Category Archives: Writing

Shutting Down Earlyish

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Today turned into another one of those lazy days where I just can’t be bothered.

I did lots of small projects to day, but that was mostly a way of putting off larger projects.

I’ve worked out a plan of sorts for this website, although I balked on doing some of the writing for an intended post (it’s not the writing, its the tracking down sources/necessary URLs).

I’m also plotting the possibility of doing National Novel Writing Month again this year. I suspect I won’t because of those larger projects I keep putting off. They involve a lot of revising. Because of that, NaNoWriMo might become National Novel Revising Month (NaNoReMo?). I like the crazy intensity of NaNoWriMo, but it’s not my biggest priority now.

Other than that, all I did was clean pens and change inks. Oh, and I fed the girls and washed some dishes, too. I also left the house, although not for very long, when I escorted our youngest to her table tennis practice.

Now it’s bed time. Long day tomorrow.

Working Sabbath Days

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Note: As happens only occasionally, I revised yesterday’s post to correct a silly mistake and add some much needed detail. I think it’s a much better post now. The accuracy helps a lot, too.

A friend of mine once gave a compelling defense of mandatory sabbaths. He said that it’s good for everyone if everyone is forced to take a day off.

I kind of wish I’d listened to him.

Right now I’m on course to work, in some form or another, for 13 days straight with only a couple afternoons off. Because of this I’ve become a lazy slob in the evenings (well, more so than usual, technically) as a way to get some “time off”.

Granted, some of those days I’m only working for a couple hours (travel time included) but it throws off my rhythm especially as it is from 8-9 in the morning.

As a result, I’ll be shortening these posts substantially, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I’m teaching a night class and not getting home until after eleven.

On Tuesdays I have extra down time and could write posts in the afternoon, but I would rather use the time to focus on other things.

The Saturday class will end soon, though, and that will help a lot. Tuesdays and Thursdays, well, that’s different. Not sure how those will change.

 

Getting Sidetracked by Work

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Just a bit of filler today as I somehow managed to get sidetracked by work and then just got sidetracked.

The work, once I got started, took up more time than I’d planned as I tried to think of way to make next terms high school second year curriculum something I could write a final exam for. As it stands right now I have enough material to keep the students busy for about half of the 50 minute exam, and that’s only if I make them write a longer essay.

Then this evening I got sidetracked by other writing and never got around to working on the notebook review I’ve been busily not writing for a couple days.

That’s now tomorrow’s, er today’s project.

Unless I get sidetracked.

Either This or That or Neither

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Today I took notes, but I couldn’t be bothered to take any pictures.

I’m at the phase of the summer where I can only do one task at once. More specifically, I can only do one type of task at at time, although I can do a bunch of them at once.

For example, I have a couple notebooks and a few pens of various shapes, sizes and types that need reviewing but I find I can only work in phases. On one day I collect notes on the physical details of the items, including size, number of pages, ink capacity and where it was manufactured. However, instead of writing up the notes, I just file them in Evernote.

The next day, I take all the pictures. However, rather than begin editing them, I just email them to myself so that I can eventually upload them and edit them.

Eventually, all the pieces get on the same computer and I get all the pieces together like a chef assembling and preparing all the ingredients before cooking.

Then everything just waits for me to start the actual writing..

Part of this is my way of mulling over the review before I write it. It also gives me a chance to reconsider the photographs.

However, the review does finally get written. Sometimes they get rewritten, too, but that’s another post.

The Pause After the Storm

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We experienced every kind of weather except snow today. We did check off quite a few other boxes, though.

Today we returned home from a week at the in-laws. It was a slower time at the in-laws than usual which left me with lots of down time. This was good for the first couple days but after that I began to question my existence and/or presence. (Note: questions remain unanswered at this point.)

Luckily the local basic cable allowed me to watch a lot of Olympic competitions which gave me something to write about.

We returned through wind and rain and fog but managed to avoid most traffic delays. We also avoided Typhoon 7, which could have stopped us from travelling home.

Now we’re settling back in and gearing up for the rest of the summer. I’ll still be watching the Olympics and writing about it, but I’ve lost the awesome cable package and will be left to my own devices. I’ve already got a few notes, including another name change, but the special reports will be slowing down some.

Hopefully the Closing Ceremony will provide enough interesting fodder for a strong finish.

Limited Edition Pen Addict Notebook–End of Book Review

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I helped an Englishman, a woman from Kansas City and guy from Atlanta go to a pen show in Atlanta. In exchange, they gave me a notebook.

Turns out this was pretty fair exchange.

The notebook is the Limited Edition Pen Addict notebook produced by Nock Co. It was one of the rewards from their suddenly annual Atlanta Pen Show related Kickstarter campaign.

It’s a striking notebook. It has a vibrant orange cover, with an orange peel texture, and is embossed with the Pen Addict logo.

The cover of the Pen Addict limited edition notebook.

The cover of the Pen Addict limited edition notebook.

The notebook is an easily pocketable 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches (the same size as the popular Field Notes notebooks). It contains 48 pages of fountain pen friendly 60# paper with an orange dot grid pattern. The paper is smooth and handled every pen and nib I tried on it. The only time it bled through was when I tried to make it bleed with a flex nib pen.

A close up of the paper.

A close up of the paper.

The other side of the page.

The other side of the page.

The only thing I don’t really like about this notebook is the look of the paper. The bright orange dot grid surprised a couple people I showed it to (and they both like orange things). Their reaction was “Ooooh” when they saw the cover and then “Oh?” when they saw the pages.

Mind you, I’m not a big fan of graph paper anyway, but I especially didn’t like the way the orange lines tended to show through the ink or deflect the ink entirely leaving a visible line. Also, the pattern was vibrant enough to dominate most inks I put on it.

I’d like to get a version of this notebook with blank pages or, at the very least, a paler dot grid. I’ll use a few more books and also give away a few to help spread the addiction, er, the hobby.

 

Reviewing, Revising, and Rethinking Sundays

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Thanks to the recent technological failure this site experienced (at least in Japan), I’m still two posts behind on where I should be in this blog. If I were on track this would be post 850 (or maybe 851). Either way it’s time to sit back and rethink a few things.

For a while I’ve been considering taking a day of rest from the regular posts. Sunday is the natural day to do this, especially as I’l be working on almost every Sunday from now until October.

The forced break was refreshing, but I also felt the pressure to produce the daily post. This was mostly out of habit but I took it as a positive sign.

On the other hand, even though I’m technically behind, I still like doing the daily posts and am glad that it’s all become automatic. That said, there’s a thin line between forcing yourself to do something and phoning in anything just to do something.

Because of that, I feel as if it’s time for some small changes. I can imagine Sunday being either a shorter post (under 300 words) or just some photos of some random something or other.

This will be especially true during the coming exam period when it’s best that I avoid computers as much as possible. I’ve also been pre-writing things a lot more, both by hand and on the website, but that has yet to become a habit.

Today will be the first short post. Next Sunday, we’ll see what happens.

Review of Beyond the Red by Gabe Cole Novoa (under his former pseudonym Ava Jae) 

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(January 29, 2022. After some website technical difficulties, this post has been given a much belated, and much needed update.)

Eros wakes up to find a knife at his throat. This turns out to be the best part of his day.

A few minutes later, Eros, a half-human half-alien (more on that in a minute) male, suddenly finds himself fleeing across the desert as his fellow nomadic humans are massacred or captured behind him.

This whirlwind start to Gabe Cole Novoa’s Beyond the Red is sustained for an impressive amount of time as the action always has a strong sense of movement and place. Eros is eventually captured and finds himself turned into a slave for the Sepharon, the indigenous population of the planet. (The humans, who arrived generations before to settle the planet and lost the ensuing battle are, technically, the aliens, depending on your point of view.)

In a brilliant sequence of world building, Novoa walks us through the steps the human captives go through to become slaves. They are given drugs to keep them calm, Nanites to keep them controlled, and, a pleasant bath that turns them pale white to distinguish them from the dark-skinned Sepharon. That last step is probably my favorite detail in the entire sequence.

At the same time, Princess Kora, the ruler of the Sepharon, is dealing with being the first female ruler of her people in countless generations. She is not liked by the people or by her younger (by a few minutes) twin brother. Partly as a way to please the people and show she’s tough, she is the one who allowed the massacre of Eros’ camp as part of a project to rid the planet of the pesky group of invading human pests.

Through a twist involving hormones and a lucky meeting, Eros becomes Kora’s personal slave and bodyguard and they start an odd relationship full of tender moments and sexual tension.

Because this is a Young Adult book, the relationship remains relatively chaste, although it does have its steamy moments. I like the banter and flirting that goes on between Kora and Eros. Eros’ struggle between checking out and lusting after Kora’s body (which he seems to do a lot) and remembering that she massacred his people is interesting but does get a little old when the book keeps coming back to it.

I also like that Eros and Kora are two characters who don’t fit in where they are. Eros is rejected by both humans and Sepharon for being a hybrid who should have been killed at birth whilst Kora is rejected by both Sepharon (for being female) and humans (for ordering their deaths or enslavement).  This connection helps take the relationship beyond simple teenage lust into something that explains why Eros doesn’t just kill Kora and as many of her family members as he can. It also takes Kora’s interest in Eros beyond an interest in his impressive body. (Which, it should be noted, she also notices a lot.)

Eventually there is a coup and a flight across the desert. Once again the action sequences are excellent and except for an “are they really going there now?” moment it all works.

The things that bothered me were small. Eros being called “Eros” annoyed me more than it should have (how many of you thought something kinky about the opening of this review) and at times the Sepharon seemed a little too human in the way they behaved. (Then again, that may explain why a Sepharon/Human hybrid is genetically possible.)

Also, a big reveal about the sexual preferences of one of the characters seemed tacked on for the sake of diversity. Except for generating some anger and resentment from the character, the sequence didn’t contribute much to the plot and did little more than produce some conversations between Kora and Eros before being dropped. Kora and Eros had, more or less, the same opinions on the matter which didn’t help matters. This all seemed to me to be a distraction from the main theme of the two outsiders finding comfort in each other. I wish it had been developed more or dropped. (Update: 1/29/22. This author did not realize at the time that this was going to be part of a trilogy.)

I haven’t read much YA fiction and this was an “oh, why not?” purchase to diversify my reading. I didn’t expect much, but in the end enjoyed it a lot. It could be argued that, for the most part, events happen exactly when you expect them to happen, but what happens isn’t always what you’re expecting and that kept me interested.

The ending did seem a bit abrupt. I’ve read that a sequel isn’t planned but that one is possible. If one does appear, I’ll be sure to buy it. (Update: 1/29/22. This author did not realize at the time that this was going to become part of a trilogy.)

To follow Gabe Cole Novoa
blog: Writability
vlog: bookishpixie

Virtual Private Disaster By-Pass

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Strangely enough, I did miss it. I even scheduled time to do it before I remembered I couldn’t.

Technical difficulties involving my websites’ host made me miss two days of posts. For reasons I don’t understand, neither of my websites are visible in Japan but both can be visited and enjoyed/scoffed at outside of Japan.

(Note: I do not know what I wrote that would get both sites banned, especially since the oldest hasn’t been updated in years.)

(Note Two: This does not mean I didn’t write something that got me banned.) 

However, this morning whilst enjoying a break at work, I got the idea of trying out a virtual private network. I researched a few free ones and then sent myself the addresses. I’m still surprised I was able to access a VPN related site (as well as the TOR browser) when I can’t even access Ebay or any auction site from the network at the school where I work.

After I got home after work I installed one of the free VPNs and then, this writing being such a priority, I promptly put it aside, so to speak and played a game.

However, once I tried it, I was able to access both sites rather easily. However, I still can’t access my sites “from Japan”.

In fact, as I write this, I can’t access this page from my phone or via wi-fi.

I’m not sure what’s going on. Only one of the sites is on WordPress, so it’s not a word press issue. I’m guessing my host updated things in order to “improve” them and broke something. I may have to call them if they don’t designate a person to deal directly with me via email rather than chasing them around through auto responses.

Or, my websites have been banned in Japan.

That may become part of my marketing: “Banned” in Japan

Remembrance of Ideas Past

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Some of them are crappy ideas, but some of them are worth salvaging. That said, if they were such good ideas, why didn’t I remember them?

Since early May 2014 (in fact, I started May 2, 2014) at the recommendation of a podcaster I listen to regularly, I’ve been making daily lists of ideas. The ideas vary from blog post ideas, to article ideas, to business ideas, to ideas for other people. (Some of which I have passed on to those people.) This lets me test pens and ink (I always record both) and use up my stacks and stacks of inspiration.

The basic rules are that I have to produce at least 10 ideas a day and no single idea can be more than a couple lines in the notebook I’m using. I have to fill the page, which means I often end up with 12 or more ideas. I also have a rule that I have to catch up any days I miss before I can move on with the current day’s ideas. The record is 40 ideas after a record setting four days off.

I  haven’t counted, but I should be somewhere around 7,300 ideas.

I have taken breaks, especially during National Novel Writing Month and exam time at the school where I work. I have, unfortunately, made this a daily habit and not the morning habit I’d originally intended.

Also, there is some repetition of ideas as a good idea manages to resurrect itself a couple of times. (I pay attention to those.) And sometimes an idea gets repeated but transformed each time like the secret message in the Pass the Message game.

I alternate between lists of random ideas and lists focused on one topic (for example, improving smart phones, fountain pens, 10 ways to improve Japanese pen shows, and dealing with clutter).

Where I’ve failed is on mixing and matching the ideas to create new ideas. For example, combine gourmet pizza delivery with gourmet ink to get a service that delivers gourmet inks. You request the blend, we deliver. I wrote that down as idea number 6 on August 22, 2014. (Now, of course, someone else is doing something similar.) For all I know, we both stole it from someone else.

Note: I don’t get annoyed when things like that happen. It tells me I’ve got some good ideas. I either need to act on them or just start posting them for others to use. 

The next phase is to implement more of the blending and mixing. I’ve decided to dedicate Sundays to doing nothing but pulling random ideas out of the old notebooks and playing with them to see what I can make from them. That’s how I discovered the one that came true and that I’d passed the two year anniversary.

There’s still the problem of storage of all the old notebooks. I’ll have to come up with some ideas for dealing with those.