I just got a new keyboard! It's a ca...

I just got a new keyboard!  It's a cast-off from my dad who got it as a cast-off from work so I suppose new is a bit of a stretch; regardless, it's a Natural Ergonomic 4000.  What's important about it is the split keyboard which helps force me to use the proper fingers for the proper keystrokes.  There's going to be an adjustment period to be sure, but I'm enjoying it so far.

In other news it's December 31st which means people will take this opportunity to commit to any number of things to amend the previous annum's regrets.  That's not something I do, so I will not be starting January off with a flurry of writing.  Quite the opposite, I'll be levelling my Paladin to 85, playing some StarCraft2 and MineCraft, and writing when I feel like I have something to write.

The advice from R.A. Salvatore to young writers, "if you can stop, stop."  He didn't wish the life of a writer on anyone, and claimed that he only did it because he literally couldn't stop writing every day.  I am not R.A. Salvatore, so I will write when I write, and you will wait or go elsewhere.

Not good enough

If I say Day[9] to you, and you return the blank stare typical of most people, then I won't be surprised.  Well, if you think you can stare at me through your monitor then I am a little surprised.

Shocking oddities aside, I am currently enjoying the game of StarCraft2, and I also find pleasure in some of the gaming commentary and coaching that can be found on YouTube.  If this is too nerdy for you, feel free to skip the next paragraph.

In StarCraft I usually played Protoss, but in StarCraft2 I've been playing almost exclusively Terran.  I'm not good, I'm a mid level bronze player, but I thought I'd try something a little different today and play a game as Zerg since I've seen lots of cool Zerg games on the aforementioned YouTube channels.  I was doing okay until about mid-game, when the medium level Protoss A.I. just walked all over me.  My macro was abysmal, and I clearly don't know the ins and outs of that race.  There was a lot of stuff going on, and my one-track brain was clearly overwhelmed.

The pleasure of spectating  will bring me to the point of wanting to try something for myself.  I find that I am typically competent enough to get by at first, but (as in the example above) I get to a point where my performance falls short of my expectations and I am left feeling defeated by yet another challenge.  This is the fork in the road for me.

Do I back out?  Or do I invest myself in an attempt to improve?  I hate the feeling of being beaten, so if whatever I'm trying out is enjoyable, then I will often pursue overcoming the obstacle that's holding me back.  This is of course cyclical because there is always another obstacle waiting around the corner requiring more focus and commitment to overcome.  I'm usually okay with this, I simply apply the same solution and carry on.

At some point I inevitably reach a point where this is no longer effective.  This has happened over and over again; playing guitar, mountain biking, soccer, video games, et cetera.  The limitation is inevitably me, I'm simply incapable of going any further down the chosen path.  For me, that's worse than that initial feeling of being beaten, it's utter defeat and it's depressing.  I don't feel like listing specific examples, suffice to say that I would like it a lot if there was something I enjoyed doing that I was more than good at.  Is that something writing?  I don't know, I guess time will tell.

So, I like, posted a new video a couple days ago. If you haven't seen it, it's here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU5BjGRk2ds

Push through the pain!

- dmgpunk

Professionals v2

Yesterday I was listening to an interview with Bill Slavicsek (an author and freelance/contracted writer), who stated that he averaged 12,000 words per day for the last month with peak days of over 14,000.  That means he’s written as much in 3 days as I did in 4 months.

Is that the kick in the butt I needed to get writing again?  Perhaps.  I’ve had ideas begin to reemerge of late, and I’ve started developing the story arc a little, which should alleviate that lost sensation I’ve had for so long.

After nosing around Google Docs for the last few minutes, it seems there’s some significant changes since I was here last.  Most notably the Gears offline editing has been disabled, and the ability to publish to my blogger account.  I’m not too impressed.

Creativity?

This web-log has been stagnant, so I highly doubt there's any traffic.  It's a good thing that I keep it for myself and not for anyone else.  The lack of posts is directly related to the activities of the past 8 months.
I was writing a lot there for a while, I wrote ~45,000 words-  Wow!  Was it really that many?  Anyway, I put many ideas to virtual page within a reasonable amount to time.

At the same time as that, I was playing around in a then recently free-to-play MMO called Dungeons and Dragons Online. I made a bunch of videos which were supposed to be a video-log but ended up being walk-through style which wasn't nearly as interesting to me.  In truth, my experiences in the game didn't really lend themselves to a video-log, and the form it took was simply natural.  The most interesting part of the whole experience was that I started to acquire subscribers on YouTube and for a little while I felt the desire to publish content to keep that ball rolling.

The other major activity over the winter was the renewal of my World of WarCraft account and the loss of time associated therewith.  While that was active, everything else seemed to grind to a halt.  I was still going to the gym and tending to social responsibilities, but all my creative juices were sucked into the game and the "need" to upgrade my gear and maximize the effectiveness of my "spec."

It wasn't until spring that my account expired, and the biking trails opened up that I realised the foolishness of the past several months.  My video-log attentions have turned towards mountain biking and actually replaced my old web-log, "The M Stands for MTB."  Making videos is more fun for me and I hope a more dynamic and simplistic consumption method for the internet.

Beside me on my desk is the script for my friend Dave's new movie, and I'll be laying down some vocal tracks in a few days.  An encounter with him helped inspire my previous fervor for writing, and I've had enough down time now to think through a couple hang-ups with my story.  I hope that I am able to spend some time writing this summer, and accomplish something I can be proud of.

- Derek

Oh, I just added it up, 42,146 words so far.  ^_^  Hands down the biggest thing I've ever written.