Last year, I set my goals a bit too low. On the one hand, that was a justifiable attempt to focus my efforts on less things to do them better (which worked). On the other hand, I did not use my full capacity. First of all, I can write a lot more, and was until I got morally crushed by the ‘workshop’ at World con. Second, I had met almost all of my goals by early December, with the exception of the script. Goals need to be something that are attainable, but at the same time push you to your limit. One should seek, and strive and always attempt to exceed one’s grasp, per the poem. And I agree with that philosophy.
So this year for each goal category, I’m setting up three kinds of goals. The ‘Critical’ goal will be the most important, without the completion of which, that entire category is essentially a failure. There will also be up to three ‘Important’ goals which should be met because they establish quotas for very long distance goals that will take many years to complete. The final category will be ‘bonus’ goals, which I believe would be nice, are something I want to do, and can be something that will help me become a better person etc.
Physical
Critical Goal: Reach and largely sustain a weight of 250lbs.
Important Goals:
Reduce Toxicity by 20% (Test Jan 2012 and Dec 2012 at least)
Increase Aerobic Endurance by 50% (Test Jan 15, 2012)
Flat Abs (Subjective improvement of 100% based on comparison Jan – July – December 2012)
Bonus
Do the Warrior Dash at least once
Play in some physical competitive league/sport/tournament thing
Mental
Critical Goal: Read the following six books:
*The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
*The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
*The Federalist Papers
*Infinite Jest
*The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keyes
*Common Sense
Important Goals
Learn 3 New Non Social Skills (Likely Dancing, Cooking and Something Outdoors)
Read at least 5 books about a single major contemporary sport (Not the Olympics)
Read at least 10 books from the ‘classics’ list
Bonus:
Write a review for each book read in terms of a goal on my review blog to keep track
Read 10 books from the top 100 Sci Fi list of all time (Or bestseller if I’ve read
them all)
Emotional
Critical Goal: Develop an optimistic attitude (Or at least make significant progress towards such)
Important Goals
Laugh at least once a week
Empathize with someone of another perspective at least once a week
Stop talking about people that I no longer want or need to have anything to do with on a regular basis
Bonus
Learn to control my attitude at will
Experience prolonged joy
Spiritual
Critical Goal: Refine my personal spiritual beliefs to decide what it is I really believe about God. Post to my spiritual blog by the end of 2012.
Important Goals
Read the spiritual text of a major world religion
Meditate often
Go to Alchemy
Social
Critical Goal: If appropriate come April 2012, Operation Bitter Apple
Important Goals
Reach Level 20
Take 6 Swing Classes and Go out Swing Dancing at least 6 times
Attend at least 5 FL ‘Events’
Bonus
Take an Improv Class
First Life (Retired)
Critical Goal: None. A ‘retired’ life by definition has no critical goal.
Important Goal
Run 3 ‘mini arc’ games of 3 sessions each.
Record any games played in my RPG blog.
Take at least 10 yoga classes.
Bonus
Attempt to run a PBEM for 6 months
Run another mega plot on Dark Metal mush
Wrap up Belan’s arc successfully
40 Karma increase for Bob in Shadowrun Missions
Play in at least 2 Larps
Help run games for SEIGE 2012
Pay an Homage to Byeard M by running one of his games at a con
Establish ties to Portland Gaming community.
Second Life
Critical Goal: Finish the first draft of Novel Five (Starting March 2012)
Important Goals:
Finish Play/Poem “Tenth Muse” by March 2012.
Write 2 Feature Length Movie Scripts
Start the Tossing Grenades at Windmills Podcast (by April 2012)
Bonus
Sell something written to a ‘gate keeper’ that is a professional or semiprofessional publication.
Write 5 Horror short stories
Write 3 Sci Fi short stories
Write 2 Non supernatural stories
Write 1 entirely inappropriate story
Write an entry for each Write Club monthly venue
Join Atlanta Playwrites
Write 10 Episodes for Earth and Sea and Star and Sky.
Write $200000 worth of Grants for Mythic.
Establish ties to the Portland Writing community.
Third Life
Critical Goal: Produce Unfood (or at least have it Produced)
Important Goals
Get involved with another web series either as writer, crew or elsewise.
Take an acting class
Film footage for “Earth and Sea and Star and Sky”
Bonus
Be an extra in at least one short film
Read at least 20 hours for GARRS
Take another sound class
Help with sound in at least one short film
Enter something in some film festival somewhere.
Participate in the 48 hour film festival in some capacity
Establish ties to the Portland Theater Community.
Fourth Life
Critical Goal: Only take Project Management jobs as my ‘day job’
Important Goals
Make a $5000 profit for Red Anvil Amalgamated
Hire an Accountant in March 2012
Get the CAMP or the PMP by the end of 2012
Bonus
Get at least 4 paid VO gigs.
Get at least 5 paid gigs for Emergency Documentation.
Join and interact with the least Reality Deviant Chamber of Commerce I can find in the Atlanta Metro area.
Start or Join MOD team
Participate in Video Game Jam 2012
Establish ties to the Portland Business community.
Fifth Life
Critical Goal: Finish reading and applying the principals of the core books (US, TAS, and Unknown Book #3)
Important Goals
Find a patron(s)
The Year of the Phoenix (decide by Feb 2012)
Learn Self Defense
Sixth Life
Critical Goal: Decide to implement and then implement EITHER Operation Dark Hammerfell or Operation Montoya Hammerfell
Important Goals
Monitor and Follow Up on Traffic Stop of Evil
Help those trying to make the world a better place indirectly at least 5 times in concrete ways
Avoid voting for War Criminals
Seventh Life (In Reserve till 2027)
Incidental Goals
These goals are all, by definition ‘bonus’ that do not fit into a particular category OR are implementations of Life goals, which are Important.
Go to Dragon Con
Go to Anachro Con
Go to Mardigras (if I win my bet with myself)
Go to FC
Obtain 5 Physical Objects (An annual tradition at this point): Fix the Bumper, Fix my Teeth, Ereader, Running Stilts (Once I reach 250), and a fifth item to be determined in July 2012 at the mid year goal check.
Go to Canooga
Go to at least one Anime con.
Go to Play It On Con
Complete 70% of all bonus goals
Complete 80% of all bonus goals
Complete 90% of all bonus goals
Get a tattoo based on the Gathering of the Seven
Life Goals - "At some point"
1. See the Louvre.
**Keep. Slated 2012-2013. Likely 2013 but 2012 may have great deals that show up.
2. Travel around the world on a one way trip. Japan, Australia, India, Egypt, London, Italy and Hawaii.
** Goal to see all by 2017.
3. Learn a martial art.
**Done
5. Assemble a band for a tour based on music written by me.
6. Start a successful business.
Started in 2011. "Success" is determined in this case by an operating profit of 400% invested capital or $10000. 2011-2015. Otherwise 'failure' and goal removed from dock.
7. Learn a musical instrument.
Slated 2014
8. Sculpt something memorable.
9. Create or help create a graphic novel.
**Completed.
10. Own a plane, sailboat, taught or ultralight and learn to pilot/sail it.
11. Write seven novels.
**4 of 7 done. 5th slated for 2012
13. Go on a cruise.
2012. October unless I find a really cool themed one before or after.
14. Organize a convention on SOMETHING.
16. Build a house (not necessarily my own.)
17. Own my own home (all own, no mortgage)
Slated 2015.
18. Have a room with a secret passage
23. Be in a flash mob dance number.
Do in Winter 2012 unless an opportunity comes before hand.
26. Live the fifth life (who knows what that is)
Started 2012. Likely perpetual but since goals must be achievable, transform this to a tangible in 2012 Mid goal check.
27. Ditto the sixth.
Started 2012. Likely perpetual but since goals must be achievable, transform this to a tangible in 2012 Mid goal check.
28. Ditto the seventh.
**Kept in reserve until 2027.
47. Finish 7 films. (3 out of 7 completed).
Do unfood in 2012.
48. Enter a remote controlled airplane tournament and place in the upper half.
49. Enter a competitive Kite contest (the kind with the razors on the wings.)
50. Blow something up with Dynamite. (Legally)
51. Join the Masons.
52. Hypnotize someone.
53. Firewalk.
54. Visit the Library of Congess
If the right door opens....(ie interesting goals that either depend on another person or a significant amount of wealth that may never happen but that I want to write down)
29. Marry the Right Person.
30. Establish a business empire dedicated to a not for profit foundation.
31. Visit (but do not live in) Space.
32. Buy my own island.
35. Create a functional and profitable news network that actually produces what is independent.
36. Create an institution to focus on pure research.
38. "" Neurological regeneration.
39. Paid Angel agents to quietly and anonymously do good.
40. Create a series of libraries (10) dedicate to principles original to libraries. Secular sanctuaries and temples to knowledge.
43. Breed dogs to live twice as long
**Strangely some people are surprisingly responsive to this. This might move to more realistic within 3-4 years when/if I own a house.
44. Create 3 patents.
45. Own and that is entirely self-sufficient w. energy, food and other items.
46. Become a Father.
Bucket List (the Bucket in the Bucket….IE, I no longer care about this but might change my mind.)
4. Competitively enter a fencing competition.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Report Card 2011
Goals for 2011.
Social
Make One Person As Happy As Possible (Besides Myself)
**Grade: A+
Visit with the Family at least once (likely to be the Family Reunion)
**Grade: A+
Spend Quality Time with Friends at least Twice a Month
**Grade: A+
Do a Good Turn Monthly
**Grade: A+
Initiate Social Activities at least once a Quarter (Group Dates do not count for this)
**Grade: A+
Career (AKA "The 4th Life")
Gain a Stable Permanent Job I Like To Do That Pays Well
**Grade: C (A for Effort, F for results)
Set up a consulting business for side Project Management Work
**Grade: A+ (Paperwork laid down, Decided to implement in January due to the creation of Emergency Documentation)
Continue Project Chrysalis with Mythic Imagination Institute
**Grade: B+ (I am no longer in charge of Project Chrysalis but I am doing Project Peabody for them and its going gangbusters)
Take the PRP in June 2011
**Grade: F (Deferred to 2012 for more actual rather than contrived experience)
3rd Life
My Project: Project Dance Of Joy (Film)
**Grade: A+ (Re: As cover for party.....heheheheheh...I love it when a plan comes together.)
**Grade: F (But on the other hand, I no longer have any interest in doing this film)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Pi Project Management and Writing
**Grade: N/A (Sentinel is no longer a part of my life.)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel 4.0 Project Management and Writing
**Grade: N/A (Sentinel is no longer a part of my life.)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Podcast
**Grade: N/A (Sentinel is no longer a part of my life.)
Learn To Edit
**Grade: A+
Finish Editing Dueling Morons
**Grade: A+ (Somehow I managed to make this come together)
2nd Life
Write 75000 words
Grade: A+
Decide if I like the 5th novel by the 15th of Jan. If not start another by Feb 1. If not then 5 Short Stories + 1 Feature Length Film
**Grade: A+
Finish the Graphic Novel (Est 5000 more words)
**Grade: A+ Finished. This project is on hold because the artist has a project of her own that takes priority.
Affiliated Project: Maintain at least 90% post rate on Nerdgasm
**Grade: A (Whilst participating in Nerdgasm, my posts were right on track)
Help at least 3 people with their writing, either to start or to help them edit.
**Grade: A+ (Albeit only one of the original 3 I had in mind was one of the three I actually helped)
1rst Life - Retired.
Publish T7 Project (Now mostly done.)
**Grade: F (I just ran out of steam on this, but it was an A as a life lesson, because sometimes it is wiser to just walk away from something)
Physical
Get at least 3 more belts in Karate
**A+
Decide then: Either 2 (5 total) belts in Karate OR Start a New Martial Arts OR Start Yoga
**Grade: Incomplete (Injury + Unemployment made this impossible to complete. I will be able to do yoga in 2012 however…)
Continue Weight Training OR Start Cross Training OR Start Free Weights
**Grade: B
Cardio 2 additional times per week
**Grade: B
Mental
Read 12 Non Fiction Books
**Grade: A- (10 of 12, working on 2 more.)
Read 12 Non Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction (at least 2 of which should be classics)
**Grade: A-
Read 12 Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction
**Grade: A+
Do Something to improve my creativity
**Grade: A+ (Pushpush + Write Club + Helping others)
Learn a New Skill
**Grade: A (This was originally meant to be cooking or something similar, but ended up being other more hard to define social and spiritual skills which I still feel qualifies)
Spiritual
Read at least one major religious text of a religion that is not my own that I have not read before.
**Grade: B+
Meditate/Pray at least 3 times a week
**Grade: A+
Emotional
Be More Generous
**Grade: A+
Be More Kind
**Grade: A+
Stop Talking about Dark Things
**Grade: B
Withdraw From Politics as Much as Reasonably Possible
**Grade: C
Incidental
*Go to Gencon OR San Diego Comicon OR World Con OR Dragon Con
**Grade: A+
Go on at least 6 'weekend' trips, ideally at least one per month.
**Grade: A+
*Go to NYC for at least 3 days (will count as one of the above trips)
**Grade: D (Double Unemployment prevented this, on the other hand I had the chance to go to OWS in its early days and did not go so I still count it a low grade)
*Make CONCRETE plans to go to France in 2012 (or 2011 if realistically possible)
**Grade: F (Double Unemployment excuses, but does not change the failure in this category. I may still go in 2012, but 2013 is looking more likely)
*Spend at least 20 hours at the range improving either pistol OR rifle OR shot gun skills.
**Grade: F.
*Obtain the Following: A decent couch, a gaming console of some kind (likely a Wii), 10 DVD's for my permanent collection, a piece of original art and something to advance one of my other goals in a meaningful way.
**Grade: A+
*Do at least one major good deed entirely anonymously. (Besides acknowledging completion of the goal in the assessment)
**Grade: A+
*Finish the Graphic Novel script and work with Liz to edit as needed.
**Grade: A+
*Finish the 4th Novel with Ken and help him market it as needed.
**Grade: A+ (Even if this does seem now dead, we finished it and I did some marketing)
Life Goals - "At some point"
1. See the Louvre.
**Keep. Slated 2012-2013.
2. Travel around the world on a one way trip. Japan, Australia, India, Egypt, London, Italy and Hawaii.
** Goal to see all by 2017.
3. Learn a martial art.
**Done
4. Competitively enter a fencing competition.
**Bucketed. I’m no longer really that thrilled about this goal.
5. Assemble a band for a tour based on music written by me.
6. Start a successful business.
"Start" in 2011-2012. "Success" is determined in this case by an operating profit of 400% invested capital or $10000. 2011-2015. Otherwise 'failure' and goal removed from dock.
**Grade: A- Started, but not really started at a full level.
7. Learn a musical instrument.
8. Sculpt something memorable.
9. Create or help create a graphic novel.
**Completed.
10. Own a plane, sailboat, taught or ultralight and learn to pilot/sail it.
11. Write seven novels.
**4 of 7 done.
13. Go on a cruise.
**2012.
14. Organize a convention on SOMETHING.
16. Build a house (not necessarily my own.)
17. Own my own home (all own, no mortgage)
18. Have a room with a secret passage
23. Be in a flash mob dance number.
26. Live the fifth life (who knows what that is)
**Grade: A+ (Started.)
27. Ditto the sixth.
**Grade: A+ (Started)
28. Ditto the seventh.
**Kept in reserve until 2027.
47. Finish 7 films. (3 out of 7 completed).
**Reshoot of Dueling Morons does not count as another completed film.
If the right door opens....(ie interesting goals that either depend on another person or a significant amount of wealth that may never happen but that I want to write down)
29. Marry the Right Person.
30. Establish a business empire dedicated to a not for profit foundation.
31. Visit (but do not live in) Space.
32. Buy my own island.
35. Create a functional and profitable news network that actually produces what is independent.
36. Create an institution to focus on pure research.
38. "" Neurological regeneration.
39. Paid Angel agents to quietly and anonymously do good.
40. Create a series of libraries (10) dedicate to principles original to libraries. Secular sanctuaries and temples to knowledge.
43. Breed dogs to live twice as long
**Strangely some people are surprisingly responsive to this. This might move to more realistic within 3-4 years when/if I own a house.
44. Create 3 patents.
45. Own and that is entirely self-sufficient w. energy, food and other items.
46. Become a Father.
Social
Make One Person As Happy As Possible (Besides Myself)
**Grade: A+
Visit with the Family at least once (likely to be the Family Reunion)
**Grade: A+
Spend Quality Time with Friends at least Twice a Month
**Grade: A+
Do a Good Turn Monthly
**Grade: A+
Initiate Social Activities at least once a Quarter (Group Dates do not count for this)
**Grade: A+
Career (AKA "The 4th Life")
Gain a Stable Permanent Job I Like To Do That Pays Well
**Grade: C (A for Effort, F for results)
Set up a consulting business for side Project Management Work
**Grade: A+ (Paperwork laid down, Decided to implement in January due to the creation of Emergency Documentation)
Continue Project Chrysalis with Mythic Imagination Institute
**Grade: B+ (I am no longer in charge of Project Chrysalis but I am doing Project Peabody for them and its going gangbusters)
Take the PRP in June 2011
**Grade: F (Deferred to 2012 for more actual rather than contrived experience)
3rd Life
My Project: Project Dance Of Joy (Film)
**Grade: A+ (Re: As cover for party.....heheheheheh...I love it when a plan comes together.)
**Grade: F (But on the other hand, I no longer have any interest in doing this film)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Pi Project Management and Writing
**Grade: N/A (Sentinel is no longer a part of my life.)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel 4.0 Project Management and Writing
**Grade: N/A (Sentinel is no longer a part of my life.)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Podcast
**Grade: N/A (Sentinel is no longer a part of my life.)
Learn To Edit
**Grade: A+
Finish Editing Dueling Morons
**Grade: A+ (Somehow I managed to make this come together)
2nd Life
Write 75000 words
Grade: A+
Decide if I like the 5th novel by the 15th of Jan. If not start another by Feb 1. If not then 5 Short Stories + 1 Feature Length Film
**Grade: A+
Finish the Graphic Novel (Est 5000 more words)
**Grade: A+ Finished. This project is on hold because the artist has a project of her own that takes priority.
Affiliated Project: Maintain at least 90% post rate on Nerdgasm
**Grade: A (Whilst participating in Nerdgasm, my posts were right on track)
Help at least 3 people with their writing, either to start or to help them edit.
**Grade: A+ (Albeit only one of the original 3 I had in mind was one of the three I actually helped)
1rst Life - Retired.
Publish T7 Project (Now mostly done.)
**Grade: F (I just ran out of steam on this, but it was an A as a life lesson, because sometimes it is wiser to just walk away from something)
Physical
Get at least 3 more belts in Karate
**A+
Decide then: Either 2 (5 total) belts in Karate OR Start a New Martial Arts OR Start Yoga
**Grade: Incomplete (Injury + Unemployment made this impossible to complete. I will be able to do yoga in 2012 however…)
Continue Weight Training OR Start Cross Training OR Start Free Weights
**Grade: B
Cardio 2 additional times per week
**Grade: B
Mental
Read 12 Non Fiction Books
**Grade: A- (10 of 12, working on 2 more.)
Read 12 Non Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction (at least 2 of which should be classics)
**Grade: A-
Read 12 Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction
**Grade: A+
Do Something to improve my creativity
**Grade: A+ (Pushpush + Write Club + Helping others)
Learn a New Skill
**Grade: A (This was originally meant to be cooking or something similar, but ended up being other more hard to define social and spiritual skills which I still feel qualifies)
Spiritual
Read at least one major religious text of a religion that is not my own that I have not read before.
**Grade: B+
Meditate/Pray at least 3 times a week
**Grade: A+
Emotional
Be More Generous
**Grade: A+
Be More Kind
**Grade: A+
Stop Talking about Dark Things
**Grade: B
Withdraw From Politics as Much as Reasonably Possible
**Grade: C
Incidental
*Go to Gencon OR San Diego Comicon OR World Con OR Dragon Con
**Grade: A+
Go on at least 6 'weekend' trips, ideally at least one per month.
**Grade: A+
*Go to NYC for at least 3 days (will count as one of the above trips)
**Grade: D (Double Unemployment prevented this, on the other hand I had the chance to go to OWS in its early days and did not go so I still count it a low grade)
*Make CONCRETE plans to go to France in 2012 (or 2011 if realistically possible)
**Grade: F (Double Unemployment excuses, but does not change the failure in this category. I may still go in 2012, but 2013 is looking more likely)
*Spend at least 20 hours at the range improving either pistol OR rifle OR shot gun skills.
**Grade: F.
*Obtain the Following: A decent couch, a gaming console of some kind (likely a Wii), 10 DVD's for my permanent collection, a piece of original art and something to advance one of my other goals in a meaningful way.
**Grade: A+
*Do at least one major good deed entirely anonymously. (Besides acknowledging completion of the goal in the assessment)
**Grade: A+
*Finish the Graphic Novel script and work with Liz to edit as needed.
**Grade: A+
*Finish the 4th Novel with Ken and help him market it as needed.
**Grade: A+ (Even if this does seem now dead, we finished it and I did some marketing)
Life Goals - "At some point"
1. See the Louvre.
**Keep. Slated 2012-2013.
2. Travel around the world on a one way trip. Japan, Australia, India, Egypt, London, Italy and Hawaii.
** Goal to see all by 2017.
3. Learn a martial art.
**Done
4. Competitively enter a fencing competition.
**Bucketed. I’m no longer really that thrilled about this goal.
5. Assemble a band for a tour based on music written by me.
6. Start a successful business.
"Start" in 2011-2012. "Success" is determined in this case by an operating profit of 400% invested capital or $10000. 2011-2015. Otherwise 'failure' and goal removed from dock.
**Grade: A- Started, but not really started at a full level.
7. Learn a musical instrument.
8. Sculpt something memorable.
9. Create or help create a graphic novel.
**Completed.
10. Own a plane, sailboat, taught or ultralight and learn to pilot/sail it.
11. Write seven novels.
**4 of 7 done.
13. Go on a cruise.
**2012.
14. Organize a convention on SOMETHING.
16. Build a house (not necessarily my own.)
17. Own my own home (all own, no mortgage)
18. Have a room with a secret passage
23. Be in a flash mob dance number.
26. Live the fifth life (who knows what that is)
**Grade: A+ (Started.)
27. Ditto the sixth.
**Grade: A+ (Started)
28. Ditto the seventh.
**Kept in reserve until 2027.
47. Finish 7 films. (3 out of 7 completed).
**Reshoot of Dueling Morons does not count as another completed film.
If the right door opens....(ie interesting goals that either depend on another person or a significant amount of wealth that may never happen but that I want to write down)
29. Marry the Right Person.
30. Establish a business empire dedicated to a not for profit foundation.
31. Visit (but do not live in) Space.
32. Buy my own island.
35. Create a functional and profitable news network that actually produces what is independent.
36. Create an institution to focus on pure research.
38. "" Neurological regeneration.
39. Paid Angel agents to quietly and anonymously do good.
40. Create a series of libraries (10) dedicate to principles original to libraries. Secular sanctuaries and temples to knowledge.
43. Breed dogs to live twice as long
**Strangely some people are surprisingly responsive to this. This might move to more realistic within 3-4 years when/if I own a house.
44. Create 3 patents.
45. Own and that is entirely self-sufficient w. energy, food and other items.
46. Become a Father.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Early December Musings
Forgive me Father, for it has been more than a month since my last conf…blog entry detailing my life. So, the good news first. Contrary to rumors that you might have heard, I have, in fact, found a job. I am working as a contractor through Apex with GP. But most importantly, it is a Project Manager job, which means that there is an excellent chance that my days of being forced from contract to contract as human flotsam as a Technical Writer might be over. We shall see. The current position is supposed to be contract to hire, but no one seems entirely sure yet what this role will be. The good news though is that there is a lot of work, at least for a while, so spontaneous endings are less likely.
Having said that, with two layoffs in the same year, the extremely strong position I started in is almost entirely gone, which means that I’m probably taking Mom and Skip up on their offer to share living space with them for a while. It is slightly frustrating, to need to do that at 40 years of age, but they are being very accommodating and turning two rooms into what is essentially a mini apartment. Plus, since we’re in a depression, I should be grateful I just had a job, much less that I could find one quickly. The fact that it is in a field I enjoy and see great potential in, so much the better.
Still, changes need to take place. I am seriously pursuing two alternative lines of income so that I will always have money coming in regardless of my core employment situation. One is voice over work. I’ve taken lessons, bought equipment and recently acquired a manual. My goal is to start soliciting work by the end of January once I’ve finished the final elements of training. (I could look right now, but my equipment isn’t quite up to speed, and there are insider ‘tricks’ that I can learn so I’m not spinning my wheels thank you very much.) The second, ironically, is as a technical writer. Technically (pun intended), however, what I’m actually doing is emergency documentation of any kind, its just that the technical writing should consistently pay the best. The key here however, is that it is a moonlighting job that I control and will not depend on. It’s a business, not a career, and that makes a huge difference.
I have some other projects I’ll be starting next year on again, off again to make money, but these are what one might call “R&D” rather than the level of magnitude I’m working on with the above. One of the best perks of the new job is that I can start exercising again, but while I might be going back to Atlanta Kick, the Karate is going to be secondary to the Cross Fit. I’m hoping to start tomorrow. More details on that as it comes.
I also have some very interesting plans in general for next year, and I’m basing almost all of them around contingencies that do not depend on income. The writing is going well, and I’ve finished 5 of the 7 projects I have for the ‘wrap up’ of the Red Anvil Productions podcast. I’m doing another Podcast, but it will be Tossing Grenades at Windmills and primarily focus on promoting my novels, starting with my first which isn’t really (I think) Publication worthy but still worth doing something with, and the podcast seems the perfect venue for that. I haven’t given up on film, even if I am opening up on a new chapter of it. Still, life is interesting, and I’ve reforged bonds with old friends and made several new friends. This has been a difficult year, but not as hard as the last. The next is shaping up to be one of the best yet, and while I will be advancing my professional career, I also intend to do my best to make my 40th year one big party, since quite frankly I think I deserve one, and what else is there to life when you’re a bachelor with no immediate prospect of marriage or children? Having said that, who knows what the future will hold. I know all kinds of highly interesting roads are open before me, and I intend to explore them all.
Good luck and God Speed.
Having said that, with two layoffs in the same year, the extremely strong position I started in is almost entirely gone, which means that I’m probably taking Mom and Skip up on their offer to share living space with them for a while. It is slightly frustrating, to need to do that at 40 years of age, but they are being very accommodating and turning two rooms into what is essentially a mini apartment. Plus, since we’re in a depression, I should be grateful I just had a job, much less that I could find one quickly. The fact that it is in a field I enjoy and see great potential in, so much the better.
Still, changes need to take place. I am seriously pursuing two alternative lines of income so that I will always have money coming in regardless of my core employment situation. One is voice over work. I’ve taken lessons, bought equipment and recently acquired a manual. My goal is to start soliciting work by the end of January once I’ve finished the final elements of training. (I could look right now, but my equipment isn’t quite up to speed, and there are insider ‘tricks’ that I can learn so I’m not spinning my wheels thank you very much.) The second, ironically, is as a technical writer. Technically (pun intended), however, what I’m actually doing is emergency documentation of any kind, its just that the technical writing should consistently pay the best. The key here however, is that it is a moonlighting job that I control and will not depend on. It’s a business, not a career, and that makes a huge difference.
I have some other projects I’ll be starting next year on again, off again to make money, but these are what one might call “R&D” rather than the level of magnitude I’m working on with the above. One of the best perks of the new job is that I can start exercising again, but while I might be going back to Atlanta Kick, the Karate is going to be secondary to the Cross Fit. I’m hoping to start tomorrow. More details on that as it comes.
I also have some very interesting plans in general for next year, and I’m basing almost all of them around contingencies that do not depend on income. The writing is going well, and I’ve finished 5 of the 7 projects I have for the ‘wrap up’ of the Red Anvil Productions podcast. I’m doing another Podcast, but it will be Tossing Grenades at Windmills and primarily focus on promoting my novels, starting with my first which isn’t really (I think) Publication worthy but still worth doing something with, and the podcast seems the perfect venue for that. I haven’t given up on film, even if I am opening up on a new chapter of it. Still, life is interesting, and I’ve reforged bonds with old friends and made several new friends. This has been a difficult year, but not as hard as the last. The next is shaping up to be one of the best yet, and while I will be advancing my professional career, I also intend to do my best to make my 40th year one big party, since quite frankly I think I deserve one, and what else is there to life when you’re a bachelor with no immediate prospect of marriage or children? Having said that, who knows what the future will hold. I know all kinds of highly interesting roads are open before me, and I intend to explore them all.
Good luck and God Speed.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Status Update
Things are going moderately well. Current major projects I'm working on are setting up to majorly revamp the Red Anvil podcast at the new year to begin to promote my writing more, finish the Unfood script, finish the final few works for the old podcast, set up the LLC for my 'emergency documentation' business, and setting up for voice overs.
The 'emergency documentation' business is basically an idea I had which Allison agreed was a good business model where I promote my skills as a tech writer at high rates when other writers (or more importantly their own people because they didn't hire one) screw up their documentation and they need it done in a short period of time. I'm fast, I'm skilled, and I operate well under pressure. Why am I doing this when I want to move out of tech writing you ask? Because this time I'll be the boss, and if a client lets me go in the middle of an agreed contract length, they'll still owe me the money. More importantly, it will be done as moonlight work in the background whilst I seek out Project Management work full time. I'm in control of it, not the other way around.
The voice over work has been piecemeal, learning what I need plus reviewing class notes. Should have my demo reel done this week (final obstacle is learning about a Mixer which for these purposes is not as hard as I would have thought.)
No major job leads yet, but I have been told I'm likely to have a phone interview early next week which is good. It also looks like I'm moving in with the folks at the end of the year. As soon as I get a years worth of PM experience in a contract I'll get the PMP and then I should be ready. If I get a perm job, I'll be working for 2-3 years which should greatly solidfy my resume and make things ready to move.
Solid plan in place. I'm quite sure something will get in the way to mess it up, but I'm flexible in thinking and good at getting up when knocked down. We'll see what happens.
The 'emergency documentation' business is basically an idea I had which Allison agreed was a good business model where I promote my skills as a tech writer at high rates when other writers (or more importantly their own people because they didn't hire one) screw up their documentation and they need it done in a short period of time. I'm fast, I'm skilled, and I operate well under pressure. Why am I doing this when I want to move out of tech writing you ask? Because this time I'll be the boss, and if a client lets me go in the middle of an agreed contract length, they'll still owe me the money. More importantly, it will be done as moonlight work in the background whilst I seek out Project Management work full time. I'm in control of it, not the other way around.
The voice over work has been piecemeal, learning what I need plus reviewing class notes. Should have my demo reel done this week (final obstacle is learning about a Mixer which for these purposes is not as hard as I would have thought.)
No major job leads yet, but I have been told I'm likely to have a phone interview early next week which is good. It also looks like I'm moving in with the folks at the end of the year. As soon as I get a years worth of PM experience in a contract I'll get the PMP and then I should be ready. If I get a perm job, I'll be working for 2-3 years which should greatly solidfy my resume and make things ready to move.
Solid plan in place. I'm quite sure something will get in the way to mess it up, but I'm flexible in thinking and good at getting up when knocked down. We'll see what happens.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Trip: Final Days
The final three days were mainly a lot of driving with some hotel room staying. I mainly wanted to get home as quickly as I could, though the cough manifested itself at some inconvenient times, namely when I was trying to take a nap. Seattle seems like a very nice city, but it seems in some ways comparable to Atlanta, even though they are also obviously different in many ways. They're both quite pretty, and the people inside of both of them seem rather nice, but I didn't feel that connection like I did with Portland, and it is not like I talked in depth to anyone. Maybe its the architecture or something, or some intangible factor, who knows...
There was some drama with a lack of a phone connection, but I figured out how to connect to Roaming by modifying the settings on my phone...this when a call to tech support couldn't get the job done. I'm moderately proud of myself. Hooray, I'm Einstein....really. I am. :)
I've had a lot of time to think about things. Mainly, before I can go to Portland I need a sustainable career and income. And that means both Project Management and side streams. Voice Over work and maybe some other items. I'm going to get the ball rolling on that tomorrow.
I kind of went a little mad out there in the desert and the vast wilderness spaces out there. I'm going to be around people as much as possible during the next few days, and drive as little as I feel I can get away with. Got very little writing done but I need to finish my writing assignment for Push Push (both of them, Write Club and the sub plot for the script class, which is turning out to be hideously cool), I Fenris, a Review for ATL Retro, and then the script for Unfood. I'm expanding it to a feature. No, I doubt I can produce a feature, but we'll figure that out when I'm done with the script.
I feel better, more confident though it cost a lot. Fortunately, I'm getting help from my family. They are indeed very helpful to me, both in terms of material support and morale. I am glad I've occasionally been able to be there for them, and I am glad I appreciate them. It is also a reason I try to be there for others as well, because I know what it feels like when that support ISN'T there as well, at least for short durations.
Job search has several promising leads, up to three job interviews in the early part of next week if all goes well. I'll keep you posted.
There was some drama with a lack of a phone connection, but I figured out how to connect to Roaming by modifying the settings on my phone...this when a call to tech support couldn't get the job done. I'm moderately proud of myself. Hooray, I'm Einstein....really. I am. :)
I've had a lot of time to think about things. Mainly, before I can go to Portland I need a sustainable career and income. And that means both Project Management and side streams. Voice Over work and maybe some other items. I'm going to get the ball rolling on that tomorrow.
I kind of went a little mad out there in the desert and the vast wilderness spaces out there. I'm going to be around people as much as possible during the next few days, and drive as little as I feel I can get away with. Got very little writing done but I need to finish my writing assignment for Push Push (both of them, Write Club and the sub plot for the script class, which is turning out to be hideously cool), I Fenris, a Review for ATL Retro, and then the script for Unfood. I'm expanding it to a feature. No, I doubt I can produce a feature, but we'll figure that out when I'm done with the script.
I feel better, more confident though it cost a lot. Fortunately, I'm getting help from my family. They are indeed very helpful to me, both in terms of material support and morale. I am glad I've occasionally been able to be there for them, and I am glad I appreciate them. It is also a reason I try to be there for others as well, because I know what it feels like when that support ISN'T there as well, at least for short durations.
Job search has several promising leads, up to three job interviews in the early part of next week if all goes well. I'll keep you posted.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Day 5 and 1rst half of Day 6
Wyoming: Despite my humor at Wyoming's expense, it is much prettier than I remembered as a child. Harsh winds make a harsh land. Lovely to see all of the windmill's. All kinds of windmills. All over the place. Lots and lots of windmills. And farms. And trucks. But mostly lots of rocks, piles of rocks and grass. I will say this for Wyoming though....I could get NPR EVERYWHERE crystal clear.
Idaho: Eastern Idaho is kinda blechier than I remembered. Western Idaho is more barren than I remembered but still absolutely lush farm country.
Utah: Say what you want about Mormons, if I wanna terraform a planet some day I'm hiring them. I've been in many western states, and Utah was greener and flusher than other places. They really did change that land. For the better in my opinion.
Oh, and I saw first bill board I'd ever seen for an adult club in Salt Lake at the edge of the state. Looks like the anti pornography campaign is having a limited effect.
Oregon: Most of it I saw in the dark. Lots of mountains. LOTS of mountains. Self serve gasoline exists only in Indian tribal areas. That's right. If you want you gambling fix or to fill your own gas tank go to the nearest reservation.
I don't need to see their library, because there is a veritable shrine to the God of Books in the middle of the city. HOLY @#$@#$$# COW! To sustain a book store of this size, the people of Portland must be among the most literate on the Earth, and you can tell, because the city WORKS. It is clean. It has a street car. It is having budget problems like everyone else, but you can sense the lack of corruption and cronyism that exists in Atlanta and even to a lesser degree that I could sense in Boulder. Boulder was very nice but you could ...feel...the occasional little petty projects here and there. Portland has homeless but they treat them well.
After reading the paper and how the police are treating the Occupy Portland folks as compared to other cities, it is OBVIOUS the people here care about others. It isn't perfect. There are still lots of homeless people but they are not shunned or herded or shamed away.
Corporations are here like everywhere else but they are TAMED and kept in their proper place. The signs are not garish and are blended in to the rest of their architecture. Religion is here but it is also TAMED and kept in its proper place. The christian who attempted to say he would pray for me was both respectful and had a tinge of not wanting to offend. I'm a Christian and while one should never be offended for one's belief's one should be ashamed at the reputation most Christians set...and here they have to because of the percentage of athiests and 'no religion' ists. Blatant abuse of society in the name of "God" is not tolerated here as it is in Atlanta.
Even hate radio was 'tame.' In the most rural parts of the state, the guy spent 5 minutes talking about the need for rational thinking courses and to be polite. Same message that is everywhere in the country about 'change agents' etc (though he obviously was one himself but whatever.)
And it has a streetcar!
The main problem I have now is that this week has been totally exhausting. I may have a solid lead, maybe even a job on day 1 upon return if an interview by phone goes well Monday....but I may not have the energy to return in 3 days. We'll see.
Regardless, I'm still pushing on to Seattle tomorrow.
I hope to have the energy to go out and mingle tonight.
Idaho: Eastern Idaho is kinda blechier than I remembered. Western Idaho is more barren than I remembered but still absolutely lush farm country.
Utah: Say what you want about Mormons, if I wanna terraform a planet some day I'm hiring them. I've been in many western states, and Utah was greener and flusher than other places. They really did change that land. For the better in my opinion.
Oh, and I saw first bill board I'd ever seen for an adult club in Salt Lake at the edge of the state. Looks like the anti pornography campaign is having a limited effect.
Oregon: Most of it I saw in the dark. Lots of mountains. LOTS of mountains. Self serve gasoline exists only in Indian tribal areas. That's right. If you want you gambling fix or to fill your own gas tank go to the nearest reservation.
I don't need to see their library, because there is a veritable shrine to the God of Books in the middle of the city. HOLY @#$@#$$# COW! To sustain a book store of this size, the people of Portland must be among the most literate on the Earth, and you can tell, because the city WORKS. It is clean. It has a street car. It is having budget problems like everyone else, but you can sense the lack of corruption and cronyism that exists in Atlanta and even to a lesser degree that I could sense in Boulder. Boulder was very nice but you could ...feel...the occasional little petty projects here and there. Portland has homeless but they treat them well.
After reading the paper and how the police are treating the Occupy Portland folks as compared to other cities, it is OBVIOUS the people here care about others. It isn't perfect. There are still lots of homeless people but they are not shunned or herded or shamed away.
Corporations are here like everywhere else but they are TAMED and kept in their proper place. The signs are not garish and are blended in to the rest of their architecture. Religion is here but it is also TAMED and kept in its proper place. The christian who attempted to say he would pray for me was both respectful and had a tinge of not wanting to offend. I'm a Christian and while one should never be offended for one's belief's one should be ashamed at the reputation most Christians set...and here they have to because of the percentage of athiests and 'no religion' ists. Blatant abuse of society in the name of "God" is not tolerated here as it is in Atlanta.
Even hate radio was 'tame.' In the most rural parts of the state, the guy spent 5 minutes talking about the need for rational thinking courses and to be polite. Same message that is everywhere in the country about 'change agents' etc (though he obviously was one himself but whatever.)
And it has a streetcar!
The main problem I have now is that this week has been totally exhausting. I may have a solid lead, maybe even a job on day 1 upon return if an interview by phone goes well Monday....but I may not have the energy to return in 3 days. We'll see.
Regardless, I'm still pushing on to Seattle tomorrow.
I hope to have the energy to go out and mingle tonight.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Day 3 (2nd half) and Day 4
I have arrived in Boulder. Let me tell you, if the character and atmosphere of the city were the qualifiers for what I was looking for, Boulder would be a very strong candidate indeed. I think the thumb nail version of what Boulder feels like is what would a city look like if the Hippies and the more benevolent Corporate Democrats came together.
My first experience with the city was a toll road that saved me thirty miles on my trip. But I didn't encounter a toll booth, I just drove into the city. I had to call my step dad and ask him to look up the max charge. Apparently they photo'd my licences and will bill me $6. I can live with that, but it seems a little sneaky...they made no bones about the fact that it was a toll road but how much they charge was ambiguous...
So the hotel I ended up picking was called The Root of the Mountain motel. It is basically a series of cabins created during the depression and kept in pretty good working order but its insanely close and within walking distance of the Pearl Street mall. And it is reasonably priced. Got into a nice conversation with the woman who checked me in about politics. She's from New Zealand. She told me to check out www.soverignman.com (or some such thing, I'll check that out later but it sounded interesting).
I was told to check out Old Chicago Pizza. It was indeed most awesome. Unfortunately due to illness I wasn't that hungry, so I only had one slice of the personal pan pizza. The pumpkin ale was...er...yeah. :) Cerveza de Calabaza no esta bien....at any rate, I ran into many interesting people at the mall. Including a guy playing a dijiourdo (that is not spelled right but my parking lasts an hour so I'm not going to look it up), a weird guitar player who had drawn a circle in the ground with tarot cards and was dressed as the Fool calling himself Ecoman who was trying to make songs to save the planet, a woman who was either on acid or (sadly more likely) schizophrenic and homeless that was politely ignored by everyone around her (I seemed to mildly freak her out by looking into her eyes, I guess she wasn't used to that), and a bunch of homeless(?) guys(vets?) who asked for my leftover pizza. One of them gave me a dufflebag belonging to Captain Howard G. Barak...I didn't ask one of them was he...since they all seemed a bit young to be captain and it seemed rude...so now I have someone's duffle bag and am not entirely sure what's appropriate to do with it...
At any rate, I decided to use the following criteria before I got wise (see below)
Women: A- This was going to be B namely because most of them were college age or stared at me like I was a Rapist until I went home and it was all dark. Very few street lights. At first I thoguht Boulder might be trying for the open skies initiative but then found out that they have outsourced streetlights to a corporation. Oh. Well that makes sense. Let me tell you, I am 6'5" and know Karate, plus I had a duffle bag I could use as a ...weapon or something. Sure I was breathing like I'd run 500 miles, but for 15 seconds I could wail on you like Frankenstein....only a Fast Angry Frankenstein and *I* was freaked out by how dark it was, I couldn't imagine how a woman on her own must feel....but the next day there were more women my age etc. So it rounds out.
Architecture: A+ Not only is it cool but there are VERY few corps in boulder, plus the ones that are here I like, like Steve Madden and Google (Google has an office in Downtown boulder, how cool is that?). Some weirdness though, like cookie cutter victorian houses...yes, that's right. Still, I like that kind of thing.
People: (Women count as people :) ) A-. Nice, friendly, helpful, open. I just didn't really 'connect' with anyone who wasn't either paid to be nice to me by serving me or that first woman I met from New Zealand. But this lack of connection is made up for by the fact that the people here are just COOL :) I like them....like the female owned groundskeeping people cleaning up outside of the library who have dogs and obviously love their job....they're like movie characters only better because they're real :)
Library: I judge a city most by its library. Boulder's library is a temple to light and knowledge. They have fish tanks and fully stocked shelves and internet kiosks and it is QUIET and there is sunlight and they have kindle functionality. In short, it is the way a library should be, and they have funding and it shows. The Decatur library used to be that way, but it is in decline.
Unfortunately, the most important qualifier...did I feel a sense of 'destiny' here?
Not really. :/ This would be a wonderful place to live, but that feeling I had before of 'meant to' in February didn't really click here.
My first experience with the city was a toll road that saved me thirty miles on my trip. But I didn't encounter a toll booth, I just drove into the city. I had to call my step dad and ask him to look up the max charge. Apparently they photo'd my licences and will bill me $6. I can live with that, but it seems a little sneaky...they made no bones about the fact that it was a toll road but how much they charge was ambiguous...
So the hotel I ended up picking was called The Root of the Mountain motel. It is basically a series of cabins created during the depression and kept in pretty good working order but its insanely close and within walking distance of the Pearl Street mall. And it is reasonably priced. Got into a nice conversation with the woman who checked me in about politics. She's from New Zealand. She told me to check out www.soverignman.com (or some such thing, I'll check that out later but it sounded interesting).
I was told to check out Old Chicago Pizza. It was indeed most awesome. Unfortunately due to illness I wasn't that hungry, so I only had one slice of the personal pan pizza. The pumpkin ale was...er...yeah. :) Cerveza de Calabaza no esta bien....at any rate, I ran into many interesting people at the mall. Including a guy playing a dijiourdo (that is not spelled right but my parking lasts an hour so I'm not going to look it up), a weird guitar player who had drawn a circle in the ground with tarot cards and was dressed as the Fool calling himself Ecoman who was trying to make songs to save the planet, a woman who was either on acid or (sadly more likely) schizophrenic and homeless that was politely ignored by everyone around her (I seemed to mildly freak her out by looking into her eyes, I guess she wasn't used to that), and a bunch of homeless(?) guys(vets?) who asked for my leftover pizza. One of them gave me a dufflebag belonging to Captain Howard G. Barak...I didn't ask one of them was he...since they all seemed a bit young to be captain and it seemed rude...so now I have someone's duffle bag and am not entirely sure what's appropriate to do with it...
At any rate, I decided to use the following criteria before I got wise (see below)
Women: A- This was going to be B namely because most of them were college age or stared at me like I was a Rapist until I went home and it was all dark. Very few street lights. At first I thoguht Boulder might be trying for the open skies initiative but then found out that they have outsourced streetlights to a corporation. Oh. Well that makes sense. Let me tell you, I am 6'5" and know Karate, plus I had a duffle bag I could use as a ...weapon or something. Sure I was breathing like I'd run 500 miles, but for 15 seconds I could wail on you like Frankenstein....only a Fast Angry Frankenstein and *I* was freaked out by how dark it was, I couldn't imagine how a woman on her own must feel....but the next day there were more women my age etc. So it rounds out.
Architecture: A+ Not only is it cool but there are VERY few corps in boulder, plus the ones that are here I like, like Steve Madden and Google (Google has an office in Downtown boulder, how cool is that?). Some weirdness though, like cookie cutter victorian houses...yes, that's right. Still, I like that kind of thing.
People: (Women count as people :) ) A-. Nice, friendly, helpful, open. I just didn't really 'connect' with anyone who wasn't either paid to be nice to me by serving me or that first woman I met from New Zealand. But this lack of connection is made up for by the fact that the people here are just COOL :) I like them....like the female owned groundskeeping people cleaning up outside of the library who have dogs and obviously love their job....they're like movie characters only better because they're real :)
Library: I judge a city most by its library. Boulder's library is a temple to light and knowledge. They have fish tanks and fully stocked shelves and internet kiosks and it is QUIET and there is sunlight and they have kindle functionality. In short, it is the way a library should be, and they have funding and it shows. The Decatur library used to be that way, but it is in decline.
Unfortunately, the most important qualifier...did I feel a sense of 'destiny' here?
Not really. :/ This would be a wonderful place to live, but that feeling I had before of 'meant to' in February didn't really click here.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
More of Day 1 and Day 2
It is Wednesday Morning and I am feeling better. Thinking you're no longer sick and no longer being sick are two different things. I should not have traveled yesterday or Tuesday but then again, maybe I would not have gone? Who knows.....what I do know is that much of the trip is simply a blur.
Strangers have been very nice, particularly the people at the two hotels I have stayed at. Rather cheap places in the middle of nowhere that happened to be where I needed to stop. I have become obsessed of late with Bedbugs but a site I found that taught me how to look for them and how to minimize the potential impact they might have has made it possible for me to get a decent night's sleep in a hotel.
There is something wrong with the fact that you can hear Glenn Beck on FM radio in Western Missouri but not NPR...
In the same stretch of country I counted no less than 5 bill boards calling for the protection of unborn children, but only 3 dedicated towards Christian causes of any kind and none of them towards living children.
Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Mt 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
That isn't about the unborn, unless perhaps someone thinks that Christ wants to have embryo's delivered unto him? Even if you believe the unborn fall into that category, so do living children. And failure to work to protect living children while working for the unborn is criminal.
Of course, these same people argue that there are 'plenty' of such programs here or that they should be handled through the churches etc. But that's not what I saw in the billboards driving in their sacred territory. Instead what I saw was a bunch of hypocrisy.
Strangers have been very nice, particularly the people at the two hotels I have stayed at. Rather cheap places in the middle of nowhere that happened to be where I needed to stop. I have become obsessed of late with Bedbugs but a site I found that taught me how to look for them and how to minimize the potential impact they might have has made it possible for me to get a decent night's sleep in a hotel.
There is something wrong with the fact that you can hear Glenn Beck on FM radio in Western Missouri but not NPR...
In the same stretch of country I counted no less than 5 bill boards calling for the protection of unborn children, but only 3 dedicated towards Christian causes of any kind and none of them towards living children.
Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Mt 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
That isn't about the unborn, unless perhaps someone thinks that Christ wants to have embryo's delivered unto him? Even if you believe the unborn fall into that category, so do living children. And failure to work to protect living children while working for the unborn is criminal.
Of course, these same people argue that there are 'plenty' of such programs here or that they should be handled through the churches etc. But that's not what I saw in the billboards driving in their sacred territory. Instead what I saw was a bunch of hypocrisy.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Day 1 Bad Start
So I woke this morning with a sore throat and feeling slightly week, but I think this was partly psychosomatic and also because I haven't been exercising enough. Just had a voice telephone interview for a developer position of all things. I let them know I'm not a developer but that I can use Openspan, which is a developer tool. That seems to be what they're looking for, so it might be a good fit. We'll see.
The good news is that whatever it is, seems mostly gone. The better news is that it isn't Strep, because that requires antibiotics and a doctor which I really don't want to deal with. Regardless, my hope is to be on the road in an hour and a half. It is unlikely I'll make it all the way to Colorado today but I'll keep you posted.
The good news is that whatever it is, seems mostly gone. The better news is that it isn't Strep, because that requires antibiotics and a doctor which I really don't want to deal with. Regardless, my hope is to be on the road in an hour and a half. It is unlikely I'll make it all the way to Colorado today but I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Fork in Fate's Path
So here I stand on the edge of the most important journey I will ever take, the day before. Do I have a destiny in the west or not? Comes a time where intuition must be tested, where you have to confront the universe and say, 'Did you mean it or not'? Just because something seems sure to you at the time (in this case being last Feb) and has stayed clear doesn't mean it shall always be so.
There are elements of such a direction I find appealing and elements I don't. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn't. We shall see.
But as far as *I* am concerned, one way or another it will be resolved soon.
Under normal circumstances, 40 would just be a number like any other. Had I a stable life, or hope of one in the immediate future, I would ignore it and move on, but there are no promises only hints and shadows of what might be. I am proud of my accomplishments, but they were always viewed in the light of what might yet be. Now, every foundation upon which my expectations were built has been up ended.
New friends. New problems. New dreams. New Discoveries. New talents.
Here is what I do know. As of last Friday, I had a face to face meeting with a recruiter about tech writing jobs. It was hard to make myself go. Hard to take the test. I think I have at most one tech writing job left in me here in Atlanta. So either I move or the next is permanent or I have to take a project management job.
What I can't do is take job after job hoping the 'next one' leads to something different. My spirit will not let me do that.
So we'll see what happens. I will keep seeking the best way out of the maze.
There are elements of such a direction I find appealing and elements I don't. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn't. We shall see.
But as far as *I* am concerned, one way or another it will be resolved soon.
Under normal circumstances, 40 would just be a number like any other. Had I a stable life, or hope of one in the immediate future, I would ignore it and move on, but there are no promises only hints and shadows of what might be. I am proud of my accomplishments, but they were always viewed in the light of what might yet be. Now, every foundation upon which my expectations were built has been up ended.
New friends. New problems. New dreams. New Discoveries. New talents.
Here is what I do know. As of last Friday, I had a face to face meeting with a recruiter about tech writing jobs. It was hard to make myself go. Hard to take the test. I think I have at most one tech writing job left in me here in Atlanta. So either I move or the next is permanent or I have to take a project management job.
What I can't do is take job after job hoping the 'next one' leads to something different. My spirit will not let me do that.
So we'll see what happens. I will keep seeking the best way out of the maze.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Choose Ye This Day Where Ye Shall Go
I lost my job today. They ended the contract at the worst possible time. My resources are low. Certain other matters are not quite as resolved as they need to be.
Two paths lay before me. There are, of course, many paths, but my recent unemployment experience has taught me that the BEST two paths are either
a) Pay a rather steep fine for canceling my lease and move back in with the folks. This will initially be expensive but save me a TON of money in monthly expenses, and this time it would not be for emotional reinforcement but financial stability.
This time I would only take a job as a PERMANENT project manager. Or I'd start my own damn company but no more tech writing and no more contracts.
But the price for doing this would be staying in Georgia...well, basically forever. At least for a very long time. I have been talking of moving for years and certain kinds of roots I have never put down because I have been wanting to leave for so long. No more. If I choose this route, I'm staying, and that means taking all the good and flaws that go with it.
Which also means all the baggage of my past mistakes.
b) Pay a rather steep fine for canceling my lease and move to another city. There would be no prep work, no scouting, no resource cushion, no job waiting, but the longer I wait, the less resources I have. And then take WHATEVER job I can find. Odds are I could get a job finding a tech writing job fairly fast.
I could move with the wind but I'm not doing that. I'd choose a city, and move there will little more than a wing and a prayer. Its risky but the pay off could be tremendous. A new start. All of my past mistakes and growing pains about becoming who I am would be gone.
The only baggage I'd have to deal with would be what I BROUGHT with me, and these days that's a LOT less than there was.
But its kind of nuts because my reserve is TINY compared to what it was the last time.
I'm not ready like I was last time. Not at all.
Are there more choices? Sure there are.
But I'm not a fan of taking them. I'm tired of this. I'm just tired of this nonsense living my life the way it is. I need SOME kind of a direction and while nothing is certain in life, what IS certain is that I'm sick of staying in Atlanta, and I'm sick of being a tech writer.
There are good things about Atlanta, and I could still make this place my home. There are livable things about being a tech writer and I could potentially eventually get a job in a different city.
At the moment, if you're reading this, a statement of support would do more than you might think. Thoughts on which path I should take would also be helpful.
We'll see what happens.
Regardless, whatever decision I make has to be made by Saturday. Tomorrow will be largely about gathering intelligence, and a lot of it, and very fast.
Two paths lay before me. There are, of course, many paths, but my recent unemployment experience has taught me that the BEST two paths are either
a) Pay a rather steep fine for canceling my lease and move back in with the folks. This will initially be expensive but save me a TON of money in monthly expenses, and this time it would not be for emotional reinforcement but financial stability.
This time I would only take a job as a PERMANENT project manager. Or I'd start my own damn company but no more tech writing and no more contracts.
But the price for doing this would be staying in Georgia...well, basically forever. At least for a very long time. I have been talking of moving for years and certain kinds of roots I have never put down because I have been wanting to leave for so long. No more. If I choose this route, I'm staying, and that means taking all the good and flaws that go with it.
Which also means all the baggage of my past mistakes.
b) Pay a rather steep fine for canceling my lease and move to another city. There would be no prep work, no scouting, no resource cushion, no job waiting, but the longer I wait, the less resources I have. And then take WHATEVER job I can find. Odds are I could get a job finding a tech writing job fairly fast.
I could move with the wind but I'm not doing that. I'd choose a city, and move there will little more than a wing and a prayer. Its risky but the pay off could be tremendous. A new start. All of my past mistakes and growing pains about becoming who I am would be gone.
The only baggage I'd have to deal with would be what I BROUGHT with me, and these days that's a LOT less than there was.
But its kind of nuts because my reserve is TINY compared to what it was the last time.
I'm not ready like I was last time. Not at all.
Are there more choices? Sure there are.
But I'm not a fan of taking them. I'm tired of this. I'm just tired of this nonsense living my life the way it is. I need SOME kind of a direction and while nothing is certain in life, what IS certain is that I'm sick of staying in Atlanta, and I'm sick of being a tech writer.
There are good things about Atlanta, and I could still make this place my home. There are livable things about being a tech writer and I could potentially eventually get a job in a different city.
At the moment, if you're reading this, a statement of support would do more than you might think. Thoughts on which path I should take would also be helpful.
We'll see what happens.
Regardless, whatever decision I make has to be made by Saturday. Tomorrow will be largely about gathering intelligence, and a lot of it, and very fast.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Nickled and Dimed to Death
So Dragon Con.
It was the best of Cons, it was the Worst of Cons. I'm going to do something uncharacteristic and keep the details to myself. I learned a lot, but the lessons I learned are slightly difficult to explain...so I'll try to at least summarize it. I learned I like to dance. A lot. I learned that I love life, and that even though elements of my life quite frankly suck, and always will, that there is still a great deal of value in what I have, and what I have is quite frankly pretty cool, especially if I ever get a chance to get some inertia going.
I'm more focused now; three paths-Writing, Voice Acting, Project Management. Those are my careers and I plan to make money at them. Everything else is just a hobby. With writing its going to be screen writing, audio drama, and poetry first, with prose and other things a distance second. Technical writing will pay the bills when it must, but I have grown quite weary of it, and will leave it as soon as a I reasonably can.
Work is both stable and unstable. IE, situation normal. However, I'm being nickled and dimed to death with all kinds of minor expenses. Not enough to hurt, but enough to slow me down. All the more reason to press forward with plans for alternate sources of revenue so that contract or no, I'll always have a steady income. I have a wide range of talents (even if I don't have the one I want) and I plan to maximize their utility to the hilt.
It does mean I'm keeping my moving plans VERY flexible. Magic 8 ball says, "WTF?" at the moment :) Seriously, this is perhaps one of the most unclear moments of my life in terms of what might happen, but my attitude towards it is more sure, more focused and more stable than it has ever been. Its not that the things that suck don't bother me, I just...put it in perspective. That includes friends. I pretty much accept them for who they are, and what their limitations or strengths might be. I help them when I can, and ...don't...when I can't. :) Part of that means understanding what is or isn't a friendship as compared to say...an acquaintance. :) But I still maintain that it is better to treat an acquaintanceship as a friend than a friend as an acquaintanceship, just have no illusions as to what the actual situation might be.
We recently cleaned out the house of Doom. We are winning. All but two rooms are done. Tonight I start to read, "High Midnight" by Rob Mosca and write my treatise for my script writing class tomorrow.
It was the best of Cons, it was the Worst of Cons. I'm going to do something uncharacteristic and keep the details to myself. I learned a lot, but the lessons I learned are slightly difficult to explain...so I'll try to at least summarize it. I learned I like to dance. A lot. I learned that I love life, and that even though elements of my life quite frankly suck, and always will, that there is still a great deal of value in what I have, and what I have is quite frankly pretty cool, especially if I ever get a chance to get some inertia going.
I'm more focused now; three paths-Writing, Voice Acting, Project Management. Those are my careers and I plan to make money at them. Everything else is just a hobby. With writing its going to be screen writing, audio drama, and poetry first, with prose and other things a distance second. Technical writing will pay the bills when it must, but I have grown quite weary of it, and will leave it as soon as a I reasonably can.
Work is both stable and unstable. IE, situation normal. However, I'm being nickled and dimed to death with all kinds of minor expenses. Not enough to hurt, but enough to slow me down. All the more reason to press forward with plans for alternate sources of revenue so that contract or no, I'll always have a steady income. I have a wide range of talents (even if I don't have the one I want) and I plan to maximize their utility to the hilt.
It does mean I'm keeping my moving plans VERY flexible. Magic 8 ball says, "WTF?" at the moment :) Seriously, this is perhaps one of the most unclear moments of my life in terms of what might happen, but my attitude towards it is more sure, more focused and more stable than it has ever been. Its not that the things that suck don't bother me, I just...put it in perspective. That includes friends. I pretty much accept them for who they are, and what their limitations or strengths might be. I help them when I can, and ...don't...when I can't. :) Part of that means understanding what is or isn't a friendship as compared to say...an acquaintance. :) But I still maintain that it is better to treat an acquaintanceship as a friend than a friend as an acquaintanceship, just have no illusions as to what the actual situation might be.
We recently cleaned out the house of Doom. We are winning. All but two rooms are done. Tonight I start to read, "High Midnight" by Rob Mosca and write my treatise for my script writing class tomorrow.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Decisions
So there is a line in "Real Genius" I like a lot where the main character meets Val Kilmer who says, "Hey. I missed me. So I told them, I want to have me when I was you as a room mate, and here you are."
So future me, through a combination of psychic....er....yeah psychicness in which I kind of took a lot of the past nonsense, plus some advice I've gotten recently plus anticipated problems and come to some conclusions.
1) I think focusing on one thing at a time is a good idea, but even professionals work one multiple projects but it is done in research, production and promotion phases.
So I'm refocus on the things I feel I do well, and work on developing the skills that I think need work. With writing that means improving my prose and sticking to my poetry.
2) After considering how hard finding an apartment was in a city I was *IN* I've decided that the odds of something going wrong are...well, with my luck extreme, so having a job is going to be very important, as well as having a sufficient amount of emergency capital on moving just in case.
3) So for practical purposes, I'm pretty sure one of the two final cities I'm look at are Portland or Seattle, but I have never been to either, so some time this December I'm going to go up and check them out. Now, if I'm between contracts, then I'll likely go up and then come back to Atlanta for another contract if that happens. On the other hand if I'm able to land a job then I might still move in January.
4) I need to ramp up my Voice Over, Freelance Tech Writing and Freelance Project Management efforts so I can use them between contracts.
Nothing earth shattering this week, though I did see the Silver Screen Spook Show last night which was fun. :)
So future me, through a combination of psychic....er....yeah psychicness in which I kind of took a lot of the past nonsense, plus some advice I've gotten recently plus anticipated problems and come to some conclusions.
1) I think focusing on one thing at a time is a good idea, but even professionals work one multiple projects but it is done in research, production and promotion phases.
So I'm refocus on the things I feel I do well, and work on developing the skills that I think need work. With writing that means improving my prose and sticking to my poetry.
2) After considering how hard finding an apartment was in a city I was *IN* I've decided that the odds of something going wrong are...well, with my luck extreme, so having a job is going to be very important, as well as having a sufficient amount of emergency capital on moving just in case.
3) So for practical purposes, I'm pretty sure one of the two final cities I'm look at are Portland or Seattle, but I have never been to either, so some time this December I'm going to go up and check them out. Now, if I'm between contracts, then I'll likely go up and then come back to Atlanta for another contract if that happens. On the other hand if I'm able to land a job then I might still move in January.
4) I need to ramp up my Voice Over, Freelance Tech Writing and Freelance Project Management efforts so I can use them between contracts.
Nothing earth shattering this week, though I did see the Silver Screen Spook Show last night which was fun. :)
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Vacation Day 7&8
I have ascended the mountain and come down with rainbows in a handkerchief, lightning and a mobius strip chain of paper clips.
I'm able to write this at the moment because my flight has been grounded an extra hour due to a thunderstorm in Atlanta. A fact that those of you in Atlanta are already probably aware. I am stuck in Houston. Ironically if I hadn't been seeing family just earlier this week I would have been tempted to arrange some kind of rendezvous during my lay over.
So I will start in reverse chronological order for the past two days and reminisce on the primary reason I went on this trip, the writer's program. Long story short, I bombed. At least, that's the way it was from a purely objective point of view. But its a lot more complicated than that. We reviewed the first story first, a riff on the Cthulu Mythos with a dash of the Hangover (weird but delightful) and one of our number was not there. So I went second. I was told that the idea was genius (I agree, tis one of the best I've had) but my craft was abominable. I've been told this before, but never in quite the same way.
Now, this is where it gets interesting boys and girls, because if this had happened three or four years ago I would have been devastated. If it had happened a year ago, I would have handled it stoically but ended the session as quickly as possible. But instead, I swallowed the sword and asked for more. I did not come to this just for a chance of networking. Sure, it is night for lightning to strike. It is nice to have someone read your work and think it so brilliant that they're going to put you in touch with their agent.
But there was another opportunity here, and because of the growth I've had in the last year I was able to take it. I had two professional writers and an experienced amateur tell me in precise and specific terms exactly WHY my craft was crap and I was able to ask specific questions about how to fix it.
And I've had one of those eureka paper clip moments. As in, a Paper clip is not like the light bulb. Its an idea that someone somewhere thought up if you could travel in time before the paper clip you could make one, patent it and sell it for a lot of money. I have always thought I wasn't a natural writer because I didn't have the passion of some that did, that I have always had to take a mechanistic method to my writing. And to be sure there is a component to that.
This might seem dumb, but I've never really thought about the nature of the writing as I write, I've just told the story. Honestly that's because that's how I read. I care about the story, what's happening, to whom and how. The other details are nice, but largely incidental. But MOST people do not read like that. They care about the craft of the writing in the story just as much as the story itself.
If that were the end of the story that would either be a time to give up or start from scratch, learning an entirely new skill. But wait...what if I had another skill that I could apply here...you know one that involved taking words and making them sing?
Like say...Poetry? Now simply 'poetifying' my writing of prose is a bit more complicated than it sounds. But its a start and it means that I have the artistic chops already for it. That's important, and as far as I'm half way there, and with my skill and practice in telling a good story at this point as far as I'm concerned that puts me 75% of the way there. As one of the professional authors put it, craft can be taught and learned. I just need to slow down and properly explain my ideas.
That I can do. So there is, at the last, a clear path to what I want. It will be a hell of a lot of work but I believe I can develop in a few years a high level professional talent such that I can earn a living doing this, and with that maybe the lever I've always been looking for at world class talent. Because really that's what I want...give me a lever large enough and I can move the world.
But that's another story...
Regardless, I have a direction, and I have a greater drive than I have ever had before. At this point in my life I have the perfect mix of passion for my craft and the maturity to detach myself from it and sacrifice what I must to make it great.
Two other interesting notes: They said it would make a great script or notes for a graphic novel....ie (I need to do more graphic novel scripts and script scripts) and another suggested that Unfood would make a good horror story. I think I have finally found my Boroughs moment....my Tarzan/John Carter of Mars is in the darkened lands of blood and darkness....but I also think that the whimsical side of myself demands that I try the other side as well. "Routine" science fiction and fantasy are not my strength and stock. We shall see.
So the other major objective on this trip was networking and well, to put it bluntly, my dating skills. Specifically, I need to learn how to approach, court and ask out women who are total strangers, since I don't have a ready pool from the single's ward any more and the world is my potential pool. Though I do have some thoughts on that for when I move to another city...communities are helpful and help us survive. LARPing and the indie film community are two activities (among others) that I will be actively engaging in when I move to my new host city.
Still, I did alright with networking. Basically I made about 5 really good contacts. I have not heard back from any of them and suspect I might not, but bearing in mind even talking to a stranger about this kind of thing before would have been largely beyond me or I wouldn't have followed up on it I mark that as progress. I have more to learn on this but I aim to keep practicing it and refining it.
I talked to probably 4-5 women for flirting/etc purposes. The fact that I'm able to even do that at all now also marks tremendous progress. The books I've read break the process up into 'phases' and I've got the first phase down..ish, but I'm still terrible at connecting. I think part of it is how alien a perspective I come from on a lot of things....initial contact is fine but I think they still sense nervousness or something. I'm calm myself but maybe its just lingering body language etc from before.
Practice makes perfect and I aim to keep hammering away.
So lets see...I did not engage in any gambling. Didn't see the point. I feel my metaphysical karma has better uses. And in a lot of ways I did indeed see it pay off in spades. I felt the true objectives I had on this trip were met and magnified a lot.
The Hugo Awards....seem really cool but the person who I was rooting for did not win. I've enjoyed these kinds of things in the past because I like to see how people who have worked so hard for something get recognition but seeing the other side of someone who I felt should have won not winning...well that soured the whole thing a little for me. Still, I liked World Con and the odds are pretty damn likely I'll be going to the one in Chicago next year. Though we'll have to see. I'm also seriously considering Burning Man and the Louvre is a life goal which trumps everything. That, plus a move puts an awful lot into one year. Then again, I have been able to do a lot in this year and...life is short. Live it while you can.
Saw a fascinating panel on Vampires, Zombies and Werewolves and (especially combined with the horror comment from the writing segment) I've decided to add a dash of magic to the Steam Punk/Alternate History Western I was looking to start writing next year. I'm going to wait on the Fantasy and the....I don't know what to call it until my 'craft' is more polished so I can focus on the stories I seem to be strongest at before revisiting the story element for entirely different lenses and genres.
Oh, did I mention I got to see George R.R. Martin commenting on one of the episodes of Game of Thrones whilst it was playing? It was rather cool to hear him compare the book to the show and I must say for the most part he seems quite pleased. Which I think is a good thing.
Sentinel Chronicles: TSC 3 premiered last night. It was awesome seeing it there. It had a lot of it that looked really good on the big screen and Jay was able to do a lot with what he had given the chaotic elements he had to work with. Some of the script I wrote shone through and some of the scenes that I did and some that I did not do were quite awesome. I'm glad I did it but I'm also glad I can take it with a grain of salt because the hand print of some others...wow. Let's just say that while Jay's work on this was obviously well done (and it was because quite frankly the music, timing, editing, fx and pacing were all fantastic) not all performances were created equal. I know who I would or wouldn't choose for another project if I was working on it, but I'll have to talk with Jay about that later. Obviously he doesn't share my opinion on everything and it is after all totally his project. :) And it was fun to do which is also something in and of itself. I'm still proud to have my name associated with it.
There was a panel on Dr. Who that...was a bit eye opening for me. I like the new series but they are right that Moffat has strengths that Davis did not have but conversely Davis had strengths that Moffat does not. More importantly there are some problems with the River Song story line that might break the series...a lot of good will was built up to now but if there is not enough pay off in the next series we might be looking at the end of the new Dr. Who....hopefully it won't come to that.
All for now.
I'm able to write this at the moment because my flight has been grounded an extra hour due to a thunderstorm in Atlanta. A fact that those of you in Atlanta are already probably aware. I am stuck in Houston. Ironically if I hadn't been seeing family just earlier this week I would have been tempted to arrange some kind of rendezvous during my lay over.
So I will start in reverse chronological order for the past two days and reminisce on the primary reason I went on this trip, the writer's program. Long story short, I bombed. At least, that's the way it was from a purely objective point of view. But its a lot more complicated than that. We reviewed the first story first, a riff on the Cthulu Mythos with a dash of the Hangover (weird but delightful) and one of our number was not there. So I went second. I was told that the idea was genius (I agree, tis one of the best I've had) but my craft was abominable. I've been told this before, but never in quite the same way.
Now, this is where it gets interesting boys and girls, because if this had happened three or four years ago I would have been devastated. If it had happened a year ago, I would have handled it stoically but ended the session as quickly as possible. But instead, I swallowed the sword and asked for more. I did not come to this just for a chance of networking. Sure, it is night for lightning to strike. It is nice to have someone read your work and think it so brilliant that they're going to put you in touch with their agent.
But there was another opportunity here, and because of the growth I've had in the last year I was able to take it. I had two professional writers and an experienced amateur tell me in precise and specific terms exactly WHY my craft was crap and I was able to ask specific questions about how to fix it.
And I've had one of those eureka paper clip moments. As in, a Paper clip is not like the light bulb. Its an idea that someone somewhere thought up if you could travel in time before the paper clip you could make one, patent it and sell it for a lot of money. I have always thought I wasn't a natural writer because I didn't have the passion of some that did, that I have always had to take a mechanistic method to my writing. And to be sure there is a component to that.
This might seem dumb, but I've never really thought about the nature of the writing as I write, I've just told the story. Honestly that's because that's how I read. I care about the story, what's happening, to whom and how. The other details are nice, but largely incidental. But MOST people do not read like that. They care about the craft of the writing in the story just as much as the story itself.
If that were the end of the story that would either be a time to give up or start from scratch, learning an entirely new skill. But wait...what if I had another skill that I could apply here...you know one that involved taking words and making them sing?
Like say...Poetry? Now simply 'poetifying' my writing of prose is a bit more complicated than it sounds. But its a start and it means that I have the artistic chops already for it. That's important, and as far as I'm half way there, and with my skill and practice in telling a good story at this point as far as I'm concerned that puts me 75% of the way there. As one of the professional authors put it, craft can be taught and learned. I just need to slow down and properly explain my ideas.
That I can do. So there is, at the last, a clear path to what I want. It will be a hell of a lot of work but I believe I can develop in a few years a high level professional talent such that I can earn a living doing this, and with that maybe the lever I've always been looking for at world class talent. Because really that's what I want...give me a lever large enough and I can move the world.
But that's another story...
Regardless, I have a direction, and I have a greater drive than I have ever had before. At this point in my life I have the perfect mix of passion for my craft and the maturity to detach myself from it and sacrifice what I must to make it great.
Two other interesting notes: They said it would make a great script or notes for a graphic novel....ie (I need to do more graphic novel scripts and script scripts) and another suggested that Unfood would make a good horror story. I think I have finally found my Boroughs moment....my Tarzan/John Carter of Mars is in the darkened lands of blood and darkness....but I also think that the whimsical side of myself demands that I try the other side as well. "Routine" science fiction and fantasy are not my strength and stock. We shall see.
So the other major objective on this trip was networking and well, to put it bluntly, my dating skills. Specifically, I need to learn how to approach, court and ask out women who are total strangers, since I don't have a ready pool from the single's ward any more and the world is my potential pool. Though I do have some thoughts on that for when I move to another city...communities are helpful and help us survive. LARPing and the indie film community are two activities (among others) that I will be actively engaging in when I move to my new host city.
Still, I did alright with networking. Basically I made about 5 really good contacts. I have not heard back from any of them and suspect I might not, but bearing in mind even talking to a stranger about this kind of thing before would have been largely beyond me or I wouldn't have followed up on it I mark that as progress. I have more to learn on this but I aim to keep practicing it and refining it.
I talked to probably 4-5 women for flirting/etc purposes. The fact that I'm able to even do that at all now also marks tremendous progress. The books I've read break the process up into 'phases' and I've got the first phase down..ish, but I'm still terrible at connecting. I think part of it is how alien a perspective I come from on a lot of things....initial contact is fine but I think they still sense nervousness or something. I'm calm myself but maybe its just lingering body language etc from before.
Practice makes perfect and I aim to keep hammering away.
So lets see...I did not engage in any gambling. Didn't see the point. I feel my metaphysical karma has better uses. And in a lot of ways I did indeed see it pay off in spades. I felt the true objectives I had on this trip were met and magnified a lot.
The Hugo Awards....seem really cool but the person who I was rooting for did not win. I've enjoyed these kinds of things in the past because I like to see how people who have worked so hard for something get recognition but seeing the other side of someone who I felt should have won not winning...well that soured the whole thing a little for me. Still, I liked World Con and the odds are pretty damn likely I'll be going to the one in Chicago next year. Though we'll have to see. I'm also seriously considering Burning Man and the Louvre is a life goal which trumps everything. That, plus a move puts an awful lot into one year. Then again, I have been able to do a lot in this year and...life is short. Live it while you can.
Saw a fascinating panel on Vampires, Zombies and Werewolves and (especially combined with the horror comment from the writing segment) I've decided to add a dash of magic to the Steam Punk/Alternate History Western I was looking to start writing next year. I'm going to wait on the Fantasy and the....I don't know what to call it until my 'craft' is more polished so I can focus on the stories I seem to be strongest at before revisiting the story element for entirely different lenses and genres.
Oh, did I mention I got to see George R.R. Martin commenting on one of the episodes of Game of Thrones whilst it was playing? It was rather cool to hear him compare the book to the show and I must say for the most part he seems quite pleased. Which I think is a good thing.
Sentinel Chronicles: TSC 3 premiered last night. It was awesome seeing it there. It had a lot of it that looked really good on the big screen and Jay was able to do a lot with what he had given the chaotic elements he had to work with. Some of the script I wrote shone through and some of the scenes that I did and some that I did not do were quite awesome. I'm glad I did it but I'm also glad I can take it with a grain of salt because the hand print of some others...wow. Let's just say that while Jay's work on this was obviously well done (and it was because quite frankly the music, timing, editing, fx and pacing were all fantastic) not all performances were created equal. I know who I would or wouldn't choose for another project if I was working on it, but I'll have to talk with Jay about that later. Obviously he doesn't share my opinion on everything and it is after all totally his project. :) And it was fun to do which is also something in and of itself. I'm still proud to have my name associated with it.
There was a panel on Dr. Who that...was a bit eye opening for me. I like the new series but they are right that Moffat has strengths that Davis did not have but conversely Davis had strengths that Moffat does not. More importantly there are some problems with the River Song story line that might break the series...a lot of good will was built up to now but if there is not enough pay off in the next series we might be looking at the end of the new Dr. Who....hopefully it won't come to that.
All for now.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Vacation - Day 6
I got a slow start because my ribs are killing me. I did some research and appearantly in almost all cases there is little to be done for it except wait for it. However I know in my case if I don't work out I don't heal well so I VERY carefully used the weights. They have a fantanstic gym. It hurt a little but was mainly very exhausting because of the amount of caution I had to take not to aggravate that area. I took some tylenol and that helped.
Attended 3 panels. One was a memorial for Joanna Russ. She sounded rather cool and someone I need to read. The second was on 'Creating Gods' and I learned some interesting tidbits on how to do that. The third was on the economy of biology in space (which included Greg Bear) and was really cool. Then I went to a Dresden Files Larp. I did pretty kickass actually in my opinion.
After that I randomly wandered the parties. I will say only two things on that: One...having people you know with you as you go to parties makes a huge difference and two...despite glacial progress I am getting better at this. Slightly. Kind of. Otherwise what happens in Reno goes to Vegas and stays in Vegas...
Attended 3 panels. One was a memorial for Joanna Russ. She sounded rather cool and someone I need to read. The second was on 'Creating Gods' and I learned some interesting tidbits on how to do that. The third was on the economy of biology in space (which included Greg Bear) and was really cool. Then I went to a Dresden Files Larp. I did pretty kickass actually in my opinion.
After that I randomly wandered the parties. I will say only two things on that: One...having people you know with you as you go to parties makes a huge difference and two...despite glacial progress I am getting better at this. Slightly. Kind of. Otherwise what happens in Reno goes to Vegas and stays in Vegas...
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Vacation - Day 5
Awesomeness! So I had a friend at PlayItOn Con in Alabama that the one party I should try to get into was the SFWA party (Science Fiction Writers of America)....so basically got in by the most random of circumstances when I thought I wouldn't. I met a few people, and I still mostly suck at networking but who knows what might happen for the rest of the con.
I got up at an ungodly hour. Skip kindly drove me to the airport since the train only comes once an hour at that time of the morning. I made my flight, and it was boring but uneventful. I had a layover in Houston for an hour. I might have been tempted to call people and offer to meet them but really...I'd just seen them all a few days ago, there's hardly anything novel in seeing me now. :) (Whoo! It's uncle Tom for 20 minutes between flights...we haven't seen you for 2 whole days!) ;)
The flight to Reno from Houston was kind of aweful because I had middle seat in tiny tiny seat. There were women in their late fourties on either side of me who were also going to the con. It was awkaward at first because while I slept I accidently leaned on either of them at least once so then I just stayed awake but we becan talking. They were both very interesting people. One is here because of her husband and is German and the other is a children's librarian (like Julie used to be). Haven't seen them yet but I'm sure I will.
The Peppermill is an awesome hotel. If you want a romantic getaway and you're coming to Reno it seems to be the place to be. Later on after everything was done I did kind of wander through and explore and its...kind of dungeon like with lots of bright glittery lights and traps to take your money but it is also (like a d&d dungeon) laced random bits of coolness like bars, lounges and such. There was also this really sophisticated sports betting area that was totally empty. The unfortunate side effect is that it is also very filled with smoke...well, only a little but a little goes a long way. Still, the art on the walls is gorgeous, and I like the whole feel of the place. Staff are also exceedingly friendly. Atlantis, by contrast seems slightly more family friendly but just more...lame...somehow. It reminds me of a slightly degraded version of the resort from the Battle Star Galactica Pilot without the bee aliens...
So when I arrived my room wasn't available so I went to the convention center. I got my badge and scoped the place out. The dealer's room is VERY book friendly, and I think I'll have to get some while I am here. It's about the size of one of the two dragon con rooms but with just the same level of quality. However the entire con seems to have only 5-6000 people? (hard to say exactly.) Not any mega media celebrties (except perhaps George R.R. Martin at this point who I think qualifies in his own right) but lots of Sci Fi Writer heavy weights. They also have this cool thing called a Voodoo board which allows you to message people who are the con using old fashioned paper. There's a Jordan Ricks here but I'm not sure if he's cousin Jordan....problem with having a titanic family is you never know if someone with a name is or isn't your cousin. :) If there were 10000 living descendants of Thomas E. Ricks 20 years ago, by now there are likely what....50000?
So I got dinner. I went back to the apartment and got my room. Very nice. I went ahead and paid about $20 extra a night (since I'd already paid for everything back in Febuaray) to get the Peppermill Wing, and as I mentioned, its gorgeous. They have a nightclub here I want to go to at some point but I didn't bring the shoes for it, but buying a pair of shoes for a nightclub seems silly....but I might get a $20 pair or something of the Frankenstein shoes...We'll see.
People REALLY like the Cthulu Polo shirt I picked up at Dcon last year. I need to get 1-2 more this coming year. Tshirts are easy but business casual geek wear is harder to find especially if it is low key enough to wear in other settings.
Signed up for a Dresden Larp that will run today. I'm going to be a 'Hard Bitten Warden' by the name of Mercy Harlan. Should be awesome. My ribs are driving me nuts though. I slept on them and it is just going to suck until they heal. But I'm really enjoying the timezone shift...its noon EST and I'm still in my room but outside its only 9am....hehheheh. Awesome.
So I went to the 'meet and greet' for the writer's program and ran into a cool girl named Jasmin. We were both lost and found the party room together. We talked a lot. No, she has a boyfriend and she's 21. But thanks for the subconcious enthusiasm dear reader. ;) At any rate, we talked a lot but I also randomly ran into someone in her 'group' and introduced her to him. Then more conversation ensued. Then I started to work my way in to thank Oz (who is running the program and was my primary objective in going there because I wanted to thank her) we ran into Gregory who was also a writer and an interesting person and Jasmin, Gregory and I started talking. Eventually I made my way and found Oz and thanked her and then moved on to randomly sample the other parties. I'm getting better at navigating these things and talking to people but I've noticed I tend to do better if I give myself some secret mission. Maybe tonight I'll do something like, "Talk to five people, one of whom must be dressed like a pirate." We'll see.
So I randomly ran into Jasmin and Gregory again at another party. I talked with them. And Gregory was receiving a text from a friend of his and then he was going to go up to the SWFA party. So we all went. Well we went in just fine but it turns out that no member of SWFA had actually invited us (even though Gregory did no someone) so the person checking the badges (not actually at the door but apparently that was complicated) was concerned, so we were going to leave when someone who was a member vouched for us and we got to stay. Which...was really really cool, I just wish I had gotten the name of the guy who did it. :)
I did mention I suck at the networking thing right? But regardless, I made 3-4 contacts last night who may one day be famous or something. Given their personalities (since I haven't read their work) I can easily see it. I think networking is easier with peers rather than people who are 'above your station' as it were. At least for me.
At any rate...at some point I'm going to get out and do productive things. Ish.
I got up at an ungodly hour. Skip kindly drove me to the airport since the train only comes once an hour at that time of the morning. I made my flight, and it was boring but uneventful. I had a layover in Houston for an hour. I might have been tempted to call people and offer to meet them but really...I'd just seen them all a few days ago, there's hardly anything novel in seeing me now. :) (Whoo! It's uncle Tom for 20 minutes between flights...we haven't seen you for 2 whole days!) ;)
The flight to Reno from Houston was kind of aweful because I had middle seat in tiny tiny seat. There were women in their late fourties on either side of me who were also going to the con. It was awkaward at first because while I slept I accidently leaned on either of them at least once so then I just stayed awake but we becan talking. They were both very interesting people. One is here because of her husband and is German and the other is a children's librarian (like Julie used to be). Haven't seen them yet but I'm sure I will.
The Peppermill is an awesome hotel. If you want a romantic getaway and you're coming to Reno it seems to be the place to be. Later on after everything was done I did kind of wander through and explore and its...kind of dungeon like with lots of bright glittery lights and traps to take your money but it is also (like a d&d dungeon) laced random bits of coolness like bars, lounges and such. There was also this really sophisticated sports betting area that was totally empty. The unfortunate side effect is that it is also very filled with smoke...well, only a little but a little goes a long way. Still, the art on the walls is gorgeous, and I like the whole feel of the place. Staff are also exceedingly friendly. Atlantis, by contrast seems slightly more family friendly but just more...lame...somehow. It reminds me of a slightly degraded version of the resort from the Battle Star Galactica Pilot without the bee aliens...
So when I arrived my room wasn't available so I went to the convention center. I got my badge and scoped the place out. The dealer's room is VERY book friendly, and I think I'll have to get some while I am here. It's about the size of one of the two dragon con rooms but with just the same level of quality. However the entire con seems to have only 5-6000 people? (hard to say exactly.) Not any mega media celebrties (except perhaps George R.R. Martin at this point who I think qualifies in his own right) but lots of Sci Fi Writer heavy weights. They also have this cool thing called a Voodoo board which allows you to message people who are the con using old fashioned paper. There's a Jordan Ricks here but I'm not sure if he's cousin Jordan....problem with having a titanic family is you never know if someone with a name is or isn't your cousin. :) If there were 10000 living descendants of Thomas E. Ricks 20 years ago, by now there are likely what....50000?
So I got dinner. I went back to the apartment and got my room. Very nice. I went ahead and paid about $20 extra a night (since I'd already paid for everything back in Febuaray) to get the Peppermill Wing, and as I mentioned, its gorgeous. They have a nightclub here I want to go to at some point but I didn't bring the shoes for it, but buying a pair of shoes for a nightclub seems silly....but I might get a $20 pair or something of the Frankenstein shoes...We'll see.
People REALLY like the Cthulu Polo shirt I picked up at Dcon last year. I need to get 1-2 more this coming year. Tshirts are easy but business casual geek wear is harder to find especially if it is low key enough to wear in other settings.
Signed up for a Dresden Larp that will run today. I'm going to be a 'Hard Bitten Warden' by the name of Mercy Harlan. Should be awesome. My ribs are driving me nuts though. I slept on them and it is just going to suck until they heal. But I'm really enjoying the timezone shift...its noon EST and I'm still in my room but outside its only 9am....hehheheh. Awesome.
So I went to the 'meet and greet' for the writer's program and ran into a cool girl named Jasmin. We were both lost and found the party room together. We talked a lot. No, she has a boyfriend and she's 21. But thanks for the subconcious enthusiasm dear reader. ;) At any rate, we talked a lot but I also randomly ran into someone in her 'group' and introduced her to him. Then more conversation ensued. Then I started to work my way in to thank Oz (who is running the program and was my primary objective in going there because I wanted to thank her) we ran into Gregory who was also a writer and an interesting person and Jasmin, Gregory and I started talking. Eventually I made my way and found Oz and thanked her and then moved on to randomly sample the other parties. I'm getting better at navigating these things and talking to people but I've noticed I tend to do better if I give myself some secret mission. Maybe tonight I'll do something like, "Talk to five people, one of whom must be dressed like a pirate." We'll see.
So I randomly ran into Jasmin and Gregory again at another party. I talked with them. And Gregory was receiving a text from a friend of his and then he was going to go up to the SWFA party. So we all went. Well we went in just fine but it turns out that no member of SWFA had actually invited us (even though Gregory did no someone) so the person checking the badges (not actually at the door but apparently that was complicated) was concerned, so we were going to leave when someone who was a member vouched for us and we got to stay. Which...was really really cool, I just wish I had gotten the name of the guy who did it. :)
I did mention I suck at the networking thing right? But regardless, I made 3-4 contacts last night who may one day be famous or something. Given their personalities (since I haven't read their work) I can easily see it. I think networking is easier with peers rather than people who are 'above your station' as it were. At least for me.
At any rate...at some point I'm going to get out and do productive things. Ish.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Vacation Day 3&4
So the first part of Day 3 I woke up and said goodbye to Greg and his family. Then Brett, Dad, Vivian and I went to have breakfast at the Egg and I, which was pretty good all things told. Then we went and hung out at Christy's where we played 20th anniversary Trivial pursuit. I left for home around 2:30pm CST. It was a pretty slow trip, and did not pass as fast as going up there in the first place did. Good radio music but I only got half a disc in for my PMP prep. Took a brief side trip to New Orleans to see if I liked the feel of the city. It was OK, but I didn't end up doing anything but stopping and eating at a Wendy's. As a result, I was several hours behind and so I had to stop in Alabama to get a hotel room.
The next morning I headed toward Atlanta, and still a slow trip. When I got to Atlanta, I picked up some new items to take with me on the plane trip but didn't stay there long. I visited a few of the more exotic shops in Atlanta that had always interested me that I'd never gone to (including a New Age book store and a 'Santeria' store near where Jennifer and I used to live) ending one of the last things in Atlanta itself that I'd always wanted to do but had not done. About the only two things left on that list are the Margaret Mitchell House and/or the Cyclorama and honestly at this point....yeah...probably not going to happen even if I find the time. Went to Mom and Skips and visited with them. Grandma is doing well. I cooked dinner (a bean and Pasta caserole.) We watched an episode of White Collar, Warehouse 13 and then Eureka. I then slept.
The next morning I headed toward Atlanta, and still a slow trip. When I got to Atlanta, I picked up some new items to take with me on the plane trip but didn't stay there long. I visited a few of the more exotic shops in Atlanta that had always interested me that I'd never gone to (including a New Age book store and a 'Santeria' store near where Jennifer and I used to live) ending one of the last things in Atlanta itself that I'd always wanted to do but had not done. About the only two things left on that list are the Margaret Mitchell House and/or the Cyclorama and honestly at this point....yeah...probably not going to happen even if I find the time. Went to Mom and Skips and visited with them. Grandma is doing well. I cooked dinner (a bean and Pasta caserole.) We watched an episode of White Collar, Warehouse 13 and then Eureka. I then slept.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Vacation Day 2
Morning was breakfast and a viewing of Tron: Legacy. I'll review that on the review blog later but it was a fun relaxing morning and enjoyed visiting with the family. Later, Rachelle served Ham Sandwiches which were excellent. Then they went to church and I was going to go to Randy's but he texted me that he wasn't hope yet. Ironically, I found out after the fact that it was Rachelle's first day on the organ, so I would have at least gone to the first part of sacrament meeting to hear her but didn't notice it, so I had time to kill, so I visited the old house. WOW how times have changed. The old neighborhood is almost unrecognizable. Almost all the stores are different. A lot of what used to be trees are gone and not replanted. The house itself has a fence around it though it looks largely the same.
The Hilo auto parts I used to work at has a Star Bucks. I was bored so I tried a cup of coffee. My first, and it was moderately good but needed sugar. I chilled and read my android and then went to hang out with Randy and Jaime and their children for a few hours before the rest of the family came and visited. It was quite good. Randy cooks a mean shredded brisket/chicken/ribs and Jaime has le kickass Chocolate and strawberry crispy treats. This went on for several hours. Got to remeet Jaime's mom and one of her brothers and then we hung out after and talked a lot catching up on things. Days go by quickly. Need to spend more time here next time I come here to visit.
The Hilo auto parts I used to work at has a Star Bucks. I was bored so I tried a cup of coffee. My first, and it was moderately good but needed sugar. I chilled and read my android and then went to hang out with Randy and Jaime and their children for a few hours before the rest of the family came and visited. It was quite good. Randy cooks a mean shredded brisket/chicken/ribs and Jaime has le kickass Chocolate and strawberry crispy treats. This went on for several hours. Got to remeet Jaime's mom and one of her brothers and then we hung out after and talked a lot catching up on things. Days go by quickly. Need to spend more time here next time I come here to visit.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
First Day of Vacation
I drove through the middle of the night, listening to a preparation tape for taking the PMP, the radio (there is some excellent music of every kind and description in Atlanta) and Elvis. Arrived without incident in Houston early in the morning. Full house. Nice breakfast and a low key lunch. We played a card game called Bohnanza. Dad and Vivian seemed to be doing well, and we talked and hung out.
Around 3:30pm we went to Christy and Simon's house. Everyone but Julie and Todd were there. It was chaotic but very fun. Didn't get to spend time with the nieces and nephews but they spent a lot of time with each other. Poor Soren seems a bit young for the rest but was following them a lot. I did get to see Brett for the first time in two years. He seems a little tanner, a little wiser, but much more of himself than I expected. He's himself, but more secure in who he is which I think is a good thing. Jenny and Destry seem to be doing well. Fiona is as beautiful as all the gushing on facebook made her out to be. More motherhood suites Jenny well.
Simon cooked some excellent Hotdogs and there was a meal that went very well. People hung out a lot at the pool. Should have brought a swim suit. They finished shooting most of the bits of "The Rixlars". I had...like 4 lines, but I hammed those lines up really well. Due to complications, a few things had to be reshot, and my character basically thought he owned the planet and then challenged the Rixlars when they arrived and said, "Mine!" And then Jaime said, "Uh no. Charge!" And then my character ran.
I now believe Big T is either the biggest idiot in the universe or a total mastermind, but either way it screams for a sequel. There was ice cream and much interesting conversation. Destry thinks I should consider government work and potentially with the county in New Mexico. New Mexico is a state I could live so maybe. Not at the top of the list of my current potential destinations but having family near would be nice, and I loved New Mexico the last time I went.
Overall, people seem to be doing very well, which is a good thing. I am glad that for once emergencies seem to be kept at least under control. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Around 3:30pm we went to Christy and Simon's house. Everyone but Julie and Todd were there. It was chaotic but very fun. Didn't get to spend time with the nieces and nephews but they spent a lot of time with each other. Poor Soren seems a bit young for the rest but was following them a lot. I did get to see Brett for the first time in two years. He seems a little tanner, a little wiser, but much more of himself than I expected. He's himself, but more secure in who he is which I think is a good thing. Jenny and Destry seem to be doing well. Fiona is as beautiful as all the gushing on facebook made her out to be. More motherhood suites Jenny well.
Simon cooked some excellent Hotdogs and there was a meal that went very well. People hung out a lot at the pool. Should have brought a swim suit. They finished shooting most of the bits of "The Rixlars". I had...like 4 lines, but I hammed those lines up really well. Due to complications, a few things had to be reshot, and my character basically thought he owned the planet and then challenged the Rixlars when they arrived and said, "Mine!" And then Jaime said, "Uh no. Charge!" And then my character ran.
I now believe Big T is either the biggest idiot in the universe or a total mastermind, but either way it screams for a sequel. There was ice cream and much interesting conversation. Destry thinks I should consider government work and potentially with the county in New Mexico. New Mexico is a state I could live so maybe. Not at the top of the list of my current potential destinations but having family near would be nice, and I loved New Mexico the last time I went.
Overall, people seem to be doing very well, which is a good thing. I am glad that for once emergencies seem to be kept at least under control. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Mostly an Improvement
I think things will be rather interesting as my parents celebrate their 20th year anniversary this month on the 23rd. I still fondly remember being a total idiot standing on a rock when we first met Skip and shouting Echo into the park as loud as I could. I fondly remember this because I was 18 and a total twit. I fondly remember it because I'm not the person any more....much. ;)
I've had some very positive experiences over the last few weeks. I'm writing, though I'm spending more time blogging than writing fiction, still I'm easily going to meet my first goal for the year and probably the second. I'm enjoying a wide variety of social activities including hanging with friends, playoncon etc. Still, dating is not as strong now as it was earlier, but I almost wonder if some of that is internal given my rather firm plans to leave Atlanta after this contract is done.
The job goes well. Kind of slower than I'd like but honestly I'd never be happy unless I was slammed every minute of every day. There is a kind of rush to solving problems I truly enjoy, and I'm pretty good under pressure. No, strike that, I'm excellent under almost any kind of pressure. And I'm a lot better than I was before, which wasn't too bad.
I've had a few situations I'm not going to mention turn out rather well, and I have a lot of hope in others. Basically life is going very well. Not perfectly. Not without risks, but on the whole very well. Going to visit family this weekend in Houston. It should be interesting since I'm playing "Big T" the villian in the family movie. He's a bit cliche, but the Villain is the one who makes the story move. :) Plus this is a family renunion movie, not Citizen Kane. I'm also thoroughly impressed by my niece Melanie who wrote the script.
When I was a year younger I wrote a script I sent to Spielberg. I'm sure I've got it buried somewhere, but the thing that always stands out in my mind is this:
EXT: Kids ride up on bikes to a large statue holding a sword.
Kid #1: Wow, how'd that get there?
Kid #2: It wasn't there before.
Tom: I wonder if there is a way inside?
Yes, that's right. I put myself into my own damned script. Some day (maybe in a year or two) if I feel I'm getting too full of myself I'll find it and dust it off, and have it performed for the podcast in a whole new demonstration of awfulness.
None of which was in Melanie's script, and more importantly there were over 20+ characters that have rather rolls in it. And its a rather clever premise too. I'll post the link on youtube when its ready. It will also be great to see Brett after he's been gone for two years. It will be interesting seeing a recently returned missionary from my current perspective.
Let's see... I earned my Green Belt. I am quite pleased of that accomplishment. Speaking of Movies, I've finally finished and posted the reshoot of Dueling Morons. Took FOREVER mainly due to a rather anemic and sickly computer which Greg fixed. I still need to rerender tomorrow to include a credit I missed/did not have in the first pass. It has some glitches so I doubt I'll be submitting it to film festivals, though we'll see. Maybe.
I've had some very positive experiences over the last few weeks. I'm writing, though I'm spending more time blogging than writing fiction, still I'm easily going to meet my first goal for the year and probably the second. I'm enjoying a wide variety of social activities including hanging with friends, playoncon etc. Still, dating is not as strong now as it was earlier, but I almost wonder if some of that is internal given my rather firm plans to leave Atlanta after this contract is done.
The job goes well. Kind of slower than I'd like but honestly I'd never be happy unless I was slammed every minute of every day. There is a kind of rush to solving problems I truly enjoy, and I'm pretty good under pressure. No, strike that, I'm excellent under almost any kind of pressure. And I'm a lot better than I was before, which wasn't too bad.
I've had a few situations I'm not going to mention turn out rather well, and I have a lot of hope in others. Basically life is going very well. Not perfectly. Not without risks, but on the whole very well. Going to visit family this weekend in Houston. It should be interesting since I'm playing "Big T" the villian in the family movie. He's a bit cliche, but the Villain is the one who makes the story move. :) Plus this is a family renunion movie, not Citizen Kane. I'm also thoroughly impressed by my niece Melanie who wrote the script.
When I was a year younger I wrote a script I sent to Spielberg. I'm sure I've got it buried somewhere, but the thing that always stands out in my mind is this:
EXT: Kids ride up on bikes to a large statue holding a sword.
Kid #1: Wow, how'd that get there?
Kid #2: It wasn't there before.
Tom: I wonder if there is a way inside?
Yes, that's right. I put myself into my own damned script. Some day (maybe in a year or two) if I feel I'm getting too full of myself I'll find it and dust it off, and have it performed for the podcast in a whole new demonstration of awfulness.
None of which was in Melanie's script, and more importantly there were over 20+ characters that have rather rolls in it. And its a rather clever premise too. I'll post the link on youtube when its ready. It will also be great to see Brett after he's been gone for two years. It will be interesting seeing a recently returned missionary from my current perspective.
Let's see... I earned my Green Belt. I am quite pleased of that accomplishment. Speaking of Movies, I've finally finished and posted the reshoot of Dueling Morons. Took FOREVER mainly due to a rather anemic and sickly computer which Greg fixed. I still need to rerender tomorrow to include a credit I missed/did not have in the first pass. It has some glitches so I doubt I'll be submitting it to film festivals, though we'll see. Maybe.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
On the Job
Well it has been a hell of a month. So the new job is working well. Its been a slow start but things are starting to finally pick up, which is good. In a contract I am always pleased when I have stuff to do, because that means that there is work, and while there is work, I get paid. I have some concerns still that it will end early, but I’ll have a better idea what the actual length of the contract will be as compared to what I’ve been told it will be in about two weeks. I’ve heard all different kinds of estimates, from the end of the year to march to perm to hire. But I know that while they want to hire more people they are generally understaffed for perm employees, but this project is so huge they’ve had to bring on contractors. One of my four bosses (yes….four bosses. ) really likes my BA and PM work and wants to expand my work but not at the expense of the existing BA. The existing BA is a solid guy and will be the one setting my day to day schedule. He is slammed on a regular basis so I might get some more BA work as well which would be helpful. If I have BA or PM work in addition to Tech Writing work, there is no doubt in my mind that I’ll be able to be in this contract until March of next year. Otherwise, I suspect it will last until November.
Which segues nicely into my ‘long term plans.’ A solid perm job is something I don’t want to turn down if it comes up, despite my desires to move to the West, but I honestly just don’t see that possibility here. I’d like it to be such, but I’m not holding my breath. I do, however see the strong possibility of some absolutely excellent references. I had lunch with another of my bosses, who gave me absolutely vital information on the PMP. My current priority is to rebuild my reserve such that if the contract ends, then I can move instantly. By my estimates, especially with several imminent expenses coming up in the next two weeks, that’s going to be the end of October. After that, I’m going to start gunning for the PMP which it looks like I can take. I am still firmly committed to trying to achieve my goal to take the PMP this year, it’s just looking like it will be in December. I’m studying for it now just in case.
Had an excellent date last weekend. It was only a first date but I’d like there to be a second. She has a daughter home for the summer so they’re out of town this weekend. I’m out of town the weekend after that so this might be a situation where there is chemistry but the timing doesn’t work out. I’ll try a weekday next week maybe but we’ll see.
I have been formally approved to take my Green Belt tomorrow. I am very psyched. First of all because I’ve worked my ass off for this, and second of all because it is one of my life goals, the ‘big’ ones, and the green belt is the threshold I set for matched success. I like these guys enough that I’m probably going to at least finish out the year though I have already decided I am not doing this for another FIVE YEARS to become a black belt. Still, I have learned a lot and it is great fitness.
Writing is going exceptionally well. I’m meeting my goal of writing a thousand words a day. I’ve finished several stories this year. I’m having a short story that’s been chosen for a widely heard podcast called “Smoke and Mirrors” tomorrow night (I’ll post the link tomorrow). I’ve also been selected for the World Con writer’s track and I’ll have some professional writer’s helping evaluate my fiction. Finally, the feature film I wrote the script for, “The Sentinel Chronicles: Dawn of the Apocalypse” has been finished and will be airing soon. I’m looking for two or three more web series to write for as well since I’ve decided I really like that. I’m going to write a short film script (sci fi) based on the short story that was accepted to World Con’s writer’s track and also a feature film based on….???? But it will be set in the ‘real world’ though beyond that I don’t know.
Which segues nicely into my ‘long term plans.’ A solid perm job is something I don’t want to turn down if it comes up, despite my desires to move to the West, but I honestly just don’t see that possibility here. I’d like it to be such, but I’m not holding my breath. I do, however see the strong possibility of some absolutely excellent references. I had lunch with another of my bosses, who gave me absolutely vital information on the PMP. My current priority is to rebuild my reserve such that if the contract ends, then I can move instantly. By my estimates, especially with several imminent expenses coming up in the next two weeks, that’s going to be the end of October. After that, I’m going to start gunning for the PMP which it looks like I can take. I am still firmly committed to trying to achieve my goal to take the PMP this year, it’s just looking like it will be in December. I’m studying for it now just in case.
Had an excellent date last weekend. It was only a first date but I’d like there to be a second. She has a daughter home for the summer so they’re out of town this weekend. I’m out of town the weekend after that so this might be a situation where there is chemistry but the timing doesn’t work out. I’ll try a weekday next week maybe but we’ll see.
I have been formally approved to take my Green Belt tomorrow. I am very psyched. First of all because I’ve worked my ass off for this, and second of all because it is one of my life goals, the ‘big’ ones, and the green belt is the threshold I set for matched success. I like these guys enough that I’m probably going to at least finish out the year though I have already decided I am not doing this for another FIVE YEARS to become a black belt. Still, I have learned a lot and it is great fitness.
Writing is going exceptionally well. I’m meeting my goal of writing a thousand words a day. I’ve finished several stories this year. I’m having a short story that’s been chosen for a widely heard podcast called “Smoke and Mirrors” tomorrow night (I’ll post the link tomorrow). I’ve also been selected for the World Con writer’s track and I’ll have some professional writer’s helping evaluate my fiction. Finally, the feature film I wrote the script for, “The Sentinel Chronicles: Dawn of the Apocalypse” has been finished and will be airing soon. I’m looking for two or three more web series to write for as well since I’ve decided I really like that. I’m going to write a short film script (sci fi) based on the short story that was accepted to World Con’s writer’s track and also a feature film based on….???? But it will be set in the ‘real world’ though beyond that I don’t know.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Mid Year Goal Check
As is my relatively new annual tradition, I check the progress of my goals in the middle of the year. Let's see how we're doing.
Goals for 2011.
Social
Make One Person As Happy As Possible (Besides Myself)
**Grade: A+ (And that's all I'll say about that....)
Visit with the Family at least once (likely to be the Family Reunion)
**Grade: A+ (Because I'm doing it twice....)
Spend Quality Time with Friends at least Twice a Month
**Grade: A+ (Excellent friends and spending plenty of time with them. Getting out of the house more than ever.)
Do a Good Turn Monthly
**Grade: A (Room for improvement here.)
Initiate Social Activities at least once a Quarter (Group Dates do not count for this)
**Grade: A (Attendance could be better for this...would be better if I had a house but its slowly progressing. Still technically fulfilled)
Career (New but Needed Category) (AKA "The 4th Life")
Gain a Stable Permanent Job I Like To Do That Pays Well
**Grade: C (A for Effort, F for results....since I'll be in the contract until the end of the year, BUT for a contract it looks to be quite fun)
Set up a consulting business for side Project Management Work
**Grade: Incomplete. Year's still out on this one but I hope to start this month or next month on it.
Continue Project Chrysalis with Mythic Imagination Institute
**Grade: B+ (I am no longer in charge of Project Chrysalis but I am doing Project Peabody for them and its going gangbusters)
Take the PRP in June 2011
**Grade: C (There is still hope of turning this into an A. There is a guy in my new contract who will help a lot with this but it turns out volunteer experience does NOT count towards getting your PMP...)
3rd Life
My Project: Project Dance Of Joy (Film)
**Grade: A+ (Re: As cover for party.....heheheheheh...I love it when a plan comes together.)
**Grade: F (The actual film went over like a lead balloon but I'm doing another later this year...)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Pi Project Management and Writing
**Grade: B (Went well mostly but then having half the actors diss me and go off the rails makes this a Not A....of course learning that Poison was sabotaging everything didn't help....)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel 4.0 Project Management and Writing
**Grade: Incomplete. Factors external to my control determined this.
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Podcast
**Grade: Incomplete. Factors external to my control determined this.
Learn To Edit
**Grade: B (My computer died but I have it back now)
Finish Editing Dueling Morons
**Grade: B- (I had a nearly working copy but lost it. Now I have a chance to turn this into an A by the end of the year)
2nd Life
Write 75000 words
**1/2 done. Grade: A (including certain game related writing.)
*Increasing this goal to 180000 words before the end of the year. I can write a lot more than this and should.
Decide if I like the 5th novel by the 15th of Jan. If not start another by Feb 1. If not then 5 Short Stories + 1 Feature Length Film
**Grade: A
*3 Short stories written, no feature film written but that can be rectified by the end of the year.
Finish the Graphic Novel (Est 5000 more words)
**Grade: A+ Finished. Working on draft.
Affiliated Project: Maintain at least 90% post rate on Nerdgasm
**Grade: B. I quit half way through due to time issues but completed whilst I was doing it.
Help at least 3 people with their writing, either to start or to help them edit.
**Grade: B+. I made an excellent effort but cooperation was required on this one and I rarely got it. People lead busy lives.
1rst Life - Retired.
Publish T7 Project (Now mostly done.)
**Grade: C- (A+++ for effort, F for results. Not QUITE dead yet but this may well be a failure by the end of the year)
Physical
Get at least 3 more belts in Karate
**2 belts achieved. On track for third.
Decide then: Either 2 (5 total) belts in Karate OR Start a New Martial Arts OR Start Yoga
**Grade: Not yet relevant.
Continue Weight Training OR Start Cross Training OR Start Free Weights
**Grade: B. Free weights. I'm averaging 1.5 times a week. Room for improvement.
Cardio 2 additional times per week
**Grade: B. Hiking once a week plus walking. Room for improvement.
Mental
Read 12 Non Fiction Books
**Grade: B- (Time to improve but only 4 read so far. Behind.)
Read 12 Non Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction (at least 2 of which should be classics)
**Grade: B- (3 read so far. No classics.)
Read 12 Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction
**Grade: A (And with the Hugo package easily done.)
Do Something to improve my creativity (?????)
**Grade: A
Learn a New Skill
**Grade: N/A (hope to pick up in August)
Spiritual
Read at least one major religious text of a religion that is not my own that I have not read before.
**Grade: B (Not major but spiritual. Hope to complete by the end of the year.)
Meditate/Pray at least 3 times a week
**Grade: A
Emotional
Be More Generous
**Grade: A
Be More Kind
**Grade: A
Stop Talking about Dark Things
**Grade: B+
Withdraw From Politics as Much as Reasonably Possible
**Grade: B
Incidental
*Go to Gencon OR San Diego Comicon OR World Con OR Dragon Con
**Grade: A+ (2 out of 3 is excellent here.)
*Go on at least 6 'weekend' trips, ideally at least one per month.
**Grade: A+ (3 done so far.)
*Go to NYC for at least 3 days (will count as one of the above trips)
**Grade: F (Not done so far....still time but looking less likely....)
*Make CONCRETE plans to go to France in 2012 (or 2011 if realistically possible)
**Grade: C (Time to finish but looking less likely....but due to factors not of my own making)
*Spend at least 20 hours at the range improving either pistol OR rifle OR shot gun skills.
**Grade: F. Haven't been to the range at all.
*Obtain the Following: A decent couch, a gaming console of some kind (likely a Wii), 10 DVD's for my permanent collection, a piece of original art and something to advance one of my other goals in a meaningful way.
**Grade: A (Just need 5 more DVD's to complete this...)
*Do at least one major good deed entirely anonymously. (Besides acknowledging completion of the goal in the assessment)
**Grade: C
*Finish the Graphic Novel script and work with Liz to edit as needed.
**Grade: A
*Finish the 4th Novel with Ken and help him market it as needed.
**Grade: A- (not finished with the final edit, but I've finished all my received chapters and we're marketing it...)
Life Goals - "At some point"
1. See the Louvre.
**Keep. Slated 2011-2013.
2. Travel around the world on a way way trip. Japan, Australia, India, Egypt, London, Italy and Hawaii.
** Goal to see all by 2017.
3. Learn a martial art.
**Partially done. 3 more belts will qualify as 'done.' 2011.
4. Competitively enter a fencing competition.
**Slated 2012.
5. Assemble a band for a tour based on music written by me.
6. Start a succesful business.
"Start" in 2011-2012. "Success" is determined in this case by an operating profit of 400% invested capital or $10000. 2011-2015. Otherwise 'failure' and goal removed from dock.
7. Learn a musical instrument.
8. Sculpt something memorable.
9. Create or help create a graphic novel.
**Nearly completed. Honestly the draft as is is good enough to call this complete, but I want to be sure.
10. Own a plane, sailboat, taught or ultralight and learn to pilot/sail it.
11. Write seven novels.
**4 of 7 done.
13. Go on a cruise.
**2012.
14. Organize a convention on SOMETHING.
16. Build a house (not necessarily my own.)
17. Own my own home (all own, no mortgage)
18. Have a room with a secret passage
23. Be in a flash mob dance number.
26. Live the fifth life (who knows what that is)
**Have some ideas on this.
27. Ditto the sixth.
28. Ditto the seventh.
47. Finish 7 films. (3 out of 7 completed).
**Reshoot of Dueling Morons does not count as another completed film.
If the right door opens....(ie interesting goals that either depend on another person or a significant amount of wealth that may never happen but that I want to write down)
29. Marry the Right Person.
30. Establish a business empire dedicated to a not for profit foundation.
31. Visit (but do not live in) Space.
32. Buy my own island.
35. Create a functional and profitable news network that actually produces what is independent.
36. Create an institution to focus on pure research.
38. "" Neurological regeneration.
39. Paid Angel agents to quietly and anonymously do good.
40. Create a series of libraries (10) dedicate to principles original to libraries. Secular sanctuaries and temples to knowledge.
43. Breed dogs to live twice as long
**Strangely some people are surprisingly responsive to this. This might move to more realistic within 3-4 years when/if I own a house.
44. Create 3 patents.
45. Own and that is entirely self sufficient w. energy, food and other items.
46. Become a Father.
Goals for 2011.
Social
Make One Person As Happy As Possible (Besides Myself)
**Grade: A+ (And that's all I'll say about that....)
Visit with the Family at least once (likely to be the Family Reunion)
**Grade: A+ (Because I'm doing it twice....)
Spend Quality Time with Friends at least Twice a Month
**Grade: A+ (Excellent friends and spending plenty of time with them. Getting out of the house more than ever.)
Do a Good Turn Monthly
**Grade: A (Room for improvement here.)
Initiate Social Activities at least once a Quarter (Group Dates do not count for this)
**Grade: A (Attendance could be better for this...would be better if I had a house but its slowly progressing. Still technically fulfilled)
Career (New but Needed Category) (AKA "The 4th Life")
Gain a Stable Permanent Job I Like To Do That Pays Well
**Grade: C (A for Effort, F for results....since I'll be in the contract until the end of the year, BUT for a contract it looks to be quite fun)
Set up a consulting business for side Project Management Work
**Grade: Incomplete. Year's still out on this one but I hope to start this month or next month on it.
Continue Project Chrysalis with Mythic Imagination Institute
**Grade: B+ (I am no longer in charge of Project Chrysalis but I am doing Project Peabody for them and its going gangbusters)
Take the PRP in June 2011
**Grade: C (There is still hope of turning this into an A. There is a guy in my new contract who will help a lot with this but it turns out volunteer experience does NOT count towards getting your PMP...)
3rd Life
My Project: Project Dance Of Joy (Film)
**Grade: A+ (Re: As cover for party.....heheheheheh...I love it when a plan comes together.)
**Grade: F (The actual film went over like a lead balloon but I'm doing another later this year...)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Pi Project Management and Writing
**Grade: B (Went well mostly but then having half the actors diss me and go off the rails makes this a Not A....of course learning that Poison was sabotaging everything didn't help....)
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel 4.0 Project Management and Writing
**Grade: Incomplete. Factors external to my control determined this.
Affiliated Projects: Sentinel Podcast
**Grade: Incomplete. Factors external to my control determined this.
Learn To Edit
**Grade: B (My computer died but I have it back now)
Finish Editing Dueling Morons
**Grade: B- (I had a nearly working copy but lost it. Now I have a chance to turn this into an A by the end of the year)
2nd Life
Write 75000 words
**1/2 done. Grade: A (including certain game related writing.)
*Increasing this goal to 180000 words before the end of the year. I can write a lot more than this and should.
Decide if I like the 5th novel by the 15th of Jan. If not start another by Feb 1. If not then 5 Short Stories + 1 Feature Length Film
**Grade: A
*3 Short stories written, no feature film written but that can be rectified by the end of the year.
Finish the Graphic Novel (Est 5000 more words)
**Grade: A+ Finished. Working on draft.
Affiliated Project: Maintain at least 90% post rate on Nerdgasm
**Grade: B. I quit half way through due to time issues but completed whilst I was doing it.
Help at least 3 people with their writing, either to start or to help them edit.
**Grade: B+. I made an excellent effort but cooperation was required on this one and I rarely got it. People lead busy lives.
1rst Life - Retired.
Publish T7 Project (Now mostly done.)
**Grade: C- (A+++ for effort, F for results. Not QUITE dead yet but this may well be a failure by the end of the year)
Physical
Get at least 3 more belts in Karate
**2 belts achieved. On track for third.
Decide then: Either 2 (5 total) belts in Karate OR Start a New Martial Arts OR Start Yoga
**Grade: Not yet relevant.
Continue Weight Training OR Start Cross Training OR Start Free Weights
**Grade: B. Free weights. I'm averaging 1.5 times a week. Room for improvement.
Cardio 2 additional times per week
**Grade: B. Hiking once a week plus walking. Room for improvement.
Mental
Read 12 Non Fiction Books
**Grade: B- (Time to improve but only 4 read so far. Behind.)
Read 12 Non Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction (at least 2 of which should be classics)
**Grade: B- (3 read so far. No classics.)
Read 12 Sci Fi/Fantasy Fiction
**Grade: A (And with the Hugo package easily done.)
Do Something to improve my creativity (?????)
**Grade: A
Learn a New Skill
**Grade: N/A (hope to pick up in August)
Spiritual
Read at least one major religious text of a religion that is not my own that I have not read before.
**Grade: B (Not major but spiritual. Hope to complete by the end of the year.)
Meditate/Pray at least 3 times a week
**Grade: A
Emotional
Be More Generous
**Grade: A
Be More Kind
**Grade: A
Stop Talking about Dark Things
**Grade: B+
Withdraw From Politics as Much as Reasonably Possible
**Grade: B
Incidental
*Go to Gencon OR San Diego Comicon OR World Con OR Dragon Con
**Grade: A+ (2 out of 3 is excellent here.)
*Go on at least 6 'weekend' trips, ideally at least one per month.
**Grade: A+ (3 done so far.)
*Go to NYC for at least 3 days (will count as one of the above trips)
**Grade: F (Not done so far....still time but looking less likely....)
*Make CONCRETE plans to go to France in 2012 (or 2011 if realistically possible)
**Grade: C (Time to finish but looking less likely....but due to factors not of my own making)
*Spend at least 20 hours at the range improving either pistol OR rifle OR shot gun skills.
**Grade: F. Haven't been to the range at all.
*Obtain the Following: A decent couch, a gaming console of some kind (likely a Wii), 10 DVD's for my permanent collection, a piece of original art and something to advance one of my other goals in a meaningful way.
**Grade: A (Just need 5 more DVD's to complete this...)
*Do at least one major good deed entirely anonymously. (Besides acknowledging completion of the goal in the assessment)
**Grade: C
*Finish the Graphic Novel script and work with Liz to edit as needed.
**Grade: A
*Finish the 4th Novel with Ken and help him market it as needed.
**Grade: A- (not finished with the final edit, but I've finished all my received chapters and we're marketing it...)
Life Goals - "At some point"
1. See the Louvre.
**Keep. Slated 2011-2013.
2. Travel around the world on a way way trip. Japan, Australia, India, Egypt, London, Italy and Hawaii.
** Goal to see all by 2017.
3. Learn a martial art.
**Partially done. 3 more belts will qualify as 'done.' 2011.
4. Competitively enter a fencing competition.
**Slated 2012.
5. Assemble a band for a tour based on music written by me.
6. Start a succesful business.
"Start" in 2011-2012. "Success" is determined in this case by an operating profit of 400% invested capital or $10000. 2011-2015. Otherwise 'failure' and goal removed from dock.
7. Learn a musical instrument.
8. Sculpt something memorable.
9. Create or help create a graphic novel.
**Nearly completed. Honestly the draft as is is good enough to call this complete, but I want to be sure.
10. Own a plane, sailboat, taught or ultralight and learn to pilot/sail it.
11. Write seven novels.
**4 of 7 done.
13. Go on a cruise.
**2012.
14. Organize a convention on SOMETHING.
16. Build a house (not necessarily my own.)
17. Own my own home (all own, no mortgage)
18. Have a room with a secret passage
23. Be in a flash mob dance number.
26. Live the fifth life (who knows what that is)
**Have some ideas on this.
27. Ditto the sixth.
28. Ditto the seventh.
47. Finish 7 films. (3 out of 7 completed).
**Reshoot of Dueling Morons does not count as another completed film.
If the right door opens....(ie interesting goals that either depend on another person or a significant amount of wealth that may never happen but that I want to write down)
29. Marry the Right Person.
30. Establish a business empire dedicated to a not for profit foundation.
31. Visit (but do not live in) Space.
32. Buy my own island.
35. Create a functional and profitable news network that actually produces what is independent.
36. Create an institution to focus on pure research.
38. "" Neurological regeneration.
39. Paid Angel agents to quietly and anonymously do good.
40. Create a series of libraries (10) dedicate to principles original to libraries. Secular sanctuaries and temples to knowledge.
43. Breed dogs to live twice as long
**Strangely some people are surprisingly responsive to this. This might move to more realistic within 3-4 years when/if I own a house.
44. Create 3 patents.
45. Own and that is entirely self sufficient w. energy, food and other items.
46. Become a Father.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Employment and other situations
I have a job. It is a 6-9 month technical writing contract with the Weather Channel. I start on the 5th of July. The interview went well but I had to do a 'homework' assignment, which was kind of a pain because it took six hours to do, but I had do do it that way because I did not know how much time the other guy was going to spend on his. It got me the job and at the least is useful for a portfolio piece. Plus if someone else gets a similar idea I can say, "Well I can do that, but before I do, lookit this, I did it in six hours." I had people help me review it and it was very helpful. Having good friends is very helpful indeed.
I am hoping to restart my podcast this Thursday night, we'll see if I'm successful. I am also trying to get as many goals as I can done before my mid year goal assessment. So far I'm doing pretty well with most of them, having really only dropped the seven timelines goal...and I keep considering taking that one up again. Maybe.
For various reasons, including the fact that I'm employed now, I'm trying to get the most out of live, using my car to go to many events and friends. I've been going to weekly game night with Eisen, weekly poker night at Patrick's and I'll be starting a weekly campaign with Russel. I'm still in Karate though I'm a bit behind but can still make my goal of getting a green belt this cycle. I like it a lot but I'll make an assessment at the end of July to keep doing that, go to another Martial art or do Yoga. I do like the people at Atlanta Kick A LOT and they're fun and good teachers.
This weekend I also went to a Midsummer festival, which was quite fun. Met Eisen and Will there at random, which was more fun. I got a few extra articles for a leather armorish thing I bought at Dragoncon. Its currently my facebook picture and it looks awesome. Though speaking of Dragoncon, now that I'm staying in Atlanta, I need to see if I can get a ticket. Weird things are going on on the website, but I will call them tomorrow and find out what's up. $120....wow. Should have bought my tickets on the cheap last year at the end of the con. I'm looking forward to World Con in August even though because I'm starting a new job it is limiting the days I can ask for off to be with Dad and Brett as they visit Houston. But I should at least be able to visit there for a weekend. That, and the world con tickets were purchased months ago and are non refundable :/
Last weekend, I took Skip to Father's day dinner at the Raging Burrito. It went well. Also went on a day hike with Russell, Amelia, Alex, Claire, Sean and Will and it was 2.5 miles either way. Trying to go on Russell's weekly hikes more. Karate keeps me in shape but I need to do more cardio and more weigh lifting. I'm still hopeful to make my goal of weighing 250 by the end of the summer.
Writing is going well. Writing my first non sci fi short story (not written in HS) and its turning out quite well. I still need to write the novel summary for Novel 4 (a decent one that is.)
I am hoping to restart my podcast this Thursday night, we'll see if I'm successful. I am also trying to get as many goals as I can done before my mid year goal assessment. So far I'm doing pretty well with most of them, having really only dropped the seven timelines goal...and I keep considering taking that one up again. Maybe.
For various reasons, including the fact that I'm employed now, I'm trying to get the most out of live, using my car to go to many events and friends. I've been going to weekly game night with Eisen, weekly poker night at Patrick's and I'll be starting a weekly campaign with Russel. I'm still in Karate though I'm a bit behind but can still make my goal of getting a green belt this cycle. I like it a lot but I'll make an assessment at the end of July to keep doing that, go to another Martial art or do Yoga. I do like the people at Atlanta Kick A LOT and they're fun and good teachers.
This weekend I also went to a Midsummer festival, which was quite fun. Met Eisen and Will there at random, which was more fun. I got a few extra articles for a leather armorish thing I bought at Dragoncon. Its currently my facebook picture and it looks awesome. Though speaking of Dragoncon, now that I'm staying in Atlanta, I need to see if I can get a ticket. Weird things are going on on the website, but I will call them tomorrow and find out what's up. $120....wow. Should have bought my tickets on the cheap last year at the end of the con. I'm looking forward to World Con in August even though because I'm starting a new job it is limiting the days I can ask for off to be with Dad and Brett as they visit Houston. But I should at least be able to visit there for a weekend. That, and the world con tickets were purchased months ago and are non refundable :/
Last weekend, I took Skip to Father's day dinner at the Raging Burrito. It went well. Also went on a day hike with Russell, Amelia, Alex, Claire, Sean and Will and it was 2.5 miles either way. Trying to go on Russell's weekly hikes more. Karate keeps me in shape but I need to do more cardio and more weigh lifting. I'm still hopeful to make my goal of weighing 250 by the end of the summer.
Writing is going well. Writing my first non sci fi short story (not written in HS) and its turning out quite well. I still need to write the novel summary for Novel 4 (a decent one that is.)
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Best Summer Ever. The Worst Summer Ever.
So for me I think my 'best summer ever' was probably the summer of 96 which actually kind of started horrible and had some horrible things happen in it but was still awesome. I was desperate to get a job that paid more than minimum wage, so I signed up with some room mates to sell crazy pest control contracts in San Francisco...only I didn't pass the 'sales personality' test, BUT the owner's cousin was one of my room mates (Gosh those guys were fun and cool, miss em...at any rate...) so they gave me a job as a technician with the caveat that I drive a truck. OK. I'd driven...like....5 years ago when I was 16 and took that class in High school....
Oh wait? Trucks a Clutch?
So I spend a month and a half driving around San Fran with the BROTHER of the owner who is this other cool guy, killing bugs, learning to drive a clutch, listening to radio disney between gigs, running crazy 14 hour days and having a blast.
First day out on my own I crash the truck (though in my defense it was old and the brakes suck....)....
Job over.
I came to Houston in utter shame and defeat, expecting to find another min wage job. Even Hilo auto parts wasn't hiring... (my boss there was cool even if the pay was not good).
Then Mom and Skip invited me to live with them for the summer and see if I could get a job.
You know...during the Olympics? Being a security guard for NBC Sports during the Olympics was awesome. :) In retrospect I should have used my ability to see more events like everyone else, but...oh well.
I also worked for a brief stint at Coca Cola which was also neat because I learned about working in an office, and the importance of branding.
So while I had less money than I'd hoped to earn, I got to do a LOT of cool things.
Is it possible to top that summer?
Dunno.
My deal with myself (I do things like that, the price of living too much in your own head) was that if the last two days went well this would be a positive blog, and if it went negatively, it would be a negative blog.
Its...complicated instead.
The job search is....well to put it bluntly I'll say 'not well', but 'not awful'. Having as many interviews as I've had and STILL no job is a bad sign. It makes me question the wisdom of my project management decision, if for no other reason than I'm stuck between worlds, and had I been at my last job another year I'd be in a much better position....I am tempted to strip all reference to Project Management at ALL from my resume and just search as a tech writer...but then I'm stuck in the same loop/dead end I've been for the last 12 years....
(sigh)
But I'm still getting calls from recruiters, even if most of them are for PM/BA positions that require another 2-3 years of experience than I have, so if somehow I can get more PM work then in 2-3 years I'll be sitting pretty with a solid stable career...
But...then there are other dark clouds on the horizon. I know some of my readers hate it when I'm cryptic, but in this case I have damn good reason to be. And these are pretty darn black clouds...life altering in fact.
But....I can't make the entire blog negative. Not entirely. Went back to Karate for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday. I'm just starting but I enjoy it greatly. People there are fun. Atlanta Kick = Teh Awesome.
Mythic Imagination Institute meeting tonight also went well. I'm glad I've met these people and wish I'd listened to Andrew and Bill earlier when talking about them....but I learn most things the hard way and slowly....at least things that matter.
Tuesday was a kickass day where I got a LOT done including sending out Novel 4 to 5 agents, realized I need to do a much better job with synopsis, realized I only tried to sell Novel 3 to 5 agents (ie not at all) so I should start selling it and Novel 2 all the more.....My failure to write a decent initial synopsis for Novel 4 is in my opinion a GOOD thing because it means I can learn and write good synopsis for Novels 2 AND 3 (even if...honestly they will still be much harder to sell...) (I'm not touching Novel 1 with a ten foot pole...if you want an acid trip induced purely by text, feel free to message me and I'll send a copy.) This shows the advantage of writing with a coauthor (for novel 4). Ken pointed out things I needed to fix in the synopsis.
Also today the sludge of damoclese (name coined by Mom) has been removed meaning people can start cleaning Grandma's house again. Also resolved a water issue Grandma was worried about. (The neighbor is a cool guy.)
All for now. More to come.
Oh wait? Trucks a Clutch?
So I spend a month and a half driving around San Fran with the BROTHER of the owner who is this other cool guy, killing bugs, learning to drive a clutch, listening to radio disney between gigs, running crazy 14 hour days and having a blast.
First day out on my own I crash the truck (though in my defense it was old and the brakes suck....)....
Job over.
I came to Houston in utter shame and defeat, expecting to find another min wage job. Even Hilo auto parts wasn't hiring... (my boss there was cool even if the pay was not good).
Then Mom and Skip invited me to live with them for the summer and see if I could get a job.
You know...during the Olympics? Being a security guard for NBC Sports during the Olympics was awesome. :) In retrospect I should have used my ability to see more events like everyone else, but...oh well.
I also worked for a brief stint at Coca Cola which was also neat because I learned about working in an office, and the importance of branding.
So while I had less money than I'd hoped to earn, I got to do a LOT of cool things.
Is it possible to top that summer?
Dunno.
My deal with myself (I do things like that, the price of living too much in your own head) was that if the last two days went well this would be a positive blog, and if it went negatively, it would be a negative blog.
Its...complicated instead.
The job search is....well to put it bluntly I'll say 'not well', but 'not awful'. Having as many interviews as I've had and STILL no job is a bad sign. It makes me question the wisdom of my project management decision, if for no other reason than I'm stuck between worlds, and had I been at my last job another year I'd be in a much better position....I am tempted to strip all reference to Project Management at ALL from my resume and just search as a tech writer...but then I'm stuck in the same loop/dead end I've been for the last 12 years....
(sigh)
But I'm still getting calls from recruiters, even if most of them are for PM/BA positions that require another 2-3 years of experience than I have, so if somehow I can get more PM work then in 2-3 years I'll be sitting pretty with a solid stable career...
But...then there are other dark clouds on the horizon. I know some of my readers hate it when I'm cryptic, but in this case I have damn good reason to be. And these are pretty darn black clouds...life altering in fact.
But....I can't make the entire blog negative. Not entirely. Went back to Karate for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday. I'm just starting but I enjoy it greatly. People there are fun. Atlanta Kick = Teh Awesome.
Mythic Imagination Institute meeting tonight also went well. I'm glad I've met these people and wish I'd listened to Andrew and Bill earlier when talking about them....but I learn most things the hard way and slowly....at least things that matter.
Tuesday was a kickass day where I got a LOT done including sending out Novel 4 to 5 agents, realized I need to do a much better job with synopsis, realized I only tried to sell Novel 3 to 5 agents (ie not at all) so I should start selling it and Novel 2 all the more.....My failure to write a decent initial synopsis for Novel 4 is in my opinion a GOOD thing because it means I can learn and write good synopsis for Novels 2 AND 3 (even if...honestly they will still be much harder to sell...) (I'm not touching Novel 1 with a ten foot pole...if you want an acid trip induced purely by text, feel free to message me and I'll send a copy.) This shows the advantage of writing with a coauthor (for novel 4). Ken pointed out things I needed to fix in the synopsis.
Also today the sludge of damoclese (name coined by Mom) has been removed meaning people can start cleaning Grandma's house again. Also resolved a water issue Grandma was worried about. (The neighbor is a cool guy.)
All for now. More to come.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Good Times
I don't have a job yet, but last Monday I had about four good leads pop up out of nowhere. Given how sparse the previous two weeks had been this was most welcome news. I had a face to face interview last Friday that seemed to go pretty well (I wasn't hired on the spot but I got the implication that a decision will be made soon) and I have a phone interview tomorrow and a face to face interview on Thursday, as well as two more recruiters that plan on talking to me tomorrow or very soon. I have what I call a 'recruiter' interview tomorrow in the afternoon.
Creatively speaking I've been able to make some progress but hardly a well of outpouring. I'm on the last chapter of the graphic novel, and while I had writer's block on it for a good chunk of last week I've slowly been able to make progress. I've also been working with Ken on the revision of the fourth novel. I've started my first 'non sci fi' story in many years, and its kind of fun but I'm not churning out pages. Last Tuesday was the two month anniversary since I was laid off, but fortunately a nice 'thank you' dinner from Allison (details classified) and a boy's night out at the bar with Russell were a rather welcome distraction.
I saw Thor on Thursday. It was pretty good. I do think it is more enjoyable if you know the comic and some of the things that are supposed to be going on in the background, but I think it would still be enjoyable regardless if you're a huge comic fan. Friday night I got my Advanced Gold belt. My goal is to at least get my green belt, which means next cycle I'll need to decide if I'm going to continue that or start taking Yoga. Both are incredibly beneficial. I'll make a decision soon.
I have been able to reconnect with a friend that I was previously estranged with, and I've made yet more insightful decisions. One of which is, some details and lessons are best kept private. :)
Creatively speaking I've been able to make some progress but hardly a well of outpouring. I'm on the last chapter of the graphic novel, and while I had writer's block on it for a good chunk of last week I've slowly been able to make progress. I've also been working with Ken on the revision of the fourth novel. I've started my first 'non sci fi' story in many years, and its kind of fun but I'm not churning out pages. Last Tuesday was the two month anniversary since I was laid off, but fortunately a nice 'thank you' dinner from Allison (details classified) and a boy's night out at the bar with Russell were a rather welcome distraction.
I saw Thor on Thursday. It was pretty good. I do think it is more enjoyable if you know the comic and some of the things that are supposed to be going on in the background, but I think it would still be enjoyable regardless if you're a huge comic fan. Friday night I got my Advanced Gold belt. My goal is to at least get my green belt, which means next cycle I'll need to decide if I'm going to continue that or start taking Yoga. Both are incredibly beneficial. I'll make a decision soon.
I have been able to reconnect with a friend that I was previously estranged with, and I've made yet more insightful decisions. One of which is, some details and lessons are best kept private. :)
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Viewpoint Matters
So I've been acting deliriously happy for the last six weeks relative to my situation. There are lots of reasons for this and lots of lessons learned but here is the cliff notes version: Unless you are attempting to generate sympathy, moaning about the situation helps nothing, and you'd be wise to save those moments for when you truly need them....kind of like some people are reluctant to take Aspirin in too great a dose....and in truth, there is wisdom in this...I should know, because I took too much last October and the ringing still occasionally flits around my ears. ;)
I think the most valuable lesson I've learned is that our perspective really is subjective. You've heard that before, but its true. Its basically a matter of trying to construct your own reality, your own values and your own perceptions, while at the same time maintaining a grounded understanding of what is true for everyone else. For me in practical terms it means taking delight in the little things around me, making plans about what I might do that are bigger than the sky, and also small enough that I'll be able to do them no matter what my circumstance, and setting goals that I can achieve. I've been doing that for a long long time but I never realized how important it was. Of course I know about the subjective truth of things...but from an objective perspective I'm also working my ass off to find a job. In truth its the hardest job I have or ever do because it never really ends. You can always be doing more, and even more frustrating because most jobs come from a post to a job board that takes about two seconds to update a week by hitting the refresh button, meanwhile the task that I take hours and hours each day performing, sending out resumes, almost always accomplishing nothing....except, of course, giving me something to show for my efforts plus ten percent of recruiter calls actually DO come from placed resumes. Little lessons are learned each time this happens to me. :)
Small victories:
I'm getting my advanced yellow belt next week. (Exercize in dark situations is HUGE!)
I've lost 13 pounds in 6 weeks.
I've managed to shave about 60-70% off of my monthly budget by saving things in little ways....(Thanks Skip for the idea of storing all my public storage space in my closet!)
I've decided that playing role playing games is actually cool.
I have only had a mental break down once in the last two months...(For being unemployed, that's pretty good...trust me :) )
I've written two stories and have ideas for two more. And I'm well on my way toward keeping almost all of my yearly goals.
I've healed a friendship I thought was lost.
I've forgiven what I didn't have to forgive (not related to the above.)
I've been a force for good in at least 5 people's lives.
I've made the world a better place.
I successfully initiated Project Fluffy. (Nope, sorry that part is for me to know :) )
I've run several successful games online and had my favorite mush accept an interdimensional @#$@#$# bus driver...I mean, how awesome is that? :)
I've discovered and watched some rather remarkable movies and television shows and books...and grocked them rather well.
I've invented at least 4 different new ways to improve my job search so that its now more efficient than its ever been....my confidence remains high, such that even the most cynical part of me is forced to grudgingly admit minor possibility that things might somehow work out.
I know where I'm going with my life.
I also have at least two very solid leads on how to get what I most want.
I also have a rather solid and realistic plan to get what I most want after that, even if I don't get Plan A.
Aside from that....life is swell. TTYL.
I think the most valuable lesson I've learned is that our perspective really is subjective. You've heard that before, but its true. Its basically a matter of trying to construct your own reality, your own values and your own perceptions, while at the same time maintaining a grounded understanding of what is true for everyone else. For me in practical terms it means taking delight in the little things around me, making plans about what I might do that are bigger than the sky, and also small enough that I'll be able to do them no matter what my circumstance, and setting goals that I can achieve. I've been doing that for a long long time but I never realized how important it was. Of course I know about the subjective truth of things...but from an objective perspective I'm also working my ass off to find a job. In truth its the hardest job I have or ever do because it never really ends. You can always be doing more, and even more frustrating because most jobs come from a post to a job board that takes about two seconds to update a week by hitting the refresh button, meanwhile the task that I take hours and hours each day performing, sending out resumes, almost always accomplishing nothing....except, of course, giving me something to show for my efforts plus ten percent of recruiter calls actually DO come from placed resumes. Little lessons are learned each time this happens to me. :)
Small victories:
I'm getting my advanced yellow belt next week. (Exercize in dark situations is HUGE!)
I've lost 13 pounds in 6 weeks.
I've managed to shave about 60-70% off of my monthly budget by saving things in little ways....(Thanks Skip for the idea of storing all my public storage space in my closet!)
I've decided that playing role playing games is actually cool.
I have only had a mental break down once in the last two months...(For being unemployed, that's pretty good...trust me :) )
I've written two stories and have ideas for two more. And I'm well on my way toward keeping almost all of my yearly goals.
I've healed a friendship I thought was lost.
I've forgiven what I didn't have to forgive (not related to the above.)
I've been a force for good in at least 5 people's lives.
I've made the world a better place.
I successfully initiated Project Fluffy. (Nope, sorry that part is for me to know :) )
I've run several successful games online and had my favorite mush accept an interdimensional @#$@#$# bus driver...I mean, how awesome is that? :)
I've discovered and watched some rather remarkable movies and television shows and books...and grocked them rather well.
I've invented at least 4 different new ways to improve my job search so that its now more efficient than its ever been....my confidence remains high, such that even the most cynical part of me is forced to grudgingly admit minor possibility that things might somehow work out.
I know where I'm going with my life.
I also have at least two very solid leads on how to get what I most want.
I also have a rather solid and realistic plan to get what I most want after that, even if I don't get Plan A.
Aside from that....life is swell. TTYL.
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