good enough to send out to solicit agent interest, in order to find representation, with the goal of having Book 2’s first draft already completed by the summer.

That and a million other details will need seeing to this year in order to prepare for getting my books out into the world. Every time that I take a few minutes to sit down and think about what needs doing, I see branching trees of stories that need writing, articles that need research and contacts that need exploring, among so much else.

At least at this point all I have to occupy my time apart for my writing is a single day job.

Jan 30 – Movie and TV Night!

I took this evening off to relax; no overtime tonight.

With a good friend over, we watched a few more episodes of the second season of Dollhouse. In every episode, I have found the writing to be solid, the production values excellent and the acting excitingly varied. It's been rather a good ride and I am a little disappointed that there is no third season to see: such a shame.

We also watched Zoolander, which I've never seen and have been a little wary of watching, to be honest. I don't know what it is but the movie never seemed to be on my radar, though there's plenty of pop-culture references to it floating around. Since I enjoyed Night at the Museum, which stars both Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, I thought I might give Zoolander a try, at least once, on my friend’s advice.

To my surprise, I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Ben Stiller’s dumb-yet-lovable characterization of the lead protagonist was a perfect casting, far more so than someone like Adam Sandler would have been in the role. I was shocked to find that the movie had kept my interest all the way through, despite the occasional lowbrow meanderings of the plot. While I doubt I'll re-watch the film anytime soon, I have to say that I think it was a good way to spend a few hours tonight.

If you think about it, I now have some more insight into the world of male fashion modelling… huh. Go figure.

Jan 31 – Got IMAX?

Saturday night: Game of Thrones at the IMAX movie theater!

Just for kicks, I invited about 50 people to see the inaugural presentation of Game of Thrones at the local IMAX theatre. Well, almost local: it’s a half-hour bus trip from my place, as the IMAX downtown wasn’t showing the special presentation. I don't feel cheated however: only a few dozen IMAX screens in Canada were showing GoT this week and Victoria was one of them, so I feel quite lucky to be able to see the episodes! All the same, nobody ended up responding to my invitations and I was ready to go it alone…

Fortunately, one person did eventually end up attending after all and gave me a ride to the theater, saving me too long bus trips in the rain for which I'm quite grateful.

Apparently the ticket sales were brisk and I anticipated a decent crowd when we arrived well before the show. Heading into the theater, I was pleased to see that while it was busy, it wasn't jam-packed and we found excellent seats fairly easily.

I had, of course, already seen both of the episodes being shown but the draw was watching them on the giant IMAX screen. While the screen at Tillicum isn’t as large as the IMAX at the BC Museum( which is the largest IMAX in BC! )it is new and digital, meaning it can show the latest releases with incredibly high definition: sweet!

The digital conversion of GoT looked astounding on the screen and sounded great too!

I think the best way to describe it was an experience: with such fine detail on such a large screen, it was completely immersive to watch and I found myself involved with the story as I've never been before. Everyone in the audience was enraptured and I don't think I even heard the sound of breathing the entire time we all watched the show.

I truly hope that this is the future of modern media, where television meets movie theater and vice versa, to take advantage of each others strengths to keep the entertainment industry vital. I can't see myself paying a premium to watch quality television shows on a regular basis at the IMAX, but I certainly would go see the first few episodes of the new season of GoT on the big screen…

BONUS: Here's the Season 5 GoT trailer world preview, seen first at the IMAX! 

Feb 1  – Fuutball?

It’s Superbowl Sunday… a meaningless term for me, at least.

But not to other people. Understanding the passions of others without being dismissive is a skill that most people don't possess, nor care to develop, to be honest.

For me, sports have been a zero-sum part of my life: I've no interest in them and I've not felt the lack. However, I do see that many people I know are quite passionate about sports, so I've endeavored to understand the reasoning behind sports as a fulcrum for understanding passion for anything in one's life.

It's big subject, so I won't bore you too much with the finer details, but it's fascinating nonetheless. Being passionate about something means that you enjoy it unreservedly and enjoyed even more when sharing that passion with others of similar tastes.

For me, one of my many passions is writing, along with anything g33ky; that's just to I am. Most of my friends are cut from the same cloth and while a few definitely share a thinner fabric, every one of them is dear to me in their own way for their passions.

Even those who really, really like sports: while I just don't get them, I do understand their passion and I smile when I see it, because it's reflection of my own. We all get excited about certain aspects of our lives in our own way and being able to express that is not only healthy but necessary to maintain who we are in our lives. Passion provides meaning for everything we do: it's a motivator for achievement and success and becoming better people while attracting those who feel the same way.

Don't ask me how I got all that starting from a chat about the Super Bowl, however. I've as much in common with a football fan as an Apple does with an orange, but we’re both parts of a balanced diet and don't fall far from the same tree, to mix a metaphor.

I guess what I'm saying is that everyone's a winner and if that's not a sports metaphor, I don't know what is. So on that note, I'll sign off for the week.

Ergh. It's only half-past ten and I'm falling asleep at the keys; my week-long overtime grind has caught up with a vengeance. It's the LAST weekend I'll have to work though: from here on in, my weekends are MINE to do with as I please! Most likely I'll use them to write and on occasion, socialize, but it's the delicious thought of a weekly dose of two consistent job-free days that will send me to sleep tonight with a smile...