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Tag: writing challenge

Will soon reach 10% of where it was…

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I do not know if it will be a blessing or a curse to have lost seven hundred and thirty days off of my writing streak through an innocent mistake, but I will tell you this, I’m glad to still be here, going on like I have a second chance to revisit things I may have skimmed over, or given short shrift. I do tend towards glibness when I’m not feeling much love towards a subject. I continue to stumble across posts written from a few years ago which I do not recall ever writing. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. More than 1,000 posts over the lifetime of hosting this blog so it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that I can’t remember every single thing I’ve written. Some of those posts were pretty decent. Others are crap. I’d like to try to raise up the overall quality of the writing here. Perhaps I do that by making notes to myself before hand. Having a good think on topics first, or spending more than just five minutes reading over and editing posts. I should not be afraid to keep a post short if I have nothing to say. And… I’m surprisingly ok with that.

I’ve said it before, so obviously I’m going to restate it again, an affectation of mine, repeating myself that is, that I don’t want to make this hobby of a daily writing challenge to be any harder than it needs to be. The moment the vibe is off, I’m done. I keep it lax, and lazy, and go with the flow of the moment. It’s not a paid gig, nor a side hustle. This is where I go to order a few thoughts, or to leave a paper trail of my wood working exploits. If I have to get up and dance to make it happen, or I put pressure on myself to ever be increasing view numbers & eye balls I’ll hate everything about it. It’s low rent for a reason. I’m not a “content” producer. I’m just a forty year old dude saying shit. You feel me, cuh! Silly stupid shit. Sometimes I write random shorts of absurdism. It’s fun. It’s easy. It only requires that I put pen to paper and make the words come out. They don’t have to be great words, eloquent words, gracious or empowering words. I’m not looking to showcase vocabulary; though that being said I have stumbled across a few interesting words and used those as a writing prompt, but that’s rare. Uncommon even.

Sometimes I like to discuss the writing and illustration of my children’s book. That is a fun little project which I have allowed to stretch on for years longer than it should have. I came up with the story when my oldest was about to turn four, she’s almost ten. I started to put the art work together over the Covid lock downs of 2020, 2021, and parts of 2022. I don’t know if I even opened it in 2023. That has required me to paint digitally which is not a strong suit of mine. So I resist it, and thus the project has dragged on for years now. I don’t imagine it would be some surprise hit with the masses either, so no rush there.

I even go on a bit about the two books I wrote of collected short science fiction. There are also a few autobiographical shorts from life experiences mixed in there too, but that isn’t really a big draw for people. Lots of folks have kids. It might he relatable, but not a big motivator to buy the book, or read them on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. I do intend, at some point, to mash both books together into one document and have four copies printed just to have it as a physical thing I can put on my desk. I think that that would make it seem really real. Just a thought. A day dream I’ve had a few times.

Yeah – so, quality is what I’m aiming towards now that I’m on the path to revisit my old writing streak high score. Maybe I’ll figure out how to become a more clear, and concise communicator? Who knows perhaps I’ll even pick up a tone, or a voice all my own on the way. Those smarter than myself tell me perfect practice makes perfect, rather than just repeating your old stupid mistakes and calling that experience. We will see! Ciao Bella!

Two years, 730 days, and a whole bunch of minutes.

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Today is THE day. It’s here. We made it. Hurray! And it looks as though I am going to be busier than originally planned. So I will do a select few notes on the books I read, and enjoyed more than most.

Books on the tall left pile I read cover to cover, and those on the right were only partial reads as of this time.

***I’m still reading both System Collapse, and Lords of Uncreation at this time, I just haven’t finished yet due to travel, and a busier than expected work schedule.

I started the year off with Tom Segura’s book, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Short & sweet, I think I fi wished that in a day and a half. Not very thick, and reads like a funny conversation. The Fart Quest D&D books are always a pleasure to read. Childish and silly with lovely illustrations on many pages. A fun treat for me. Don Winslow’s books are cracker jack popped full of organized crime, murder, gangsters and Danny Ryan. Fast paced, exciting and I can’t wait to read the third and final installment. The Steel Remains was entertaining. I did at one point look into buying more of the series as I like Richard Morgan‘s work. I read two of his books this year, along with Mo Hayder, and Adrian Tchaikovsky too. I read an entire trilogy of a new to me author very early on this year, and it was decent. Had a lot of SA, and physical abuse of kids in it which I didn’t care for, but the writing was good. Those were written by N.K. Jemison.

All told I read 15 books cover to cover, and another 4 books were partial reads of 1/4 to 1/3 of the book in question. So I hit my 12 books in 12 months reading goal. I slowed right down as of September as I got busier with work, as I knew I would. I front end loaded the year pretty heavily to make up for my waning attention, and increased work schedule.

Also for this year in review I didn’t do anywhere near as much sculpting, wood working, or model building. I did one or two items in each category, but I don’t think I finished much. Perhaps next year. I did use my airbrush a fair bit this year to paint old sculpts, and board game pieces. That was a lot of repetition, but also fun to do.

No short stories were written that I can think of this year either. At least nothing comes to mind. I should check the website closer to New Year’s Eve for the official word count for the year. I do not believe that it will even come close to 100,000 words for the year. I just didn’t have that much jam this year. Also I don’t think I made any real progress on my illustrated children’s book either. Was just too busy during what is typically an 11 week long slow period. It was all go-go-go!

We had Covid in march of 2023 and that caused a 90 day reprieve on my exercise regimen to try and avoid long Covid symptoms. Also meant that my weight has remained in the 205-209lbs range for the majority of this year. I swam a lot, but did not ride my bike much, nor run, nor skateboard like I had hoped. I do need to sort something out on that front as I am unhappy with my current pear shape. I could do with being about 175lbs and reduce the belly by a wide margin. Eating and exercise. Simple solution, but oh so hard to implement. Ha. Habits to be build and enforced, just like the writing.

Big question looms. Do we go for a year three of the writing streak, or go until we forget or have more pressing matters to concern ourselves with? If I have another obsessive compulsive year of writing this blog then so be it. I’d blow a kazoo to celebrate if I could. Pfft! W00t-w00t!

Other things to reflect upon? Hmm. Great family vacation to Florida this year. Hadn’t gone anywhere since 2018 so we packed up and flew to Tampa, and then spent a week in Orlando/Kissimmee area. Did three theme parks for 11 of our 14 day trip. One beach day in Clearwater, and one visit to Disney Springs outdoor shopping centre. It was sweltering in Tampa, and rainy and 73°F in Orlando. Not too shabby. Warm enough to swim in the rain, or sit in the hot tub unbothered by it all. We essentially gave the month of November a miss by going away mid month. Strange, but very effective.

Great grandma is alive and kicking, heading towards her 96th birthday in January. Uncle Fred is still in the hospital trying to recoup enough to do another week of 3 Chemo treatments in a row. Otherwise we had the kids pick up a missed immunization that the Ministry notified us of, though they were way off with our youngest. Bit of a mix up there. I picked up a Tetanus shot as I have zero recollection of the last one I ever had. Was probably in high school, if not grade school before that. Good to have as I work with reclaimed wood and pull rusted nails every so often. Better safe than sorry.

I was busier with more work from fewer clients this year. The two micro breweries I usually get work from were very quiet this year. Perhaps in 2024? Maybe. My three biggest clients all did more work this year than usual. Well, two of three did lots more. Not going to complain about that! I lost one client to an acquisition to a large conglomerate that had it’s own in-house design team. No harm no foul there. Win some, lose some. Hard to complain when other clients pick up the slack and then some.

I’m sure more happened that I will remember in a couple of hours time. But that’s the gist of my year. Kids got bigger. Moved up in grades. Homework and extracurriculars abound. Taekwondo, dance, gymnastics, girl guides, and soon Ringette too. We’ve been busy if not over scheduled for children’s programming. Can’t say they didn’t get the chance to try lots of things.

New water softner, fixed water heater valve, and a fridge freezer we no longer use in order to keep the fridge running smoothly. Some how the AC unit has kept chugging along. We will see if that luck continues into 2024. I do see a new fridge in our futures if im being honest.

That’s my 2023 year in review. Ciao Bella!

Did you know that…

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If you took both of the novellas I’ve written and smushed them together you might almost get a full sized novel? The first book is on Kindle Unlimited, but I never released the second. Didn’t feel the need to. I figured if anybody cared for the first, it was because they had read bits and pieces of it here first, and I’ve made it well known that if you want Part Two for free all you had to do was comment to ask for it. And I’d ask for an e-mail address, burner or otherwise, and I’d send you the PDF free of charge, just because I’d be tickled pink that somebody might actually read it, other than myself, and various family members around the world. Now all I write are blog posts, and not very good ones at that. No sex, no drugs, and very little rock n’ roll to speak of. If you want depravity in your Science fiction then go read my books, or track down all fifty to sixty individual story posts in the archives.

The Company – A series of interconnected space short stories: Varied works of short fiction https://a.co/d/3uYvqJ2

Today is Day 800! Wow, great to be here, thank you. No applause needed. Wild ride. We have weathered travel, several deaths, a Jericho wind storm that knocked out power for 26 long hours, illnesses such as Covid, the flu, stomach bugs, and other such fun items. Not to mention a very busy work schedule, and most of my wife’s year off. And a whole lot of chatter about the weather. So much weather talk. Like being stuck in a line at the bank. How about this warm spell? So grey out. Can you believe the wind? My goodness. I do go on.

So what’s instore for my luxury conscious fan base, those accustomed to the finer points I love to elucidate for them. Well, not much. These big milestone dates seem to pile up, come & go without much fanfare. The daily habit became more important to me than hitting any one of these numbers. I do however, occasionally get suckered into watching the view count for dopamine hits, but I try to limit that. I don’t do this for any kind of notoriety. I do it to get stuff out and on record for myself, more so than for any body else. Maybe my kids might read some of this, but even that isn’t why I keep all of these thoughts written down. A legacy of thousands of words to litter the internet with. I’m doing my part. AI can suck it!

Day 800 of the write every day challenge, has a good ring to it, but other than that, isn’t of much use to me. I can’t use it on my resume, I’m not seeking work for copy writing, plus my style is loose, bordering on unpolished turd territory. A fair few of my characters all sound just like me, regardless of gender or orientation. Young, old, all me. Mean spirited, snarky, and a little too earnest. Say what you mean, mean what you say! I’m not good at writing mysterious people, or heists. So I don’t.  I write about being lonely, or sick, feeling isolated, and worrying about things bigger than myself. I try to steer away from technical jargon, as I’m not that guy. I do a fair bit of finger waving at physics and science in general. Plus I was writing very short stories, so being concise yet evocative was my jam, man.

Except in the case of the children’s illustrated book I’m making. I mean, it’s short too, but more silly and fun than my typical short fiction. Which reminds me I really do need to get those last eight pages drawn, and then post it here for posterity.

The steps themselves are more important than where I finally land. That is, unless somebody wants to option it for a series or a short film and I’ll change my tune for dollar, dollar bills y’all. I think I’d wind up winning the lottery before that ever happened, so there’s that. All I’m saying is, love the steps you are taking on the projects you do, and not the end result. Laurels aren’t for resting on. And other empty hokey sayings. Ciao Bella.

PA Day: Scramble to find something suitable to occupy these kids.

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That doesn’t cost an arm and a leg either. It will be far easier to accomplish if the weather is as nice today as they have been forecasting for the last few days. I think a quick wander around a mall, with a hot lunch, and a small scenic drive might potentially be enough to salvage this Friday. I think I managed to get all of my current work out the door earlier this week so that I shouldn’t have too much to worry about, work wise, while the kids are home with me again, today. The Joys of PA Days. It was way easier in June, we could swim and go to the park, and Bam! Both kids happy and satisfied with their spare day at home with dear ole dad. Not so much when it’s cooler, and we have to actively try to all get on the same page. Which as many of you with children will know, is not as easy as it sounds. Whether it is meals, snacks, toys, or locations to play in the house, they don’t always line up, and on most occasions are actively in conflict with one another. Oh, today you wish to be actively engaged in opposing every option provided? Oh joy. I’m certain we will find something to do. I just don’t know what that thing is yet. I do know this, the Zoo is out today. I’m not interested in going back to the Zoo – yet again, today. I love it, but I’ve had enough for now.

Heard a new random term used on Twitter the other day. What is called a “milkshake duck“. And I found it both funny and alarming. As I had been watching the clips with the Emu, and having a laugh, but those deep diving account checkers found a sordid (read racist) past, and now the whole thing is spoiled. I was just interested in the silly bird, but now I gotta deep dive every account to find what shitty thoughts they harboured? This sucks. And also, I’m not vetting every single twitter poster I come across who says something funny, or interesting. People suck.

If you don’t know, today is Friday. So that’s always good news to hear. Congratulations, you’ve made it through yet another week. I’m also down to 55 days left in my 365 days of writing challenge. It has gone far smoother than I had thought it would. But there is still a good stretch ahead of me to still complete. It was initially just a mad rush to add content to this blog before the new year kicked in, and I just kept on going. Do I plan to do this next year too? I can’t honestly say. I feel as though it has become apart of my daily schedule/routine. I am still actively trying to get exercise firmly planted inside my daily schedule/routine as well, but have been far less successful at that. I don’t enjoy being a round as I am through the middle, but it doesn’t seem to be enough of a push to get me to stick with it every single day. I will say this though, I have worked out, with weights, more this year than just about any other in the last decade. So it is more than I was doing before, just not as much as I probably should be doing. Again, in the summer things were easier. More swimming, biking and riding my longboard. Now do I think getting a pair of cheap cross country skiis would help? Possibly? I used to love cross country skiing in my teens and very early twenties. I can go to the farm, and listen to music while I putter around the fields doing laps. Depends on if I can find them cheap enough to warrant the expense. Something to ponder, and do a web search on later. Anyway, take care out there. Ciao Bella!

Of course I forgot about crossing Day 300.

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Talk about consistency eh? Was so angered by the refrigerator acting up for the fourth time I totally spaced on crossing day 300 of my writing challenge. Which is a milestone for sure. Perhaps when I get into the whole self indulgent year in review mood, I’ll get a final word count for every single post over the 365 days. What do we think the total will be? My early guess will be around 250,000 words for the year. Nothing too insane, given I wrote about 100,000 for my second book in the early part of the year.

I have definitely not been anywhere near as consistent with my working out, but I’m still working on that. I need to find some additional exercises to do in order to keep things fresh and add a hint of fun. Or, now hear me out here, make it more exciting. Standing still while using dumbbells is not a thought that inspires me to action. Though I feel better now after doing it more often than not. I do miss my olympic lifting sessions. I just don’t have the room for a squat rack, full complement of bumper plates, bars, and kettle bells, and essentially a full box gym. Which is a shame. But that’s the reality. I also don’t want to pay to join a gym I won’t go to as much as the expense would demand. Wah-wah-wah. I get how this all sounds.

With the recent big clear out of the shed, by sending the pergola to the cottage, and gifting our Barbie Corvette power wheels vehicle to my niece I was able to move all four bicycles out of the garage and into the shed. You can now move freely inside the garage for the first time in many months. I took some time during our holiday weekend at home to rearrange some elements in the garage. Giving me the ability to make some longer cuts on the table saw before I have to rotate the whole saw in the space for really long cuts. Or anything over four and a half feet long. Which is pretty rare for me. I work in the two to three foot long space most often. When I build boxes and end table and such, I keep my projects on the smaller side. As much as I would love to, I just don’t know if I could do a whole dining room table build. Would get awful tight in the space I have. I’m thinking on whether I could replace my radial arm saw by getting a larger and more robust sliding double compound mitre saw. One with a twelve inch saw blade to it. I’m hearing conflicting reports about the veracity of that statement, but I think a chunky well made mitre saw would do what I need, and save me even more floor slash wall space. I need to somehow regain some assembly space, which I don’t currently have. I don’t like having to leave partially assembled bits on my work bench if I still have more building left to do. And constantly moving things between the bench, the floor, or the table saw top is a hassle. Again, more whining. But, in this case I am doing something about it, albeit slowly. Piece by piece over months or years. Playing the long game here with this one folks.

The youngest is home under the weather again. I think she’s pulled a groin muscle after tripping on a dining room chair, falling at the park, and falling over at school all within a 48 hour period. Then swimming for two hours last night to aggravate it. So she’s doped up with kids Tylenol for the ache, and is watching the Spongebob movie for the hundredth time. On the plus side her cough is settling down again. She’s self contained, bundled in bed with drink & snacks. Which means I’m able to work, glad I’m not as busy as the last four weeks had been. Stay well out there. Ciao Bella!