You may have noticed the lack of posting recently, or you may have seen an error or two on the page in the last couple of days. Once again, the site has been moved from server to server. I’ve noticed a snappier response, and hope that you do as well.
More content is on the way, my steadfast readers. I have much to babble about.
What is this? Is this a Hunter in his native habitat? What is he doing, there? Why, that appears to be a comic book! Huh.
I got the test copy in the mail yesterday. There’s a bit of a problem with how dark the artwork printed, so Rick (the Awesome Artist) is trying to work some contrast miracles. Knowing him, he’ll pull off something sweet.
I can’t wait for this to be available to everyone.
I’ve been eating more as my stress has been increasing. That pause button that got pressed with shedding inches – that whole plateau thing – might just be released, but in the wrong direction. So, back to conscious portion control.
Which is not an easy thing when your wife makes delicious things like the cake pictured here. Luckily for me, she’s also the one determined to control my portion sizes.
Today, she’s making her homemade spaghetti sauce. By the time I get to it, it will have been cooking in the crock pot for HOURS and HOURS. Hunter and I will be sitting down at the table, drooling our faces off, trying our damnedest to be patient. Cian will be chanting, voice shrilling, “Ghetti! Ghetti! Ghetti!”
Shortly thereafter, we will all get in trouble for waking up the baby.
But when that perfect sauce lies atop its bed of serpentine pasta, crowned by a single slice of garlic bread (and possibly grated parmesan cheese), we will breathe in the scent of perfection, and all will be right with the world.
As long as I’ve been a member of Goodreads (some time in 2008?), I have been under the impression that only books with ISBN numbers could be added to its hallowed database. Perhaps this was the case when I joined, but no longer! No siree Bob! What have I done with my new-found knowledge? Good question!
I’ve added Todd’s Story to the Goodreads database. Now you can add it to your library, give it incredibly uplifting reviews, recommend it to your friends, start a discussion about the book, and other sundry (and yet awesome!) things. So, I say unto you, go forth, and read good!
When I opened this post and added the below picture, days ago, it matched my mood precisely. I felt a connection to my Dad, through this image of his serenity, that I don’t often feel.
I’m hoping that I can feel that more as I continue to grow into this fatherhood business, and as I reach for wisdom. I’m not under any crazy delusion that I’ll grasp wisdom, but it’s a good road to walk, I think. A good goal to strive for.
To be completely honest, I still sometimes have a hard time believing that I’m a Dad. Since I’ve put on those boots, though, I have discovered a whole new level to the definition of the word “responsibility.”
So, there I was, standing triumphant over the slain tyrannical warlord, my bloody sword held aloft in my left hand, totem of power, crackling with lightning, in my right. Looking over to the princess, chained to the wall, I said…
Huh. I think the coffee kicked in.
I’ve just uploaded the files for Fight or Flight #0 to the printer. Then the review copy will be on its way into my grubby little paws. Much mad cackling will ensue upon its arrival, I don’t mind tellin’ ya. MUCH. Ahh, I’ve got that nervous excitement welling up in my chest, right underneath my sternum. This is just one of the good things that have quickly cropped up in seeming response to my decision to finish purging unneeded things.
So, keep your calendars nearby, dear readers (or in another tabbed browser window). I will soon have a release party to plan.
After work yesterday, my brain did its best to crawl out of my sinuses. I swallowed some naproxen sodium (thanks Wikipedia!) just in time to prevent it from becoming an all-out migraine fest. I still had the disorientation and the sensitivity to light and sound, but the pain remained dull throughout the rest of the evening.
This made concentrating difficult. It also explains why I was having such difficulty concentrating from about noon on. Paying more attention to headache-related patterns is starting to show clues that I have an incoming brain buster. And, really, I should follow my wife’s advice and just bring some headache meds to work. Better to take them when the clues start than the actual headache.
Today, my mind feels clear and open and alert. This bodes well for concentration.
I have chosen a goal on which to focus. I never quite finished purging unneeded possessions through eBay and Craigslist and Amazon. Each successful auction and advertisement gives me a bit of instant gratification in the accomplishment department. As an added benefit, I seem to be pretty good at it, because people keep giving me their stuff to get rid of.
I have decided that by refusing to take any more things from friends, I can put a finite end on the project. I have decided that I will aid my fellow concentrator, pictured here, in his execution of the same task. So, let’s see if I’ve still got the overachiever mojo that I used to take so much pride in.
In an environment of interruption and shifting priorities, focus cannot be determined by prioritizing a project. If focus is to be achieved, let alone narrowed, choice must be used. The question of “Why are you working on that instead of this other thing?” must be able to be answered, without fear of recrimination, “Because I chose to work on this now.” Because, really, when the phrase “all things being equal” applies to priorities, my focus wanders all over the damn map.
This morning, I’m arguing on the internet to wake myself up.
My amazing wife has suggested to me that I not think about my goals in terms of which I should accomplish, and which I should discard. She has suggested that, instead, I think about them in terms of which I should accomplish now, and which I should accomplish down the line. This feels like procrastination to me, but upon further reflection, all deadlines for these projects are self-imposed. My feeling of having to get them *all* done *right now* is internal, and is not a part of the goals and projects themselves. If I look at my goals this way, I can arbitrarily assign importance, perhaps based on length of time required to achieve the goal, and then choose a goal on which to focus. I can do all of this without feeling like I am abandoning the other things that I’ve started.
I need to finish what I start, after all.