#211 - Kimmel and A Long Day

Five hours of sleep was not enough.

I woke with a mild headache. Was it the late night or the glass of cognac that did it? Probably a little of column A and a little of column B.

Getting to my home studio desk was an act of pure drudgery. The amount of writing I need to do in the next four days hangs over me like a wet steamy cloud.

On the bright side, my back is feeling less worse than the day before but still giving me some trouble. The hours I spent in the Lazy Boy attempting to write my assignment didn’t seem to make it any worse.

After starting up my PC and going through the login gauntlet of multiple passwords, face recognition and authenticator apps I went downstairs to brew up some much-needed caffeine. With my head pounding like a drum, I opted for Earl Grey instead of coffee. I grabbed a mineral water as a chaser and then toasted some sour dough and slathered it in butter.

The work chat channels were beeping away merrily and before long I was in the first meeting of the day. Information was exchanged and then it was already coming up on twelve. The first highlight of my day was getting outside into the sun and taking a walk with Robyn. We had to cut the walk a little short as I was co-hosting a 1 PM meeting with our team.

The walk was wonderful and much needed. Before heading out I popped two Advil’s, one for my headache and another for my back. By the time we finished the walk my back had loosened a little and my headache had moved into the background.

The meeting was short, we had a little information to impart to our painters and that could have been an email, but we wanted to judge their mood. Seeing faces is the best way to do that and it allows them to ask questions. But everyone was chill and there wasn’t too much talk.

The rest of the afternoon was surprisingly delightful. No tsunami of messages or being buried under an avalanche of questions. I had uninterrupted time to focus on my work. I put on “Mr. Inbetween,” and just worked. It dawned on me how long it had been since I was able to just sit and work.

I made one quick pitstop to grab the lumbar pillow from my writing cave and used it upstairs. That really helped support my back and by the end of the day it hurt a little less and I wasn’t getting those sharp muscle pains. My back was still very stiff and tender, but it had improved.

Or maybe it was just the Advils kicking in.

I took a break around three thirty and puttered around the back garden, investigating my plants and celebrating new blooms and little green sprouts poking through the surface. One of my rose bushes is putting out green leaves and my ferns are doing the same.

Even some of the Hostas are pushing through the ground. I love this time of year because everyday things get more beautiful. It’s like the return of old friends who have been away all winter.

Before going out I made myself a cortado and some toast with peanut butter. The sun was shinning and I just enjoyed all of it.

That made returning to my desk all the harder, but there was plenty of work still to be done. The rest of the day went by fast, which is unusual. The three to five-thirty time slots are generally the hardest part of my day. The part where I self medicate with pastries and strong coffee. But with the tv show playing and my mind firmly back into a flow state the hours just evaporated until my workday was done.

I was feeling exhausted again, this time from lack of sleep. So, I decided to do the non sleep deep rest meditation that is supposed to mimic three hours of REM sleep. I got fifteen minutes into it when I starting to think it would be nice to go for another walk. One not hedged in by a return-to-work timer.

That very second, I received a text from Robyn asking if I wanted to go for a walk. Great minds and fools.

We headed out on a walk that would bring us near a Tim Horton’s for Robyn and would be no more that two hours for my sake. I had to get home get started on this writing thing eventually. Once we had reached the plaza we decided to spit a shawarma at our favourite spot. The idea of having a full shawarma each seemed like too much. We ordered a combo that came with fries and a drink. They have really crispy fries, and I always order them with my meal.

It turned out to be the perfect amount and tasted great.

I suggested we stop at the Fresh Co Grocery store in the plaza so I could get a few supplies. We didn’t bring a bag and we don’t need another reusable bag from the store, so it just bought what I could stuff into the pockets of my hoodie. I could a few small cans of coconut milk, a large can and a can of coconut cream. I also found mild Japanese curry cubes and snagged those as well. The mild ones are hard to find in my area, and they make a tasty meal.

Then it was a walk to get back home. We never did go to the Tim Hortons for Robyn’s tea. The walk back is always the worst. There inevitably comes a point when I wish I was already home, but there is still plenty of walking to do. And like a child I grumble.

I must have asked Robyn, “Are we there yet Papa Smurf?” three or four times.

“Won’t be long now!” was always her cheery answer.

Robyn had some course work to do for a potential job, and I had six thousand words to write this evening. But after the exertion of the walk, me with cans of coconut milk in my pockets for half the way, watching an episode of “This Week Tonight,” seemed appropriate.

And it was a nice break before diving back into “work.” Unpaid though it might be.

The start to my writing night was delayed when Robym mistook her Wacom digital pen for a real pen and tried to uncap it. Of course, a Wacom pen does not have a cap, and the pen is now virtually useless.

I spent about fifteen minutes trying to fix it, but after finally getting it all back together it no longer functioned reliably. I lent her my pen from my workstation as they are interchangeable and then ordered a replacement from the Wacom company. These pens do not come cheap.

After my mandatory IT services were complete, I headed to the Lazy Boy in Kiddo #1’s room to start off with this blog post as a way to warm up and get some numbers on the board.

I think I managed to get about 1200 words out of the 6100 I need to achieve tonight. Not a bad start. Almost twenty five percent there.

I just did a twenty-minute NSDR meditation, lying on the floor I even managed to crack my back do some light stretches. I feel recharged and ready to tackle the next scene in my sci-fi book. It will be a continuation of one of my mentor assignments.

It will be a late night for the entire household as Kiddo#2 returns from his trip to Halifax tonight. He is expected to land around twelve thirty. Robyn will go and pick him up at the airport and at least there won’t be any traffic at that hour.

The kiddo made a funny request. Before he left, I made a Tres Leche cake for his birthday, and he didn’t have enough time to eat it all before his flight. So, we froze it for him. He was very insistent that we make sure to take it out of the freezer so he can have piece when he gets home. Apparently, he has been thinking about it all week while he was away.

It is a delicious recipe.

During my rest I ordered a new 65w charger for my laptop. The main charger brick that came with the X1 Carbon lives downstairs in the writing cave these days. But I use the C type chargers for my iPhone and iPad pro with the laptop as well. Mostly because I have one beside my bed and one for my iPad beside my studio desk. These supply power at a lower wattage, and it keeps the laptop from draining the batteries too quickly.

Depending on how I use the laptop, it either charges the batteries or slows down the depletion of them. I felt it was time to upgrade to a more portable 65w usb-c charger. It’s smaller than the big brick that came with the laptop, making it perfect to throw in a bag or cart around from room to room.

It’s small upgrades like this that make doing all this work feel less like a chore. Having the second charger base for my smart mug has been a game changer. I love having one on my desk and one beside my bed.

I’ve watched the second instalment of my writing teacher’s history of science fiction. One of the things that really stood out to me was the importance of mentors in my teachers and my own mentors’ career. Early on, they both had access and friendships with professional writers. They could learn just by being in the room hearing these people talk. And could get good answers to questions that weren’t easily available to the average person.

It makes me feel even more grateful that I was able to get a mentorship with one of them. It has already had an impact on my writing trajectory. I hope to one day pass it on to someone who is hungry for the knowledge just like me.

I read today that the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes are over twenty billion miles from Earth and are coming up on a fifty-year anniversary. That’s a well built and well-designed space probe. The probes are now out beyond the heliosphere, the area where the suns magnetic field no longer has an effect.

The probe teams are powering down some of the experiments in an attempt to keep the probes working. And then even more interesting is the planned “Big Bang” upgrade that will shut off other experiments and bring others back online.

It’s amazing that the probes are still transmitting and recording data all these decades later. They are a true marvel, a gift that keeps on giving.

Checking the weather for tomorrow and it looks like buckets of rain in the morning. I think I might work from home instead of making the miserable commute. I could use the extra travel time for my writing endeavours anyway.

And then there is the issue of the train and studio seats wrecking havoc with my back, which is only just starting to get better.

Yes, I think tomorrow will be a work from home day.

My black leather recliner is working out really well as a writing platform. I am almost tempted to purchase a nicer version with powered reclining and maybe even heated massage. It might be out of the budget for now, but it bares thinking about.

The one I bought came from Leon’s over fifteen years ago. It is real leather, but the cushions could be improved. These new chairs have built in pockets, dual cup holders, heated massage and electric adjustments. All I know is that it feels more comfortable than an office chair.

My back says I should buy one.

A quick break to make a cup of caffeine-free Earl Grey and to butter a slice of sourdough.

It’s 12:15 AM and Robyn has just left to pickup the Kiddo from the airport. I estimate I have about one third of my word count achieved for the day. At this rate I will be up until five in the morning and likely be a zombie the rest of the day.

I was thinking about what I like better these days, working as an animation background painter or writing stories that I have no idea how they’ll end. The studio job currently pays better, but that’s because I don’t have any novels up for sale. The largest book I have for sale is a small collection of short stories.

But I think I enjoy the writing more than the painting at the moment. I’m not currently working on a show that excites me. Typically, they are for an older audience and often sci-fi. But those gigs are hard to come by. Most of the shows are for little children and often have a toy sales element to them.

Don’t get me wrong, writing is hard for me. I am still in the early stages of learning the craft. But I have learned enough that it can be wonderfully fun and the creativity isn’t judged by a committee of my peers. Well, there are the readers of course, but that is a good problem to have as a writer.

I guess being an indie writer gets rid of a lot of the red tape that comes with multimillion dollar animated productions. There is less on the line. It’s just me sitting alone dreaming.

Be nice to make a living doing that.

I was reminiscing about my time off from the studio during the last layoff. I enjoyed having the freedom to make up my day, decide what things I was going to tackle that day. There was plenty of things to learn and keep my mind busy. And if I got tired, I could go take a nap and no one would even blink an eye.

Napping at the studio is frowned upon.

This week I had a grand plan to cook a different Indian dish and either freeze it or save it for this weekend. We are celebrating Mother’s Day early this year as my parents are taking a trip to Spain the following week. Things being what they are, I won’t likely have time to cook at all this well. The earliest I will be free is Friday. But I guarantee you I will be completely gassed by then. I am already spread to thin as it is now.

But Friday, sweet, sweet Friday, the word challenge counter rolls over again. Do you remember when I said I wasn’t going to get myself into this kind of situation again and here I got myself into one even worse. Late nights and no sleep are my new norm.

Bring up late, and with the boy away on his travels, I saw his hamster for the first time. I heard a weird sound coming from the room and sure enough this tiny hamster, so small it’s named Timbit, was running on the treadmill like it was training for something. And for something that is smaller than a golf ball, the little thing is surprisingly fast. Like Speedie Gonzalez fast.

I am personally not a fan or caged or uncaged rodents, but I have to admit the little thing is cute as a button and possibly strung out on crack.

When I was outside in the yard today, I noticed a few things that will need some repairs. The gate latch has fallen off the gate. I’d screwed it back in last year and used the toothpick hack to make sure the screws stayed in, but that obviously didn’t work. I’ll need to pick up some doweling and drill large holes, then use the doweling and some glue to fill the holes back in. That will give the screws something to purchase this time.

We have louvered boards above the railing of our deck. It allows you to have amore open aread or a more private area. Lots of air flow or less airflow. Some of the fence boards have bowed and then ripped themselves out of the louvre mechanism. I’ll buy some new fence boards and have to cut them down to size. The deck itself could do with another coat of deck oil as well.

Lots of outdoor projects to keep me busy this season.

I think I’ll need to cut the grass this week already. Seems a bit early in the season, but its getting a bit long in spots.

One thing that will be nice this year is that the construction of the luxury assisted retirement building should be completed this summer. They look like they are doing the landscaping this week and that has to be a good sign.

It’s been a few years of constant power tool and vehicle noise. And sometimes we can hear the crews yelling at each other as if they were standing as close as the edge of our driveway.

I hope the building owners’ plant as many trees as were in the concept art of the place. It had a nice appeal to it with all the greenery.

The city has spent some serious money expanding the trails that run perpendicular to our house and the old folk’s home. What was once gravel paths wide enough to go two abreast is now paved and wide enough to accommodate six people side by side with ease.

I had no idea any of this was even happening. It’s been so long since we walked that way. It’s nice to see the city making improvements that a large number of people will enjoy.

It’s almost time for me to buy a parking pass to the provincial parks again. We walk as often as possible under the canopy of trees at the Bronte Provincial Park. It’s a beautiful walk with cool breezes due to the steep ravine and the old growth trees provide plenty of shade.

With an off-leash area, it is popular with dog owners and dog walkers. And of course, with mountain bikers, the BMW drivers of the dirt trail.

Well, I’ve made it to the halfway marker of the word count, and it is just past one Am.

At this pace I should be done in about another four to five hours. Yikes!

I’ve started weighing myself every morning this week. It’s going to be part of the streak challenges I record in my little book. I’ve noticed I will tend to lose weigh if I am paying attention to it. And it goes to the adage, “What gets measured gets managed.”

It’s the reason my little brown book is so effective. Having the numbers tracked and available creates a sense of purpose. A sense of ownership and responsibility for the management of the thing being measured.

You can’t say your weight just snuck up on you if you are recording and reviewing it every day.

And being aware of the measurement can affect your daily decisions. Up one pound for the week? I am more likely to go for that long walk or eat something nutritious, or even more importantly, not eat something bad for me.

I haven’t been listening to any of my audiobooks lately. Partly because of the way work has been and also because I realized that I wasn’t enjoying the Sarah J. Maas book I had queued up. It was just rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe I should give it another try, but I have heard from others since that they felt same way about the audiobook version by this author.

And yet, Maas is a very successful and popular novelist. So, there has to be something there. Maybe I just can’t see it yet.

It’s the reason I picked up the Harry Potter series, and even the Fifty Shades of Grey. Fifty Shades success was less about the writing and more about the steamy sex scenes and the apparently large group of female readers who like a domineering man.

I heard an interesting take on the Michael Jackson movie. The premise was that the movie glossed over all the questionable things in Jackson’s life, particularly latter on near the end of his life. And if you were hoping for a warts and all biopic you would be sorely disappointed.

If this was a pure work of fiction and not about a real person, then the movie would have been a satisfying story in and of itself.

Sounds like the kiddo has returned safely from his birthday adventures to Halifax. There might have been a quick stop at an all night MacDonalds I think. And considering it is one thirty in the morning he is full of beans and talking really loudly.

My stock purchases from a little while ago are up about twelve thousand dollars since I purchased them.  A nice healthy increase. Any kind of resolution with Iran is likely to increase their value even more. In the meantime, they pay out a monthly dividend which we can use to offset the loss in wages when Robyn’s short-term contract ends at the studio.

And although, she has some new job prospects in a different field, it seems prudent to be as prepared as possible. If she finds work, we’ll just have a little more to go around. It will Christmas shopping season before you know it. Or something else with the car will go boom.

I’ve just overheard the kiddo complaining about how tired he is and then the security cams detected him leaving the house, headphones in hand. He’s likely off to sit at the park or wander the streets. He likes a good wander. I can still remember a time when all I had to say was watch out for the zombies and werewolves and it was enough for him to not want to go out there at night. Oh, how the times have changed.

I might need to take another NSDR meditation break in a second to keep my energy up. This reminds me of the time I tried intermittent sleeping. I was very productive during that time, but it is very difficult to pull off if you have a normal 9 to 5 or ever want to even think about a social life. It’s not really sustainable over the long run.

I did enjoy the quiet solitude of the nights. I was so productive that I had to find things to keep my busy or entertained during those long hours. I did feel like a person removed from the rest of the world. I can see why it was attractive to people like Benjamin Franklin.

One of the things I had to do when following that protocol was to make sure I had some healthy snacks at the ready. Because you are awake for more hours than the average human you need to eat more as your body burns more calories than usual. I would have raw carrot sticks and bell peppers ready for such moments. And you had to be careful about the amount of caffeine you were taking as well as when. It wouldn’t serve you to take it near a rest cycle, better to have it at the start of the four hours than at then end.

Just grabbed another NSDR meditation break and I could have just fallen asleep for good. Luckily, I set and alarm and am back at it feeling more refreshed.

I am constantly blown away by my writing teachers’ ability to produce work. He is very prodigious. In his seventy fifth year he is planning to release seventy-five major books. And when he announced this madness I thought, well he’s accomplished crazy things like this before, but seventy-five books in one year? Madness.

He recently posted an update on his progress and said that he has already put together twenty-six books of story collections. I wouldn’t be surprised if he puts out a hundred books this year. He’s just crazy enough to be able to do it.

It’s challenges like this that get me wondering what boundaries I have placed upon myself. Even tonight, writing six thousand words after a full day of work seems like an impossible task to me. Old me would have just quit, looking at all the work needed and said it was impossible. Why even try.

Nowadays, I am likely to at the very least, attempt it.

Even now at two forty-five in the morning I have just hit the two-thirds point in my word count for today. Doing this for one night is a challenge. Knowing I have to do this for three more nights is a bit daunting. But if I fail tonight, it’s game over. So, I have to keep going and push myself beyond my perceived limits just like my instructor would do.

On that point he has some nonfiction writing books that are about the time he wrote a novel in fifteen days. The one in ten days and a third in five days while on a road trip to Las Vegas for a gambling trip with some buddies.

In the books, he breaks down how he did it. And a lot of it is fitting a few minutes of writing when ever he could. And for the road trip he was hauling an old Mac monitor and a full computer, mouse and keyboard. I don’t know if you remember how heavy those old mac monitors used to be. Hernia inducing.

I’d like to try that as a challenge one day. The writing a book in five to fifteen days, not the lugging of antiquated computing equipment.

There are plenty of authors who do it regularly. Write a book every two weeks or so. Generally, they write stories in the same world with the same characters, and people can’t seem to get enough of it.

Man, my heated smart mug is earning it’s keep tonight. Having that consistent warm beverage at hand for the last three hours has been a boon.

The government of Canada just announced its first Sovereign Wealth Fund. A fund that will be used to build essential infrastructure like ports and rail systems. It seems like a good idea to me and one that all Canadians could embrace. Investing in your own country seems like a good idea to me, particularly considering the current climate.

I think the idea is, that any amount you invest is guaranteed by the government and any proceeds go back into investing into the country. I am interested to hear more about it. The Prime Minister didn’t get into all the details because they will be revealed by the Minister of Finance when he releases his fiscal update.

PM Carney referred to the account as “the Peoples Fund,” as good a moniker as any.

Well, I have to be careful not to close my eyes for any length of time. Not sure how long I was out for, but I definitely drifted off for a bit. And I am so close to meeting my goal!

Only another fifteen hundred words to go, I have hit the seventy-five percent mark.

It’s quarter after three in the morning. The house has gone quiet and I am the only person crazy enough to still be up. I’ve sipped the last sip of my tea and even my heated mug has called it quits for the day.

While out walking this afternoon I realized that I was going to need another pair of running shoes soon. I have wide feet and I find it hard to find a pair of shoes that fit comfortably and that I like the look of. Granted, there are way more wide shoe options that their used to be.

I get miffed that a pair of shoes I like, spend weeks trying to find, are only out for one season and then you can never find them again except on Amazon at ridiculous prices no one would ever pay for a pair of regular shoes.

But it got me thinking about my favourite pair of runners. Yes I have a favourite pair and no they haven’t made them in decades.

Back in high school I started running to get into shape and I also joined the cross-country running team. Eventually, if you run enough, you start getting picky about your shoes. Back then the big shoe was the new Nike Airs. They had a pocket of air trapped in the soul of the shoe that in theory provided you with a cushioned experience.

At that time, Nike wasn’t making too many wide versions of their shoes. So, I was forced to look elsewhere. I stumbled across a pair of Reebok runners with the new Energy Return System. This was basically three tubes of Dupont Hytrel that provided amazing cushion and then helped propel your foot forward. I have never owned a pair of shoes since that made running feel so good. And these shoes were made to last. Many of my Nike Air wearing friends suffered the dreaded blow out, when the clear cell that held the air would burst and you were left walking around with a whoopee cushion on the sole of your expensive runners.

I ground the soles of my Reeboks down to nothing and those little tubes just kept on working. They stopped making them that way back in the nineties and these days they have a heal made with a material that apparently delivers the same experience.

I’d buy the old ones if they ever made them again.

With the weather turning nice, I need to get my off-road scooter tuned up. I should buy a new tire this year, otherwise I’ll have to keep pumping it up. The scooter gives me a bit of joy at after work. I like seeing parts of my city and neighbourhood that I wouldn’t have travelled down otherwise. And now there is that wide path that cuts through the main streets, making it a safe way to get to the grocery store for example.

I’ve had it out once this year a few weeks ago for a short run around the block a few times just to make sure the batteries were still fine.

I enjoy it most when the weather is warm. I used it last year to travel to a park and then sit on a bench a do a little writing. A few snacks and a can or two of Dr. Pepper made for an enjoyable experience.

One of the topics that had come to the forefront this week is the idea of AI chatbot addiction. There seem to be hundreds of thousands of users that are addicted to talking to their AI’s. People have confessed that the AI often is the only source of positivity they hear in their daily lives. There is a growing number of adolescents that have AI companions and ask them all sorts of questions and seek their advice. On John Oliver’s, “This Week Tonight,” he did a whole segment on children who have committed suicide on the advice of their AI chatbots. One of the bots even goaded the child into it and suggested the kid shouldn’t tell his parents about how he was feeling. That sounds really creepy to me.

The sycophantic nature of these AI’s even led one man to believe he had created a new type of math and that he needed to contact people in Academia. Some much so that he was basically harassing these people. And when the man finally came to his senses and asked the AI if it had misled him, it said it had because it was possibly a little crazy.

There have been recent studies that show people who routinely use their AI’s to automate or provide them with information are starting to lose some of their critical thinking skills.

Sounds a bit like a cult to me. Or like the effects of an illegal drug.

And the leaders in the field of AI aren’t exactly the type of people who should be designing friends for other people. They seem to be devoid of that in their own lives.

I’m not sure I want a guy like Elon or Zuck making our children’s future digital friends.

And speaking of crazy things, Jimmy Kimmel is in hot water with the Trumps again for making a joke about Melania.

He said, "Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Kimmel said during the Thursday night sketch.

And then a few days later someone tried to right the world again by using violence and guns at the White House correspondent’s dinner. And of course, the current administration immediately called for Kimmel to be fired even though the joke was referencing the huge age difference between Donny and Melania.

It’s four twenty-three in the morning, and I should really be in bed. My eyes are going squirrely from staring at the screen for too long. But I am so close to meeting my goals.

I am sure this entire episode is going to teach me something about my limitations and my abilities. One thing it has already shown me is that I need to start the writing much earlier in the day. I think it was around nine PM when I got around to starting this blog. Was it really over seven hours ago?!!! Geez.

I have some Amazon orders coming in today, so I guess not going into work is probably best for making sure nothing gets plundered by porch pirates. Not that we get much of that stuff around here very often, if at all.

But I always feel better when I am home to receive it. I imagine we all feel that way.

I think this post holds the record for the longest post I have ever written. I’m mot even sure if my site will accept twelve pages of bloggieness.

I guess this will be a good test to see if it can handle some longer form content. One day I might start doing something like what my mentor does. She has what she calls Free Fiction Mondays, and she posts a story for free for one week and then it disappears.

I’ve read a few of her stories that way.

It’s a genius way to promote your work and she says her sales of that story often peak while it’s up. People would rather own their own copy to put on their devices or bookshelves. I think it would be cool to have that many stories to give away and to rarely, if ever, repeat the offerings. But she is also very prolific.

It occurs to me that this whole challenge is done on the honor system. I could have easily lied, and no one would ever have known. But I would have known and the whole purpose of this is to make yourself better, to create things and push the boundaries.

It’s a way to get you to sit down and do the work. It’s the reason I am still up writing this at almost five o’clock in the morning. The challenge is showing me I can make these sacrifices and that I could also have started earlier. I could have put more effort into the challenge at the beginning of the month and not put myself into this situation. It’s teaching me that the fact that I am still here writing show that I want to be here and that I am serious about achieving something worthwhile.

And if that’s all I got out of tonight then that was enough.

Because guess what? I’ll be right back here tomorrow night doing the same thing. Although, I want tomorrow to include some novel work on my sci fi book. That will be my big push moving forward with this challenge. I have said many times in this blog this month, but there comes a point when it’s tome to stop talking about it an get it done.

Well, I have earned my bedtime tonight.

Night all.