Friday, June 25, 2010

A Change Will Do You Good

Other Blogs
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Meme Blog: Orange Validation via Joe.
Codex: Building My Bifrost A slightly less Emo Poem.

So, the big news of the week is that I went on a trip to St. Augustine, FL. And it was awesome. It helped me put things right in my head in certain ways. I also discovered a rather helpful Muse along the way. Kitten has begun reading some of my stuff, which was quite handy because I was able to finish the Season 3 script for Sentinel Chronicles and two more pages of 7th Seal. I'm going to do more writing this weekend (though I'll probably put details of that in the writing blog later.)

I visited San Marcos, which is an old fort. They fired a canon. It was cool.

I visited Ripley's Believe it or not. It was also rather cool. I think the best and most interesting exhibits were the giant erector set ferris wheel that was 30 feet high, the 'fantasy castle' made of hundreds of semi precious stones and the hair from JFK (which is apparently rarer than any other kind of memorabilia than any other president.)

I visited the Lightner museum which is like...a collection of gilded age stuff that this one rich guy bought in the great depression from a lot of other rich guys who got it by....being rich guys in the late 19th century and early twentieth century. (Hint: They call it the Gilded age for a reason.) Got some photos on my iphone. I'll see if I can upload them to facebook later. Probably not, I have horrible luck with that kind of thing.

I ate at the Gypsy Cab. I had ribs. Basic, I know. I also had as an appetizer smoked salmon which tastes like Fish Jerky. Except it was awesome.

The beach in St. Augustine is just....amazing. Which was bar none THE best part of the entire trip. On the way up I listened to "How to talk to anyone: 62 tricks." Very interesting. On the way back I listened to "Forever Odd" by Dean Koontz. I may or may not review them later.

Got my computer back from Jay. Enjoying spending time with Mom and Skip and Grandma. Spending a few months with them was definitely the RIGHT choice.

Doing something fun tonight and going out. No idea where. That's half the fun of it all.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Recovering slightly

So the thumbnail version of what happened on the 9th: I foolishly leaped right into a free dating site, not seriously but to see 'what the hell.' I won't go into details, and I have good reason not to, but I end up emailing back and forth with this person, and at increasingly high frequency. Finally it goes to texting and then an a phone call. The individual in question is intelligent, honest and mostly ethical. I thought there might be chemistry there....its usually a good indicator that there is....only I find out in the last 10 minutes of the FIVE HOUR conversation that said person has ulterior motives that do not extend to the topic I thought the conversation might entail, and being as emotionally vulnerable as I was a the time, shared details that are not wise to share with a total stranger...

So....needless to say, I got a nice double helping of emotional rejection. Don't get me wrong, there was some very useful criticism in there that I'm taking heavily into consideration. I'm doing this primarily because I'd already been considering doing it anyway, but among the things I've learned are:

**Jennifer provided me with certain restraints against self destructive behaviors. Now that she is no longer a check I need to make sure I don't get lost in easy things that will cut me off or alienate me from society...I could easily 'geek out' and allow otherwise harmless activities to become the entirety of my existences because they make the pain go away. So does alcohol. A little bit can be fine for social situations, but crawling inside the bottle solves nothing.

**I would rather do 2-3 things VERY well than 16 things of a half-assed nature. Simplification and streamlining are the key and most importantly of all; it is perfectly fine to help people out. I enjoy helping people out. BUT, my emotional investment in someone else's project or suggested project should never ever exceed what they themselves are prepared to put into it.

**I'm very very good at putting on a civil face for society that everything is fine, but much like the 'oil plumes' in the gulf, there are Emo issues that I still need to resolve and might take some time to resolve, and if I am wise, I will be very cautious on going full steam ahead. The problem is that life has taught me that fortune favors the bold and that 'getting right back on' solves a lot of problems. These two sides of myself will war with each other for some time to come. Fortunately, I've stacked the deck on the side of sanity in several ways.

**I'm quasi merging all my other blogs into this one albeit with thumb nails.

I'll put the most 'fun' at the top and go down from there.

Meme Blog: Meme of Joy Via Christy
Super Ingredient Force Via Taco Bell
Opinion Blog: Short Review of the A-Team Movie
Character Blog: Short Synopsis of the end of my 8th Month Long "Blood of the Earth" Shadowrun Campaign.
Writing Blog: Update on progress on novel 4, graphic novel and two poems for the podcast. Includes a sample of the first page of the graphic novel.
Emo Poetry/Politics Blog: The Ties that Bind (Emo Poetry)
Emerald Eyes (Homage to a friend's deceased companion)
Tower of Steel and Blood (Emo Poetry)
The Case for the Blue Pill (More Emo Poetry)

Happenings this week: Hung out with Mom, Skip and Grandma. Cleaned my room. Talked Sentinel with Jay. He fixed my computer so I should be resuming the podcast in July. Might do a June. Maybe. Um.....Work exists. Got a lot done this week.

Happenings this weekend: I'm going on a weekend trip. Somewhere. South. Unsure where. I'll give details as I know them.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Revising Priorities

The time has come for an accounting.

Let us start with the annual goals.

Physical: Go to the gym 2-3 days per week. 2 days of Cardio for 30-60 minutes each week. 2 days of weight training per week. Learn a martial art from Sept – December at the least.

**This is on track and I want to keep it.

Mental: Reading: 1 Non fiction book work mornings for 10 minutes. 1 Book on tape for transit times at a time. 1 Fiction book every 2 weeks.
**This is not at all on track and I might resume it once I clear some space.
Maintain all blogs at least once a week.

**Kept to now. This is changing. The core blog will be maintained once a week but all other blogs shall be incidental and satilites of this one. “Los Fragments de un Alma Rota” means “Shards of a Broken Soul” and only I can reassemble them. Only I can heal myself and only I can define my life as I want it to be. I cannot guarantee the results but only I can choose the direction.

Find some kind of puzzle type thing that I actually like to increase my intelligence.

**This seems like a waste of time and is being dropped.

Social: Initiate at least 4 non game related social activities over the course of the year. Visit family at least once a month.

**This is being dropped due to the Divorce. Kept to now.

Maintain 2-3 social activities (can including gaming) on a weekly, bi weekly or monthly basis.

**I think this is a good idea. However I’m only going to keep one gaming related activity. I need more ‘normal’ in my diet. I’m pretty sure I know which one too. Kept to now.

Continue Date Night Once a week.

**Dropped for obvious reasons. Kept till separation.

Spiritual: Perform at least one act of community service a month.

**Dropped. Kept to now.

Keep Listening.

**Kept.

Maintain daily prayer.

**Dropped. I believe in God. I think that God interacts with the world, but I no longer believe in any kind of meaningful reliable and consistent communication with Him save that He loves us. Specifically, I have reason to believe that My Prayers aren’t really answered in a way that can be rationally distinguished from a delusion and are therefore a waste of my time save making myself feel better. Kept till physical separation.
Finish reading the Dhampala. Start reading another spiritual work, finish it by the end of 2010.

**Dropped. Kept to now.

Emotional: Say two positive things for every negative thing I say. Have more self confidence.

**Keep the self confidence. I now reserve the right to be negative whenever I want. I still intend to mostly be more positive than negative but I’m not trying to cheer anyone up or maintain morale.
1rst: Finish the T7 project.

**To be Delegated or dropped. Kept to now.
Maintain FCC once a week.

**Dropped due to Staff indifference. Kept to now.

Maintain DM at least twice a month.

**Mostly dropped. Too many hobbies in this area makes me too alien.
Maintain Monthly Blood of the Earth group.

**Dropped. Kept to now.

2nd: Create monthly writing group with Rita and Julie. Complete 1 complete story per month.

**Under consideration. A decision will be made in August. Not Kept.

Finish Novel 4 w. Ken.

**Starting this next week.

Finish Novel 5 by the end of the year.

**Dropped.
3rd: Finish/submit OPM this year. If successful, submit to at least 9 other festivals.

**Done.

Create/Shoot 1 film by the end of the year.

**I cheated. I reshot Dueling Morons. There will be no new films this year. Potentially ever depending on how DM or OPM do. I’ll get just as much out of helping other people with theirs.

Write or collaborate for at least two feature length or series scripts by the end of the year.

**Keeping one. The other is under consideration but may be dropped pending response.

Either Finish the musical or produce a play.

**No and increasingly no. Pending review in July.

4th: Either join the PMI –OR- establish a close relationship with BU Mentor.

**Done. (First.)

Initiate 3 projects by the end of year, finish by



-Project: Hammerfel by April.

**Initiated. Utter failure.

-Project: Bifrost by October.

**Preliminary work indicates that this is a horrible idea and I no longer have any desire to implement it.

-Project: Hydra by December.

**Under consideration. Review by August.

Incidental:

Go to Dragoncon 2010

**On track. However, I am done questing for Ribbons. This will probably be my last year in attendance barring acceptance of OPM.

Go to Gencon 2010

**On track.
Go to 20th year High School Reunion.
**Under review. I’m essentially paying hundreds for an air ticket (When I hate to fly) to visit people who haven’t seen me in twenty years to appear before them an abject failure….In fact the only thing keeping it on the table is that it happens once and only once. I missed the 10th. I will decide next week.


Go on Long weekend trip with Jennifer to NYC
**Drop the Jennifer part. On track for Oct.
Go on Long weekend trip with Jennifer to Florida.
**Dropped for lack of reason to go.
Visit Family in Houston at least once.
**Done. Repeat in Thanksgiving it looks like.
Make preparations to go to Comicon 2011.
**In consideration. Will do in July.
Make preparations to go to Europe 2011.
**In consideration. Pending November status of events.
Make preparations to go to Family Reunion 2011.
**On track.
Learn to shoot a Pistol – At least 25 hours of practice. Seek benchmarks.
**On track. 4 hours a month starting in July. Once a week.
Evaluate life goals and come up with a 5 year plan to obtain at least 6 things from the list or the equivalent thereof.
**On track. After this.
Obtain all 5 physical objects – Car, Tablet OR Flatscreen OR Internet capable television, Reserve, Pistols, Jennifer Lasik
**Done. Indirectly done. Done. In consideration. Financially impossible.
Create and Fulfill the Zodiac.
**Done but one. Not my concern now and multiple opportunities were given.
Cross the Ocean (Metaphorically speaking)
**Total and complete FAIL.
Have a concrete plan (if applicable) for Project: Gemini.
**Moved to 2011 pending review of other goals.

Perform one major production for the podcast.
**Dropped.
Life Goal Review
0. Become a father.
**Keep but no longer Zero goal.
1. See the Louvre.
**Keep. Slated 2011.

2. Travel around the world on a way way trip. Japan, Australia, India, Egypt, London, Italy and Hawaii.
**Keep.

3. Learn a martial art.
**Slated 2010 Sept.

4. Competitively enter a fencing competition.
**Slated 2012.

5. Assemble a band for a tour based on music written by me.
**Keep.

6. Start seven businesses.
**Modified. Pending update and review.

7. Learn a musical instrument.
**Indefinitely delayed.

8. Sculpt something memorable.
**Keep.

9. Create or help create a graphic novel.
**Currently in progress. Est Completion 2012.

10. Own a plane, sailboat, taught or ultralight and learn to pilot/sail it.
**I have no idea what the hell a taught is. Otherwise keep.

11. Write seven novels.
**In progress. Rough guess completion….2014?

12. Produce a musical based on Simon Bolivar.
**Dropped.

13. Go on a cruise.
**This is a life goal? Sure. Maybe 2011 or 2012.

14. Organize a convention (ideally one based on Sci fi)
**Drop the sci fi. Keep the convention.

15. Invent a card game.
**Dropped.

16. Build a house (not necessarily my own.)
**Keep.

17. Own my own home (all own, no mortgage)
**Keep.

18. Have a room with a secret passage
**Keep.

19. Learn electronics (ideally a remote controlled object or robot battles robot)
**Drop.

20. Gain 3 patents.
**Move to Opportunity.

21. Own a self sufficient piece of land (energy, food, light manufacturing)
**Move to Opportunity.

22. Go on a cruise.
**What the hell with the cruises? Dropped due to duplication.

23. Be in a guerrilla musical dance number.
**Hell yeah keep! Maybe 2011 or 2012.

24. Help in a local political campaign (meaningfully)
**Dropped. Politicians all suck and lie and are not worthy of my time. (Reference Project Hammerfell failure above.)

25. Set up a treasure hunt for after I die. A real one.
**Meh.

26. Live the fifth life (who knows what)
**Keep.

27. Ditto the sixth.
**Keep.

28. Ditto the seventh.
**Keep.

If the right door opens.
29. Kept to myself.
**Gee that was clever Tom….what the hell was it?

30. Establish a business empire dedicated to a not for profit foundation.
**Worthy.

31. Visit (but do not live in) Space.
**Keep.

32. Buy my own island.
**Keep.

33. Establish technological reboot centers.
**Drop. Scott Brown removed any desire to preserve civilization. An enema might do us good.

34. Create a national movement to reform the electoral system.
**Drop.

35. Create a functional and profitable news network that actually produces what is independent.
**TOTALLY Keep.

36. Create an institution to focus on pure research.
**Keep.

37. Create an institution dedicated to the study of Narcolepsy.
**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH! No. I am not Mother Teresa nor am I Ghandi.

38. "" Neurological regeneration.
**Keep.

39. Paid Angel agents to quietly and anonymously do good.
**Keep.

40. Create a series of libraries (10) dedicate to principles original to libraries. Secular sanctuaries and temples to knowledge.
**Keep.

41. Create a school system based on my ideas of education.
**Dropped.

42. Create a wide range of nuclear desalination plants on the west coast.
**OK Tony Stark…what the hell…it is ‘opportunity.’

43. Breed dogs to live twice as long with higher intelligence (ie uplift)
**Ditto.

More to come. The Master Goals and Priority are also being adjusted.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Major Life Failure

Time for a reevaluation....and that means EVERYTHING is on the table.

I did one of these two months ago.

Time for doing it from a different perspective through the looking glass.

I, and only I, can decide what I want and where I want to go and what in my life both in terms of active goals and activities helps me get there.

I will maintain my reasonable obligations, since I know WHO I am, and of those things, my word is my bond...but beyond that....

Everything is on the table.

This is the way the world ends.

On June 10th, 2010 Carol Flake ended the world at 9:13am. The was neither bang nor whimper but a few beauracratic questions, the swish of a pen and a quiet wait for a verified copy of the papers. Jennifer, as petioner, was asked if the marriage wAs fi ally, irretreivably broken. She answered, "Yes.". Thus ending 1966 days of union.