Bread and DJI Mic Mini

We took the opportunity to sleep in again. We both needed some recuperation time. It’s absolutely freezing outside again today; it hit a low of -16 C during the day and will fall to -21 C overnight. It’s starting to look better temperature-wise as the week unfolds.

I made another loaf of my Dempster’s style malt bread. We couldn’t find any when we braved the cold to buy a few groceries, so I made some. It turned out delicious. Looking forward to another toasted slice slathered in butter with a cup of tea tomorrow morning.

I revised my recipe for the bread, with no changes to ingredients, just making some ingredients listed clearer as to which brand I used. A Facebook commenter asked about the malted barley flour I used. Was it diastatic or not? I never thought of putting that info in. Possibly the same issue my mentor has me working on with my writing. Information Flow.

I’ll replace the old recipe with the new one, so the old link still works.

There wasn’t much to watch for our lazy lounging in bed, so we put on some murder investigation documentaries after finishing the last episode of “Familiar” on Netflix. You can always rely on a good murder investigation to keep you entertained when there isn’t much else to watch.

I did a bit more reading of Robert Crais’ “The Big Empty” as well. He knows how to keep a story moving. I have read one other book by him, also recommended by a writing instructor, and I remember enjoying that book as well. Books are even better at entertaining you!

I’m typing this blog from the comfort of my bed tonight. What can I say? It’s a cold one out there and it’s nice to be under the covers. One of my writing goals is to be able to do it just about anywhere and anytime. I have taken to leaving my laptop upstairs within reach of the bed. I want to start getting in some micro sprints. 2-5 minutes of writing. Or even longer sessions. My wife loves to read in bed, and it might be a good time to get a few hundred words in here and there. My laptop, a Lenovo X1 Carbon, has a very nice and relatively quiet keyboard. It feels good to type on and won’t annoy anyone nearby who might be trying to read.

It’s kind of what I am doing right now at this very moment. She’s reading, and I am typing. At this exact point, I have written 432 words. That’s not bad considering it doesn’t feel like I am sitting down to do actual work.

Eventually, I can see me doing this on veranda overlooking a beach. 12pm to 2pm is too hot in most of the places I regularly visit for vacation. It would make a great writing time. Or maybe first thing in the morning. Most of these all-inclusive resorts have an early morning café and they are not usually busy early in the morning. Most people stay up late drinking the night before and don’t get up too early. Another reason for my desire to transition into a morning person. How cool would it feel to know you had done all your day’s work before most people had got out of bed and popped their first Tylenol? 

One of the write-anywhere tools, my BYOK, has some updated shipping information. Nice to see it is still in motion, even if it is travelling in the opposite direction. Today it arrived in somewhere called Industry, California. Hopefully, I will receive it next week before I return to the studio via the train and streetcars.

I played my 30^th consecutive game of chess. This is one of the other streak challenges I have been trying to keep going. I lost the one game I played today. I had the upper hand but lost sight, playing my moves too fast when there was no real reason to be rushing. It does make a good mental break from doing creative work, as it makes the other side of your brain do the heavy lifting for a while.

I think it’s funny when I play a 10-minute game at work some people get uneasy about it. Meanwhile the smokers are on their 10^th break of the day. Maybe I should take up the smoking, just so I can play a bit more chess?

One of the things I have also been working on is reducing the amount of Dr. Pepper Zero and other soft drinks I consume. On because they cost money and two because I drink more than is healthy. I’m using Perrier as a bridge, it’s still bubbly like soda pop and a little more expensive. I’ve been using ginger tea, earl grey and green tea as other substitutes. Eventually, I reduce the fizzy water to a couple a week. I do enjoy them though. But I have done a good job of reducing my intake of soda. I might have one a day if that. There are more days I don’t have one than do now. Tea in the winter is more desirable. So, I don’t know if this reduction in fizzy diet pops will survive a hot Ontario summer. One can only try!

Apparently, the Super Bowl is today. Not sure I care, scratch that, I don’t care. I do think its both sad and hysterical that there are two half time shows this year. As some people aren’t okay with Bad Bunny performing, they have created a Republican/Maga friendly version. (Not the NFL someone else).

The world gets a little crazier everyday.

Back to writing anywhere and dictation.

I did an experiment the other day using a DJI mic mini with its receiver hooked up to my Sony voice recorder. I have used it in the past to dictate while out for a walk in the nearby conservation area. I used one of those small over the ear microphones people use to do TED Talks or work out classes. Very thin and discreet with skin tone colors. When I was earing a sun hat people tended not to notice it. Although occasionally I would get some odd looks and double takes from passing pedestrians.

With this new setup, I am freed from the cables running up my sleeve. I think the Mini does a good job filter out noise as well. As the weather gets nice, I hope to use it more and more. And if I keep practicing my dictation I should be on good shape by the time that nice spring weather comes around.

The future is looking bright!