tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90566779999520115562024-03-13T20:40:08.250-07:00My Hovercraft is Full of EelsArt blog of Kelseigh NieforthAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-56473680216997547672014-03-05T12:25:00.001-08:002014-03-05T12:25:27.340-08:00100 Theme Challenge - 1: Introduction<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
Welcome to my new writing venture, the <a data-mce-href="http://kathrineroid.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/100-themes-challenge-writing-prompts/" href="http://kathrineroid.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/100-themes-challenge-writing-prompts/" style="color: #444444;" target="_blank" title="100 Theme Challenge (writing version)">100 Theme Challenge</a>. This was originally a drawing prompt that appeared on deviantART but it's taken on a bit of a life of its own, especially since it can be applied to pretty much any creative work. In my case, obviously it's writing.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
Part of the reason I'm doing this is to continue building daily writing as a habit, but unlike the course I was doing that's not the only reason. I also need more experience in dealing with characters rather than plots, since I really need to make my characters stand out more as people. So I'm combining the 100 Themes with Tracy Culleton's <a data-mce-href="http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/list-of-character-traits.html" href="http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/list-of-character-traits.html" style="color: #444444;" target="_blank" title="List of Character Traits">List of Character Traits </a>and giving each character in the scene three random traits that I need to show through their interactions.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
Don't expect any of this to be great literature or anything, it's mostly going to be 1000 word or so drabbles. I think of it as something like a sketchbook, where I doodle around with ideas and see what comes up. Maybe eventually I'll pop out some decent ideas that are worth putting in longer stories, who knows? Even if I don't, it's worth the effort.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Stop!"</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-413ca290-93ea-4e5c-0365-8204b260769f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kella froze, not daring to take another step through the dense underbrush. Long habit of following orders had ingrained in her so deeply that despite not knowing where the voice came from or who it was, her body automatically complied. Not that stopping was a bad idea anyhow, given that she was dripping with sweat at the unaccustomed hike.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She looked around, the action knocking a few small items loose from her lumpy backpack. She swore a bit inwardly, momentarily distracted from the mystery of the commanding voice and begin to pick up the various random objects and stuff them haphazardly back into the pack. It had been like this the whole way, which made the trip even more wearing than it might otherwise be and she wondered how proper travellers managed.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As it happened, this pause turned out to be a good thing as when she knelt and turned to pick up her ladle for what seemed like the hundredth time, she spied what could only be the source of the voice. A small, slight figure clad in shades of brown and green that at first glance blended perfectly into the scrub around them. </span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The creature, which she supposed was a gnome or something, although she always pictured gnomes being a bit more stocky, looked up at her with more than a bit of annoyance.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Do you mind not blundering about my woods like a blind moose? You almost stepped on me!" She said with a sense of authority that, despite her small stature of only a couple of feet at most, stiffened Kella's spine and brought a immediate response of "Sorry!" to her lips.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing this, the brownie or fairy or whatever it was seemed to relax a bit, her fists relaxing and resting on her well-loaded tool belt with what appeared to be a habitual gesture. She didn't quite smile, but at least she didn't look so angry now.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"All right then," she said after a moment, "apology accepted. But what in the name of Giselda's Tears are you doing blundering around the wood like that? You're obviously no woodsman or tracker."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kella let herself fall into a graceless sit, more collapse than deliberate movement. The relief at seeing a friendly, or at least not hostile, face and the exertion of travel combined to rob her limbs of any pretense of holding up her body, let alone her pack. A few more stray items went bouncing off in various directions, but she'd have to deal with that later.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a few breaths, which the small woman seemed patient enough time for, she managed to speak. "My name is Kella, and I'm on...well, it sounds a bit pretentious but I'm on a quest. I need to get an item that my lady Marguerite has requested, and she insisted I be the one to get it although Kaleth knows why."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You do seem a bit unsuited to the task, for sure. Have you ever even been on a trek like this before?"</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Heavens, no! I'm a scholar, the furthest I usually stray from the library back in Dunhelm is down to the pub for a couple of pints at the end of the week." She sighed. "I'm not really cut out for this adventuring business."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I should say not," the woman replied, casting an eye at Kella's pack, which looked all the world like she's just stuffed whatever came to hand into it ten minutes before she set out. "Is there any way you could just turn around and head back? No shame in defeat and all that."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kella looked shocked. "No, I couldn't possibly! I can't disappoint Lady Marguerite, I simply can't!" She shook her head a bit. "Not that she's forcing me or anything, but I just can't bear the thought of letting her down. Not once she's placed her trust in me." She let her shoulder sag a bit. "Not that I deserve that trust or anything. I'm just a worthless scholar who can't even keep her library in order, how do I have any hopes in living up to my Lady's wishes?"</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The smaller woman looked thoughtful, then pulled a nearby branch closer and sat on it to have herself a good think. "Well," she said after a bit, "it does seem a bit hopeless if your skills are all we have to rely on. But did your Lady say you had to do this all by your lonesome?"</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Well no," Kella replied, "but who else is there? I'm the only one in the town she approached about...." She trailed off, catching the rather arch expression on her companion's face. "You don't mean?"</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The little woman grinned, an expression that suited her a lot more than scowling to be sure. "Too right!" she exclaimed, standing up and marching towards Kella. "You and I can be partners in this little expedition. I've got a few skills of my own that would make your life a bit easier and besides, I've lived in these woods all me life and I know the lay of the land a lot better than you ever will. Save you a lot of wrong turns for sure."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kella didn't know what to say. That she would find a friendly soul this far out was unlikely enough, but to find a companion willing to help was something she hadn't even considered. "But...but why put yourself out like that? I mean, I don't even know your name."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The woman looked a bit surprised at this, then laughed heartily. "I can't believe I didn't even tell you that, my girl. Well you're talking to Bran-Til Jii, and I'm proud to be the greatest tinkerer in these whole wide woods. But you can call me Bran, as we're going to be good companions from here forward."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bran offered a tiny hand to Kella, who took it in return, noting she had quite the grip for such a small person. "Pleased to meet you Bran. I'm grateful for your help."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bran waved her off. "Think nothing of it, my girl. Don't think I'm not getting anything out of the deal myself. I get the feeling if I stick with you, I'll have the chance to work out solutions to a lot of problems you can't, and vice versa. And there's nothing I like more than building a way to crack even the toughest nut. So I'll leave the brain bits to you and your book learning, while you leave the physical to me. Deal?"</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kella smile for what seemed like the first time in ages. "Deal."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Now let’s start with that backpack of yours, I just thought of a fantastic way to put your stuff in order without any effort on your part…”</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1131 words</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-80000906894818557002014-02-22T11:40:00.002-08:002014-02-22T11:41:06.099-08:00Walls and Character<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've gotten to the point in building a habit where I'm resisting the daily prompt to keep going, and beginning to look for excuses. It's the weekend, I'm tired, I have no inspiration, etc. This is the inevitable monster I must slay, to use a horribly overused metaphor that I frankly hate but is appropriate in this case.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-5541f914-5b1c-8e9d-9491-24b96e56db4c" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But onwards, the best way to be inspired to write is to actually write stuff. I originally wrote "crap" there because I expect that's how it'll turn out, but I don't exactly go into it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">intending</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it to be crap. "Adequate" would be quite nice at this stage, although the course prompt today tells me not to just settle. We'll see how that goes.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I've started the next step in developing as a writer, and recognizing that I don't have to re-invent the wheel. I went through this with drawing as well, where I had to admit that I actually needed instruction in the craft of drawing (I still do, a lot of it) rather than discover it bit by bit on my own. Self-reliance is a good thing of course, but in this case it can be a frustrating and unproductive road to go down. And so, reading about writing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's a lot of stuff out there, I find very quickly, about how to write and how to improve your writing. That's a good thing, but a bit on the overwhelming side. As a novice in this whole writing-as-craft business, I really don't have the knowledge or experience to tell what the good material is from the bad. Or rather, the good from the bland as I expect a lot of it's not terrible advice or anything, just not something particularly useful in building myself as a creator. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, I'm asking for advice from the readers, although from the degree of feedback I've had thus far there are only one or two people out there at this point so I don't expect a crowd of responses. Hell, I've been at this daily writing thing for what, three weeks almost? I haven't had a single response in all that time although I've had a couple of Likes on Tumblr. Good thing I'm taking a longer view on this whole mess.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyroad, I'll get that figured out one way or another in other venues. For now I'll stick to websites and such that at least give a bare-bones idea of what I'm in for.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apparently, according to what I've read so far, the thing I should be concentrating most on is character rather than plot. Which makes sense. Plot is what happens, but the reader isn't going to identify with that. The reader needs characters, and looking at the books I've read over the past couple of years the ones I've thought were the best were the ones that focused on character first, and played what they did as a natural result of who they were, rather than being agents to accomplish the plot. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is something I've honestly been lax on in the past. I've mainly just tossed in ill-defined characters who were all pretty much me in some way, or at least some part of me. And that's a terrible way to build characters that anyone would want to read. For a start, they're pretty much all the same. But more importantly, none of them have any special highs or lows to them. When I'm writing, and it's pretty clear looking back, none of it has been done with any special focus on creating someone with strong dramatic features but rather to accomplish the purpose of moving the plot along. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This, obviously, is something that needs to change. For a start, I'm going to have to start studying the concept of character a lot more than I have in the past if I want to get serious about this stuff. And more immediately, I have to start putting into practice what I learn along the way. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For some reason, I've always resisted using those "50 questions to ask your character" or "how does your character react to this set of prompts" memes that pop up now and again. Looking back, I know that it's because I was for some reason hesitant to really pin down who my characters were. It takes a lot of focus and energy to create anything with real depth, whether that's a character or a whole world. Getting into the bones of a creation can be difficult and certainly it's a lot harder than just coming up with a story prompt and running with it. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So over the next few weeks, I'll probably be doing that more and more outside of my regular blog posts which I intend to keep up until the habit-developing course is done with. That's only another 11 days, which isn't much when you look at the larger picture. Following that, my plan is to start going through the 100 Theme Challenge I mentioned a while back, which will be a good opportunity to start putting more fiction snippets and character sketched into this space which will be excellent practice. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My plan right now is to start "sketching" out of the public eye first and build a bit of confidence before starting to inflict all that on your poor eyes. By then, I should have a fairly good idea of what I'm doing at least in the broad sense, so will be willing to get more public with it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That said, the main goal now is to actually start.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 1/2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">936 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-20201966126827047362014-02-21T12:19:00.003-08:002014-02-21T12:19:45.931-08:00Shall We Play A Game?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's one of those really blah days out there, the kind where it's raining all the time and generally bleak and you really can't get up the energy to do much of anything. Not that I haven't done a few things. My daily exercises, my daily drawing practice (one page of Bridgeman every day - why did that bastard put the stuff about hands at the FRONT?), unloaded the dishwasher/cleaned out the sink, started supper (BBQ ribs, thanks for asking) and did my daily meditation. But I can't seem to focus enough to really get writing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-55b5ef30-5619-b557-557d-0549666f853e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides which, I haven't been able to think of a topic for today, so let's go with what video games I'm playing right now.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm one of those people who have a bunch of games they play at the same time, and randomly switch back and forth depending on the day. I'm like that with books too. I remember times when I'd have four or five books on the go at the same time. Got 'em all read, too! And in case you're wondering I have two on the go right now, not counting some recent forays into writing-related websites. But more on that stuff later, here's what I'm into.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was a little late to the party on this one, it was almost a year after this sprawling epic made it into my hands. Not that its popularity seems to have diminished much by that point, and even by now what with the DLC and Steam Workshop stuff that goes with it. I get the impression that Bethesda's gonna be riding the wave of this one for a couple more years before they even have to start thinking about the next Elder Scrolls game.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim is an ADD paradise though. There's just so damn much to do! Plus, it's a pretty big land to explore, with all sorts of weird little hidden things all over. That's sort of my trouble with it, really. I keep being presented with quest lines, and I keep being distracted by all the nifty shit I can do on the way. How can I focus on stopping whatever the hell the dragons are up to when I've got about 500 things sitting in my log waiting to be taken care of?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I love it all the same. I love the fact that you start by spending an hour customizing your face when you'll never see it again. I love how the world's doom is happy to wait until I take care of checking out this mine full of bandits. I love how there are horses and carriages all over the place, but somehow I never bother taking one. I love how it's a five minute walk from town to the local bandit's den or cavern full of zombies. I love how Lydia will blithely wander into a trap, without really noticing that she's on fire or something. It's pure, goofy fantasy fun and I just eat that stuff up.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kentucky Route Zero</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What can I say about this game. No really, what words can I use that'll actually describe it and make sense at the same time? I mean, I can get all effusive with the adjectives, talking about how brilliant and wonderful and engaging and mysterious it is, but that really doesn't say much in the end.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In terms of simple description, it's an old-fashioned point and click adventure game that concerns a delivery guy who used to be a carpenter trying to get some antiques to the other side of the county despite the highway being closed. His alternate route, accompanied by an old dog and a woman who fixes televisions, takes him a fair distance away from reality as we know it. And that's just the beginning. To describe the wonderful strangeness that the little group encounters, and largely take in stride so far, is to ruin some of the best parts of the game, so all I can do is encourage people pick it up on Steam or Humble or someplace. It's all over.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far only 2 of the 5 chapters have been released, and the first is merely the lead-in to the brilliance that's ahead. So this is really the best time to get into it since chapter 2 is so amazing that it'll have you anticipating what's to come, but you still have enough content to sate your need for more story for a bit. Plus, it's pretty cheap so that's a thing.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An fun combination of RPG and tower defense, Defender's Quest is a nice and casual diversion for the strategy-minded. The basic setup is you play a librarian who is dying from plague and dumped into the penal colony, the Valley in question, to die. However what happens is instead of turning into an untouchable revenant like most of the others, she gains the ability to phase into another realm where the monsters are vulnerable. Problem is, she's immobile when she does so, and must defend herself against waves of the undead by summoning other survivors to help her. This is all pretty standard although quite fun, but the real grab of the game is the dialogue in between, and the story which the developers brag was written by an actual English major! The entirely too gung-ho barbarian, the cynical archer, the zealot ice mage and the honour-bound knight who doesn't know what to make of any of these idiots are major highlights.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Divine Divinity/Divinity II</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I picked the second of these games up through a Humble Bundle and while most of the other games were a bit forgettable, the chance to play a character that could transform into a dragon was too good to pass up. And to be honest, it's pretty fun overall. The graphics are nice, the gameplay is smooth and the aforementioned dragon transform and accompanying perks (private blacksmith, alchemist, necromancer, etc.) are fun to play around with. Trouble is, the enemies don't necessarily scale evenly, with some areas being pretty tough and some being just the opposite.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, I decided to look at the original game it was based on given it's got really good reviews on MetaCritic and other sites. It's kind of like a fantasy version of the original Fallout, in terms of gameplay. Isometric design, real-time combat and such. Not really much to talk about there, although the combat can be pretty tough at times. It's easy to suddenly be overwhelmed and end up dead, so it's one of those games where it pays to save frequently. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dust: An Elysian Tail</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furries with swords, what's not to like? I've always been into anthro stuff to one degree or another, and I was kinda craving something that was a straight-up action game so when this came up in a Humble Bundle I figured why not. Turns out after a couple of days playing that was a good choice. This game is seriously fun. Fairly simple combat mechanics allow for ridiculous combos even for a gamer like me who generally doesn't play a lot of beat 'em ups, and the action is fast-paced enough so you don't have to go far to find stuff to whack. Story's good so far although I'm barely into it and the voice acting and writing are both pretty good. I'm especially surprised that Fidget, the obligatory smart-mouthed sidekick character, actually turned out to be appealing. Usually I hate characters like that with a passion, and it's super easy to get them wrong. Even the name is a bit cliche for characters like that. But...that's not the case here. Weirdly enough I got past my initial resistance by the end of the first dialogue with her, and I've been fine with it ever since.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One other aspect worth noting is the background art is really worth looking at. I imagine that the player, being focused on battles, doesn't really get the fully effect. But anyone watching will certainly get a show. Maybe a little bonus for the folks watching via LP?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suikoden V</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I never could afford much in games when the PS2 was a going concern, so I missed out on pretty much all of the Suikoden series. Fortunately, it's easy to find that stuff now, doubly so since there are finally good PS2 emulators out there. It's pretty much what you'd expect from a Suikoden game: fun characters, huge tragedy, fate of the world in the balance, the need to collect 108 companions. But as with all the other games in the series it's the execution that counts and so far I'm enjoying it. Don't plan on doing this without a guide though, I ain't crazy. Or willing to play through about 20 times to figure it out on my own, same difference.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's all the main stuff I'm juggling right now, although I still have a bunch of games I've started and still need to finish like several Assassin's Creed games, Guacamelee and Bioshock 2. Maybe eventually.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1524 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-11425765510573682532014-02-20T09:52:00.000-08:002014-02-20T09:52:16.319-08:00Worldbuilding Thursdays: Land Beast III<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's Thursday again, so that means it's worldbuilding time. I seem to have this weird blind spot about remembering to do this on Wednesdays for some reason, so why not move it. What I lose in cute, alliterative names I gain in actually getting the damn thing written on a consistent basis, and given that my big focus is "write every day" right now, that'll do nicely.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-7c7361f9-506b-c7c2-ff55-12ee099f3f0f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Onwards!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So where we left off last week, I'd decided that adding Gods to the mix was a good idea, since I've been interested in myth and folklore lately, and I like those elements as part of the stories I read. Makes sense I would want to incorporate them into the world of the Land Beast.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But of course brings up the question of what the hell do I mean when I talk about Gods? So let's explore that a bit and make a few decisions.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the nice things about the time we live in is we have access to a huge amount of folklore and religion from around the world, and back through history as well. We have more insight into the fantasies people have created to teach lessons, structure their lives and simplify the world around us than ever before, giving us a chance to learn, contrast, compare, and in the case of fiction writers like myself, to mix and match elements from all over. And there's a lot to choose from.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Personally, I read a lot of manga. I doubt anyone who reads my stuff would need to know what that means, but I do feel the need to explain one aspect since it's relevant to our project here. That is, manga tends to be very Japanese in character, in that it draws heavily from Japanese folklore. Not just a distant folklore, but a very present one that almost everyone in the country is familiar with. If you talk about oni, or tengu, or tanuki, any Japanese even those who have lived in cities for generations, will know what you're talking about. It's a highly rich folklore that goes back to a very rural existence, and arose from both the animistic Shinto which gives us mountain gods, various animal spirits like the foxes, and so forth, and Buddhism, which brought moral-teaching stories like the tengu who delight in tricking monks who were too egotistical, or the oni who were basically embodiments of rage which one became after death due to strong grudges. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, this folklore provides a very rich basis for storytelling, and you can apply any of these well-known creatures, gods and heroes in almost any way you like. Anything from comedy to drama to horror and even to porn, it's all fair game. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's that sort of richness I'd love to extend to my own writing, although I'm obviously not there yet in terms of skill. It's the moon I've chosen to shoot for, in a way. Not that I want to write pseudo-Japanese stuff or use their folklore. There are too many drawing from that well to begin with, so I'd like to go a bit of a different direction.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing this back to the Land Beast concept, my own personal inclination is to avoid the heavily-structured pantheons like the Greeks or Romans, or even the fairly well-defined Norse or Hindu concepts, although both of those have lovely collections of heroic myth and folklore that appeal to me. Rather I see the world of the Land Beast being more animistic in nature, like those early Shinto myths or the stories of aboriginal people in what is now North America. Basically speaking, nature stories that get somewhat bigger but remain tied to the land, or in this case the creature on which the people live.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This opens the door to a few fun concepts, a big one of which is the idea that the beasts are Gods in their own right. They're Gods who are intrinsically a part of the world and so are different from most of the European-style Gods, but Gods nonetheless. In the same way that a mountain would be a God in Shinto, the Beast is a God here. It can die, eventually, but on a human standpoint it's nigh-immortal and certainly overwhelming in its scope and power. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This makes me think of something that I mentioned in the last installment, that the Land Beast was created by a God or Gods, but with the above in mind I think rather than being poofed into creation by some all-powerful deity, the Beast itself would be an emergent sort of God, being a property of the planet itself. I can easily envision stories of the Beasts pulling themselves out of the earth, forming themselves from mud and stone in the early days of the world, to begin their neverending trek with smaller worlds on their backs. It's compelling.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another implication I see in taking an animist approach is you get a chance to distance yourself from the good/evil duality that most of us are accustomed to. After all, if you have an all-powerful deity that's positioned as the ultimate good, anything that disagrees with it must be evil. Or in more human terms, whatever is to the community's benefit embodied and/or codified into a God must be good, where anything that threatens it must be evil by definition.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking at folklore brings a somewhat different approach to mind. It's not that things are good or evil, it's that things are beneficial or dangerous, but there's nothing intrinsically wrong with either. An animal doesn't want to hurt you because it hates you for instance (assuming you haven't been torturing it or something). But it may hurt you because it's hungry or frightened. To take an example from Shinto, foxes have a history of imitating humans and tricking them with illusions. But they don't do it out of malice or an evil impulse. They do it because they're hungry and want to trick the humans into giving them food. Similarly tanuki (sort of a raccoon-ish animal) trick humans for the same reason, but also out of simple playfulness. It's not necessarily good for the humans, but it's not malicious either.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see the same idea being applicable here. There's no God vs Devil in the world of the Land Beasts, but there is dangerous vs safe. Being in harmony with the Beast's needs, given that although a God it's also a biological entity, is beneficial to the humans and other creatures who live on it. But by the same token, failing to be vigilant against natural threats such as spores arising from the ground can be fatal. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is around these things that an overall animistic myth system can be created, and since this is a fictional world it's totally fair game to make those myths into reality. Certainly, it's a concept worth dealing with in more detail, especially as we start to get more into the lives of the various creatures who live on the beast. Since these natural and mythic forces are real and active in the lives of the inhabitants, for good or ill (although rarely from sheer malice), stories about the inhabitants would necessarily involve them as active agents.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, I'll deal with that a bit more next week.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1232 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-88799885022099473472014-02-19T12:30:00.000-08:002014-02-19T12:30:22.671-08:00Readiness<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's writing course lesson is to do something I've been doing since the start, using a timer. Given how early on it suggested having a minimum unit of time, it seems a bit redundant to talk about it again more than two weeks later. Which leaves me at a bit of a loose end, given I don't have anything today that really grabs my attention.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-7e4c1352-4bd6-3d9e-5795-f06a3fee9a8b" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's see what I can come up with using a random writing prompt online. "Language Is a Virus", I like it already. Lessee...."Describe ways in which your character does or doesn't show readiness."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For this exercise, I think I'll take a character I've had in my head for some time, Tell from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Air Born</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Briefly, Tell (short for Estelle, which she hates) is a bit of a tomboy obsessed with flying machines and raised by her aunt on a remote farm, itself on one of a cluster of flying islands. Finding that her parents, or at least one of them, is still alive she sets off on a quest to find them, accompanied by her childhood friend. The story gets bigger from there of course, but the point here is the character. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I haven't done a lot of character-building exercises, and honestly I really should. It's better to know who you're dealing with so you can hear their voice as you're creating stories with them, something which always tells me I'm on the right track. So delving into one aspect of who Tell is sounds like a great idea. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we start with figuring out what "readiness" is, and a dictionary definition is good enough. According to Google, it's the state of being prepared or willing to do something, to take an action. Seems simple enough, and indeed seems like something that'll crop up quite a bit since I want </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Air Born </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to be a lot more action oriented than a romance like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artificial Heart</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Tell will often instigate the action, or at least more quick to react than her companions much of the time. By contrast, her childhood friend (who for some reason I decided to call Tank which I now hate, must fix that) is the one who puts the brakes on and provides the voice of what he at least sees as common sense. Certainly the voice of not throwing yourself unarmed into the middle of a battle, an act which if properly motivated Tell wouldn't think twice about.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell of course is much inspired by a series of Miyazaki heroines, although I don't want her limited to that. Yes, she's forthright. She's also driven, the need to see her parent(s) again is a powerful motivation that underlies many of her actions, although she does feel a greater sense of responsibility to do the right thing as well. But internally, except in cases where her internal sense of right shows her a definite path I want her to be a bit more indecisive at least on the inside.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the good question here is, how does it manifest, her resolve to do something or move forward, particularly when confronted with a variety of choices or a moral dilemma? Miyazaki, always my inspiration when dealing with this sort of character, would show that sort of thing visually. A set look of determination, shoulders rising, even hair standing up a bit. But this is prose, and you can't really sell it the same way.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I could, I suppose, describe how it feels for her when the time is right in those terms. The feeling of hair standing up on her arms or back of the neck and so forth. And in tense moments I can see that working. But I only want to be inspired by Miyazaki not copy him. So I need something else.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a main character of a story I'm writing, I want to give Tell something of myself. One aspect I think would work in her case is my habit of waffling, at least internally, over an action and then almost despite myself arbitrarily picking one and going with it. But of course it isn't arbitrary, it's the result of a process that goes on below the surface of conscious thought. In my own way, I think about things and then make a decision, but it's really the decision part I'm aware of and sometimes I have to figure out my own logic later. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's something I can see happening with Tell. Not in the case of split-second decisions of course, those would be sheer instinct or experience. But in cases like "where do we go" or "should we take this course of action or look for an alternative", I can see it. In those cases she would hold herself back, perhaps becoming more passive and quiet during the deliberation process. And then, once she comes to a decision and has decided on an action her demeanor would change.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That change, I suppose, is what the question is getting at in the first place. So here's what I envision.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all would be posture. Tell is on the smallish side, one of the shortest of the main group of characters. This is especially noticeable when she's indecisive or unsure of herself. But when she's made a decision that she believes in, her posture changes to a much stronger stance, almost appearing to be larger as a result. She may even tend to lean forward a little. Her tone of voice would also change, with more confidence behind her words. Slightly louder, more definite choice of words. Instead of "I think we should" she would say "We will". At times like this she is a natural leader, simply expecting that the others will accept her decisions and follow, and as they get to know her that will tend to be a correct assumption.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As to the raising hackles and such, I think I'd leave those as a sign of impatience or growing excitement, rather than resolution. However, a sterner set to her features, a harder gaze, and the aforementioned change in posture would be a better indicator of readiness. Her childhood friend (who still needs a better name than Tank, why did I come up with that nonsense?) would be sued to the whole process, having spent the better part of his life as her tagalong. He'd have seen her go through the thinking, deciding and then readiness stages many times, so he'd be able to recognize it immediately. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the opening scenes of the story would be a great place to showcase this series of changes. Tell is confronted with a crisis, and in the midst of it is given a great shock. She must then process it quickly before choosing a course of action, which the story requires she do decisively. A moment's break in the action to display the shock, processing and then resolution and quick transformation into command mode would let the readers know what to expect from Tell in the future.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I suppose that answers the question. How Tell shows her readiness, and how she shows she isn't quite ready yet, plus a situation where she'll be shown working it out. I would imagine scenes where she isn't presented with a clear direction or where no choice is a really good one. Cases like those would essentially be the opposite, where she'd have a slumped posture, more neutral features and softer voice. A much more subdued character would come forward until she manages to work though those issues. Childhood Friend, being a good guy who cares deeply for her (in a non-romantic fashion) would know that simply supporting Tell and waiting out her thought processes was the correct thing to do when that happens.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a side note, I really have the urge to make the unnamed CF into this super good guy, who'd normally be a love interest but the two of them both know it wouldn't work and they don't push it. The whole bromance thing I suppose, although Tell does get a romantic interest later and CF is Mr. Awesome Wingman. Literally since Tell and the eventual object of her affections are both pilots.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyhow, that's one aspect covered. It makes me kinda hungry to explore other characters that I'm planning to use in various stories. Maybe another day.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1394 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-4175425889427427202014-02-18T13:10:00.002-08:002014-02-18T13:11:23.690-08:00Exercise and Me<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today I'm going to talk about one of the dominant features of my life lately, pain.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-7142f8f8-46d5-09d8-98b9-2d2be7a620b9" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, that's wrong. I'm going to talk about exercise. Pain is just the primary by-product so far.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not that I should be surprised. I'm not exactly a kid any more, physically at least, so I should expect a bit of ongoing maintenance to be necessary to the continued function of the machine my brain rides around in. Which makes me sound kind of like Krang, which is actually kinda cool. Let's run with that.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm one of those people who really likes structured exercises. That is, so many minutes doing one thing, or so many reps, or whatever. Probably one reason for that is one of my earliest forays into exercise was under the guidance of a friend who was a bodybuilder and martial artist. He later dropped the bodybuilding part to focus on the martial arts, but at the time he was very much into weights and such. His early encouragement showed me that such repetetive sorts of exercise were actually pretty enjoyable and effective.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My housemate is just the opposite. She can't wrap her head about stationary, repetitive exercises. Her preferred activities are things like walking, dancing, stair climbing, that sort of thing. It works for her, and I imagine there are approaches to physical activity neither of us could get into. Team sports spring to mind here, or running.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my case, I have a few physical limitations that cut some of those options out regardless of personal taste. First and foremost, I can't really do outside activities due to my extremely fair skin. My heritage runs back to the northwestern parts of Europe mainly, and generally focuses on places where the sun was but a frightening thing that appeared only in tales told in whispers. Ireland, Germany, England, Scotland. Home of the gingers, and I've got the freckles to prove it even if my hair has darkened to more of an auburn these days.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't mind being a ginger, of course. Puts me in good company like Tim Minchin and Tori Amos. But it does carry the great disadvantage of highly sun-sensitive skin. When you have so little melanin that you can see the veins underneath, there's not a lot there to protect you from melanoma. Combine that with the fact that I really can't handle the humid heat of an Ottawa summer very well and the fact that winter activities have never appealed to me either (nor has cold), and that puts me solidly indoors for most of the year. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another thing that turns me off from outdoor activities like running, which underlies the great majority of sports, is a byproduct of my height. That is to say, femoral-patella syndrome. It's not uncommon among the tall and involves the thigh and knee bones being just a little bit too close together, and rubbing against one another as a result. Obviously this isn't good for either, and the forcing of fluid between the two when flexing the knee joint is similar in many ways to cracking your knuckles, if a bit quieter. Certainly nothing that lends itself to the vertical shock of running, whether after a ball or as part of a marathon. By the same token, squats are discouraged whether they're with weights or not.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that's not even mentioning the plantar fasciitis, which I grant mostly just needs shoe inserts to cope with for the most part. That one's minor by comparison, but still a factor in deciding whether to run or not, as is a general lack of endurance.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But indoor exercise, that's actually not bad. I like that stuff a lot, and I've tried a great many.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So why, I ask myself, do I have such trouble sticking with it? It's not because it's unpleasant, although my sore thigh muscles and glutes aren't exactly helping my case at the moment. I understand that's just an early side effect which will ease as I gain strength, although it can be kind of discouraging when it affects my daily activities. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps a quick rundown of the various attempts I've made at regular exercise might help a bit.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The earliest I can think of involved running in high school. High school didn't really go a long way towards encouraging me to love sports, to say the least. Being a rural high school in the 80's, they didn't really have a real understanding or focus on brining people into physical activity who weren't already interested in it. The idea of changing the approach to accommodate such students really hadn't gotten into people's consciousness yet so there was no real effort to pursue anyone except those who were attracted in the easiest fashion. So if you were into basketball or soccer or what have you, those activities were there and ready. But if you had different aptitudes, there was no effort to encourage you to like them.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, one teacher who I liked started up a running club, where we had a personal goal of 100 km. It was all self-reporting so we didn't all go out as a group, which I appreciated. I wasn't exactly the best fit in many groups, so an individual event worked out pretty well. I managed to make my goal too, although I did learn that I liked cycling more than running by quite a lot, and I began to realize that endurance wasn't my strong suit. That was a few years before I found out about the knee/thigh bone issue, although I had begun to notice the soft crackling as I went up stairs.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next attempt was a few years later when my friend, who I'd mentioned earlier, introduced me to bodybuilding. Even then I wasn't interested in bulking up at all, but rather becoming more lean and he totally understood that. Bodybuilding, when you get away from the competitive side, tends to be pretty flexible that way and you can focus in a number of different ways. Not to mention, the university sports centre I was going to had managed to purchase a lot of quality weight equipment from a branch of Gold's Gym that had recently closed down. Gold's was known for top-notch equipment, so it was a bit of a coup from the university's point of view and good timing from mine.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, I ended up compelled to drop out due to financial reasons so that was really the end of that for a while. I tried out a couple of things over the next few years such as tai chi and kyudo (Japanese archery) and while I liked them I ended up in a position where I didn't have access to good instruction or facilities so they faded into the background again. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One thing I did stick with for a while was a book I'd found at one point and still have called The Body Principal. Apparently the actress Victoria Principal was quite into fitness and put together a book that detailed a fitness regimen and a wide assortment of exercises that she vouched for. The exercises were all of the no-equipment variety that you could do at home, and I found that they could be quite challenging. Some of the exercises were quite novel, like lying down and pushing your heels against a wall in order to strengthen the knees or repeatedly tightening the thighs and butt in order to work the lower abdominals.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I never really stuck with that one either for too long, at least as a full workout, but I've kept coming back to it either in full or in part, over the years since then. It might be a bit dated in some ways, seeing as it was published 30 years ago, but overall it still holds up very well.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My most recent foray into exercise was Leslie Sansome's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walk Away the Pounds</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> DVDs, which are basically low-impact aerobics with a walking theme. It's pretty enjoyable and although I was hesitant about buying a workout DVD at first, I really did enjoy it and found it more entertaining than I expected. I do get a bit distracted by some of the banter that seems a little forced, but overall it wasn't bad. I stuck with that for a few months until I found that what with the evenings getting darker and darker with winter coming on, I was having a harder and harder time motivating myself to do it after getting home from work. Eventually I just stopped, although I may pick it up again depending on where my current efforts take me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So to catch up to now, my current efforts are largely organized around the habit forming and productivity tools I've mentioned several times in the past couple of weeks. The first was the wall sit challenge from the International Geek Girls Pen Pal Club. I made it through that for a while, adding 10 seconds every day until I hit a wall at 110 seconds. So I gave up on the challenge and started doing 90 seconds a day on my own. I've kept that up for a week now, and while I won't say it's easy in the least, at least it's possible for me. Hopefully after I've gotten stronger I'll be able to add more time but for now that's my limit.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A day or so after I started that, I started the 30-day beginner plank challenge. That one only increases in time every fourth day, and I've gone 17 days straight so far. I'm up to a 1 minute front plank with 40 seconds on either side. It's tough, but I'm managing. After a few days of doing those, I began to wonder what else I could be doing, some small exercise that I could fit into my daily routine. And since stairs were and continue to be my nemesis, I chose that. Since I didn't know what my limits were there, I decided to try the same approach as I did with wall sits, start with two and add one time up and down the stairs each day until I got to a level that would challenge me. As it turned out, that level was 10 times up and down, not counting incidental runs up and down the stairs during the course of my day. I've been doing that for about a week and a half now, and while still challenging I feel it's helping at least a bit.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last addition came about over the past couple of days, as a result of looking through the Habit RPG challenges. This time it's yoga, namely to complete a Sun Salutation every day. Well, that led me to ask just what a Sun Salutation was, and the answer is that it's a series of poses that are intended to flow one to the next as a sort of warm up. In a lot of ways it reminds me of some things I really like about tai chi, save that it takes up a lot less room. I'd been a bit concerned about that since the living room finally got fully furnished back in December, so I thought why not?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking about it, choosing to start learning bits and pieces of yoga practice really fits in with something that's bothered me ever since I was a teenager, namely not being as flexible as I'd like to be. After some reflection, I've come to realize that flexibility and graceful movement may really be my oldest fitness goals since I've always had pretty tight hamstrings, and being as big as I am (pushing 6'3") I've spent most of my life being self-conscious about my size and consider a lot of my movements to be quite clumsy and broad. So why not address that now?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking back at all that, it seems pretty clear that my repeated failure to stick with exercise comes down in large part to two things: relying on courses or facilities which may become unavailable to me, and simply losing track. i.e., not making exercise a habit.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So it seems that exercise has a lot in common with things like writing and art for me. I'm entirely too prone to chasing after something shiny, biting off more than I can chew, and then allowing myself to forget what I was chasing after before I'm able to really make it a truly regular thing. And like writing and art, I come back to the same solution: external tools that make use of positive motivation and to-do lists. And looking further, I think I need to keep one other element in mind: simplicity. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right now I have four main exercise elements: wall sits, stair climbing, plank pose and Sun Salutation. For someone like me, it's highly tempting to go off half-cocked and start throwing more things on that pile, but that I think is a sure way to turn myself off of the idea. It becomes less a personal challenge and more of a chore to keep doing it, and I know myself well enough by now to realize that will destroy my motivation. So until these four items become habitual, and I've heard it said it takes 66 days on average to build a habit, I don't plan on adding much more. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps another fitness challenge, to keep things fun. But nothing that'll get in the way of daily practice. After all, it's only by doing this stuff long term that I'm going to get anywhere, and I honestly want to get somewhere with it. For my own satisfaction, I really need to work on being fit.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2294 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-29114214566921318502014-02-17T14:58:00.003-08:002014-02-17T14:58:58.998-08:00A Study In Studies<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a bit funny, whenever we see studies mentioned in the media, even small media like blogs, almost 100% of the time those studies are going to be misinterpreted or misrepresented. The problem, usually, is that the writer really doesn't know the field very well and either reads it not very carefully or assumes there is some implication to the study that the author didn't actually write, then runs with that as the point. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-25592ad7-4211-c1e4-b800-9c4eef35a25e" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-25592ad7-4211-c1e4-b800-9c4eef35a25e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Case in point, today's Develop a Writing Habit prompt refers to "The Nun Study", a long-term study of nuns began in 1986 to examine the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. One of the more striking findings of this study went back to essays written by these now elderly nuns when they were in their early 20's, upon entering the order. Taken as a whole, the "linguistic density" of those early essays were found to be a significant predictor of later development of Alzheimer's Type Dementia. That is to say, nuns who wrote essays with little complexity or fluency were much more likely to develop the disease, with roughly 80% of the simplistic writers developing Alzheimers as opposed to only 10% of the linguistically dense.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now reading the writing course prompt, a line is included to suggest that being expressive and articulate was a way to promote brain health, and developing better writing skills would ward off Alzheimer's (and presumably other brain problems) later on down the line. In other words, rather than a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">predictive</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> result of the study, the writer assumes a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prescriptive</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> implication.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not that the study doesn't actually say this.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all, it's possible that there is a deeper mechanism that the linguistic depth of essays written in the nuns' early adulthood is actually a reflection of. Indeed, this seems a very likely implication, but it's also not something that can be assumed. However, the fact that it does seem likely presents a new hypothesis which can then be developed and tested, and so the process of science continues.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What you can't reasonably do, and what reporters and bloggers do all the time, is make an assumption that's not there and run with it as if it were proven. And yet for a variety of reasons, that's what we get. Which, unfortunately, encourages readers to believe the frankly made-up interpretations as if they had the force of science behind them.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be fair to writers of these stories, especially professional reporters, it's really not possible to have in-depth knowledge of everything you're called upon to write about. A science writer might know science in the broad strokes, but can they really be expected to know the details of biology </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> astronomy </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">partical physics </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">climate change modelling </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brain chemistry and and and and and... Of course not. And worse, even when they do have some degree of knowledge, they aren't necessarily the ones writing the headlines with an eye to pageviews, and often they aren't the only ones with their hands on a story as it will then pass through an editing process with people even less likely to be experts.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides which, most bloggers, reporters and other writers who bring these studies up aren't scientists themselves. They're writers. Perhaps writers who are great fans of science, like Slartibardfast, but not actually scientists.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That leaves the responsibility on the reader to be careful about what they read. And honestly, that's not an easy thing since most of those readers aren't scientists either and are generally left relying on the writers, who at least have a little more experience with this stuff, to be telling the truth.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not that all misrepresentations of studies are honest. I haven't even touched on advertising, science denial or a huge portion of the alt-med community. These are dangerous waters indeed. Dangerous profit and ideology oriented waters.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we've already seen, it's tremendously easy to misrepresent a study even with the best of intentions. So what if you don't have the best of intentions? What if winning is more important than being honest? As even a casual observer can tell, that's when things really fall apart.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Climate science is especially vulnerable to misrepresentation on ideological grounds, since it's a very complex field that isn't well understood by the general public. So a cursory examination by a layperson isn't likely to reveal much in the lines of errors, omissions or outright lies so long as it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sounds</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> plausible. And a great deal of it is done with an eye towards sounding very plausible indeed, without actually being true.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One famous trick for instance is to play with time scales. Since there's so much "noise" in the world climate and volatility from year to year, measurements are generally broken up into 30-year blocks in order to be representative, and then those are compared to previous blocks. The denialists, knowing this, tend to break things up into much smaller blocks sometimes as small as two or three years to try to claim a falling trend when it's actually the slight fall-off that follows a peak year that is nevertheless much higher than most of the years prior.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see it elsewhere as well, of course. Men's Rights Activists are fond of twisting around studies to do with rape to make it look as if men are equally, if not more, likely to get raped than women are. And I'm sure most of us have encountered some fool claiming that men are more often the victims of violence than women, while neglecting to mention that the vast majority of perpetrators of men-on-men violence are also men, or that when it comes to domestic violence in particular women are much more at risk.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other ideologies may take other tactics. Creationists, for instance, while clearly anti-science in terms of modern biology (and a number of other sciences such as physics, astronomy, geology, all forensic sciences, etc. but they try not to call attention to that) tend to attack science mostly on a rhetorical basis or come up with sciencey-sounding material of their own such as Intelligent Design rather than necessarily using real surveys and papers. But it does happen, such as the attempts to claim that the fossilized T-Rex soft tissue proved that it was recently deposited. For them, it's better to dress God in a lab coat than to try to pass off a misinterpreted study since most of the time their ideas really aren't that credible to start with and thus the general public isn't as easily fooled.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I mentioned earlier, one place you do see a lot of bogus research, either in terms of misrepresented studies or highly biased studies that are passed off without mentioning the bias, is alternative medicine. It's not that easy to sway the general public away from things they know work, such as a bottle of ibuprofin, in order to try something somewhat less credible, such as homeopathic remedies. Especially when it's easy to go do some research and find out that it's nothing but magic water with no active ingredients. This is a bit different from MRAs or Creationists in that while ideology plays a role, profit motive plays a much bigger role. And a lot of people are willing to go to great lengths in order to sell a $40 bottle of distilled water. They just need to convince people that it's actually medicine.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And like the modern snake-oil salesmen they are, they do everything they can to fake up as much credibility as possible. That needs testimonials like the old days, but it also needs science. And if you can fake or misrepresent enough science to sound credible? Well, you don't even need to ask the question. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see it all over. Miracle herbal cancer cures. Chiropractors claiming to be able to heal all sorts of medical problems with what amounts to a bad massage. Acupuncturists making similarly inflated claims. Indeed, the whole alternative medicine industry these days seems to rely on taking studies that at least tentatively support some part of the practice and extending it to mean positive support for all of it. And all in support of the dollar every bit as much as the so-called "Big Pharma" they claim to be against.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh, there's ideology in there as well of course. Where else would they get the confirmation bias laden testimonials that just about every alt-med site carries right up front? And again, even those are extended to cover claims that the testimonial itself didn't even mention. Someone claims a spinal adjustment cured their headaches? Awesome! Now we can file off the actual ailment, leaving the bit about how effective they thought it was, and put that next to a claim that it cures diabetes too! And a public who may not have a great deal of medical knowledge sees that and thinks "well, it worked for them!"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a jungle out there, be careful what you believe.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1504 word</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-65643005648935810992014-02-16T14:50:00.003-08:002014-02-16T14:50:37.123-08:00Ignore This Space<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's entry is probably going to be a bit rambling, more like a diary entry or something than anything worth reading. So skip it if you like, this is mainly my effort to maintain the habit I'm trying to build. I'm not quite two weeks in, and I don't want to break the chain this early.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-57247b13-3ce3-f9bb-7c4a-a1e4744e1150" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-57247b13-3ce3-f9bb-7c4a-a1e4744e1150" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generally speaking, this has been a pretty good day. I've done things I needed to do, and pulled them off pretty much successfully. However, energy wise it's a total wash out. Most of the day, I've been exhausted physically and mentally, unable to really get any momentum going. The fact that I've left off writing until after 5 pm is a testament to that, since I usually get it done before lunchtime. Needless to say, I'm not expecting to create great art with this one.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's hard to pin down exactly what put me in this state. Certainly I got plenty of sleep despite a rather insistent cat who wanted attention, both as I was going to sleep and again when I was trying to avoid waking up. But Zilo is getting old and approaching the end of her life, so getting attention is becoming a more and more important thing to her and she's not shy about it. Even so, I still got at least 8 hours so nothing to complain about there. Hell, I didn't even get to bed late, at least not for a Saturday night. Only a half hour off my norm, so I can't blame unusual rhythms.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can't blame alcohol either, although I'm the sort who doesn't get hangovers. Due to the concert the night before, I hadn't had a drop since I rarely drink when I go out on my own. Altogether it's a mystery.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I any case, it's prevented me from doing a few of my daily activities which has me a bit down. Writing, for one. While it does make me happy to actually get started and the act of typing puts me in the mood for more typing, I know that this is little more than a token effort to fulfill my minimum self-obligations. It's hard to take much pride in that. I haven't done stair climbing either, and it seems likely that I'll be letting my daily drawing lapse for another day to boot. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, it's not like I got nothing done. Indeed, despite everything I actually did manage to get my other fitness challenges, wall sits and plank pose, taken care of in a timely fashion. Trouble was, they affected me a lot more intensely than normal and I was still feeling it a half hour later, which meant I was ended up pushing my daily meditation back almost until it was time to go out. I really need to be doing more exercise than just the three activities I have in my Dailies it seems. Also, lesson learned: wall sits are evil.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, I was able to get out on time to accompany my roommate in bottling some wine for her. A few years back the LCBO, the government-owned liquor stores in Ontario, was under threat of a strike. At that time, my roommate and I both went in on a regular basis to buy wine. In my case I like to have some red wine on the weekend (and only the weekend) while my roommate has white wine but spreads it through the week. However, faced with a sudden shortage, we decided to look for an alternative. That alternative turned out to be only a few blocks away from the LCBO that we normally went to, a little bottle-your-own place called Wine Botega. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't say enough good things about the bottle-your-own experience. For the sake of a little bit of inconvenience in having to do the bottling and arranging for storage, we gained access to a much higher quality of wine for half the price we were spending at the liquor store. Needless to say, our patronage of the mainstream shops stopped pretty much dead. The only reason I go in at all now is if I need beer for a recipe or if one of us wants something special like the Baileys I bought myself for Valentine's Day (although I'd originally planned to buy some for Xmas...I tend to procrastinate a bit). it's a good deal, and it's nice to know there's a basement full of the stuff any time I happen to want or need some. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That accomplished, and thinking about the exercise issue from earlier, I requested a stop near the wine shop. Namely, a sporting goods store that I've been into a couple of times in the past where I bought something that honestly I never really expected to get. A yoga mat.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I feel so damn suburban, I own a yoga mat. Next I'll be going into Lululemon or something and listing to nature sounds CDs. The shame is crushing, I tell you.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, it's not really that bad. Fact is, I've wanted to learn yoga or something similar for a very long time, partly because of the general health benefits but specifically to improve my flexibility. Ever since I was a teenager I haven't been all that flexible although I doubt other people particularly notice. The important part is I notice and it bothers me. So when I took a moment to think about what my actual goals were in terms of fitness, it was natural to look at the goal I've carried with me the longest and most consistently. Become more flexible. And yoga seems the obvious way to do it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another accomplishment, of a sort at least, was finally working up the determination to finally replace my blasted phone. It's not that it's a bad phone or that it doesn't work right, not at all. In fact I kind of like my phone. However, Google in their infinite wisdom has decided to do everything in their power to make it a pain to use by requiring me to have apps that take up all the available space I have. And worse, they're apps I don't want and will never use, like Hangouts.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This wasn't a problem when I originally bought my phone a couple of years ago. But now what space was fine back then really isn't sufficient to cope with bloatware like Hangouts and the dozen other apps that I have to have and cannot remove. Hell, I can't even move them to my SD card where there's lots of space, because presumably that would leave me with a workable phone that doesn't complain that it's out of space every time I turn it on.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not left with any real options, it's time to upgrade. Or rather to start the process of upgrading since first I have to settle my "tab" with my carrier before I can buy a new phone through them. But that's only a matter of waiting a few days until my next bill is issued, so that's pretty minor. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My current plan is to get a Samsung S III if you're interested. Compared to what else is in my price range, it seems like the most bang for my buck, and unlikely to cause me similar problems in the immediate future. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking back on the day, despite the whole feeling crappy and wanting to just chuck my obligations in favour of chilling out and playing games or something, I suppose it comes out to a net gain. I've made some decisions, done some useful things, and laid the groundwork for improving my quality of life. Can't really ask for more than that on a chilly Sunday in February, can you?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 1/2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1295 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-47917291918045869702014-02-15T20:46:00.002-08:002014-02-15T20:47:04.023-08:00Waiting In the Hall Of the Coliseum <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I write this, I'm sitting in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, affectionately known as the NAC. For all my life I'd heard about the NAC, and maybe it was just the kid I was when I first saw specials on the CBC that were filmed here, or concerts that were recorded here, or whatever, but this place always seemed to have a significant place in the cultural life of Canada.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-3791f9de-3903-8851-0faa-cedff8a9bc27" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-3791f9de-3903-8851-0faa-cedff8a9bc27" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've been here a number of times over the past couple of years, not for cultural events of great note but for the same sorts of concerts you'd find in thousands of venues across this great expanse of country. That isn't so much that the NAC isn't the cultural hub I thought it was. It still is, playing host to great composers, performers and theatrical presentations. But aside from that for the past couple of years they've also been presenting performances in their smaller stages, most notably the Studio and Fourth Stage, highlighting great Canadian artists both established and emerging. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there's one good thing that Canada does well and really brings us together is the production of excellent music. People from other nations might not know them well, which can be a real pity. Not to say other nations don't produce these as well, it's just that Canada seems to be good at it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the past couple of years in this building I've seen some really great performances. Hanna Georgas. Linda Ortega. Mo Kenney. Amelia Curran. Rae Spoon. And more have played her that I haven't seen, by their dozens. Folk supergroup Lee Harvey Osmond. The legendary Gordon Lightfoot. Jazz musicians and genderqueer alt-folk and classical and 80's throwback a Francophone rock. This is the kind of place that can bring all that together. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I look around, the crowd begins to fill the theatre, bodies appearing in burgundy flip-down seats. Why are theatre seats always burgundy, I wonder? So few come to mind that don't fall into that monochromatic mold that they elude me. Not that I'm some sort of great veteran of theaters, but it seems uncommon even to my eye to find something that's not either bare, blonde wood or burgundy upholstery. At least the red carpet beneath goes well with them.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tonight we wait for act I'd been hearing about for a long time but have never seen, Ashley MacIsaac. Like myself, Ashley came from Nova Scotia, on the eastern edge of Canada. He first appeared as a child, a prodigy with the fiddle touring the Maritimes every summer with his dad. They hit the exhibitions and festivals, and popped up regularly enough on CBC and the lips of the local players (you can't grow up in rural NS and not know a half-dozen amateur fiddlers) for my younger self to know and remember the name. A name that unexpectedly came back years later with the adult MacIsaac as he very publicly imploded.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't really know that much of the backstory, but I do know that as Ashley became an adult, his tastes strayed far from the...</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[And here I am interrupted by the opening act, the Abrams Brothers, another family act from Kingston, Ontario. Ashley's got a though act to follow, those boys are good!]</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, back in the 90's Ashley had strayed from the old time down home fiddle of his roots and embraced the new sounds of alt-rock and post-punk, and took on an attitude to match. His talent was undimmed, but his increasingly erratic behaviour soon became more of his public persona than anything to do with the fiddle. Failing to show up for shows, breaking halfway through into profanity-ridden rants, public urination at raves, drug and alcohol use, the whole run of bad boy behaviour. It was a damn sight from Down Home Tonight, that's for certain. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then...he vanished. I don't know the details (I could look them up if I had wi-fi here, but it's not that important really) but the assumption was his promoters and managers had enough and he was effectively placed under house arrest back east to give him a chance to dry out and take a look at what he'd done to his career and life as a whole. To be honest, I thought that was the end of him as a performer.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is, until last fall when the listings for the new NAC season came out, and there he was big as life. Ashley MacIsaac and the Abrams Brothers, playing 7:30 pm on February 15, 2014. Well, ain't no WAY I was gonna miss that!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so here I sit, waiting for the intermission to finish and the man himself to appear. At this point I couldn't guess what he's going to sound like. Only that a fiddle will be involved.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[After the show, typing on the bus]</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ashley didn't disappoint, although he put on a bit of an oddly disjointed show. Not as tight as the Abrams, for sure, but a lot more steeped in history, both personal and literal.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He came out dressed like an aging white rapper, red shirt and pants, gold chains, shades and a baseball cap with a leather jacket over all that. He claimed the hat, pants and jacket were borrowed from Justin Trudeau, but all I could tInk of was Vanilla Ice having a hole in his wardrobe. He was accompanied by a dude from Cheticamp on acoustic guitar and for some reason a DJ with a portable percussion rig and laptop. An odd mix for a guy who describes I self as a traditional fiddler.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And when it came to the actual show, that's exactly what Ashley was. His show was full of hundred and two hundred year old songs with a few more recent pieces tossed in for flavour, and Ashley knew the history of those songs quite well. And again, for some reason he felt the need for a DJ as accompaniment which worked to varying degrees as he went along.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Honestly, most of the time when the laptop got fired up either the beats or the fiddle simply got lost in the other's sound, and it didn't really work. However, when the DJ dude turned to beatboxing or manual percussion. It was a completely different story. Which to me was the lesson of the evening, traditional music and automation are things that require a deft hand to integrate, and you simply can't do it in an off the cuff fashion. Both were good musicians, to be sure. But sometimes the blend simply didn't work.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ashley did tell a lot of stories drawn from his life though, and apparently he didn't have nearly the interruption in his career as I'd thought back in the 90s, it was simply a matter of falling out of my own perception for quite a long time. Not that I expected him to be out of the business for 15 years or whatever, but I am a bit surprised that I'd utterly lost track of him for so long.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hell, he even wrote Rukia's theme from the anime a Bleach, and I used to watch that show!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, a fun night and worth the price. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1218 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-1226770897217277062014-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:002014-02-14T08:53:32.146-08:00Habit RPG<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's writing habit course prompt is to ask if I've "broken the chain" by which it means have I missed a day of writing so far. The answer is no, so let's move on.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-5f9da38d-314f-8c88-0b8e-48a1c272527b" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time, instead of writing more about writing, I'd like to focus on my other productivity/habit forming tool. I'd already mentioned Lift, so it's time to talk a bit about <a href="https://habitrpg.com/" target="_blank">Habit RPG</a>.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Habit RPG is an app/website that basically does the same sort of thing a number of other sites do: provide a tool for habit building and self-directed behaviour modification. It works under the same concept as all the other ones out there, keeping track of what you've done and need to do, and gives positive motivation for successfully maintaining habits. Same as Lift in that sense, but there are a couple of very important differences.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most importantly, as you may have guessed, Habit RPG is styled after old-school RPGs like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. You have an avatar, done in loving 8-bit style, get gold and XP for successfully completing tasks, have Dailies you need to accomplish (and I thought I left those behind in WoW), all the trappings of a good RPG. There's even a saloon and inn where you can socialize or, if you're going to be away for some reason, take a break. I haven't done that last one yet, but I assume that's how it works.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later on, there are guilds and parties you can join, quests to go on and so forth. Plus you can earn gems either via subscribing or winning various challenges/contests which can be applied to customization and other things. To their credit, the developers are actively acknowledging the danger of a "pay to win" system getting set up and try to avoid it. It's certainly a danger of any game with a micropayment or subscription model, as players of Facebook games know very well.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a more practical level, Habit RPG is divided up around a number of different activity types, which sets it apart from Lift which has a much simpler interface. This can be a bit of a drawback for a new user, as it requires a bit of effort to figure out how it all works. Essentially there are four categories on your main screen: Habits, Dailies, To-Dos and Rewards. To me, the Dailies and To-Dos are the real meat of the system, but different people have different things they respond to.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Habits, in this context, refers to ordinary tasks that are not time specific. So if you miss one, there isn't any penalty. For instance, I have one for mailing letters and one for getting up on time. If I accomplish those tasks, I check them off and get my little XP and gold bonus. If not, no big deal. There are also negatives in this column. So if I have "Eat Junk Food" as a habit, and I check that off I lose health and get no rewards for it. Not sure what happens when I lose too much health, but I imagine it's not good.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dailies are next, and obviously those are things that you do every day. Like writing for 25 minutes or meditating every day. If you miss one of these, you're liable to incur a penalty, but if you get all of them you receive a bonus. However, unlike the habits these are time-sensitive in that they need to be done daily, and there isn't a negative choice. You do them or don't, and the positive/negative reinforcement occurs that way. Dailies also keep track of "streaks", or how many days in a row you've managed to do them, and give stat bonuses as a result. For the grind-minded, this can be a pretty big motivation to continue (not saying that's me or anything, erm....I've said too much).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next are the To-Dos, and this is one area where Habit RPG is superior to Lift in my view. There are no negatives here, these are all simply tasks that need to get done. Optionally you can set deadlines on the tasks, but I'm not sure if there's a penalty for missing those or if it's simply a reminder. In any case, I'm finding it can be a useful tool to keep track of the various things that need to get done from day to day and helps ward off procrastination. Given that I can be a bit absent-minded about some things, this is something that I'm finding helps a lot.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And finally rewards, which I suppose is self-explanatory. This is where you largely spend the money you've earned from rewards in the other columns. For instance, one of the to-dos I have is to do my taxes (once I finally get all my forms). Once I've done my taxes, I can claim a reward of buying myself a nice lunch. For that, I use one of the gold pieces I've earned to purchase it. The rewards column is also where you can buy equipment for your character, so in that sense it's like a shop. Equipment is, apparently, one of the main ways to get stat bonuses although I imagine there are more that crop up as you go along.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since I mentioned stats, here's the basic breakdown:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Constitution:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Determines how much damage you take from negative habits or missed dailies.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intelligence:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Increases experience earned, and once classes are unlocked (I haven't gotten that far yet) also determines mana.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perception:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Increases gold earned and after level 4 increases the chance of item drops.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strength:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Reduces task threat (I'll mention that in a minute), increases random gold and XP drops and apparently has something to do with boss monsters. That's probably something I'll encounter later.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pretty classic RPG stuff, which tells you a lot about the developers and target audience. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An audience who, in my rather limited experience so far, the developers seem to know very well indeed. Certainly this is a habit-forming tool aimed directly at the sort of person who hung around on the Veldt for DAYS trying to get every damn Rage for Gau. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not, uh...not that I did that...oh look over there!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Huh, guess it was nothing. In any case, to get back to the tool/game, I should mention something a bit puzzling, and that's threat level. Every new item on your list, whether it's To-Do, Daily or Habit, starts off yellow and starts getting darker towards red as time goes by (just completed tasks turn gray, then green, blue, yellow and so forth as they age. The further towards red a task gets, the more it's worth, which the developers say encourages concentration on those neglected points, more so since they stand out from the rest and net bigger rewards.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I have to wonder about that. I've dealt with min-maxers enough to immediately wonder if someone more motivated to "win the game" wouldn't simply build up a bunch of To-Dos, let them sit for a while, and then knock them off all at once and gain a lot? After all, there's no negative effects for letting them go like there are with Dailies. For certain sorts of people, especially those who get more into the game style rather than the actual meat of the system, this would open a door to gaming the system.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't really tell, although I imagine it's something that hasn't entirely slipped past the developers.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've only been working at this particular app/site for a week now, but thus far I have to say I like it. There are places where Lift has a clear advantage, particularly the clean, easy interface and how it's geared towards coaching and challenges. So for items like that, I'll continue using it. Habit RPG on the other hand, is much better when it comes to managing To-Do lists, daily items that are the same every day, and the social aspect although I haven't done too much with that yet. That'll come as I get more comfortable with the system.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's a lot of Habit RPG I haven't explored yet, but that's okay. I've gotten enough of a taste of the system and some of its strengths that I definitely want to continue, and as a longtime video game geek I'm attracted to the overall motif. Certainly the grinding here is a lot more fun than in the original Dragon Warrior, ugh. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time units</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1425 words </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-39245387326084369972014-02-13T09:41:00.000-08:002014-02-13T09:41:23.840-08:00Worldbuilding, uh, Thursdays: Land Beast II<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm off to a good start with this regular writing thing. So good, in fact, that I totally forgot that it was Wednesday yesterday. So I'm going to have to make up for that today. Not a great sign when you muck up your only regular feature in the second installment, but whatevs.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-3f347da6-2c54-fa0f-306a-49ff32847288" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So let's recap what we have so far:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">World with a large supercontinent, possibly other land aside from that but irrelevant to our purposes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hostile conditions on the ground, poisonous elements that do not support animal life, but plants have adapted to some degree. Still poisonous though.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roughly a dozen gigantic creatures roam this continent, continually moving over the landscape.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each creature is roughly the size of France.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">What animal life exists is on the bodies of these gigantic creatures.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">This included human(oid) life. At least close enough to human that we can write human stories about them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Animals and plants on creature are symbiotic with it. Creature filters out harmful elements, returns them to soil in waste. Supported life makes use of creature's byproducts, plus fertilize/aerate/etc. in return. This includes humans.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That seems to be the bulk of it so far. A couple of things come to mind. What is the structure of the Beasts, are they quadrupeds? Where did they come from? Were they created or did they develop that way? How did the surface come to be poisoned? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All valid questions, so let's cover them one by one.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see the beasts as being sort of like semi-warm blooded lizards, thinking of the texture of the skin on things like iguanas or chameleons. The light of the sun, which vegetation growing on them helps capture, is beneficial to them, and they have a sturdy, broad-backed (if a bit hilly on the "micro" or human level). They have a geography, so their backs are not uniform. The spinal ridges are like a mountain chain, think of Ayers' Rock in Australia but with more of an angled slope, and leading in a line down the length of the creature. Climbable, and with more or less regular passes over which animals and people might cross from one side to another. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given the size of the creatures, they would have multiple legs. So the quadruped notion really doesn't work. So it wouldn't simply be a scaled-up lizard, but something a bit different than we're used to, with 10 or 20 legs total. I'm personally inclined to go with 10 for simplicity's sake, and have a sort of Slepnir-on-steroids or chunky centipede sort of thing, but without the gross ooky aspect centipedes have. So getting back to the concept, each leg would have a shoulderblade of sorts, which would create a significant hill that slowly moves as the beast takes a step. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see the beast as being relatively slow and deliberate in its walking, at least from a human perspective. It still covers a lot of ground since while one step might take a while, it also goes a long way in human terms. Think if France moved down to where Egypt is in the course of a year. That's what I envision for speed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And with that in mind, I will arbitrarily decide that the Land Beast not only doesn't stop, but </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can't</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stop. To stop is to die for these creatures. Perhaps the plant life is aggressive and will move up and threaten the ecosystem it carries. Perhaps the poisons in the land are absorbed too much if it stops. Possibly it isn't an external concern, but part of the physiology of the beast that requires constant motion to maintain homeostasis and to produce the byproducts the life on its surface relies on.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking about it, I'd be inclined to go with a combination of the first and third of those ideas, with an emphasis on the third. I like the idea of mobile, aggressive, innately poisonous plant life, occasionally managing to get up a leg and threatening the nearby creatures. Almost animal-like plants in that sense. It opens the door to conflict, and would probably have an effect on how human culture works in this context.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyhow, back to the beast and the question I'd been dreading. Where did it come from? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a really hard question for me, and my brain wants to take the easy way out and not make a decision here. But as I said last week, you really shouldn't gloss over stuff like that or you end up with "spaceships, lasers, FTL, blah blah" type stories that have window dressing but no real structure. So I've gotta suck it up and make a choice.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, let's see what the main choices are, as I see them.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beast evolved to become like that.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beast was bioengineered.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beast was created by Gods.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of which are valid choices, and all of them carry their own implications and further questions.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I choose the first, then I can proceed without worrying about purpose or external influences, but I'm stuck with the responsibility of figuring out how this evolution happened, especially given the poison ground. I have to ask was it always poison/hostile? Was this a reaction to that change in environment? If so, how did the change happen and why did it cover the whole continent?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second choice avoids those questions, but introduces a new factor. Who did the bioengineering? Why? Where did they go afterwards? Are they still monitoring things, or did they do this and leave/die? Are they what became the current humans? In some ways, I'm reminded of Larry Niven's novel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Integral Trees</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which involves adapted descendents of a lost space colony. Not sure I'd want to go that way.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last is equally thorny. Again, it saves scientific explanations, but opens up a slightly different line of questioning from the idea that aliens did it. What God(s)? One God or a pantheon? Are they present and intercede in the world? Did they turn the land poison as well? Are they omnipotent, or are they limited (i.e., can they just fix the land if they choose)? If Gods are real, is magic derived from them real as well?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a tough choice, and there may be other directions to go as well. But I'll limit myself to these three for the purposes of this exercise. In any case, we're worldbuilding for a purpose here, so the decision shouldn't be based on which one's easiest, or makes most sense in the real world. It should be based on the story ideas that derive from the decision.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And with that in mind, I pick Door Number Three: God(s) Did It</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of that is my own inclination. I really like folklore and myth, and reading those potential choices makes the potential of a mythic origin of the poison land, the beast itself, and so forth pop up immediately. And, by extensions, stories about the people and Gods involved in those myths. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the die is cast, and the creature defined. Next week, I'll leave the overall world of the beast and start looking at the smaller world it carries on its back, and maybe touch on those mythic origins as well. It promises to be a fun time had by all.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1229 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-44484776006699772542014-02-12T11:34:00.003-08:002014-02-12T11:34:45.053-08:00Geek Out!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's little lesson is to consider taking my writing goal public. For anyone reading along so far, it's pretty obvious that I've been doing that all alone, so that's not really much to get excited over. So let's talk about something else.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-017f1b3e-2797-122e-b5a4-b4d8c626ad2f" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-017f1b3e-2797-122e-b5a4-b4d8c626ad2f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, I'm nerdy for a start. I've always been to some degree or another, although as I mentioned yesterday I'm not one of those nerds who actually get super good at something like computers or whatever. Instead I'm one of those nerds who likes a lot of nerdy stuff and enjoys hanging out with nerdy people. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being a nerd today really isn't quite the same experience as when I was growing up. Back then, in the days before computers became ubiquitous and before movies like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Revenge Of the Nerds</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the like were made, it was really sort of a shameful thing. Although thinking back on it the image of a young nerd was much different from the image of an adult one, so much so it was kind of hard to imagine how one would grow up into the other. The kid nerds were socially awkward, bad at any physical activity, either grossly fat or just the opposite, and generally acne-ridden. The assumption I suppose was that if you were physically in the "ideal" or at least "normal" range and weren't terribly unattractive, then you'd probably do sports or whatever instead of what the nerds settled for.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The adult nerds, at least in the stereotype of the day, were pretty much entirely skinny accountant types, or maybe scientists. Some technical field with a lot of math, in any case. Someone whose sole, highly understated joy was in making numbers balance. A pretty dry image, really, and oddly the adult stereotype never included the overweight or at least those in the "normal" range. Very odd, looking back on it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact is, in those days the mainstream consciousness didn't seem to be really aware of things like science fiction or fantasy fans, which had been around much longer than I've been alive. I suppose they were filed as more or less geeky pursuits when they were brought up, but aside from stuff like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Trek</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and such on TV the great majority of people didn't seem to really notice it much.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Wars</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that is.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Wars</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the original that is rather than the sequels, really changed the landscape. It was SF that the mainstream really couldn't ignore. Sure, you could be unaware of the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Foundation Trilogy </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Wars?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> There's no way. It was literally everywhere, you couldn't ignore it. And whatever faults George Lucas may have, he brought together elements that really appealed to almost everyone.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of a sudden, there were mentions of a science fiction (or science fantasy, if you prefer) movie all over the mundane media. Talk shows mentioned it, it popped up on the news, the idea that people would go see it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">multiple times</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was revolutionary and much talked about. I remember an episode of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Price Is Right</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, of all things, where Bob Barker was very impressed at a woman who's seen the film over 80 times already and wasn't done yet. She wasn't a stereotypical nerd, she was the very picture of an average housewife.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyone born in the past couple of decades might not realize what a big deal that was. What with Blu-Ray, DVD, and even VHS before it, watching a movie over and over again really isn't that big a deal. But none of that existed in those days, and in any case it was something like 20 years before SW came out on video. To see a movie that many times, you had to actually go to the theatre and pay admission every time. That's a hell of an investment in time and money just for a movie. But people did, and stories of people seeing SW in the theatre over 100 times were everywhere.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And with that, the idea of what a nerd was changed. It stopped being about science so much and started being about fandom. Science fiction and fantasy conventions started to get more notice, although they'd already been around for a long time at that point, and a lot of new people came in. Sure, the stereotypical nerd was still the glasses-wearing non-athlete who really wasn't very good socially, but who now at least had a wider variety of interests. Plus, there were now recognized to be at least a few females in their ranks. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is about where I started making contact with geekdom. For one thing, I literally grew up alongside the home computer. The very first consumer models came out when I was a kid, and as I grew so did the whole concept of home computers. It was all very exciting, weaned as I was on my brother's book collection which included a lot of SF, and this whole idea of thinking machines was definitely tied up in it. I remember seeing the TRS-80 Model 1 with its octopus-like box with wires trailing in all directions playing Dancing Demon in the stores. I remember the VIC-20, the Commodore 64 & 128 and the Amiga, sadly before its time. I remember the feisty Tandy Color Computer that tried to go up against the C-64 without any real support from the company that built it. I remember the poor, neglected TI 99/4A and the dumb little Timex-Sinclair ZX-89. All the beginnings for what became so huge in all our lives. Oddly, I didn't have much contact with Apple products until I was in university. So I missed out on that history and jumped on with the old Power Macs with the black & white screens.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not that I proved to be any good at programming any of those. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I loved using them, and that continues to this day. There's something compelling about these machines that let us do so much, and besides I somehow got very good at typing along the way which has turned out to be professionally useful.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But this is about being geeky, not about the history of computing. While I was never cut out to program the damn things, I did like the company of those who did. In a way, it was more the culture that I liked than what particular things they were doing. That was probably the seeds of what I enjoy about things like the feminist and skeptical communities, it's a real pleasure to see smart people knock down the arguments of the uninformed or those motivated by self-interest to take bad positions. I'm not really good at it myself, but a good verbal or written smackdown in just about any field is a joy to behold.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also around that time, the very first video game arcades began to spring up. Oh, and how different games were back in those days. For one thing, they weren't even all overtly computer games. The pinball machine, a classic game that goes back way further than the old arcade consoles, found a welcome home in the arcades that was more hospitable than the pool halls, bars and pizza joints they'd lived in up to that point. Although even they became increasingly technological as time went on with digital scorekeeping and the like. But the real draw, at least for me, were these shiny, glowing pixelated things that came in an ever-growing variety and complexity. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all know the names. Pac-Man. Omega Race. Galaxian. Space Invaders. Berzerk. Tron. And dozens, if not hundreds that came after them. Simple in concept for the most part, but as more and more developers caught on to the trend the creativity exploded. Asteroids. Venture. Missile Command. Too many to remember, even at the time. It's a long line from Pong to Skyrim but this is where the changes really picked up momentum and I loved every minute of it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not that arcades were really the most social places, especially for a rural kid like me who only got to go every couple of weeks at best. But they were a start, and really helped solidify me, always a bit of a outsider despite my social nature, as placing my interests in the geeky realms.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More interests came as I started to explore those avenues. Comics. Role-playing games (anyone remember Basic Dungeons and Dragons? Or for extra credit, Original D&D?). Anime too, at least the real stuff. There were already some bad English translations like Star Blazers or Battle Of the Planets that I watched before that. But I didn't fully understand where it came from until I got into the wider world of fandom.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today I'm still largely into the same things. Comics, computer games, anime, etc. Although manga as a type has overshadowed the western comics for the most part it's still words and pictures. I've also picked up a few new things, like illustration, live music and lesbian romance novels, that kinda fall outside the normal geek pursuits, but still have that same fannish appeal in some ways. Certainly listening to nerdcore is geek as hell, so that's a thing.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've lost track of some things too. As exciting as Star Wars was back in the day, I really can't muster up much enthusiasm for it any more. I totally lost track of Doctor Who after the series restarted a few years ago. Television shows take a special effort for me to follow through on, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to watch Avatar and still haven't gotten past the first season. Maybe once I finally get finished with Adventure Time I'll get to it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hell, I don't even watch movies much. The only one of the recent crop of Marvel movies I've seen was the first Iron Man, even though I was really hyped to go see Thor. Somehow, movies like that fall into a weird blind spot for me where I really want to see them, but then I somehow forget to actually do it. It doesn't help that I have a pretty limited social circle at the moment, and honestly it's not that much fun to go to the movies alone. Maybe I'm just a bad geek that way.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Actually, I feel like that a fair amount of the time. How can I be an anime fan when I rarely watch it? How can I be into yuri when I haven't watched past the first episode of Sakura Trick, especially when I really liked it? How can I be a geek when....fill in the blanks of something I feel like I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> be into because it sounds like it's right up my alley. Sherlock. Doctor Who. Black Butler. Secret Six. Harry Potter. Whatever.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But that's pretty irrational when you look at it. There aren't rules to being a geek or a fan or whatever. Just like I didn't have to be a computer programmer way back in the day, I don't have to go see the Avengers now (that's a lie, I really do need to see the Avengers). I can still be a nerd girl even if I sometimes feel like an inadequate one. After all, that's the stereotype isn't it? Geeks and nerds are what they are because they can't manage to do "real" things. Like, I dunno. Sports or something.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whatever, I don't even hate sports. I'm not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at them so at least I fit the stereotype that way, but it's not like I have any particular hostility towards them. It's just there's a side of the world that I've always felt comfortable in, and like it or not that's where I'm happy to stay.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I say that as a woman who's proud to call herself a nerd.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 time units</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1986 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-60833197425709783942014-02-11T10:32:00.003-08:002014-02-11T10:32:50.754-08:00Where Do We Go Now?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So today, the little blurb on my Develop a Writing Habit course is to be flexible in my expectations. That is, whatever my dreams may be, whatever I want to create in the long run, to not toss in all-or-nothing on that and be devastated if it doesn't work out or devalue the other things that need to get done on the way there.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4a35860a-2238-4de5-0b47-ea14c06ee311" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-4a35860a-2238-4de5-0b47-ea14c06ee311" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's true that I have things I want to accomplish. There are three major stories that I really want to work on and finish. Namely,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Air Born</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Novel/comic/movie/whatever inspired largely by the opening credit sequence for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laputa: Castle In the Sky</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Main idea is a young woman who lives on one of a floating island where humanity resides, and becoming involves in a war between the humans and the animal people who live on the surface. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artificial Heart </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A futuristic romance novel between an artificial human and a doctor in a world where the artificials aren't believed to have real emotions and anyone developing a relationship with one is looked down upon or ostracized, and generally treated as a gullible idiot at best, and a narcissist in general. Part of the setting was inspired by the anime </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Real Drive</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but like the previous it's mainly just a jumping off point.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Unnamed Serial</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or at least a multi-part story I've been wanting to write involving a woman who is reunited with a childhood friend through exceptional circumstances and begins to be led, bit by bit, into discovering the magic that exists in the world around her. And in turn, her perception of that world begins to change in a rather literal sense. Again, there is the seed of inspiration this time from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">XXX-Holic</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and Mi'kmaq folklore. I want it to be very Canadian and it will be set in Halifax/Dartmouth, where I lived for quite a long time.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those three are sort of my core goals when it comes to writing and I've taken various stabs at them such as drawing up rough outlines and making notes here and there, but at this point I feel it's a bit early in the game to really start writing them in earnest. There's groundwork to be laid, not just in the craft of writing but who I am as a writer as well.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suppose this calls back to what I was saying in an earlier entry about character. I'm the sort of person to get really excited about an idea, but then after some time be distracted and chase after something else for a bit. I might return to it, and it might still remain in my thoughts, but my time will end up being spent elsewhere. It's who I am, and in fact it's who I've always been. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Honestly, I'm a bit sick of being that person. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's really what this whole exercise is about, I suppose. Wanting to develop my character so I become the person I want to be, and obviously that isn't easy. It's certainly not something you can do in one smooth jump.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's a personality analysis that's become pretty popular in recent years, known as Myers-Brigg. Basically it's a Jungian-style breakdown of human personality types into four general categories, and those in turn into four categories each for a total of 16. They're still pretty general as you might expect, and people can easily have aspects of themselves that don't fit neatly into just one category and might straddle the fence on some axis or another. In my case, I lean strongly into all four axes of my personality type, so the archetype given describes me pretty well.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My result in the Myers-Brigg test is ENFP, or Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling and Perception. Which in plain terms is the Champion (of a cause, rather than the winner) or the Enthusiast. In the most general terms, it describes them as a very outgoing person who's concerned with the happiness of themselves and others and are very good at finding joy in whatever they're doing, but are prone to idealizing and get frustrated when required to do a lot of fine detail or follow-up work.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's more to it of course, and for more you can find descriptions galore online. But overall they describe me pretty well.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One thing that descriptions of my type of person tend to have in common is the whole distraction thing, but tempered with the fact that if they are able to do very well if they're able to develop the focus to stick with a thing they enjoy. That is, an ENFP artist could become a great artist should they stick with it. Same for cook or writer or whatever the topic happens to be.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that's really the point of all this. I do, and have done, an awful lot of things in my life. But I've never really had any success at picking one and really becoming good at any of them. I mean I'm pretty good at a lot of things, but not especially good at any of them. Which is obviously a drawback that I want to do something about.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hard part, I suppose, for someone like me is to choose just </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I want to focus on. My natural inclination is to have a hard time making choices. Restaurant menus are really hard things for me to deal with, for instance, or naming my favourite book or movie or, well, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anything</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. So when I look at the things I enjoy like drawing or ukulele or crochet or cooking or about a hundred other things and having to decide which one I want the focus of my life to be? That's crazy talk!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking back though, maybe it isn't as hard a decision as all that. I just have to think about what the first thing I wanted to do was, and what's been the most consistent throughout my life. That's gotta be writing. Sure, I got interested in it as an attempt to imitate my brother, but I don't think that really has much bearing on where I am today, something like 30 years later. After all, there's no test as to the purity of a task, just whether or not it's something that I can do moving forward.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So in the end I did make a choice, and I've selected goals. But I'm realistic enough to recognize that there's no way I'm going to make it to those goals without taking a few steps first. The biggest is changing who I am, and as I've said before that's a daunting task. Therefore, the daily writing habit, and keeping myself accountable by putting all this out in public (plus, I'm a bit of a showoff so there's positive motivation for you). </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So to come back to the initial theme about being flexible about my expectations, I think it's good to have an overall goal to keep in mind. Those three projects I wrote about at the beginning, those are sitting out there on the horizon and I feel that I need to continue keeping my attention on them. But unless I get myself a pair of hundred-league boots there's no way I'm making it there unless I get on the road and start walking. So there are smaller checkpoints on the way that I need to get to the old-fashioned slow way.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First among those is to write. Write anything, write at all. George Burns put it best, bemoaning the death of Vaudeville (and I can't find the actual quote right now so settle for a paraphrase), kids just don't have anywhere to be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bad</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> any more. I've got a lot of bad writing I have to get out of my system before I can start putting out good stuff. I suppose I could do that in fanfiction, but that's not really going to work for reasons I've already mentioned. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So in that sense I'm kind of on my own, which I suppose I am regardless. Nobody's going to write those stories but me. Nobody's going to change my habits, and indeed my basic character, but me. And certainly nobody's going to type these blog entries every day but me. So I've gotta do it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides, I've already tried self-starting and it simply didn't work. I've got a few fragments of stories and notes for some others to show for it, but really nothing beyond that. Because I'd go out some Saturday to The Tea Party or someplace and pound out a thousand or so words, and then forget about it for the rest of the week. And the next week. And maybe the week after. And by the time I get back to it, I've totally lost the thread and I start working on something new.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My goals are too important to me to half-ass like that. Those three stories sitting on my horizon? They deserve better. Hell, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> deserve better. And so, it falls to me to try to do better and to use whatever tools come to hand to help me learn to do better. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all, I've got a goal to get to.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1541 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-76917016927561202512014-02-10T09:27:00.001-08:002014-02-10T09:27:58.668-08:00Fanfiction Sucks and That's a Good Thing<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's writing habit course topic is "Just show up". It's all about the deceptive simplicity of simply doing writing on a daily basis. It sounds really easy, but that's the deceptive bit. Simple doesn't mean easy. It means not complicated. Like the old joke about Michelangelo, where he starts with a big block of marble and chips away anything that doesn't look like David. Simple, but difficult.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-59fc17ad-1cd5-af82-996c-02b94828a709" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm not here today to write about that. I'm here to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it, but I'd like to chat about something else for a bit.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How about...fanfic?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fanfiction, to use the full version that hardly anyone bothers with once they've gotten into it a bit, is exactly what it sounds like. Fiction written by fans. That is, you love a show, book, game, movie or whatever so much that you want to see more stories with those characters and in that setting that the creator hasn't, and probably won't, explored. Often, this involves at least two of the main characters being gay, but while that might seem to be the dominant tone sometimes it isn't really necessary.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fanfic isn't anything new, of course. It's as old as fandom. Hell, the term "slash" used these days to refer to stories with male/male romantic or sexual pairings goes back to the original </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Trek</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> series in which Kirk and Spock were regularly put in bed together. Those stories got photocopied in those early days before websites and email, and distributed through the mail or at conventions. It was all very exciting and new, and in a way rather subversive. And so the trend began (although the practice of fan writing probably starts even earlier the modern conception of it pretty much got its start around that time) and barrels on to this day.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the big things to know about fanfic are as follows:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">The creators usually avoid contact with it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's a lot of it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of it really isn't very good.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's worth reading anyway.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Got all that? Those last two really don't seem to go together, but that's sort of what brings me to writing about the concept of fanfic in the first place.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See, I recently finished reading the novel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fangirl</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Rainbow Rowell. It's a bit of an atypical romance story that revolves around a Big Name Fan writing stories in the universe of a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harry Potter</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> knock-off. Part of the conceit of the story is that she's a really good writer and has this huge following, they even show one of her fans although they don't know the main character is actually the writer they love so much. That sort of thing happens to some degree, although I haven't really encountered anyone like that online or in person. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, a lot of the story focuses on her writing this huge fan novel and trying to get it done before the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">actual </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">last novel in the series gets released, and this puts her at odds with a creative writing professor who sees her huge talent and wants her to write real fiction. Oddly, this gets muddied up with the romance bits which also have an element of fanfic (she reads to her boyfriend and he eats it up) and occasionally gets forgotten about, but nevermind. The upshot is that she's this amazing writer of fanfic.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But let's take a different approach. What if she sucked? Like I said before, most fanfiction isn't really very good.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What if she was a terrible writer and didn't have a huge following that thought she was as good as the actual writer of the book series she loved? How does that affect the story?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, of course it throws the whole thing about the professor pressuring her out the window. Or does it? Sure, in the story the professor is especially interested in her because she's so awesome, but the whole writing fanfic (even terrible fanfic) versus learning the craft of writing without placing it in a pre-existing world still stands. If the prof is really passionate about bringing more students into the community of writers, it still works. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And of course one of the foundation ways to become a better writer is, as I said in the first place, to simply show up and do it regardless of quality. Well, fanfic writers have that like crazy.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See, the reason I say most fanfic isn't written very well isn't a slam on fanfic. I meant it when I said regardless of whether it sucks </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as fiction</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> its importance as expression is more important. Fanfic isn't about crafting a great piece of fiction, or creating great art although there are some really stellar fics out there that qualify as both. It's a good thing to have, to be sure, but I don't think it's a sufficient condition for fanfic.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The thing that makes fanfic worthwhile, I think, isn't so much clever wording or plotting or characterization, it's communicating the enthusiasm the writer has for the subject matter. That someone's Naruto/Sasuke slashfic is clumsily written and pretty cliched and doesn't have a good understanding of how gay sex works is secondary to how much fun the ficcer is having and how much they enjoy watching the show (or reading the manga) the characters came from.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because let's face it, most fanfic writers aren't writers first. They're </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fans</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> first. Most of the time, they're writing not for the craft of it, but the love of what they're writing about, whether that's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naruto</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Portal</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pacific Rim</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sherlock</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or whatever. And they share it not because of the writing, that's just a means to an end. They're sharing something more important to them, their enthusiasm.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So to tie this back to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fangirl</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the question of what if she wasn't a good fanfic writer but just a dedicated one, that's why the idea of juxtaposing fanfic writing with original fiction writing works in my mind. Because even if you suck at it, you've still built your foundation as a writer no matter what. You've shown up every day and you've written about what you want to write about. The question is, are you interested in taking that leap into developing your writing as a craft and building on that foundation? Or are you happy to simply continue with your life and sharing the things you love, and how much you love them as well, with people who also like those things?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Writing is hard. Or rather, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> writing is hard. Original fiction writing is hard. But simply putting words on paper or screen isn't really that hard. Especially when you already have the hard bits like creating the setting, overall storyline and characters already prepared for you. It's like making a sprite comic, you don't need to fuss over the art. You just need a bunch of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Final Fantasy II</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> figures you can shift around as needed, and you're done. No fuss, no muss, very little mess.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's when you get away from that, and obviously only a minority of ficcers do, that's when you find yourself in the wilderness. There's nothing to rely on but your instincts and experience, and you have to build everything more or less from scratch. Or at least that's what it seems like, although as the novel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fangirl</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> also points out, you don't have to start from absolute zero. You can take your own experiences, people you know, events you've learned about to use as templates upon which to build your characters, settings and stories. But even so, you're responsible for every choice and that can be daunting. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Does that mean there's something less about ficcers then, that they don't put themselves on the line like that? I don't think so. Certainly there's no shame in doing things you love to do. Even if you're bad at it, the enjoyment you take from it, and the enjoyment given to those who feel the same way, is entirely valid. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And believe me, that's coming from someone who used to complain about these damn fanfic writers, they suck SO BAD! I've come a ways since then, and I'm not afraid to admit I was wrong. Not that they suck, a lot of them do. But that there's really anything wrong with that.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all, they're doing something I haven't been able to bring myself to do until this past week or so.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just show up. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time units</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1409 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-92075984523811345282014-02-09T10:15:00.000-08:002014-02-09T10:15:27.656-08:00Character Design<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now we get to the crisis point. Today, I celebrate one solid week of daily writing, which is a great feeling. I've accomplished something, yay!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4191c96d-17db-09e8-11a3-fc732c30e5a3" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand it's going on lunchtime on a lazy Saturday and I really want to chuck this work stuff and go play </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and drink tea. What to do, what to do...</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Obviously the answer is writing, as you can see. It's not like it takes a long time or anything, like I said in my second entry this past week. It's only 25 minutes at minimum, although I've only limited it to one 25-minute segment once since I started. And I know that's how it'll turn out in the end today too, I'll end up doing two or three. But in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't really cut into my gaming time terribly much. I've already done my wall sits, plank pose and meditation practice after all, so the only thing left after this is one time segment's worth of drawing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today's entry in the Develop a Writing Habit course includes the quote "Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become HABITS. Watch your HABITS, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny." Now the course didn't credit that quote so let me fill it in, it's Lao Tse. The funny thing about this quote is that it seems to be focusing on something different than whoever added emphasis to the word habit. To me, it's saying not to think incorrectly and to watch yourself so that things you don't like take over your life.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However what the unknown editor seems to be emphasizing is that habits are important and can be very valuable. Of course this is underlined by the context, since today's focus is on building character as a result of creating a daily habit. Not that I disagree or anything, otherwise I wouldn't be doing any of this. But the discrepancy is interesting since even though the focus is different the quote still applies.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all, when we develop habits in the usual, passive sense, they tend to be pretty haphazard. We brush our teeth in the same way each day. We always use our keys with the same hand. We have various physical things we do when nervous. And so forth. Most of these are pretty inconsequential, and in fact most habits are neutral. But we also have negative habits that come about in that passive way too, such as needing a drink to get to sleep, or eating too much/too little when in emotional distress. Or even, dare I say it, playing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> when you should be writing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not that I necessarily think taking a day off to play games or crochet or hang out at a coffee shop is wrong, by no means. Even taking a drink isn't really a bad thing. The idea is that these are things that, when they become habitual, can be negative to varying degrees. Especially when they get in the way of the positive things you want to do and will feel bad if you don't do them.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which of course is why when you consciously, rather than passively, want to develop a habit you will tend to want to create positive habits. Neutral and negative habits are already covered after all, so why on earth would you want to make more of them instead of something that would be to your benefit? But of course as we all know, developing a habit consciously is much harder than doing it passively, because the former actually takes some effort.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which is why the whole idea of being vigilant about your thoughts, actions, etc. really applies here. Because while the "habit" bit is important, the qualifier of "positive" is even more important, and that's where the concept of building character becomes really relevant. If you're at the point where you actually want to change your life in the sense of building positive habits, then you're also at a point where you have some direction you want to move in, and the sort of person you want to be when you've managed to ingrain whatever habits you've chosen to focus on. That's building character.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think most of us have some sort of ideal we hold ourselves to, whether we live up to it or not. Sometimes that ideal might not be all that far away. Things like "I want to be the sort of person who can appreciate a quiet moment" isn't really that different from a person who doesn't pay much attention to quiet moments, even if those people think they're the type who do. It's simply a matter of changing focus a little, turning the ship of character's course only a half degree or so, and you find you're already there. Living up to your self-described ideals in a case like that doesn't take much, at least on paper. But actually doing, even the simplest things, those can be pretty tough.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which I suppose is where the modern wave of positive motivation apps and techniques comes into play. Because there is absolutely no shame in getting a bit of external help when you want to do something as significant as changing the sort of person you are. Even if it's a subtle change like the one above, and you're only trying to course correct by a fraction of a degree, you've got a lifetime of mass and momentum you've got to shift and it can be hard to find the strength to push that hard all by yourself. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And don't even try to go from a standing start to an entirely new course in one jump. I've tried it and it simply doesn't work. Sure, I can fantasize about sitting down and writing for 7 hours a day in the same way I'd go to work for that long. But in practice it simply doesn't work that way. In fact, I'd guess that's so rare that you might as well say it doesn't happen with anyone. So a more gradual approach is called for, and for me at least that requires tools.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even with tools though, you're still doing all the work yourself though. The ones I'm using, namely Lift and Habit RPG which I'm giving a shot at, mostly just keep track of what you've done before. The older "Don't Break the Chain" method, where you mark off successes on a cheap desk calendar, is exactly the same. It's simply tracking with a few added geegaws tossed in for flavour. Most of the habits I'm working on via the Lift app are pretty much just that, reminders of how much I need to do on a given day and the positive reinforcement of knowing how many days I've made it without skipping. Not the most invasive tool, and it's not a sign of weakness when I admit that I probably wouldn't have gotten to this point (well over 14k words in a week and a better blog to boot) without that assistance. But then, I haven't got a lot of ego invested in trying to be 100% self-reliant either.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thinking about it, I wonder if that's not a barrier for a lot of people. Especially men, who are trained in most cultures to be utterly self-contained and not needing to rely on others for help. Not exclusively men, of course, but I think they probably get the worst of the cultural conditioning for this sort of thing. I can easily think of a lot of common phrases that have to do with simply picking yourself up and improving or doing things right starting immediately, that make accepting a gradualist, habit-forming approach really hard to accept. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suppose that really gets to the heart of the initial quote about habits and watching thoughts and so forth. Yes, habits are important, but there are things you have to be aware of that lie underneath even those, and if you really want to develop the sort of character that you want to have, you need to dig down and find that level. At least recognize that it exists, if nothing else.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a way, the Lao Tse quote suggests that it's okay to start in the middle, building habits in order to develop them into character and eventually destiny. But you must also expand your knowledge in the other direction and recognize that habits are made up of actions, actions are determined by words or conscious intent, and below that are the thoughts that drive the whole engine. But I'd go a step further and suggest recognizing that those thoughts are pushed in certain directions by conditioning, which surrounds you all your life and has formed a lot of habits already without you noticing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And knowing that, you can learn how free you are to change your character by not being a slave to that conditioning. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1505 words </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-69591014396361855532014-02-08T11:47:00.000-08:002014-02-08T11:47:05.329-08:00So Time, Much Words<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moving forward with the writing habit course, today's focus is on productivity. Or more appropriately, measuring productivity.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-341c4788-1305-ff28-5eba-8b6dc83ea740" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-341c4788-1305-ff28-5eba-8b6dc83ea740" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far I haven't thought </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">too</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hard about this issue, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of it at all. It was more a case of focusing on the actual writing without regard to the amounts, and deferring the question of word counts, total time, etc. until further down the road. So far that hasn't been difficult, but since that's today's focus then it seems silly to put it off any further.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So looking back on the past week's work, or most of a week at least (this is day six), let's tally up how many words went into each.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Why</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - 761 words </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time Management </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - 906 words</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deliverance Klondike Ninja</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - 3625 words</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worldbuilding Wednesday: Land Beast </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I - 1647 words</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Oral Fixation</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - 1511 words</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Need a Lift?</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - 2243 words</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So a total of 10,693 words in the past five days. Not bad, I think.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I say not bad, but is that the truth? The fact is, I have no idea. So my "not bad" is pretty meaningless in context, since I have no idea what "good" and "bad" are in terms of daily word count. All I can compare it to is my previous record before I started this daily writing course, which was of course zero words per day. Not counting emails or tweets or other miscellaneous bits of typing that don't really amount to much.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what if I compare it do a more experienced writer? Well, I have no idea what a normal daily word count for someone like that would be. I would imagine it varies from writer to writer quite a bit, but I expect mine so far would be pretty paltry by comparison. A quick Google shows a lot of talk about how low the daily numbers for various famous writers are, presumably in an effort to teach that a high word count doesn't really mean that much. Mark Twain only pumping out 1,000 a day or J.R.R. Tolkien doing only a quarter of that. But then, the famed NaNoWriMo requires 1,667 a day to succeed at their one-month challenge, so it becomes pretty much impossible to find a solid benchmark.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then you've got to consider that for Twain or Tolkien is that their raw word count, or what they had at the end of the day after edits? Killing your babies is a tried and true editing method, and it can really drop your final words-per-day. So maybe those successful writers were also really good at self-editing as they went.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that's just fiction writing, which I intuit is a much different beast than confessional-style blogging like I've been doing lately. In some ways, fiction seems to roll along faster at least in first draft form, since there's a plot to follow and dialogue is sort of like popcorn where it just crops up and vanishes so quickly. But nonfiction, even nearly stream of consciousness type rambling like I've been doing here, does seem to plod a bit when you're talking about the speed stuff gets down on paper. But then, maybe it varies depending on how enthusiastic I am about the subject matter. If I was writing about how much I love yuri manga, or why Godzilla is so much fun, or reviewing a book I'd really enjoyed, I imagine the words would flow much faster and the volume would pile up very quickly as compared to something like this, where I'm not very experienced in judging what a reasonable word count really is.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all, there are bloggers who write way more than this on a daily basis and they seem to have no trouble keeping up. And there have been fiction writers like Robert Silverberg, who could boast that they maintained over a million words a year and managed to sell pretty much all of it (admittedly that was during the pulp days so the standard was pretty low, and he felt so bad about that he deliberately created scholarly works later on in order to feel he deserved his accolades). So maybe I'm overachieving right now, may be I've got a long way to go.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All I know is that I know nothing. So zen, huh?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we go back to two other metrics that I think mean more. Time and consistency. Have I been producing regularly, and how much have I invested in the process? The first is easy, and at least for the past six days, including this piece, I'd say I've managed pretty well. After all, the whole idea at this stage is to be a habitual writer. Not a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> writer, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">per se</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that part comes later. Not even an especially productive one, writing huge quantities in every sitting. But one who keeps coming back to the keyboard time and time again, reliably creating prose. So far that's been a success.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As to time, I'm honestly not sure how much I've invested in each piece. I do know that I set my minimum as 25 minutes a day and I've stuck with that and in fact exceeded it for all but the first attempt. But how many 25-minute segments I have I taken each day? Honestly, I haven't been keeping count. I know </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deliverance Klondike Ninja</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> took 4 1/2, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Why </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">took just over one, but the other, I'm not sure. A little over two each, I think, but I wouldn't be able to swear to it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So maybe that's something I need to add to my daily routine, recording how many time units I took and how many words I ended up with. Eventually, there's likely to be a trend that develops that'll show me what my own norm is, and I can take that as something to stick with as a consistent measure of success. But even though there does seem to be a rising trend in terms of word count (not counting DKN), you can't really determine much from such a small sample.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which leaves me with not a lot to say at this point. It's not like this is the meatiest subject I've ever encountered, although I'm sure there are people out there who could go on for hours. I'm not one of them.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, I still plan on following up on my earlier statement that I'd like to take another, longer crack at short fiction this weekend, again from a random prompt and see where it takes me. Hopefully I'll be able to post that by end of day tomorrow.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 time segments</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1,120 words</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-75951747795414875032014-02-07T11:49:00.001-08:002014-02-07T11:49:10.059-08:00Need a Lift?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so I arrive at day five of my attempt to build a writing habit, and already I've arrived at an important point. A day when I really have no idea what to write about. I have no outside direction for today, the course I'm following simply tells me that what I should be focusing on right now is momentum. Not quality, not craft. Just building that forward motion, getting used to producing every day.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4f264b67-0de4-0d34-8f2b-e923d43da7f5" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So this may be a bit of a ramble. I'm thinking of maybe doing some fiction over the weekend, a bit of a longer version of my earlier short story. But for today, I thought I might talk a bit about the source of my writing habit course.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The whole thing started at the end of last month, actually. I'd just signed up for the International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club, which is honestly a lot of fun. I've been a bit concerned at how much of a shut-in I've been lately, not just in person (Canadian winter and no job tends to do that to me) but online as well. So at least in that area I needed to find an outlet.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it's a wonderful outlet so far. Hanging out in the IGGPPC forums has gotten me more inspired and social online than I've been in a long time, with Valentine's swaps, trading mix tapes, discussing movies and books, being exposed to fandoms I haven't really had much contact with before (Nerdfighter? YA fiction? Mystery Men? What are these strange things?). And of course getting assigned a pen pal, which is a totally new experience to me. As is trolling stores for cool, geeky stickers and other flat things that fit in envelopes.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the things that's come up in the forums is exercise support. Always an issue for the committed geek who isn't usually inspired to take time off from their beloved hobbies to go run laps, it's good to have somebody in your corner. And one part of that is a monthly fitness challenge. On the spur of the moment, I decided to try this month's challenge: Wall sits. Basically start with 10 seconds and add 10 seconds each day, with the end goal being 300 seconds of wall sitting. Sounds a lot easier than it is, today was the 70 second one and I thought I was gonna die. But I shall perservere where I can.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To support this, one of the Iggles (generic term for IGGPPC members, boy members are called Miggles) created a plan on the Lift: Daily Motivation app. This sounded like a good deal to me, and it was a good chance to try out one of those daily learning/motivation/time management apps people keep talking about. Sadly, the app doesn't seem to exist for the iPad (there's one with the same name that has a different icon and different setup) and the version of Android on my phone is too old to support it. So it's off to the lift.do site to see if the web version works. And thank goodness, it did.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a pretty simple thing, really, which is one thing that I really like. All it does is when you sign up for a course, it gives you what you need to do that day. Usually these are small tasks, like draw something, or add 10 seconds to your previous day's wall sit, or in this case, simply sit down and write for some self-selected amount of time. Once you've done that, you click a checkmark and you go on with your life. And that's really it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was taken with the concept right away. It can be pretty intimidating jumping wholeheartedly into a task, especially if it's a pretty big time investment. Breaking it down into manageable chunks is a fine idea, but not one that's easy for everyone to do in practice. It's a matter of aptitude, some people respond really well to the idea that you should spend six hours a day writing if you want to be good at it and I honestly applaud those people. They're amazing to me, and I know from practice that I really don't have that capacity. Same goes for drawing, learning a language, whatever it may be. So having a process that helps in the process of breaking things down into smaller chunks really helps someone like me who has a hard time separating the parts from the whole. Maybe one day I'll be to the point where I can sit down and work at writing or drawing or whatever the same way that I'd work at a full-time job. But I definitely can't do that without working my way up to it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which is probably part of what ultimately destroyed my plans to become an animator. Perhaps if I'd stumbled upon systems like this four or five years ago (did they even exist then?) things might have been different. Maybe they still will. Only way to find out is to do it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that's really the whole point to any positive motivation/task breakdown scheme. To simply do it. I suppose I'm fortunate that I'm unemployed right now, since it provides me with ample free time in which to develop these habits. Even if I started working tomorrow (well, tomorrow's Saturday so that's pretty unlikely), the few days I've started with and the low time overhead of each item wouldn't be too hard to carry over into an "after work" context rather than a "middle of the day" context.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So of course me being me, I had to jump in and try out a bunch of habit-forming courses/challenges at once. So let's go through what I have on my plate right now:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Day Wall Sit Challenge</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is the one I started with, so I'm a day ahead of most of the rest. As I mentioned before, you start with a wall sit and hold it for 10 seconds. A wall sit, if you're not familiar with it, is basically where you take a position like you're sitting in a chair, but instead of a chair you brace yourself against a wall. It's mostly thighs, but I suspect there's some abdominal/lower back elements in there. Add 10 seconds to the time every day.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Day Plank Challenge - Beginner</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I started this day after I started the wall sits, so I'm a day behind. This one's not so punishing as the wall sits, but it's still pretty tough. Basically you start with 20 seconds in the plank pose, body rigid and resting on toes and elbows, and 15 seconds on each side. That sounds pretty easy but if you've never done planks before or haven't done them in a long while, it's challenging. Instead of increasing daily like the wall sits, the increases are after three or four days, so it gives you a bit of a chance to get used to the time.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intro to Meditation</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I've wanted to get back to meditation for years, but whenever I try it doesn't seem to stick. So this is a good chance to not only build the habit back up, but also to try out a method different from the Shambhala Buddhist version I'd learned back in the late 90's. It's easier, I'm finding, to get into meditation when you've either got some sort of guide or other people doing it with you. Certainly the Buddhist version was very enjoyable when done in groups and in a beautiful setting like the temple in Halifax. This one's done in short, less than 10 minute segments through Soundcloud. I've found that it's quite nice if I do my writing immediately afterwards, it's much easier to get in the swing of it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Develop a Writing Habit</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Speaking of writing, here we are. If you've been reading along so far, you already know what I'm getting out of this course. Each day is a paragraph or so on developing writing as a daily activity, and pointing at what you should be doing on a daily basis. As I already mentioned, today is a bit directionless in the sense that the direction is mostly "just write, and get momentum going". Yesterday was similar, but looking ahead I see there are a few more concrete topics down the line so we'll see where that takes me. The amount of writing, and the metric you use, is up to the individual, although the course seems to prefer a time limit rather than a word target. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daily Drawing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Now we get to the hard one, at least from my perspective. It doesn't really sound hard. Draw every day. Simple, right? And yet, everything on the list even the physically demanding wall sits, don't bring up so much procrastination and avoidance in me as this one. I suppose on some level it scares me. And I suppose that's not the biggest surprise ever, given my art-related insecurities until now. After spending the better part of four years comparing yourself unfavourably to your peers and friends, it gets a little daunting. Hell, I'm misting up a bit just typing this. But if I really want to move past all that, and get to somewhere I'm happy with myself, I've got to work at it and get past that fear. Which is what doing this...it's not really a challenge or a course, just a daily prompt...is all about.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So there's the lot. It sounds like quite a bit, but even taken all together it's not that much time. About an hour between the writing and art (although I tend to take two or more 25-minute segments for writing, I don't </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">need</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to), 10 minutes or so for meditation and another 5-ish for exercise, although that'll increase as I go. Not much of a bite out of my day, really. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The real trick here is to stick with it long term. That's tough, given my personality. I've always been a bit of an enthusiast, rushing off to check out cool stuff, then coming back to wax enthusiastic at people about the ones that I thought were especially awesome. Kind of like what I'm doing now with the Lift app. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The trouble of course is there are a lot more cool things out there, so how long until I drop this in favour of a new shiny thing?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suppose one thing that helps is I'm a bit older now and, at least in some respects a bit more mature. I've got a different perspective on things than I had twenty years ago, or even twenty weeks ago, which hopefully will help me stay a bit more grounded. The low time investment of developing these various activities as habits helps a bit as well, due to the affordable "cost" of keeping them up while still allowing time to pursue fun leisure stuff as well. That's the theory at least.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As time goes by and these few days turn into a month and I try to continue these habits to a second month, a third, a year and so forth, hopefully that theory will bear itself out. And maybe eventually I can be a bit more self-starting about the whole mess instead of relying so much on external tools.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But maybe that's the wrong way of thinking about it? After all, is there any shame to using a tool to make your life better? Perhaps thinking that you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">must</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> be self-starting and self-maintaining in order to be good or effective or committed is the wrong way of going about it, and a self-defeating mindset in the same way that assuming the way one successful person does things is the way you must do them and if you don't you're a failure. I know that doing so is a sure-fire way to make yourself give up, and has been demonstrated in a great many studies.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't know the answer to that. Indeed, I don't know the answer to any of this, even if there is one (or only one). All I know is right now this seems to be working, and for six days now I've been writing more than I have in years. And there's nothing at all wrong with that.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a bit of a postscript, I was searching for something in the uncharted wilderness of my hard drive last night when I found something pretty interesting. The "100 Themes" challenge. Essentially it's a list of 100 topics which you draw an image for until you've exhausted the list. Obviously it's a production and habit forming tool, the same as the writing habit course I'm doing now is, but focused on volume and variety, rather than working daily. It's also meant to be themes for drawing images, but there's no reason why topics such as "silence" or "innocence" couldn't be written about instead. And further, there's no reason not to apply them to the system I've been using with daily check-ins and positive motivation to keep me going through the list.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that's my intention, once this 30-day writing course is done, to start writing on the 100 themes. If nothing else, I'll gain more experience at writing and provide more content to my blog than I've ever had. Can't say either makes me unhappy.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-68444539596321305032014-02-06T13:16:00.000-08:002014-02-06T13:16:12.647-08:00My Oral Fixation<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Honestly, I really don't feel like writing today, but the whole point to building a habit is doing it even when you're trying to find excuses not to. Besides, it's good for me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-7815155c-090b-a421-5702-d0926b194bbb" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-7815155c-090b-a421-5702-d0926b194bbb" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I was thinking today, an awful lot of my life revolves around food.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's true of a lot of people, so it's not like it makes me some sort of amazing person, or History's Greatest Monster (tm) or anything. It's just something I've noticed in my case. I've always loved to cook, and I've always loved to eat, and generally food and drink are happy things in my life. I've been fortunate not to have a lot of unhealthiness tied up in eating, where eating itself is a difficult thing or emotionally tied to difficult things. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What got me thinking along these lines was the fact that I had a job interview today. Which, in itself, has nothing at all to do with food. In fact, it wasn't even an interview for a specific job, but for a temporary placement agency. See, since I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never be an animator, I need to fall back on the field that I have the most experience with. Clerical and data entry in my case.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact is, I don't really mind doing that sort of work. In fact, stright-up typing is pretty relaxing for me and when you get into pretty abstract stuff like lists of addresses or whatever, my mind is freed to chew on whatever it feels like. So it's not really a hardship, it's more just a bit of a disappointment that I turned out not to be suited for the career I'd hoped for.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe it would have been different if I'd gone for CG animation instead of traditional. I'll never know.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, that's got very little to do with the whole food issue. The relevant part wasn't that I had an interview, but where. You see, where I live is a bit of a distance from the downtown. Owing to how Ottawa is laid out, if you don't want to live somewhere more or less affordable but don't want to go all the way down to the student housing level, you've really got to get out of the heart of the city. It's not that hard for me to get into those areas though, given that one of the main bus routes goes two blocks from my house, but since I'm not working presently I try to keep those trips to a minimum. Besides, it's freakin' FREEZING out there!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So a good excuse for a trip downtown like this interview is also a good excuse to go to the Byward Market. And for me, at least, going to the Market area means one thing: Food!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Byward Market, for those who don't know, is an area separate from the downtown that's largely a boutique shopping district. There are a number of bars and restaurants, some fashionable clothing shops nearby, upscale decorating, even the School Of Art is in there. And a French bookstore that carries a bewildering variety of bande dessinee volumes (I can never remember where to put the accent on that word). It's quite a nice place to spend an afternoon, and there are a good variety of diversions aside from the culinary sort.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's the culinary sort that attracts me though, every time.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So today, once the interview was over, started out with sushi. There's a mid-range sushi shop attached to a nice fish restaurant that I like for lunch fare. Not too expensive, but well put together and with a pleasant atmosphere. The quality is rather nice too. I recognize that sushi isn't to everyone's tastes, but I've been fond of it ever since my first samples back in Halifax.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sushi is a slow meal, I find. Not to make, there's usually not much of a wait when you order it in a restaurant. But it's not a food that really lends itself to rushing when you eat it. For me, there's an imperative that I take my time, to appreciate the various textures and flavours of each morsel, to savour the sips of genmachai in between bites, and to carefully choose what my next piece will be. That's one reason I like rolls better than molded sushi, there's more opportunity for variety from one bite to the next.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It strikes me that dim sum is very much the same way, although it has a much different character. It's also something I haven't done since I moved to Ottawa, must remedy that someday.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, after that it's time to visit my favourite Hungarian deli, which as luck would have it is right next door. I love these European places, with their weird juxtaposition of meat and candy, both in large quantities. It's always struck me as surreal the volume of sweets that pop up in a deli or a cheese shop or whatever, facing off against an equal mass of smoked meats and the occasional perogie. It's like a dietary gang war is going to break out the moment I leave, they're just waiting for a sign of weakness in each other.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My mainstays there are hot Hungarian sausage, which is my substitute for the link pepperoni which is oddly impossible to find in Ottawa, perogies of course (not the kind with sauerkraut in them though) and Inka, which is a coffee substitute that doesn't really taste like coffee and makes a nice late evening drink while reading. Sometimes I get German smoked sausages there, and they have a nice kielbasa. But it's mostly the smoked meat and perogies.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After that, a trip to my favourite tea store, aptly names The Tea Store. There's something that's always grabbed me about the place that places like Teavana (or whatever it's calling itself this week) and David's Teas just can't match. No, this place doesn't have the modern lines or faux fanciness of other places. It's just a nice, bright little shop that has an entire wall of giant mason jars full of every type of tea you can imagine. And unlike a certain tea store, they don't lace their stuff with German sugar. It's all tea, all the time.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've managed to discover a few mainstays in the time I've been going there:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star of India, a blend of several black teas</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roasted almond, with black tea again and sweet as caramel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lapsang, a smoked tea</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Green tea with jasmine flowers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oolong</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Milk oolong</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Genmachai, green tea with roasted brown rice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Georgia peach rooibos</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ginger lime, a herbal concoction of about a hundred different things, but it tastes amazing.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also have a couple of herbal chais and I bought this lovely Turkish apple tisane today that's just the greatest thing to drink while writing.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are other regular food-related haunts I missed today as well. An international cheese shop that for some reason also has a lot of chocolate-making supplies but also carries this fantastic 5-year-old gouda that's to die for. The meat shop that carries a tantalizing selection of fresh sausage made of things like duck and deer and buffalo and boar as well as a variety of other lovely meaty treats. The Italian grocery who carries such a huge selection of stock it's hard to navigate the aisles, but a huge number of people do every day because they're just. That. Good. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that's not mentioning that about 2/3 of the year when it's not forbiddingly cold, a good part of the front bit of the Market is home to a literal market, with farm stalls selling everything from fresh produce to maple syrup products, plus another brace of stalls selling crafts, jewellery, henna designs and flowers. Even on days when I'm not buying, it's great fun to look around and just soak up the ambiance. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other girls might shop for jewellery given a free day and some mad money. Some shop for clothes. Others might clear out their local bookstore. There are even some who might haunt the game shops to see if they can round out their collection of GBA carts.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me, I'm all about the edibles. And drinkables. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's trips like this that really underline how much time when I'm not on a special trip that I spend wandering around recipe sites or simply thinking of what to cook, or wondering what I hadn't made in a while that I might want to revisit, or whether that thing I made last week couldn't stand a tweak or two, or how I could make something that I (or my roommate) don't like some of the ingredients more palatable. It might not be glamorous, but to me it's pretty fun.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And speaking of pretty fun, I've been typing now for the best part of an hour. Not bad when you consider that this whole thing started out with me not being in the mood at all for writing, don't you think?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-835212777132835102014-02-05T13:01:00.000-08:002014-02-05T13:01:13.865-08:00Worldbuilding Wednesday: Land Beast I<span id="docs-internal-guid-48651845-03d8-0ee6-249a-3396b00c5a56"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One thing I really admire in fiction is good worldbuilding. So before I go further, let's define that for those who might not know the term.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worldbuilding is, as the term implies, the process of building a world. A fictional world that is, which is the place where your characters do their thing, whatever that may be. It's the culture, society, attitudes, location, logic, and all the other little granular details that make up the world your characters live in.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now obviously this is an absolute necessity for science fiction and fantasy. Sure, you can get away with a tossed-off "spaceships, ftl, robots, blah blah", but you're not going to make Firefly that way. Or at least you're not going to make a Firefly that's any different from a million other space shows. Without all the background detail, even if not much of it appears in the story, there's nothing to differentiate Firefly from Star Trek from Farcry from Battle Beyond the Stars. Same goes for fantasy, it's sheer laziness to just say there are elves and such, and your readers will pick up on that pretty quick.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even in stuff set in present day, you can still apply worldbuilding. I recently read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and she's built in a number of new things into that world. Instead of just assuming her Harry Potter expy and running with it, she includes excerpts from the books that this new character stars in, and shows how they're a thing of their own to some extent. To whatever level she's successful at the attempt (and honestly I wasn't entirely convinced) it's an attempt to create a context in which the main character could be a big name fan writing fanfic about the series in question.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tolkien, of course, is the archetypical worldbuilder. Not only do you have The Hobbit providing context for Lord of the Rings, but you have the Sylmerylion before that, providing a detailed look at the history and legends of the world of Middle Earth. And more, you have The Adventures of Tom Bombadil who opens a window on the culture and folklore in a world full of fantastic creatures and events. And on top of that you have Tolkien's notes and side stories, which all add to the richness of the overall world.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To take another, more contemporary example, I've been enjoying a recent manga series named Centaur's Worries (take a look around, it should be on MangaTraders or someplace). The basic idea is a slice of life story involving a centaur schoolgirl and her friends, who are all other fantastic creatures like satyrs and angels. But as you get deeper into the narrative, you learn more about the world they live in, and the richer the world gets. From the fact that standard biology in this world is based on six limbs rather than four (wings, forelegs, etc), to the idea that riding a centaur is considered a hate crime since they were formerly slaves and war mounts, to the mystery of the snakelike Antarcticans who have advanced technology but little culture. Some of the details are vital to the overarching plot, which doesn't become apparent for quite some time, and some are just trivia intended to help the reader become immersed in the characters' world.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like all skills, worldbuilding is something that needs to be learned and developed. It can be pretty scary too, since every choice you make has effects on what choices are available to you down the road. Not to mention, they're your choices. You're the one responsible for everything, and that can be pretty heavy when you really think about it.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In any case, as part of my attempts to build good writing habits, I want to declare Worldbuilding Wednesdays, and each week get a little more into the process of creating, well, a world. So here's the first part:</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worldbuilding Wednesdays: Land Beast Part I</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we start with just the basic germ of an idea. A world with a hostile surface where it would be difficult for humans to survive. What does live here is a gigantic creature, the Land Beast, a continually moving beast of enormous size, which supports its own mobile ecosystem, part of which are human-like, and eventually the protagonists of stories that take place on the Beast.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So right away, the question comes up. How damn big is this beast anyhow? The size of New York City? The size of France? Bigger? And what sort of planet is this? Are there oceans? Is there an ecosystem on the ground? Why can't humans live there?</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are all valid questions. So let's think about this. First of all, the Beast would have to be big enough to support a complete ecosystem. Plants, animals, humans, the lot. And that takes quite a bit of room. So something France-sized would be workable, since it would not only support the necessary life, but it would be big enough to justify a society of humans as well. Which obviously would be necessary if we're going to tell stories that humans are going to relate to.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes yes, I know about Watership Down. But I'd rather write about people who are people, rather than animals who are basically human.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we've got a size, how about a number? How many of these beasts are there? This is where you can get a bit arbitrary, since I'm going to decide that the humans, or humanoids at least, who live on the beast have never seen another one. So the beasts may be assumed to be solitary in nature and only very rarely come in contact with each other. They'd also need to be very long-lived in order for their ecosystems to grow.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So maybe in the whole world, there are only a handful of these beasts. Call it 10-15 at most, and they generally avoid each others' territories. I can imagine it would be a major event, and one worthy of stories, for these creatures to actually encounter one another, which would also involve contact between the dominant species who live on them.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of living on them, there has to be some benefit for the Land Beast to have critters and forests growing on its surface. Clearly they have to be symbiotic, rather than parasitic, to last this long together. So perhaps the plants provide a vital service, providing nutrients, catching rainwater, and aerating the outer skin of the Beast. Likewise, the animals would fertilize the plants and some of their own byproducts would provide vital elements. An evolution which, over time, has benefitted both species.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It strikes me that there must be oceans and rain on this world, otherwise it wouldn't be possible for the animals to get fresh water. Certainly you don't get a mountain spring out of a living creature, so perhaps the plants have grown in such a way that their roots capture pools of falling water. Some of which is absorbed by the Beast, some of which goes to maintain the animal portion of the ecosystem. Sounds good to me. Plus, it leaves open the idea of a Sea Beast narrative that takes place in the same world.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So right away you see we've closed a door on some choices about the world. This cannot possibly be a desert world. There are seas, there is regularly falling water, so that is no longer an option. So instead, perhaps it's the makeup of the planet's surface that's the problem. The land itself could be poison to species like the ones we know, perhaps high in some molecule that we are weak against. However, the Beast is able to survive this, and on its back is a much preferable environment where development is more likely to occur. So while there may be creatures and plants on the surface, these would also include these elements as well. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So there's another decision made. Humans can't live on the surface, but the Beast acts as an intermediary that makes that sort of life possible. It would probably have a metabolism that lets the harmful elements pass through, so they'd return to the land via its waste products, meaning that it would never be cleansed. Of course another reason would be the continual danger of a Beast tromping through and destroying what it steps on, so nothing really lasting could rise up in the first place.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course that leaves the possibility of nomadic critters with incompatible biology to the Beast-riding animals could exist, but probably irrelevant to the stories I'd want to tell. It's something I can get away with leaving open to decide later in any case.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of nomadic, that brings us back to the Beast's wandering lifestyle. It would need a fair amount of space to stump around in, plus room for the other Beasts that exist on this world. Plus we've already decided that we need seas. So that opens the question of how the land is arranged. Obviously something heavy on islands or archipelagos would be right out. But what about a supercontinent, one large land mass that all the Beasts exist on, tramping eternally through the wide expanse. Or should there be multiple continents, say two or three, each with two or three Beasts each? Personally, I like the idea of a supercontinent. It opens more possibilities for the Beasts to encounter each other, which could be a threat to the individual "worlds" that reside on them.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's a good start for the first day of exploring the concept of the Land Beast. Next week, we'll get a little further into it and see what new decision points come up.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comments and suggestions are more than welcome throughout this exercise. I am quite open to input and criticisms into the world that's slowly being created here.</span><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-54269256247072502052014-02-04T18:19:00.000-08:002014-02-04T19:02:22.743-08:00Deliverance Klondike ninja<div style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I realized earlier today that although I've started working on developing a writing habit, I hadn't actually tried working on any fiction in that time (granted only two days, but still). So here's my first attempt.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the first work of fiction I've made public in more than a decade, so it's rather a landmark for me. It's also a completely unplanned first draft, created from a three-item prompt (the words in the title) from the Brainstormer app. So while comments are definitely welcome, keep in mind that I warned you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3,625 words, approx. 2 1/2 hours</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the rabbit that tipped me off. Normally you saw a lot of rabbits in these parts, so I never paid them much mind, but the way this one was moving was different. Scared like most rabbits, but not of me. Of something bigger. Something inside me said this rabbit knew what it was talking about, so I moved back into the entrance to the mine.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6c78e02e-ffd1-6915-ad78-7d55191897dd" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was almost all the warning I got before the rumbling started, like a big ol' freight train was barrelling through about a half inch from where I was standing. Knocked me flat on my ass, and in the time it took me to get my wits about me it was on top of me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Avalanche. Big one too, seemed like half the damn world was coming down on top of me. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'Cept it wasn't on top of me thanks to that rabbit. That couple of steps back saved my bacon, and while a mess of snow and ice came in the entrance it didn't do me any harm. Once the entrance to the mine was blocked off, everything else ran down over the top. So I managed to be spared being crushed by a mountain's worth of crap.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nah, just meant I was stuck in this mine 'til I starved. That wasn't so bad. Yeah, I had all the damn luck in the world didn't I?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thought I'd had tons of it up to that point, though. Come up north lookin' to make my fortune in the gold rush like everyone else, and damned if I didn't find it. Staked my claim on a set of natural caves that turned out to have some real substance to 'em, and that saved me having to dig as much as I would have otherwise. They went pretty deep, so who knows how far they went, but what I got to so far had a couple of good veins of the shiny stuff and even a stream that ran through, carrying some pebbles and dust from upstream for days I didn't really feel like diggin'.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every girl's got a few of those, you understand. Happens. Least I didn't need to swing a pickaxe while I had cramps, that'd probably have made me give up the whole mess right there.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any rate, this mine was my whole damn world now. At least for a few months until enough snow melted. I had some supplies of course, and fresh water from the stream, but no way I'd manage stuck in this whole for that long. I figured I had a few days, maybe a week or so, tops. And by the sounds of what went over my head, it was going to be a stretch digging myself out of that.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And wouldn't you know, right then is when I heard a powerful creaking and groaning, and you don't have to tell me twice to get the hell outta the way when a mine starts doing that.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I skedaddled further down the line, with the creaking getting louder until it started crashing instead, and there goes the front section of the mine entrance. Not to mention, a good half my supplies which were only a little ways in. Just great.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now there are a lotta things you can do in a situation like that. You can panic, but honestly I've never been the panicking type. You can roll up your sleeves and get digging, hoping you can get through a couple dozen feet of rock and earth on your own without more of it dropping on your poor head. You can even give up, but I've never been much good at that either.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I did the only sensible thing. I went and made myself some coffee.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember that stream I told you about? That had some bits of gold you could pick out if you were patient? Well that was only the number 2 good thing about it. The number one good thing about that stream is the water from it made amazing coffee. I remember a girl in Dodge telling me that if you're gonna make coffee worth drinkin', you gotta start with water worth drinkin' even without the coffee in it. And that's what this stream was, pure and fresh and crisp. Best damn coffee water I ever had. I could say the hell with the gold and bottle this stuff, probably make double the fortune. But y'know, some things you only want to share with someone special. Spread it around too much, and you lose something.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I sat me down on a big rock with a cup of that damn good coffee and closed my eyes for a bit, tried to listen to the sound of the stream instead and forget about all that crap that just happened. Maybe I'd never be able to dig my way out, but tying myself in knots over the whole thing wouldn't get me out either. So I just let it go for a bit, tried not to think about much of anything.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Didn't entirely succeed, but I didn't mind because my mind managed to wander away to something a lot nicer on the nerves, my girl back in the city. Not the girl who knew her coffee, though. Cute as she was, she couldn't compare to my gal Sal. I knew Sal was the girl for me from the first time we met, not long after I got into Dawson City and was getting the lay of the land. She was with the Mounties up here, special personnel for the detachment that got started up when the boom got going. Answered directly to that big shot, Sam Spade himself, and everybody's heard of him. Even down south. What they didn't know was that the RCMP brass stationed one of their ninja Mounties to back him up, and that's what my Sal was.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was a special ninja for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, sent there to help keep order in the Klondike. And I loved her to bits.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We got together right after I got to Dawson, actually. Part of Sal's job was to suss out any new arrivals, see if they were on the up and up, you know? Stuff like making sure they didn't have any guns, or were more interested in prospecting than settling grudges in what they figured was the wilderness where they'd get away with it. So she'd sneak into their rooms, spy on them, stuff like that.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, I manage to get a feel for her presence when she tried it on me. See, I'm from one of them back country towns, like you'd find all over Canada, and like most of them we had our ambitions to send ninjas to help out the Mounties or the Canadian Forces. Lots of honour for a town to have one of ours in the navy or whatever. Folks down in the States, they don't know about this stuff, but any town less than a thousand folks in Canada sure does. Even in Toronto they keep their mouths shut, because they know if they don't they'll get it shut for 'em.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, it was like that for me. All kid's stuff, playing hockey, working on farms in the summer and dreaming of becoming a real ninja. Never made it of course, which was why I ended up prospecting. Couldn't pull off stuff like vanishing or long steps or nothing like that. But I was a good hand with a shuriken and I could sense like crazy. Wasn't enough though, you needed the whole set of skills to pass the government tests so I ended up giving it up and went into 4-H instead. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ain't nobody ever snuck up on me since though.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, Sal was pretty shocked 'til I told her all that, and she got all smiles. Damn, her smile was like gold and then some. Even better than the coffee stream (which reminded me to take another swig - damn that's good). And I smiled back and we spent the whole rest of the night talking about how she got there, and how she came from some little place on the east coast while I grew up just south of Hudson's Bay, and all the foolish Americans who came up and suddenly found that their guns wouldn't work or their bullets were missing or something and then Spade would just shake his head and confiscate the weapons that weren't any good anyhow.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From then on, every time I came into town while I was searching for a good claim, Sal appeared in my room. To be honest, it made me not want to go back out into the wilds, but she had a job to do and I had a fortune to make. Just one of those little tradeoffs you gotta make now and again in your life. But in the end, somehow the two of us fell in love.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I sighed. Sal was the reason I was so happy to find this claim. Once I got enough out of here and squirrelled away enough of a nest egg, I was planning to cut the place loose, sell the claim and get back to her for good. Not that I'd take her away from her job, she obviously loved it. But maybe I'd settle in somewhere near Dawson, doing something that didn't require climbing a half-mile into the dirt.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, it was a nice thought anyway. Avalanches and cave-ins had a way of getting in the way of a girl's dreams. But at least by now I felt a bit calmer and more able to reason my way through this. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact is, I definitely couldn't go out the way I came in. Even if I could dig that far on my own, it was unstable and likely to give way even further. Fortunately, the part of the cavern with the stream was far enough away and seemed pretty sound, so it was a bit of a haven. One reason I'd placed some permanent lights around and thank goodness I did. I learned the trick of them when I was about 13, away at a ninja camp with some kids from the local communities. Useful skill to learn, and definitely the sort of thing you didn't tell the Americans about. Sure it's an unfair advantage when you're mining, but you gotta take advantage where you can.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the only way out seemed to be through. Like I said, my mine started out as a series of natural tunnels, which I hadn't fully explored before I found what I was looking for in them. So there was always a chance that there may be another way out if I looked hard enough. A slim hope, but at least it was a hope.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was with this somewhat happier feeling that heard the sound, and my heart sank like a stone. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked around as it came again and I knew there was no mistake. That wasn't the sound of stone on stone, or supports letting go, or snow and ice coming down the side of a mountain. No, this was a sound that came out of a beast. A beast that doesn't like to be disturbed. A beast that had cost the lives of too many careless prospectors.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Canadian Human-eating Underground Denizens. We just called 'em cave trolls.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I was stuck in here with them while they went on the warpath. Too much to hope they wouldn't notice me. A cave troll's so connected to the tunnels it's like a part of their body, so they'd know exactly where the cave-in was and where to look for it. They must have been way far back in the tunnels to start with since my mining didn't flush 'em out before this. But something like an avalanche followed by a collapse was going to bring them out fast to find out what's up.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started grabbing anything I could to use as a weapon. I had a few shuriken on me, enough to protect myself from claim jumpers or a wolf or two looking for an easy meal, but nothing near enough to take on a pack of angry trolls. And from the howls getting closer, I knew it wasn't just two or three of the buggers.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got my hands on a new shovel I'd just gotten for this trip out to the mine, glad I'd sprung the extra cash for a good one, and broke the blade off. I was never much of a swordswoman back in my camp days, but I got good marks in staff fighting. Maybe the skills would apply to shovel handles, one way to find out.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that, I started to move. I couldn't stay in the well-lit part of the tunnel, and if I was super duper lucky, maybe I'd pick the right way out and bypass the beasts while heading for the exit. So I picked a side passage and started running for it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By now the damned roars were getting loud enough they were echoing all over the place, from trolls mad at finding signs of humans all over their caves. It was impossible to tell where they were coming from, but clearly they'd made it up to the areas I'd been doing a lot of my digging. Cave trolls were pretty territorial and not too fond of humans to start with. No way were were gonna work out our differences, I thought to myself, and tried to move through the darkness even faster.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It didn't last. The tunnel cut out before too long, telling me I'd made the worst choice I could, even as the air filled with a new wave of roars as the beasts found the cave-in. The sounds told me they probably wouldn't believe it wasn't my fault but I didn't have any choice but to run towards them. Maybe I could get to a side passage before they got to where things split off.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As it turns out I wasn't that lucky. When I got into the main passage, dimly lit from the stream cavern further down, I clearly saw the figures of five of the meanest, maddest looking trolls you could possibly imagine. And believe me, I can imagine them pretty mean and mad. These guys, they were beyond that, and looking right at me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No running, I thought in that split second of decision that seems to last ten minutes. There's nowhere to go, and what ninja spirit there was in me, even if it weren't enough for the Mounties it was enough that if I was gonna die, it was with the name of the girl I loved on my lips.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Saaaaaaaal!" I screamed, hoping it might confuse the trolls a bit. No such luck, but the few shuriken I had made up for it, lodging in the eyes of the foremost two or three, leaving them flailing and generally getting in the way of the ones in back. I started wailing away with my shovel handle, which stood the abuse surprisingly well, and I had a brief, delirious moment where I thought I might even walk away from all this.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then one of the trolls who could see got past and thrust its paw through my weapon, breaking it in half and sending one end flying, bashing me in the chest as it followed through on the swing. I felt ribs crack, and pain shot through me asit raised me up to scream in my face. I screamed back, although not quite as voluntarily, taking the moment to swing the jagged remains of the shovel handle into the side of the beast's face. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The blow struck home, but I think I surprised it more than actually injured it. In any case, it threw me away from itself in order to claw the sharp wood out of itself, and then the whole group turned to advance together. They knew I didn't have any fight left in me, so they could take their time with the task of tearing me limb from limb. They were right, there was no way I could have even fended off the rabbit I'd seen earlier that day, assuming it had a grudge against me or something.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Sal," I murmured to myself, fully expecting them to be my last words, "I love you."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Well thanks!," came a cheerful voice to my left. "I love you too!"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that, before I could even register what was going on, a flash of something went past me straight into the knot of trolls, who started bleeding from multiple slash wounds. I struggled to follow her motions through the pain, but could only manage to get fleeting glimpses of her as she severed a vein here, dodged a blow there, shoved a tiny explosive charge into a mouth over there, all the while throwing a volley of darts and daggers, most of which were probably poisoned. I could see why the Mounties turned me down back in the day, this was entirely out of my league.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The battle didn't last long. Cave trolls may be fearsome and strong, but they're no match against an elite Royal Canadian Ninja. It wasn't long before the five hulking brutes I'd stood no chance against were reduced to a pile of meat, and my saviour was standing over them, covered with gore and working to calm her bloodlust.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God, she was gorgeous.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite myself, I let out a groan as my broken ribs decided to speak up. I was no longer running on adrenaline, so the pain decided to let itself back into my consciousness. Faster than I'd even expect a ninja to move, Sal was next to me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Oh Rose, look at what they've done to you! Here, I've got to make sure you're okay.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without waiting for my answer, which I'm not sure I was up to giving anyway, she was undressing me. Well, not undressing in the usual way, more shredding my blood-soaked clothes in order to get at my wounds. Not a terribly romantic moment, even if Sal was even sexier than usual. I love her intense looks.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a short while, she began to take the shredded remains of my shirt to make bindings out of. Apparently I wasn't hurt as badly as I looked, my ribs hadn't punctured anything and most of the blood was from fairly shallow cuts. I would have the mother of all bruises on my chest for a while, and I wouldn't be able to really move around much for a while, but I'd live and mend pretty much as well as when I'd started. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once she'd finished binding me up, which was far from painless, she finally looked up at me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I'm glad you're safe, Rose. I don't know what I'd do if you were hurt even worse."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked at her and smiled. "Same here, I'm just really glad you showed up when you did. Wait..." I thought for a moment. "Why the hell did you show up when you did? You should have been back in Dawson."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sal grinned. "It was supposed to be a surprise, honey. Guess it was a bigger surprise than I'd meant." She paused a moment to smooth down my hair before continuing. "I wanted to see your claim, maybe spend some time with you at work. So a few weeks ago I put in for leave. I didn't tell you about it, since I didn't know when my relief would show up, but she got in yesterday. Once she was briefed and I got a night's sleep, well, I was headed out here like a shot. Just in time to see the avalanche."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"But how did you get in? Even if you got through the snow the entrance caved in."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She nodded. "That's right, but when all that debris came down, it loosened up some of the rocks further up. It took a little while, but I used some of my village's techniques and found a back entrance. It's down that way," she gestured off the direction I would have gone had the trolls not caught up with me. "Shame you didn't go down there just a few minutes sooner, I'm pretty sure you would have gotten away."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Took a wrong turn I guess," I smiled and shrugged, then winced at the pain and told myself not to do that again. "Good for me, I guess."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sal cocked an eyebrow. "You're alive, but it's beyond me how this is good exactly."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"It's not every day I get rescued by the most beautiful woman north of the 49th parallel." I grinned. After a moment, she grinned too, and then leaned in to press her lips against mine. It was a long, slow kiss that I'm sure would have turned into the most passionate of my life if I were healthy. Not just beautiful, but considerate. I'm a lucky woman after all, I thought.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pulling away from the kiss, Sal looked thoughtful. "Only problem we have now is you're sort of stuck in here. The way I came in is pretty rough, and there's no way of getting you through there, let alone back to Dawson, without hurting you worse. So we need to stay here a while. I can tend to your needs, and troll meat really isn't that bad if you cook it right. We just need a good source of fresh water."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Sal, my love," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "There's nothing I'd like more right now than to make you a cup of coffee." </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-58929627450325013112014-02-04T09:19:00.003-08:002014-02-04T09:19:25.899-08:00Time Management<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
This will be part 2 of my Developing A Writing Habit course, so bear that in mind if you decide to go past the cut. In any case, here goes.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
So yesterday, my assignment was to look back and inside to determine why I wanted to develop a habit of daily writing. I think I managed that pretty decently, at least by my own lights and that’s what counts in this case. Today though, the assignment is to take a somewhat more practical look and decide how long I want to write each day, as a sort of minimum target.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
My choice is 25 minutes.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
I suppose the big question there is why choose that time? Why not an hour? Why not 15 minutes? Heck, why not toss the time altogether and go with page count or number of words?</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
All of that is very valid, and who knows? Maybe in future I’ll shift to one of those strategies. I’d be the first to admit that the 25 minute mark is largely arbitrary, but I like to fool myse…I mean I like to think that there’s at least some basis for that. And since I’ve set myself the rather recursive task of writing for 25 minutes on why I want to write for 25 minutes, I might as well share a bit of that.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
For one thing, long periods of time can be pretty forbidding when you’re just starting out. Having to set aside an hour or two might sound pretty straightforward in theory, but to a beginner trying to break away from distraction and build habits from the ground up, that seems like a hell of a high mountain to climb. Better to break it down into chunks, and then if you exceed those well, that’s a bonus you can feel really good about.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
Another aspect is how well 25 minutes breaks down into a fraction of an hour. Yes, I can see you giving me the side-eye on this one, but it’s pretty easy to work out. After every 25 minute segment, you take a five-minute break. Now it makkes sense, since 2 x 25 plus 2 x 5 gives you a perfect hour. Not that I can really claim credit for that, of course. Reading ahead in the course, I saw that it took some ideas from the Pomorodo Method, which uses that time as a unit. But hey, if I can’t steal good ideas and apply them to my own work I won’t make much of a writer, will I?</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
Of course that doesn’t really answer why not shorter periods. And that’s where it just becomes a personal comfort thing and, again, utterly arbitrary. My method was to go back to yesterday’s attempt, My Why. And guess how long that took me to write, more or less? About a half hour, maybe just a bit under that. Given how I was pretty happy with the length of that, and how it pretty much satisfactorily got the point across, that seemed to be a pretty happy length of time to get one complete thought down on paper in enough detail that I was happy with it. At least as a first draft, although these early attempts won’t see themselves being rewritten.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
As to page or word count as a daily target, I’m not going with that because honestly I’ve tried it before and I’ve found it pretty frustrating. It’s easy to have an off day and not make that count, which can be a bit dispiriting. Especially if you’re having a couple of off days. But more importantly, from my point of view at least it’s entirely too vague a target. How long does it take to do that many words? Depends on the day, my experience, how much I need to think about what I’m writing, whether it’s dialogue or description, and on and on. There’s no way to really pin that down to anything concrete, and thus no way to really slot that into a schedule. For instance, I haven’t even come up to the time I took yesterday, yet I’m certain I’ve written more words.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
More importantly, time is extremely intuitive. We deal with time every day of our lives, it’s drummed into us since we were children. Abstract as it is in reality, the concept is so ingrained in our society that it might as well be as solid as this keyboard I’m banging away with right now. It’s damn near tangible, and as a result, very easy to conceptualize. Productivity goals aren’t so easy, at least for me, unless I’m working with them a lot. Which is one reason why I may eventually move to those, but they aren’t helpful at all in building the habit in the first place. Every day, in 25 minute blocks, that I can wrap my head around more than 1000 words or three pages or whatever it might happen to be.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
And with that I find myself drifting into the last few minutes of my time, ironically almost exhausted in my writing on this subject. There’s only so much one can say about such a simple, largely arbitrary choice. But it’s worth it. Not just from the daily writing perspective, but from stretching myself to write about something I normally wouldn’t. Which in itself is a win.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
And in case you’re wondering, 906 words. Pretty good my second day.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-83815743125012437382014-02-03T16:44:00.000-08:002014-02-03T16:44:03.770-08:00My WhyI decided to start doing a course on the Lift app to start developing a writing habit, and the first day’s project was to talk about why I want to develop this habit. And to be honest it’s a pretty good question, so here goes.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
Why do I want to develop a writing habit?<br />
<br />
I suppose that question goes back to why I think writing is important in the first place, and oddly the answer goes back to the men in my family, particularly my father and brother. You see, back when I was a child one of the ways the three of us used to bond was by reading comic strips together. BC and Wizard of Id by Johnny Hart and Brent Parker were favourites, as was Tumbleweeds by Tom K. Ryan. The three of us would lie in bed together and each read a strip in turn from paperback collections, and generally have a great time reading together. In time, I realized that for a man with little formal education my father read quite a lot, and this love of reading was quite infectious.<br />
<br />
But for subject matter, it was my brother’s influence that was strongest. He was a great lover of the science fiction and fantasy of the day, writers like Roger Zelazney stand out in my mind especially, as did Tolkien. Of course, siblings being siblings I had to choose authors distinct from his favourites, and at the time that was largely Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton and the earlier Anne McCaffrey books (Harper Hall was such a great series). So right there you had the foundation for a lifetime love of reading.<br />
<br />
But that alone couldn’t influence a desire to write instead. And again, that was my brother’s influence. He himself was encouraged by an English teacher to pursue his writing, and in his later years of high school managed to win Honourable Mention in the Canada Permanent writing contest (is that still a thing?) twice running. Sure it doesn’t sound like much, but I thought it was an amazing thing, and despite the usual sibling issues I was pretty proud of him for that. More relevant to the topic at hand, it led me to the notion that not only were there great things to read out there, but it was also a great thing to write those things that others enjoyed so much.<br />
<br />
At the time I tried my hand at writing, of course, showing those early, fumbling attempts (and they were pretty bad) to the very same English teacher who’d encouraged my brother. I didn’t take it as far as he did, so contests and such were beyond me, but it felt good to do and that was plenty.<br />
<br />
Fast forward about ten years or so, to joining my first online community: The Final Fantasy VII Yaoi Brigade. What a wonderful bunch of loons and boy’s love fanatics those people were. Such fun to chat with, to come up with fantasy pairings with, and most importantly here, to dream up fiction with. That was really my first exposure to the wild and wonderful world of fanfiction, and once again I was driven to not just enjoy the prose, but to join in and create some of it myself.<br />
<br />
By now I had matured a bit in my tastes, and while I really hadn’t come to know myself yet, the fics I made were a great deal better than those early fumbling attempts back in high school. In fact, I even wrote a couple of things I could be proud of in those days.<br />
<br />
Alas, I didn’t stick with it at the time, and eventually drifted away from the group and from writing in general. But the desire to dream up stories stayed with me, even if only locked up in my own head. So no matter where I went, the ideas rolled around even without expression, and well, everyone’s muse must eventually be obeyed. There’s more to my history, but the essential lesson remains, writing is a thing I want to do and I want to do it well.<br />
<br />
So there it is. My why. Why I am what I am, and why I want to get out what I need to get out, and even more why I want to make it into a habit that becomes an ingrained part of my life. Even if it’s not fiction (and I’m considering the journal writing course that’s also on the Lift app as well), it doesn’t really matter. It’s enough that I want to.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-90279665295750169542013-02-13T18:01:00.001-08:002013-02-13T18:02:59.054-08:00Worldbuilding Wednesday: Aquatic ArchitectureOne thing I haven't been able to do in quite a long time is simply sit around and toss ideas for characters, stories, what have you around. Back when I lived in Nova Scotia, I had a friend I'd do that with all the time, and it was totally a blast. So I thought why not bring that back, at least in blog form?</p>
Basically, the idea is once a week I'll post some sort of "hook" to speculate about, and everyone who wants can jump in and kick in their $0.02 and see what develops. Hopefully I can keep this up as a regular fun-time thing, especially if the response is good.</p>
So here goes. The topic I had in mind this week was assume a humanoid race living under the sea. Think mermaids, Aquaman, the Gillblins from WoW or whatever you like. Doesn't necessarily have to be Earth, although take what is typically found in Earth oceans as a base. Also assume some decent level of society where they'd want to build towns or cities, and build up a culture.</p>
So, given all that, what would their buildings look like?</p>
Honestly, i've never been a fan of stuff like The Little Mermaid or whatever (although it's a great movie) where everything is just shells and the like. I dunno, just making it all organic and looking like what's already on the sea floor seems a bit of a cop-out. Besides which, it also assumes (1) predators aren't an issue since most stuff is out in the open, (2) the builders are more into mimickry or re-use, rather than putting their own creativity into the mix, and (3) no particular need for privacy or other things that would make you want to have an "indoors" place to go.</p>
So obviously, we'd want to talk building materials. Clearly there's no wood to be had, although depending on scale (the people might not be human-sized) there are undersea plants that could provide some materials. Loads of mud and silt down there, but something like adobe wouldn't really work since there'd be no way to bake it. Perhaps a novel approach to hardening clay to make, in essence, "pottery" buildings? It's a thought. My own approach would be more along the lines of masonry, which would suggest that any established culture would generate master stoneworkers. It's certainly present on the seafloor as much as anywhere else, and there are any number of things you could use as mortar from organic compounds to simply foregoing it and building based on detailed cuts.</p>
As to the buildings themselves, obviously the concept of "street level" wouldn't mean much for a swimming culture. So while floors might exist, you'd expect residents and visitors to come and go at any level. So perhaps large openings, useable as both doors and windows. Perhaps domed structures would work as well, with entrances at the top rather than the bottom. Lots of possibilities there. Which of coure leads to the question of whether glass or other clear substance can be available, whether there's a desire to protect against ocean currents, is it in a region where heat/cold fluctuations are an issue, etc.</p>
Great fun stuff to think about, don't you think?</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-33453295086712327072011-06-02T17:43:00.000-07:002011-06-02T18:10:54.368-07:00Changed my mindAbout Tumblr, that is. I'd heard it's a good place for posting images, so it sounded tailor-made for an art blog.<br /><br />WRONG!<br /><br />Yeah, I like the image uploading, but for the sort of thing I'm doing that's about it. As a social media tool, it's great. And it's fine for light blogging. Even better, it's fine for following a whole bunch of cool people in one place, reblogging their stuff with your own comments, etc. It's just not great for doing a dedicated sketch blog, like this one. <br /><br />So for now, Blogger is where I blog.<br /><br />In art-related news, I'm beginning to sense a trend. When I tell myself at the beginning of the summer I want to concentrate on developing certain skills, I will be totally off base. I told myself at the beginning of the summer that I wanted to concentrate on gestural animation and maybe go back to doing Vilppu studies.<br /><br />What I'm actually concentrating on is anatomy (Bridgeman, Hampton) and cartooning. Go figure.<br /><br />Here's some of the latter:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUH7WZvMUxiH5br2QMa1Ugxm4BEW0h4S6fe78QgJS_Cr2BLmYA8swVfqa7ye4NR6RVL5hP6xiGAiSfdQbq-1_BJ1NZ21zHv6e4eKHnd9NIaBXqULyKHbuSdGs7QpPiu6Q-HZNXYwrAuTJ/s1600/sketch+01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUH7WZvMUxiH5br2QMa1Ugxm4BEW0h4S6fe78QgJS_Cr2BLmYA8swVfqa7ye4NR6RVL5hP6xiGAiSfdQbq-1_BJ1NZ21zHv6e4eKHnd9NIaBXqULyKHbuSdGs7QpPiu6Q-HZNXYwrAuTJ/s320/sketch+01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613788982087920962" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056677999952011556.post-57947248923505486062010-11-02T19:12:00.000-07:002010-11-02T19:28:52.028-07:00Wings of BarbecueWell, the Xeno thing sort of died at the starting gate, but never mind. I've got enough on my plate at the moment without worrying about non-course related stuff.<br /><br />Namely, composition. I've got an assignment in Drama class to do a drawing with characters exhibiting joy, sadness and anger as part of a single image that tells a story. So what to do? Well, it starts with clear storytelling, and that means composition first and foremost.<br /><br />I'd been planning to study film and composition starting over the Xmas holidays, but this pushes my timescale up a bit. Whadda ya gonna do, eh?<br /><br />Anyhow, I started tonight by doing thumbs based on scenes from the first 15 minutes of Wim Wenders' classic film, "Wings of Desire". Being a story about an angel who walks among humanity, there are a lot of lingering images of people in a variety of emotional states as the angel observes it all, which made it perfect for a bit of practice. <br /><br />So here's the page I did earlier, before getting started on comps for the Drama assignment. They're a bit on the rough side to start, but toward the bottom two rows I was getting a better idea of where I was going with it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjz0aVibIxRA7nkI9ucuOVTy8KYEBvVHeLlsRMCRwt9r8Lvq3vt7-3qOLk4A6TjJNcubN70LcMjIIoMU7C9gkyO7o8tPGZEB9gwKBj9STuxYbH436Ta21pkAzismf9mc8x2B0IVnhiB33/s1600/composition+01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 227px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjz0aVibIxRA7nkI9ucuOVTy8KYEBvVHeLlsRMCRwt9r8Lvq3vt7-3qOLk4A6TjJNcubN70LcMjIIoMU7C9gkyO7o8tPGZEB9gwKBj9STuxYbH436Ta21pkAzismf9mc8x2B0IVnhiB33/s320/composition+01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535144624320994770" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583242351453043902noreply@blogger.com0