It makes sense to use my tumblr page, which is already receiving most of the feeds of the various sites I run.
So, thanks WordPress, but anyone reading this can head over to tumblr and find me there.
Ciao!
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So this will be the place where all my personal shit is posted. If you aren’t interested in my personal life, stay well back. You can find gaming stuff at Sword’s Edge Publishing. For ideas, speculative media news, and wrting related posts, head on over to Sword’s Edge.
And so, I rear my head, sniffle, cough off to the side, and make the announcement that neither myself nor my family have perished of the plague. Thank you antibiotics.
For those interested, bacterial bronchitis does not go away in 10 days. It may not ever go away unless treated. If you have a cold that lasts more than 10 days, see a doctor.
I should be writing right now. I’ve run through my buffer of episodes for Dark Horizons, and now it is on hiatus while I recover. I mean I’m recovered, but I have a lot of catch up to do with the course I’m taking (Management Principles . . . oh joy) and around the house in general.
I’m back at work, though I get the chance to work from home regularly (twice a week). Awesome, right? Except it looks like that won’t last. I have a job offer that is a better position, but in a different ministry, and that means different working conditions for certain. I work in training design right now. This new job is not that, and frankly I won’t be able to talk about it on this blog or anywhere else. No, I did not get my “00” licence. No, I’m not going to say anything more than that.
The thing is, I won’t be bringing work home from this job. I’m going to miss working from home as much as I do right now. I’m also going to miss my boss, my team, and the work I do. I love my job. Honestly, I do. The new job looks awesome cool, but I have no idea about my boss or my team. I expect to love the work, but I don’t know if I’m going to love the job, if you take my meaning.
There’s always the chance that my present employer will offer me something to stay. Were I in the private sector, I would actually expect that. In the public service, it usually doesn’t work that way. I also have one big, huge liability. I don’t speak French.
In my present ministry, my forward advancement is blocked by my lack of French. I’m studying it, but the average length of time to get to the medium level (which really wouldn’t open up much in the way of opportunities) is between 4 and 6 years. Even if I could do it in 2, which some of my Francophone co-workers tell me I could do, that’s 2 years before I can even start thinking of further advancement rather than 2 years before I advance.
Or I could do it right now in a different ministry.
Now, will my present employer make me an offer? I’m not going to hold my breath.
So come March 1 (or possibly later, depending on how quickly this new employer gets me an official type Letter of Offer), I’ll be at a new job.
Change—I both love it and fear it.
The next few days might actually see a fair amount of action on this blog. A few things to say, and this is the place where I say them.
I have recently learned a lesson as a father. As smart and capable as I think my Princess is, I need to follow her timeframe for development.
Here’s the thing: I read a recent article about toddler and teeth, and that by 3 they could start going to the dentist and getting fluoride treatments. The Princess has been brushing her teeth, or having them brushed, since age 2. She’s not great at it, but she’s getting better. However, we use toddler toothpaste, which is safe to swallow. Adult toothpaste most certainly is not–well, not safe in large quantities. For her to get her fluoride treatment, she’d have to spit.
She doesn’t spit when she brushes her teeth now, and I tried to give her a crash course in spitting, fearing we were already well behind the developmental curve.
The Princess has usually been early in her development, from walking to talking to co-ordination, she’s always been ahead of schedule. Not so much with potty training. However, once we got her using the potty, she was quick to understand and has had almost no accidents (and none when she’s awake).
There’s certainly an aspect of father’s pride in this, but I am equally proud of my 11 month-old Smiley McDroolsalot, and she is developmentally late. Smiley crawled late, she’s not walking, she’s not using any words (possibly dada, but that seems more like a repetitive vocalization than a word). I’m still super proud of her (she can literally melt walls with her smile! . . . okay, maybe not literally).
I guess I have too high of expectations for the Princess. She cracked under the pressure. I gave her a couple of long talks about swallowing toothpaste–as in, don’t! It didn’t help. Finally, one night, mommy and I changed night-time duties (I put Smiley to bed and mommy put the Princess to bed, usually it’s the other way around) and mommy relieved her of the pressure of spitting.
Last night, I was getting the Princess ready for bed again. I made it clear when she brought up the fact mommy didn’t make her spit that not spitting was okay. Someday, she would have to learn how to spit when brushing her teeth, but that would wait.
After potty time, we got to teeth brushing, and she wanted mommy to do it, or to pass on it altogether. No, we were going to brush her teeth so she would be all ready for mommy to tuck her in.
And the Princess started bawling!
I calmed her down and promised her that she didn’t need to spit. She made me repeat it many times, as though making absolutely certain I understood that spitting was no longer required. After a bit of talking and hugging, we brushed her teeth. Daddy still spits, and I explained the difference between toddler toothpaste and adult toothpaste.
So I think I was pushing my Princess a little bit too hard. It’s tough, because I want her to succeed in everything, even things as little as tooth brushing. Funny, though, that I asked mommy to haul back on the pressure when trying to get the Princess started on potty training, worrying it might be too much. Then I forget my own advice.
This is a learning experience. It’s obvious why life as a second child is easier than the first. We parents get our on the job training with the first. Poor Princess. I think she has recovered, and I think mommy still wants me to put Smiley to bed (Smiley is pretty needy . . . maybe I’ll write about that some other time), but I want to continue to be the one who gets my Princess ready for bed. I adore the time I have with her, and I really need to learn how to be a good daddy for her (and her sister).
They should have classes on this stuff!
The reference.
What a crazy, crazy week. Work and home life have been brutal. I actually had to cancel a game earlier this month because things at home were literally falling apart. Too many balls in the air. Things seem to be getting better—fingers crossed. Work is likely to get only more crazy as we embark on a total redesign of our training programs, the first stage of which we can expect to take between 12 and 18 months.
Two cool things: last Tuesday I got to record again with Chris and Rob for the Accidental Survivors. It has been way too long since I’ve had the opportunity. The Friday before that, I was interviewed by Roberta Laurie for the next issue of On Spec. Seems I shall be the featured author. Sweet.
Of course, I expect all of you to buy an issue . . . and one for a friend . . . and write fan letters praising my work. Make a checklist to insure you forget nothing.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Done?
The talk with Roberta got me fired up. I’d love to get back into writing regularly. The problem, right now, is that most of my writing time is taken up by Dark Horizons, the Mundus Novit serial now coming to you live from the Sword’s Edge Publishing website.
It’s not really a problem, it’s just that it takes up all my writing time. When I’m done that, maybe I’ll have some time to try something else.
One thing that has been on my mind is an idea I ran through elsewhere some time ago. Originally, it was a story set in a riff on the Roman Empire. After doing some research on the Wars of Religion, I’m thinking 17th century Holy Roman Empire might be really, really fun. It changes a lot of the wallpaper, but not the foundation. One little detail that helped me get in the mood was using 17th century European given names but Roman surnames. It’s little things like that which help me get into the mindset.
Now, I just need more time to actually, you know, write.
And so another weekend draws to a close. I’m back at work in order to recover.
On Saturday, I rented a truck and drove from Ottawa to Kitchener to meet up with Accidental Rob and kryyst who were going to help me load up some stuff from my dad’s place the next day. I stayed over at Accidental Rob’s place and we watched Wolfhound (on kryyst’s recommendation!) with Accidental Mel.
What a steaming pile of crap. Seriously, that is one bad, bad movie. It started out like some sub-par Conan pastiche and led into a bunch of cliches delivered without subtlety, nuance or even self-awareness. I want to say bad, but that doesn’t go anywhere near the level of pure dreck I encountered.
Somehow, we survived with sanity intact. The next day we all met for breakfast in which krysst revealed that he had not actually seen the movie. Total bastard.
We got the loading done and I have to say that I was impressed with Accidental Rob and kryyst’s skill and daring. I assure you that if I have other strenuous, somewhat unpleasant tasks in the area I will be calling on them for their assistance.
They’re like the wonder twins without the annoying monkey . . . or would that make me . . . stop it! I am not Gleek!
When I got to Ottawa, three buddies helped me unload, and they went to work with an enthusiasm and an energy that frankly shocked the shit right out of me. Much thanks to Chris M, Jez and Stevens.
One would think that after such a success, I’d be feeling good. Yeah, except the lower hinge pin for the fridge door was nowhere to be found. I just about shit myself, and my wife just about shit on me. The next morning we find out the vacuum isn’t working. Seriously, this was turning into a disaster to parallel the shitstorm that was Wolfhound.
On returning home from a very, very busy day at work, I decided to go have a quick look where I had parked the truck. Sure enough, there was the hinge pin! I get home and my wife tells me she figured out what was wrong with the vacuum, and it works now.
So all truly is well that ends well. I have to tell you, though, I was bone-tired yesterday. I crashed by 9:30 that night. Smiley McDroolsalot is cutting teeth, so she got me up a bunch of times through the night, and for some reason the Princess wasn’t sleeping well either. I’m still a little tired and dazed, but functional. Barely.
More blog postings! Coming soon!
Yeah, that didn’t exactly work out the way I planned it.
Things are busy and I get tired and forgetful. Apologies.
In any case (new drinking game: listen to episode 24 of Collateral and take a drink every time I say “in any case”), I have recognized my greatest failing in writing in the long form (as in novellas and novels). I don’t throw enough obstacles in the protagonists paths. I realized this about half-way through Dark Horizons. While there is a lot of unanswered questions, there are very little other challenges for the characters. In my mind, the inability to obtain answers acted as a challenge, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the challenges need to be more obvious, more immediate, and more physical.
So now they get to be kicked in the nuts. Repeatedly. In quick succession.
Yay!
In other news, I’m working on the second release for the Osiris Files. I don’t know if I’m going to call it Weapon 10, Agent X or just X. It’s almost done–just the last chapter to flesh out. Then I’ll be mocing on to the third, tentatively titled “Want to Believe,” about two FBI agents who had worked on the Y Cases–unsolved cases involving unexplained phenomenon–who get killed, and Osiris is on the trail of the killers.
I’ve decided that I won’t release any until I have a buffer of at least three products. I have planned for a cycle of eight products. And, yes, they will form a cycle. There will be linkages between all the files that could lead to a single campaign, but each could also be played independently. I don’t want to say more, because a lot of it is based on a secret history and a secret antagonist, and I hope that the discovery of what is going on will be part of the fun.
The Osiris Files are going to get play tested using Mutants & Masterminds 2E. I’m going to post actual play recordings over at Adventures of the Ottawa Warband, starting once the original Vikings True20 campaign recordings have all been posted.
I’m eager to see both how the adventures play out and how much interest there is in the Osiris Files once I put them up for sale–except for Operation Nearscape, which will always be a free “demo.”
I’m back at work, which should mean I have less free time not more. Well, I get to my desk usually 15 to 20 minutes before I start work. I could kill time doing other things, but I figure I could use that time to do something constructive, like write.
15 to 20 minutes a day of writing isn’t much, granted. Still, I can at least get the occasional blog post (like this one) done. I don’t think it will help my fiction writing, because I tend to need 15 to 20 minutes just to get in gear for that kind of writing. I usually have to read at least part of the story I’m working on to get the correct voice(s) in the writing. If I don’t, it ends up being a mish-mash of styles and authorial voice.
So it looks like I should be getting more blog posts up. About what, I don’t know yet.
Don’t expect anything too immediate, though. I’ll be writing at work, but I don’t have access to the blog from work, so I’ll be publishing it from home.
Not that this makes any real difference. Whatever. Anyway . . .
Walking to work, I was thinking about Planetary (the comic written by Warren Ellis) as a movie. I think it could be done, but only if one focuses on a single story, something with impact on the ongoing subplot of the Four and Elijah Snow’s identity. I don’t think the full run could be or should be concentrated in a single film, rather do one and leave it open for more.
I do, however, fear Hollywood getting their hands on it.
I’ve got about five minutes while I guzzle coffee and have diverted the Princess with a sticker book.
Since I haven’t done much writing, either fiction or gaming, I haven’t thought to jot down something for this blog. This morning, though, as I fired up Juice, my podcatcher, I realized I don’t listen to a vast majority of the podcasts I download.
The problem is, I have less pod-listening time available. When I was going to work, I listened during my commute—about an hour and a half a day. On parental leave, I still listened a lot when I was out walking with my Princess or during work around the house. When my wife was in Korea and it was just Princess and I at home, I would listen a lot while I played with her as well. If we were playing with trains, or having a tea party, or building reasonable facsimiles of shapes with Play-Doh, I’d have the computer playing stuff.
Since my wife has returned, I can’t really listen to that while she’s around. She expects, y’know, conversations and stuff. So now I have maybe 30 minutes or less while doing the dishes at night.
And I was also the lucky recipient of a copy of another Kenneth Harl lecture from The Teaching Company, this time on Rome and the Barbarians. After finding Professor Harl’s Viking lectures, I talked a lot about how much I loved it. A kind, kind listener (thanks David!) sent me a copy of Rome and the Barbarians, and that has taken up ALL my pod-listening time.
When I get back to work in October (parental leave is a wonderful socialist invention!), I’ll have that commute and listening time again. Until then, I’ve got very little love for podcasts.
Sorry gang. I love you all, but family (and the stability of my marriage) comes first. Oh, and so does Professor Harl.
When I get more time, I’ll post another advice to aspiring novelists. Don’t hold your breath.
According to Air Canada, my wife and littlest girl made it to Vancouver okay. They’re going to have about a two hour wait for the next flight, the one that takes them to South Korea. I won’t see either of them–except maybe over Skype–until June 20. This does not make me happy.
I didn’t realize how not happy this would make me until I got home. It really hit me when I came home with my two and a half year-old Princess. The place was empty. The silence, which usually doesn’t bother me and which I often crave, was oppressive.
The Princess and I were heading out again, because I want to keep the Princess busy, both for her sake and mine. I was feeling really crappy, so I asked her for a hug. She looked at me–very serious–and said–in a very worried tone: “Are you going somewhere, daddy?”
I will admit that I cried. It really got to me. I told her that I wasn’t going anywhere, and that I never would go anywhere without her. I handed in my dude card right then and collected my dad card.*
My wife had to go. Her dad has cancer and hasn’t got long to live. We were just in Korea in October of last year, and we had decided we weren’t going to spend the money for the whole family to go. Now that the Princess is over two, we would have to pay for a seat. We do have the money, but we also have a mortgage, car payments, various saving plans, and we also intend on sending money to Korea to help my wife’s mother. All that considered, it seemed prudent that not all of us go.
My youngest daughter, Smiley McDroolsalot (not her real name), was going with her mom because it was basically free, and because Smiley is still breast-feeding. I’m pretty much useless in that field. So not only is my wife gone, but so is Smiley. Her stuff is still all around the house, awaiting her return. I get a little pain in the chest when I see it and realize I won’t see her again for four weeks.
Why am I sharing this all with you? Because it’s really weighing me down right now. I didn’t know how badly I would miss them. Being out of the home is a little bit better, but even there I can’t help but miss them both.
People keep saying the time will go fast. It better. I’m about ready to drop 5K to get tickets and head over there tomorrow!
* Joe kindly pointed out that “a dude card is printed on the back of your dad card.” He is a wise man.
