Focus, Friends and Fantastic Finds

The word of the week is retrograde.

May 11 –Focus

My task-reduction strategy seems to be working; I'm feeling much more focused of late.

Tonight's writing group meeting seemed to support this new clarity of thought, as I was really on point for the discussion that burgeoned halfway through the evening.

The meet up was supposed to be about writing “in-house” in that attendees were encouraged to use the time to write in a setting of their peers. This would allow people to talk over sticking points in their writing, or to collaborate with others to create something new.

Writers being writers, about halfway through, most of us started talking about writing.

In my case, I found myself tying together my reading experiences growing up with my current situation, expounding on my desire to create now that I’ve “filled up” on reading for 30+ years. I waxed enthusiastic at times, eloquent at others and felt my words following each other point to point like good little soldiers, exactly as a writer hopes words will do as they fill each new page.

It was a great feeling.

May 12 –The Third Dimension

Some things just can’t be loved enough, like Babylon 5.

It’s a shared love, what g33ky fans do, when their mutual admiration is focused on things of quality like B5. What’s so fascinating about fans is that they come in all shapes and sizes, talents and backgrounds and personalities, all united in their shared passion for Things G33k. That shared passion can lead to some truly amazing things, as I'm constantly discovering.

Case in point: creating something from nothing can be done in many ways, such as words or the visual arts. 3-D artists especially hold fascination for me for what they can create.

But, back to B5. There was a series of several dozen novels, loosely set as ‘canon’ for the series that continued and branched out into various plotlines. One book in particular stood out from the lot: To Dream In The City Of Sorrows was the only book of the series completely endorsed by JMS( B5’s creator )as being 100% canon. In the book, there were several prototype fighters, creations of the author to serve the story. In reading the book, I thought they were very well thought-out.

Enter Amras, a B5 fan and 3-D modeler - he built the fighter from the book! Go ahead and click on the graphic, you can rotate and zoom the image all you like with a mouse or pinch / zoom:

    Whitestarfighter Version1

    by amras

    on Sketchfab

All I can say is… wow. It’s as close what I saw in my head when I read the book as one can get, a vision brought to perfect 3D life by a fellow with a different set of talents than mine, but no less a fan of B5. Through the magic link of the internet, he was able to share his passion with other fans.

Dream on, fellow g33ks!

May 13 –Update, Moi?

On the 13th of every month, I update my website for my books.

Sometimes there's a lot to say, and sometimes there's only a little; it depends on how the month is gone. But I still update regardless, for those few dozen people who check in every so often.

It's kind of like this blog: I'm writing as much for myself as I am for my audience, which is you.

Writing’s a funny thing that way. Among the gigaquads of writing advice out there, you'll often hear the line “Write for yourself, first.” Which means don’t put your intended audience before the work; that way lies disaster. The famous author Ursula K. LeGuin said this on the subject:

Writers are egotists. All artists are. They can’t be altruists and get their work done. And writers love to whine about the Solitude of the Author’s Life, and lock themselves into cork-lined rooms or droop around in bars in order to whine better. But although most writing is done in solitude, I believe that it is done, like all the arts, for an audience. That is to say, with an audience. All the arts are performance arts, only some of them are sneakier about it than others.

I'm writing this blog for many reasons, chief among them to become better writing. Setting a deadline( Sunday nights, weekly ), having a word count( flexible, but around 2000 words per blog entry )and not boring myself or my audience( hence the varied topics, never repeating in 7+ years ) means that I can be proud of what I write here for you to read week to week.

Thanks for dropping by and hope to see you next week.

May 14 – One Fine Falcon

Oh, if I was only a millionaire… I’d buy a fair bit of Lego, for starters.

Then I’d have to somehow find the time to practice to become really skilled at manipulating hundreds of different kinds of bricks into shapes resembling the real or the fantastic from my imagination.

One of the reasons I loved Lego from an early age( and still do! )is that you can create almost anything if you have enough bricks, patience and skill. Not to mention room in your basement.

If several Lego masters get together, the sky is the limit for what they can create. Like this:

It's minifig scale... incredible!

That is a 10,000-brick model of one of my favorite starships, the result of two months work by a group of dedicated Lego fans - you can see more incredible images of the build here. It's the sort of creation that I made on much smaller scales on my own when I was a kid, using all sorts of different colors of bricks mashed together to create spaceships with ‘real’ interiors that then became the playsets for my imagination to romp around with. Many a brave crew went to their doom immediately after I’d finished assembling their ship.

I love it because the model combines some of my favorite things: Star Wars, cutaways models, Lego bricks and creativity - not necessarily in that order. What more could you want? 

Oh, right: the time to create such works of art!

May 15 – Missing Jim

Tomorrow would have been Jim Henson’s birthday, his 78^th. Jim passed away on May 16, 1990, a quarter-century ago – hard to believe it’s been that long.

At the time, I was saddened to hear the news, as so many of his creations were integral parts of my childhood: Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and so many more. I was in high school, just finishing class for the day when I heard and I thought “Oh no, that’s terrible. What will happen to his creations?”

Hey, this isn't Pigs In Space...!

I'm happy to have seen Jim Henson's legacy live on through the efforts of his children, though I am still a touch out of sorts about the sale of the Muppets to Disney a few years ago. Not so much now that Star Wars has joined the Disney stable and it looks like the mouse is treating them both very well. Having had the recent experience of my trip to New York in late 2014 to meet one of his children who are continuing his legacy, I feel a closer connection than ever to his works.

Jim Henson managed to balance creativity in its purest form with business savvy meeting to success, which I find incredibly inspiring. Being able to create art and then have that art turned into monies which can then support the creation of more art is a cycle very few people succeed in finding. I very much want to go down that path, in that any success I find will support my creative side to allow me to continue making new art throughout my life.

That's is just one of Jim Henson's legacies, and why I miss him.

May 16 – Weekend! 

Today was a busy day on several fronts!

First up was afternoon viewing of Avengers: Age Of Ultron. I had high hopes for the film and it delivered in spades: while it wasn't perfect, I cannot of it smiling wide and that's enough. The writer in me was satisfied, the fan in me was thrilled and the moviegoer in me thinks I got more than my money’s worth. The villain Ultron was a fantastic incentive to me as a writer to create a character as layered and mesmerizing as well as on the screen today. While critics weren't as favorable to the film as audience members, I give it two thumbs up!

Right after the film, I dropped into a birthday party out in Langford for a former coworker. It was lovely to see everyone there, as it’s been several months since I last got together with this particular group of worthies. Given that I will be spending less time this year socializing, it was quite meaningful that I was able to attend tonight. I should mention that I was the only one there without kids, finding it both amusing and telling of where am in my life right now. None of the kids there will be playing with toys more complicated than soothers anytime soon, I might add.

Speaking of toys: holy monkeys, did I find something amazing today on the internet!

Have you ever heard of a Supernova Battle Rover? No? Neither had I, but for some reason it popped up on RedFlagDeals.com as being on sale at a massive discount. Being the curious fellow that I am, I took a look and felt my inner child jump up and down in pure glee. Take a gander:

The toy is quite simply everything I would've wanted as a kid at that age rolled into one. I was very much possessed of an active imagination and something like this would've had me playing in the backyard every day for quite some time. I'm actually quite jealous that this sort of thing didn't exist when I was a kid, at least not in the singular form. I always enjoyed the Fisher Price toys I had as a child, as they were quite durable and came in a variety of types well-suited to boisterous imagination( Playmobil comes to mind too, but they weren’t quite as sturdy ).

In any case, thanks to toys similar to this, I can safely say that my imagination was well-prepared for being a writer of science fiction. I mean, how could it not be?

May 17 – People Passing Patios

I actually managed to get outside to enjoy a good part of the day today.

Not in the direct sun, however: I’ve discovered that sitting on a patio in full sunlight tends to make me overheat rather quickly even if I'm sipping cool drinks and wearing a hat. I'm sure ambient air temperature has a lot to do with it as well as clothing choices, but here in Victoria one tends to layer one’s garments as you never know when a cool southern wind is going to blow through the city of an afternoon. I don't do well at drafts or cold winds any more, it seems.

My patio time was quite productive, powering through the critiques of my fellow writers so that I'll have feedback for them when we meet in a few day’s time. It was simply wonderful to be able to sit on a warm patio today, taking in the many passersby in Cook Street village while enjoying tea and music and the knowledge that I won't ever again have to work weekends if I don't choose to do so. The only sort of work I'll be doing is that of my own choice: writing.

I have to say that people watching is fast becoming a hobby of mine, in that it's incredibly useful for character building – in books, not of my own character, I mean. It's fascinating to see how people carry themselves about their day, interacting with others and presenting themselves to the world. Springtime especially sees everyone getting outside here in Victoria is much as possible, going places and doing things while the Sun is shining and the clouds have rolled away. Nowhere today did I see a frown on any face that passed by.

From what I saw, it was a good day for many.

It's been a great week, with some new developments I hope I can comment on a few blog posts from now. In the meantime, work's steadying out and so's my writing - see you all next week!

Renewals, Ray and Rooting

The word of the week is tenacity.

May 4 – Riding With Ray

Putting animation and Bradbury together? Count me in!

Mention anything to do with the gifted writer and you’ve my full attention, especially if it has to do with advice or wisdom falling from his own lips.

Such is the case with a recently-discovered interview with Ray Bradbury: it was made by a journalism student during a car ride in 1972 as he was being driven to a lecture at a university – what a find! Here’s a taste:

You can’t think a story — you can’t think, “I shall do a story to improve mankind.” It’s nonsense! All the great stories, all the really worthwhile plays, are emotional experiences. You write to please yourself. You write for the joy of writing. And then your public reads you and it begins to gather around…

Enjoy the all-too-brief thrill of hearing Mr. Bradbury’s eloquently blunt words on life and writing:

In terms of my own writing, for me it’s a bit awkward: I don’t have a writing room, just the couch in the main room by the front windows that’s constantly exposed to road noise( eight different sirens zooming by this past Saturday alone! ). The Parrot Zik headphones help, sure, but it’s still nowhere near the same as a house well-removed from the road. We’ve just added a work desk in the main room for such occasions as my sister and I both needing to work, necessitating the main PC and laptop both being in use. 

While not perfect, it again beats having to retreat to the cramped confines of my bedroom or leaving the apartment altogether, neither of which is an ideal solution. Ideally, I’d have my bedroom turned into an office, soundproofed as much as possible so that I could work in the evenings or early morning in relative calm and quiet.

One day, somewhere, that may just happen!

May 5 – Spock On Smoking

You can never stop smoking early enough, or not start at all.

That’s the message that Leonard Nimoy’s daughter is looking to spread far and wide, about the disease that killed her father:

I’ve never understood how people can continue to smoke nowadays, given the vast amounts of information available over the internet from literally tens of thousands of sources, all saying the same thing: smoking kills you.

Even thirty years after you quit, as Mr. Nimoy and his family discovered.

Addiction is real, I know: I’ve no experience with such things, though I do know that my mental willpower is uniquely strong, perhaps a reason I’ve never felt the urge to hook myself on anything. It’s hard to put into words, knowing that some people are doomed from the first time they take a sip of alcohol or a puff of a cigarette; it sends a shiver down my spine.

Which is why I write scifi: there’s hope, that science will develop methods to make such addictions( and so many other medical horrors still with us )things of the past, to be studied and examined only in history books. For science!

I think Spock, and Mr. Nimoy, would like that vision.

May 6 – I Look Like What?

Offhand comments can hurt, sometimes.

It’s rare for me to notice such, though, as I’m not one to pay much attention to what people say about me. I take a quiet pride in my appearance most days, anyway – except today, apparently.

Sam Raimi perfectly captures the look here...

An offhand comment made by one of my coworkers made me miss a step, which is unusual. I almost always think before I say anything personal to people, well aware that my comments might be misconstrued if they're not constructed with some forethought. In this case,it wasn't an unkind comment, at least not as far as I could tell, but it's still bothering me slightly this evening:

“Hey Peter! Every time I see you, you're looking more disheveled.”

Apart from the fact that they used a word one doesn't normally hear in daily conversation, the comment on my appearance rankled me. While I don’t spend a lot of time on personal grooming, admittedly, I do ensure that I am neat and professional while at work; given my predisposition towards a daily five o'clock shadow, that's not always easy. Outside of work, I dress casually but again my clothes aren't in disarray or disrepair and I'm easy on the eye, at least as far as I know.

So from what I can tell, I think the comment was merely meant to poke fun at how busy it's been this week and that everyone is feeling a little rushed, including me. Which must have showed in how quickly I was moving about my tasks and so it made me look a little less composed.

That's how I'm taking it and I am moving on. Disheveled or no.

May 7 – Stop the Music!

I've always wondered where my musical tastes came from, as I didn't really have any major influences on me as a kid in a musical sense: no immediate family members that were crazy about certain genre, or friends growing up discussing music for that matter. I developed my own tastes over time to include classical, mainstream rock, Top 40s and even some jazz. Plus Enya, of course.

Yet I haven't really added any new music in the last decade, not really.

Sure, I've gone searching for songs by bands I've almost forgotten or only have a few songs from and want to add more to my collection from albums I didn't know existed. I mean, we can all agree that you can never really have too many Tom Petty songs, right?

I've wondered if my musical tastes have fossilized and now a fascinating study has confirmed that for most people, your taste in music is sent by the time you're ready for your first midlife crisis:

So, according to the study, it seems that my musical tastes are set, for the most part, which isn't really a bad thing in my eyes. My creativity has only benefited from the music that I listen to, which I am quite certain is due to the genres that I like. If I was a metalhead or only liked to listen to pure country-western tracks or even had a penchant for Kenny G’s tunes, well, I think my writing would be of an entirely different and admittedly strange order.

I'll take my musical gentrification if it means that my Muse is happy and productive.

May 8 – Renewals and New Shows!

Holy cow, I’m in love with an old-school television network!

Weird for me to say that, I know: TV isn’t exactly my thing.

However, I can't ignore that a wonderful triumvirate of shows is actually going to make it to television later this year( or sooner! )thanks to the folks at ABC. For some reason, known only to the TV Gods, Fate or another Power, the decision-makers at the venerable network decided to greenlight a number of fantastic shows for the upcoming season, three which are simply magnificent choices!

yes, Yes and YES!

First off: The Muppet Show is coming back to TV! Yes, you heard it correctly: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Scooter and all the rest are coming back to television, decades after we last saw them in the short-lived Muppets Tonight show in 1996 that garnered mixed reviews from critics but was still beloved by millions of fans throughout the world. I can't wait to see what the Muppets are up to now!

Then there’s Agent Carter, easily the most interesting superhero show on television in the last 10 years, in my opinion. Sure, there’s the current Flash or Arrow shows, but I find them to be rather dull in their focus on convoluted plots, tedious character development and otherwise writing down to an audience eager to see anything like a contemporary superhero show up on TV these days. It's quite a different case with Agent Carter: by setting it in the 1940s, we avoid modern entanglements and can examine issues from a historical perspective while limiting the technical doodadery of our internet age. I love alternate history and want to see more of Agent Carter soon!

Finally, there's Galavant! When I first heard about the show, I had no idea that a medieval musical comedy could work, let alone appeal to me on multiple levels so that I can't help but want to watch it. I rarely watch musicals, as the singing and dancing doesn't usually draw me into the story; I simply appreciate them for the technical prowess that the performers demonstrate and wait for the rest of the show to happen when they're done. Not so with Galavant: musical numbers are so well-written that it's almost painful not to pay close attention to every lilting word. Galavant!

May 9 – Weekend Tech Tinkering

Any non-g33ky types can skip this entry, it’s rather techy!

What are weekends for, save to catch up on waiting projects?

In my case today, I managed to tricky technical things, both of which were applied to my new ASUS tablet: it’s now rooted and unlocked and seems to still be working flawlessly!

*cue applause*

Seriously, it's no small feat to be able to do both of those things one day when you're really new at it like I am. Sure, I know how to research, find technical guidance on the process and so on, but when there is a very real possibility that if I made a mistake I'd end up with a dead device, it does tend to put things into perspective a bit about being sure of one's processes.

Now that I have my tablet open for modification, I'll be tinkering with it over the next few months. Being rooted and unlocked means that I can do whatever I want with the tablets software, modifying any aspect of it from the most minor things like the little animation when it boots to completely replacing the operating system with another one of my choosing. Given that it's an older tablet hailing from 2012, I'll probably end up replacing its OS with a leaner one such as Cyanogen 12, just to wring the maximum amount of performance out of the tablet that I can.

I'll probably end up messing around with my old Samsung phone to do the same thing. Maybe I can repurpose it into something useful, like a BOINC terminal, security camera or even donated to help save the rain forest - I really like the last option, as it helps make our planet a better place.

All in all, my current tax situation is looking rather rosy. I'll have a new Pebble Time in a month or so, the OnePlus One phone is doing wonderfully as my daily phone, my computers are all working just fine (for the most part)and I may even have an actual Lockitron before the end of the year. I'm spending very little time trying to repair things on a daily basis, which is great!

What I'm really saying is that my tech is working for me this year, not the other way around.

May 10 – Mumm Memories

It’s Mother’s Day today, a good time to reflect.

But comes to family, I know that I've been pretty lucky. My parents have never even gave thought to breaking up for any reason, providing a sense of stability to my life and my sisters that too few people experience. Seeing the commitment that my parents have for each other, I'm reminded about everything that I've been given, especially from my mumm.

It's funny, but few people think about exactly how much effort goes into raising a child. Some kids are handful, while others practically change their own diapers; I think I fell into the middle group, but I know that I made my mom proud far more often then I made her frown.

For instilling in me a love of reading, I'll forever be grateful to her. For that reason, for Mother's Day today, I created this for her:

A lot of love went into this, not just the writing.

There are many kinds of mothers out there in the world today. Some good, some bad, some indifference and some who aren't with us anymore. For me, right now, I am grateful on so many levels that I have the mother I do and that she's been able to be there for my entire life, helping and guiding me when needed. I have a lot of work left to do on my books and she's one of the main reasons that I've accomplished as much as I have to date.

Thanks, Mumm! Love ya!

That's all I have this week; it's been a busy time at work and I'm rather tired by the time I get home. I do hope that new staff who've been added can help shift some of the workload around, so my immediate team is going to be short two people when another person moves on to another position in a month or so. Such is government life: you're always in transit between one position and the next if you're looking to advance and I can't begrudge anyone wanting to move forward with a career, especially in the workplace that encourages that. I'm glad to be part of it, dizzy or no.