Woooo-eee! Hello there everyone! Check it out, I’m still alive!
Yeah, so, I missed a few of these posts because life got rather busy there for a little bit, namely because I finally – finally, FINALLY – managed to pick up a job. As usual that meant several days of trying to get as much done as fast as possible (while also doing the drug tests and online orientations and what-not), followed by travelling across the country, and for the past nearly-two weeks now I’ve been working 12-hour days, each day. Plus I was still attempting to participate in Kinktober, plus we did our yearly ‘Halloween Store Hunt’ video before I left. So, yeah, suffice it to say that I didn’t even realize that I’d missed a few weeks of these posts until, like…two days ago.
*cough cough*
On that same note, I am actually writing this post before I pass out for the night, so let’s get through it so that I can curl up and snooze, okay? Okay.
Health
Okay, so, it’s difficult bordering on impossible to really judge how things are going in this vein while I’m working out West. For one thing, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m limited to the food that is made available to me, and while there are plenty of healthy options, there aren’t plenty enough of them to really avoid the not-so-healthy ones for long. For another thing, even if I try to focus on only the healthier stuff, I can’t track calories or anything because everything is cooked on site, so I have no way of knowing what all is included.
On top of those, I don’t have access to a scale, so I’ve only really got looking-in-the-mirror as a way to let me know if I’m indulging too much or making some progress. And then there’s always the fact that I’m obviously not exercising when I’m working 12 hour days. Just figured I’d drive that particular point home.
So basically, I’m just hoping for the best at the moment, but I’m also not confident that things are going well. That could be mostly due to the fact that it’s hard not to eat like a ravenous beast when you’re working these kinds of hours. But also, it’s really difficult to make sure I drink enough water right now, partly because of the nature of my work (you don’t generally carry a water bottle in the oil sands…that’s a good way to end up swallowing a pile of bitumen-laced dirt), and partly because it’s so bloody cold out here right now that the only things I can actually convince myself to drink are coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. All diuretics.
Suffice it to say, I’m probably going to end up going home a little worse for wear than when I left, but, um…at least I’m getting fresh air for a change?
Creativity
[In the spirit of full disclosure, I shall inform you now that I, in fact, passed out with my Chromebook on my lap and am now completing this post the following morning. Exhaustion is a hell of a thing! lol]
Getting art out of the way first, since I have not actually managed to find the time to draw anything in a few weeks now. I’m hoping to locate some time soon, now that Kinktober is over, but NaNoWriMo has begun, and I’ll no doubt be writing fics for Christmas prompts soon, so we’ll just have to see what happens, I suppose.
Writing, however, has continued to go well. As we grow closer to the end of the year, I’m not certain that I’ll be able to hit my goal of 550k words, but I will definitely hit 500k, which is more than acceptable to me.
In the past three weeks I’ve destroyed my Pacemaker.press goal twice, and flubbed it once, for a net profit of basically exceeding it a little bit. Three weeks ago my goal was 10,387 words, but I only managed to make it to 6698 words. The following week I had a goal of 15,935 words, and managed to pass by it with 16,587 words. And last week, my goal was 13,542 words, which I managed to destroy with 16,052 words. I don’t have the numbers for the first week of October on me, but I’m fairly certain that I ended up with on or around 50k for the month, which is funny since that’s what I now have to try to write for this month.
Yes, my dumb ass is still participating in NaNoWriMo. I don’t generally end up doing any of the social aspects of it these days, but it feels like a tradition that I can’t skip at this point. I’ve been doing it for a decade! And, I mean, I’m going to be writing anyway, so there’s that.
October was devoured by Kinktober, which I thought was a pretty decent success (if the comments on AO3 are anything to go by, anyway). As a result I got behind on ‘The Prince’s Consort’ so that I’ve no longer got anything written ahead, so I’ll likely be working on that this week, but once I’ve finished with that (there aren’t too many chapters left!) I’ll be dedicating myself to working on Christmas fic prompts (so that they’ll be done ahead of time) and ‘The Other World: Book Three’, which I’ve put off for far, far too long. I know at least four people who might read this and raise an eyebrow in gentle disbelief, but I swear it’s going to happen! I’ve got ideas, even! I promise!
Down-Time
This, my dear friends, is something that I don’t really possess, at the time. I suppose you could make an argument that I’ve been writing during my down-time, but if you try to make that argument I may smack you, because enjoy it as I may, it’s still work.
The very little bit of reading that I’ve done recently has gone toward snips of fics during my lunch breaks at work, but I can also report that I have officially delved into the world of audio books. I noticed the other day that Audible had a two-month free trial going on, with an instant 2 credits toward whatever books you want, so I took advantage. With one credit I preordered the ‘Good Omens’ audio book (because of course I did), and with the other I got Act 1 of ‘The Sandman’. And let me tell you….I’ve always been a physical book kind of person, but I fucking adored Sandman. It was nearly 12 hours of excellent storytelling, awesome acting, and wild and wonderful adventures in the DC universe. In particular, the chapter featuring Doctor Destiny in a diner, fucking with everyone’s minds for 24 hours straight? That was fantastic (and also, a little bit, makes me concerned for Neil Gaiman’s mind). I finished it yesterday, and am now bouncing on my heels for my next credit to roll around so that I can grab Act 2.
In the meantime, though, the ‘Good Omens’ preorder was completed this morning, and I’ve already started listening. I’ve read the book before, so it’s not as though I’m not expecting everything that comes through my earbud, but guys, it is fantastic hearing the original version of the story with David Tennant and Michael Sheen’s voices involved. I like to think that when Gaiman was approached about making the audio book, he basically told the publisher with no uncertain terms that people would revolt if Tennant and Sheen weren’t the voices of Crowley and Aziraphale. Because it’d be true. Just saying.
In the watching vein of things, you guys know damn well that we always spend the month of October watching horror movies. Honestly, I didn’t really keep track after that first week, because that’s when things began to get far too busy, but we watched several oldies-but-goodies, several old favorites, and a few new ones as well. One new one that I can mention is ‘Blood Red Sky’, which we were curious about because of the bonkers premise. Basically, a woman who has been taking medications to stave off vampirism is travelling to the US with her young son when the plane is hijacked by terrorists. In order to save her son, she ultimately has to let the vampire instincts take over. It sounds a bit silly when I say it like that, but honestly it was very bloody, very violent, and miserable in quite a few places. It was a bit plodding in spots – I definitely think that the story could have been tightened up a bit – but I enjoyed it. Worth a watch, you guys.
Coming on the end of the month, after having travelled out to work, I only really watched a few random things in the background while dealing with other stuff, and all ones that I’d seen before. On that note, though, I would like to violently scold my past self for thinking that it would be a good idea to watch ‘The Mist’ again. I love the story, but FUCK ME that movie has the most god-awful depressing ending of anything I’ve ever watched. It seriously makes me feel like just laying down to die. Christ. And of course Stephen King loved it. -_-
What’s left? Oh, playing. Yeah, there’s been no playing. lol Unless you count ‘Cookie Run Kingdom’, which is a mobile game that my daughter weaseled me into playing and that I am now obsessed with. Luckily it’s the kind of game that you can have open on the table next to you, and you just have to tape a few things every few minutes, so I generally just play it while I’m writing. 😛
And that is pretty much it! In the spirit of further full disclosure, I shall inform you that I ran out of time to finish the post before having to run to the bus, so I am now officially finishing it at my spot in the lunch room at work. 😛
Twelve-hour days, man. Twelve-hour days.
Feel free to let me know how your year is going so far! Do you have any big goals? Specific plans? Anything awesome on the horizon? Share what’s going on with you! ❤
Tracey Tobin 