I did end up getting my son back to bed last night... it just didn't last. He woke up again around 12:30 or so and that was it.
I'm going to start keeping a wireless keyboard in his room. If he's going to use me as a bed, I'm going to use him as a writing surface. Fair's fair.
Today I Wrote:
Nada. Today was busy on pretty much every level.
Today I Read:
Two solid links today. One is a blog post called Writing Begins With Forgiveness. It's basically a post explaining that everyone has a different writing process, and you shouldn't feel bad if yours doesn't include writing every day. For me... yeah, that's a nice thought. Not sure I'll ever quite internalize it though.
The other is a post on keeping Facebook from mining your data. It's written for sex workers but applies to anyone who cares about their privacy. I'm a CISSP and I didn't realize how many ways Facebook was tracking me, so I consider this a must-read.
Showing posts with label Writing Log. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing Log. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
August 24th to September 9th
Well so much for daily updates!
In all honesty my life at work and at home has been hectic, with high-priority projects and sick children to deal with. Also my two-year-old has learned about "DeeBeeDees" and won't stop demanding to watch Frozen or The Neverending Story on a daily basis. He can be distracted, but not for long.
By the way, remember when Disney published high-octane nightmare fuel for the kiddies? Yeah. Check out Lorenzo by Mike Gabriel on the latest Disney short DVD. Freaking Evil the Cat, man!
That ain't right.
In all honesty my life at work and at home has been hectic, with high-priority projects and sick children to deal with. Also my two-year-old has learned about "DeeBeeDees" and won't stop demanding to watch Frozen or The Neverending Story on a daily basis. He can be distracted, but not for long.
By the way, remember when Disney published high-octane nightmare fuel for the kiddies? Yeah. Check out Lorenzo by Mike Gabriel on the latest Disney short DVD. Freaking Evil the Cat, man!
That ain't right.
...And now it's 11 at night and my son is asleep on my lap. He won't let me put him down. He wakes up and screams if I do. This has been going on for weeks and it's starting to hurt me. I don't know what to do so I'm blogging. Eventually I'll give up on my bed and sleep the best I can in a chair with him. And he wins again.
Is he scared? Is it a wet diaper? Is this normal? Does this shit stop?
HALP!!!
Today I Wrote:
I did manage a few more pages of Gorgon porn, along with two (three? four? Oh wow, five!) more updates to my Vault log series, which you can check out on the shiny new Tales of Vault 867 page of this very blog. I have wrapped up the actual gameplay and I'm just working out how best to bring the series to a close (read: as ludicrously as possible).
Today I Played:
I've been gushing over Until Dawn recently on Twitter and it deserves every word of praise it gets. I may do a blog on it later, but TL;DR version: if you have access to a Playstation 4 and you have any interest in horror, writing, or both, this is the must-play game of the year. Do not look up anything about it until you've gotten through the game once. It's short and it is worth your time to do it blind once.
Today I Wrote:
I did manage a few more pages of Gorgon porn, along with two (three? four? Oh wow, five!) more updates to my Vault log series, which you can check out on the shiny new Tales of Vault 867 page of this very blog. I have wrapped up the actual gameplay and I'm just working out how best to bring the series to a close (read: as ludicrously as possible).
Today I Played:
I've been gushing over Until Dawn recently on Twitter and it deserves every word of praise it gets. I may do a blog on it later, but TL;DR version: if you have access to a Playstation 4 and you have any interest in horror, writing, or both, this is the must-play game of the year. Do not look up anything about it until you've gotten through the game once. It's short and it is worth your time to do it blind once.
Monday, August 24, 2015
August 21st - 23rd, 2015
Plague, horrors, sleepless nights and no crabs. I have had much worse weekends and I have had much more stressful weekends, but everything aches and I'm plotting vengeance against the dog for asking for a glass of water with 2 a.m. barks.
The tiny male human has been banished to his grandparents' house for a week of vacation, and we are strongly feeling the vacuum of his absence. It's something like how a deep-sea fish will dissipate into mist if it suddenly finds itself teleported to the surface. My wife and I know intellectually we have a golden opportunity to get our house in order, but all we can do is sit and marvel at how quiet everything is.
Today I Wrote:
HA HA HA HA HA. I can't even say I worked on my Fallout Shelter log because everything's so damn stable. Part five is up but was already written.
Today I Read:
Finished reading The Divide, and it's very difficult to read this and take any candidate other than Bernie Sanders seriously next year. Now I'm back into Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which continues to read slowly but amusingly.
The tiny male human has been banished to his grandparents' house for a week of vacation, and we are strongly feeling the vacuum of his absence. It's something like how a deep-sea fish will dissipate into mist if it suddenly finds itself teleported to the surface. My wife and I know intellectually we have a golden opportunity to get our house in order, but all we can do is sit and marvel at how quiet everything is.
Today I Wrote:
HA HA HA HA HA. I can't even say I worked on my Fallout Shelter log because everything's so damn stable. Part five is up but was already written.
Today I Read:
Finished reading The Divide, and it's very difficult to read this and take any candidate other than Bernie Sanders seriously next year. Now I'm back into Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which continues to read slowly but amusingly.
Friday, August 21, 2015
August 20th, 2015
I'm getting sick, my wife is getting sick, my son is getting better but still has little appetite and a need to cling to me like a lemur. On the bright side my daughter still seems healthy and cheerful. Stay happy little girl!
Today I Wrote:
About three updates for the Vault 867 logs. I just have to insert some amusing pictures and they'll be up.
Today I Wrote:
About three updates for the Vault 867 logs. I just have to insert some amusing pictures and they'll be up.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
August 19th, 2015
A fine relaxing day today. I spent it home with sick son, who is happily on an upswing but not quite back to the "puppy on meth" level of energy he's had before. So we read books, colored things, blew bubbles, played Scholar of the First Sin, and fought over how much food he should be eating. Normal father-son stuff.
Of course then he threw a fork at his mother (I'm 99% sure this was an accident) and woke up screaming at 3 a.m., thereby squandering his earned goodwill. But it was nice while it lasted.
Today I Wrote:
Nada. I will openly admit I could have done much better. I did generate screen captures and material for the next Vault log though.
Of course then he threw a fork at his mother (I'm 99% sure this was an accident) and woke up screaming at 3 a.m., thereby squandering his earned goodwill. But it was nice while it lasted.
Today I Wrote:
Nada. I will openly admit I could have done much better. I did generate screen captures and material for the next Vault log though.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
August 18th, 2015
Young son is back on antibiotics today over... something rough, anyway. Poor kid can't catch a break. I'm really hoping my daughter doesn't catch it. Or my wife. Or me.
Today I Wrote:
Meeting notes, mostly.
Today I Picked Up:
A copy of Chuck Wendig's new book Zer0es. It's either going to be a delightful thriller or a fine chance to laugh at another bad depiction of information security, but I'm going to go in giving Mr. Wendig the benefit of the doubt. I did the same for Alyssa Milano's Hacktivist and that worked out pretty well.
Today I Watched:
Two Scotsmen discussing the best ten weapons in Dark Souls 2.
Today I Wrote:
Meeting notes, mostly.
Today I Picked Up:
A copy of Chuck Wendig's new book Zer0es. It's either going to be a delightful thriller or a fine chance to laugh at another bad depiction of information security, but I'm going to go in giving Mr. Wendig the benefit of the doubt. I did the same for Alyssa Milano's Hacktivist and that worked out pretty well.
Today I Watched:
Two Scotsmen discussing the best ten weapons in Dark Souls 2.
I always enjoy listening to people talking stats, it's like listening to a conversation in a foreign language. Also I've got more reason to buff my Roaring Halberd now. Another old favorite of mine is the classic Onyxia wipe audio from World of Warcraft. Just try to parse this:
August 17th, 2015
Sitting home alone with both kids until 8 o'clock at night? Check. Son sick, refusing to eat and demanding to be held constantly? Check. Dog refusing to drink water for two days? Actually unchecked, she finally drank something.
Writing time? Oh ma'am, you must be joking.
Today I Wrote:
Actually I did manage to finish the third part of the Fallout Shelter log, which is posted up here. For the record I'm trying to capture a disaster on the scale of Boatmurdered and it's nowhere near happening so far. My natural inclination toward doing well in a game is messing me up, I think. I'm either going to have to institute a "no resurrections" policy or go whole-hog into the nightmarish deeps beneath the world if I want good copy.
Writing time? Oh ma'am, you must be joking.
Today I Wrote:
Actually I did manage to finish the third part of the Fallout Shelter log, which is posted up here. For the record I'm trying to capture a disaster on the scale of Boatmurdered and it's nowhere near happening so far. My natural inclination toward doing well in a game is messing me up, I think. I'm either going to have to institute a "no resurrections" policy or go whole-hog into the nightmarish deeps beneath the world if I want good copy.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
August 16th, 2015
I knew having a second child would be rough. I didn't know it would be because my first child would start waking up in the middle of the night screaming for no reason while his younger sister sleeps through the night. If he'd go back to sleep on his own that would be fine, but he insists on curling up on Daddy and he wakes up instantly if I put him back in his crib.
The recliner is not that comfy.
Today I Wrote:
A good chunk of part three of my Vault log. So far no one's really developed as a character but I'm willing to see where these knuckleheaded Dwellers take me. Captain Terry might yet lead a rebellion against the tyrannical Overseer (me).
Today I Read:
More of Taibbi's Divide. Seriously, fuck stop and frisk, fuck Broken Window policing, fuck being arrested for standing in front of your house at the wrong time.
Today I Saw:
Pictures by some poor bastard whose home is being overrun by bears. Seriously, check it out, they're adorable. I hope they get relocated.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
August 11th to 15th, 2015
And that's my first day of missed log updates. *throws confetti* *blows gazoo*
Bad night on the 10th. Up too late, again, then up around 3 to change and feed my daughter, then up again around 4 or 4:30 because my son woke up screaming at... I don't know. I could guess, but my wife wouldn't appreciate me populating the space under my son's bed with monsters.
The 11th was busy and the 12th was the day of my son's surgery, so no writing got done while I was taking care of him. He's fine, already back to normal a day later, but he has a nasty habit of snatching pen and pad out of my hand if I try to use them in his presence. Today (the 13th) is being another busy day back at work, but not quite so bad as the 11th.
...And I wrote that two days ago. A series of bad nights and busy days between now and then. Hopefully Sunday is quiet.
Today I Wrote:
The first entry in the Vault 867 archives, which is up here. I've also pulled images for the first week or so of game, but the more I progress the more I'm running into two problems:
1. I'm having to write from screencaps I take in-game because of the difficulty of playing a phone game with a pen and notepad in the other hand. This is actually a reasonable challenge to take on, though, so we'll see how it goes.
2. I may have reached the limits of "interesting things that happen in Fallout Shelter". This is not Dwarf Fortress, and apparently I can't count on a drunken Dweller flooding my elevator shafts with magma. (Would be a nice update though, Bethesda.) If my Vault ends up being a stable society I'm going to get tired of writing this log real fast. Fortunately it looks like Deathclaws will spice things up a bit.
Aside from those, I'm enjoying playing a game my wife enjoys as well. She just got access on her own phone and I'm only slightly worried it'll turn into another Candy Crush. Well, more than slightly. She may have had to recharge her phone in the middle of the day.
Today I Read:
This Storify log of some tweets by Chuck Wendig and others, on the subject of whether you actually need to write every day or not. A subject near and dear to my heart! I recommend giving it a look if you worry you're not writing frequently enough.
Bad night on the 10th. Up too late, again, then up around 3 to change and feed my daughter, then up again around 4 or 4:30 because my son woke up screaming at... I don't know. I could guess, but my wife wouldn't appreciate me populating the space under my son's bed with monsters.
The 11th was busy and the 12th was the day of my son's surgery, so no writing got done while I was taking care of him. He's fine, already back to normal a day later, but he has a nasty habit of snatching pen and pad out of my hand if I try to use them in his presence. Today (the 13th) is being another busy day back at work, but not quite so bad as the 11th.
...And I wrote that two days ago. A series of bad nights and busy days between now and then. Hopefully Sunday is quiet.
Today I Wrote:
The first entry in the Vault 867 archives, which is up here. I've also pulled images for the first week or so of game, but the more I progress the more I'm running into two problems:
1. I'm having to write from screencaps I take in-game because of the difficulty of playing a phone game with a pen and notepad in the other hand. This is actually a reasonable challenge to take on, though, so we'll see how it goes.
2. I may have reached the limits of "interesting things that happen in Fallout Shelter". This is not Dwarf Fortress, and apparently I can't count on a drunken Dweller flooding my elevator shafts with magma. (Would be a nice update though, Bethesda.) If my Vault ends up being a stable society I'm going to get tired of writing this log real fast. Fortunately it looks like Deathclaws will spice things up a bit.
Aside from those, I'm enjoying playing a game my wife enjoys as well. She just got access on her own phone and I'm only slightly worried it'll turn into another Candy Crush. Well, more than slightly. She may have had to recharge her phone in the middle of the day.
Today I Read:
This Storify log of some tweets by Chuck Wendig and others, on the subject of whether you actually need to write every day or not. A subject near and dear to my heart! I recommend giving it a look if you worry you're not writing frequently enough.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
August 10th, 2015
Not a big update today. I actually slept through the night last night, until 5 a.m. I didn't get to bed until after midnight, but this is still the new "rested" in my life. I was feeling pretty good until I put my head through my computer monitor. (This is a joke.)
Today I Wrote:
Some Fallout Shelter fan-fiction, which I'm polishing up to post a little later. I'm going to end this game Dwarf Fortress style or bust.
Today I Wrote:
Some Fallout Shelter fan-fiction, which I'm polishing up to post a little later. I'm going to end this game Dwarf Fortress style or bust.
Monday, August 10, 2015
August 8th, 2015
Weekends are not prime writing time when you have kids. Especially two kids who don't nap at the same time. I do much better with office lunch breaks.
I will say that mowing the lawn is excellent time to think, though. You're surrounded by white noise and busy doing a mindless physical task, so the mind has time to wander into daydreams. Unfortunately today I was distracted by a rather large hornet's nest and a mailman who still doesn't have my certified package (which I don't want anyway because it's probably a damn summons). Excelsior!
Today I Wrote:
This bit of doggerel:
"Casual Grimm readers may think the deal the Little Mermaid made with the Sea Witch was unfair. True Grimm aficionados know that the reason the Little Mermaid fell in love with the surface world is that she'd spent decades watching boating honeymooners very closely. By the end of her first night on the surface she'd gotten true love's kiss and several more carnal ones, and after the Prince taught her her letters they spent their lives in wedded bliss.
As for the Sea Witch, she glamoured herself to look like the Little Mermaid, and in the fullness of time inherited the throne from the Sea King and removed the old bans on sorcery that had gotten her banished in the first place. As a result the once-thriving sea kingdom has become a barren place, save for the desolate house where the dread thing they summoned lies sleeping."
Today I Read:
Nothing much.
I will say that mowing the lawn is excellent time to think, though. You're surrounded by white noise and busy doing a mindless physical task, so the mind has time to wander into daydreams. Unfortunately today I was distracted by a rather large hornet's nest and a mailman who still doesn't have my certified package (which I don't want anyway because it's probably a damn summons). Excelsior!
Today I Wrote:
This bit of doggerel:
"Casual Grimm readers may think the deal the Little Mermaid made with the Sea Witch was unfair. True Grimm aficionados know that the reason the Little Mermaid fell in love with the surface world is that she'd spent decades watching boating honeymooners very closely. By the end of her first night on the surface she'd gotten true love's kiss and several more carnal ones, and after the Prince taught her her letters they spent their lives in wedded bliss.
As for the Sea Witch, she glamoured herself to look like the Little Mermaid, and in the fullness of time inherited the throne from the Sea King and removed the old bans on sorcery that had gotten her banished in the first place. As a result the once-thriving sea kingdom has become a barren place, save for the desolate house where the dread thing they summoned lies sleeping."
Today I Read:
Nothing much.
August 9th, 2015
Ah, Sunday. Not even a lazy Sunday, just had a lot of stuff to do around the house.
Today I Wrote:
Nothing except this blog post. Damn it.
Today I Read:
More of The Great Divide. Remember HSBC? Or the big LIBOR scandal? Well now I do and I'm pissed off all over again.
Today I Watched:
John Carter of Mars. Bad CG, but you start to overlook it after awhile and find a pretty good movie with some sincerely touching moments. Unfortunately a lot of the action has no real tension - John jumps around and kills things and there's rarely any sort of stakes to worry about. Kind of a shame it didn't get better promotion though.
Today I Played:
Fallout Shelter. While it's basically a freemium promotional tool for Fallout 4, the aesthetics and decent sim gameplay make it scary addictive. I'll mess around with it until my Vault finally goes up in flames, Boatmurdered style.
Today I Wrote:
Nothing except this blog post. Damn it.
Today I Read:
More of The Great Divide. Remember HSBC? Or the big LIBOR scandal? Well now I do and I'm pissed off all over again.
Today I Watched:
John Carter of Mars. Bad CG, but you start to overlook it after awhile and find a pretty good movie with some sincerely touching moments. Unfortunately a lot of the action has no real tension - John jumps around and kills things and there's rarely any sort of stakes to worry about. Kind of a shame it didn't get better promotion though.
Today I Played:
Fallout Shelter. While it's basically a freemium promotional tool for Fallout 4, the aesthetics and decent sim gameplay make it scary addictive. I'll mess around with it until my Vault finally goes up in flames, Boatmurdered style.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
August 7th, 2015
The seventh was a day of exhaustion and brain not work so good. Up too late gaming last night and then the boy woke up at 2 a.m. to seal the insomniac deal. Hence going to bed early and posting this late. (Very late now. Bloody errands.)
Today I Wrote:
One notepad page of structure notes on an urban fantasy book series. (Book 1: Anita Blake. Book 2: Harry Dresden. Book 3: Indiana Jones...)
Today I Read:
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap, by Matt Taibbi, with art by Molly Crabapple. (Follow Friday!) The book examines the phenomenon where our poor are being locked up in ever-increasing numbers for trivial offenses, while the wealthy are enjoying the ability to settle massive, global-crisis level frauds for trivial fines without even admitting wrongdoing. It's damn depressing reading - not many writers get into how a dystopia starts, but you could read worse than Taibbi if you're interested in the subject.
Today I Wrote:
One notepad page of structure notes on an urban fantasy book series. (Book 1: Anita Blake. Book 2: Harry Dresden. Book 3: Indiana Jones...)
Today I Read:
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap, by Matt Taibbi, with art by Molly Crabapple. (Follow Friday!) The book examines the phenomenon where our poor are being locked up in ever-increasing numbers for trivial offenses, while the wealthy are enjoying the ability to settle massive, global-crisis level frauds for trivial fines without even admitting wrongdoing. It's damn depressing reading - not many writers get into how a dystopia starts, but you could read worse than Taibbi if you're interested in the subject.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
August 6th, 2015
I'm going to try something new and post daily work updates here. If I wrote something, you'll get a word count, or at least how many pages I filled up in my Moleskine. If I read something good about writing, or something good in general, I'll post a link. If I blew my evening playing Dark Souls, I might admit to that here.
This is mostly for me, to encourage me to write more, and to keep track of what I manage to do and how I spend my time. But it might end up being worthwhile reading. (Also: Author's Log. Might as well live up to the title.)
Today I Wrote:
Three pages of gorgon porn, and one page of notes on a potential new magic system in my battered black notepad. The green hardcover notepad I got explicitly to write in remains lost in the Bermuda Triangle, along with the previous three pages of drafted gorgon porn.
Today I Read:
A bunch of older posts on Kameron Hurley's blog, which I've been archive trawling. (Technically I read these yesterday but they're worth linking to.) Highlights include:
The Future of Work is Here - and It Sucks - This one kind of inspired this post. Well this and a different Anaïs Nin quote (actually properly attributed to Chuck Noll, a Pittsburgh Steelers coach): "Good things happen to those who hustle." I feel the need to begin hustling in earnest.
All Together Now: Writing and Managing Anxiety
Writing Income Timeline: The Long Game
Is Becoming a Pro Writer Worth It?
Also two reading lists: one from Felicia Day around the theme of being weird on the Internet, and one called How to Grown-Up: Books That Will Teach You To Be An Adult. (I think that's the one my wife pointed me at. It seems to be posted in a few places.)
Today I Watched:
Both GOP debates. Mother of God...
This is mostly for me, to encourage me to write more, and to keep track of what I manage to do and how I spend my time. But it might end up being worthwhile reading. (Also: Author's Log. Might as well live up to the title.)
Today I Wrote:
Three pages of gorgon porn, and one page of notes on a potential new magic system in my battered black notepad. The green hardcover notepad I got explicitly to write in remains lost in the Bermuda Triangle, along with the previous three pages of drafted gorgon porn.
Today I Read:
A bunch of older posts on Kameron Hurley's blog, which I've been archive trawling. (Technically I read these yesterday but they're worth linking to.) Highlights include:
The Future of Work is Here - and It Sucks - This one kind of inspired this post. Well this and a different Anaïs Nin quote (actually properly attributed to Chuck Noll, a Pittsburgh Steelers coach): "Good things happen to those who hustle." I feel the need to begin hustling in earnest.
All Together Now: Writing and Managing Anxiety
Writing Income Timeline: The Long Game
Is Becoming a Pro Writer Worth It?
Also two reading lists: one from Felicia Day around the theme of being weird on the Internet, and one called How to Grown-Up: Books That Will Teach You To Be An Adult. (I think that's the one my wife pointed me at. It seems to be posted in a few places.)
Today I Watched:
Both GOP debates. Mother of God...
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