Captain's Log: High Spirits, Second-Guessing, Wasps, and SIDEBEEFS
Captain’s Log,
May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce.
Victory Laps
The past two weeks have seen me in high spirits, not only with respect to this formerly stressful and occasionally anxious calendar year but in the absolute span of my life as well, which sets a much higher bar. Finishing my first book has simultaneously eased my workload considerably, spurred me on to numerous victory laps, and granted me the opportunity for an actual vacation-in mindset if not geography.
Obviously I’m a fairly prolific writer in some respects. This journal and its several thousand entries will attest to that. But never before have I published a complete, long-form work. Even if it is “just” a prelude, and even if the publication wasn’t by a major publishing house so much as on my own website by me, I find myself cautiously but tenably thinking of myself now as a published author, and it’s a lot more satisfying to say and to think than “I’m working on…”
Second-Guessing
Although I’ve learned that people in general are untrustworthy, I rarely second-guess myself. I consider it an affliction and I have some pity for the people who constantly feel as though they can’t trust their own judgment.
That’s when it comes to life in general. In my writing, I actually second-guess myself a fair amount. Just today I submitted a question to a popular Tumblr. As usual, I carefully worded it and reviewed it closely before sending it in. But, after the fact, it occurred to me that an instance where I wrote “builds trust” wasn’t correct, and it would have been much better for me to say “builds understanding.” And, of course, since the question is already turned in there’s nothing I can do to change it, which razzles me.
Thankfully I haven’t experienced much second-guessing with respect to the Prelude-not anymore, that is. During editing I experienced it frequently. But because I edited it so much, and so thoroughly, and because I’m just plum exhausted on the Prelude after working on it so hard and for so long, I can’t think of anything specific that I would change.
My First Sting
I’d never knowingly been stung by a winged insect-until today. I was walking along our front walk on my way to the Astronomers’ Lodge to get a cup of coffee, when a number of yellow jackets swarmed me. I looked up and saw they had built a small nest under the eaves.
For some reason I turned around and walked past there again, and this time one of them stung me! It felt like a tiny prick. Mainly I was worried about Surprise Anaphylactic Death, seeing as how I’d never knowingly been stung before and wasn’t sure if I am allergic to such things.
Golly these little suckers were aggressive! When I returned outside to finally get that coffee, I went out the other door instead, and found a second, smaller nest under the eaves there. But those ones weren’t aggressive, and indeed I’ve never encountered such aggressive yellow jackets.
Tonight they die.
Unfortunately the other nest is getting sprayed too. I’m normally be content to leave insects be when it comes to the outdoors, even in the immediate vicinity of the house, but I make an exception for pests-especially dangerous, aggressive ones.
BEEFS OF GLORY
I’d never worn sideburns in my life, because I typically rather dislike them. However, I’d been thinking about it for a few days, and went ahead with it on Sunday morning, August 30.
Was it ever the right decision! That first day, I spent all day on either edge of the boundary between sanity and outright glee all day. I couldn’t stay away from the mirror. I conspicuously sought out neighbors and tourists for conversations, where I have proceeded to act completely normal, as though my face weren’t home to some of the most GLORIOUS SIDEBEEFS in space AND time. I did my weekly video game stream on Twitch that evening, and my sister called me Mr. Bumble and asked if she could please have some more. I posted about it on Facebook and amused everybody.
I should say, these aren’t just sideburns. These are mutton chops-enormous, outrageous, like wearing a side of beef on either side of my face. I figured, if I was going to do sideburns, I was going to DO SIDEBURNS. This is definitely a tongue-in-cheek look for me, but, come on! These sick, disgusting, wicked sidebeefs! Burly beefs! Beefs of beauty!
Click on the picture for a larger version:
I’ve been hamming up my beefs here at the house and delighting both Amy and myself. We have this rapport where I say ridiculous things and her brain fuses blow and she melts into a puddle of laffy-taffy, and I’ve been playing the sidebeef card repeatedly and hard. For instance, she lost it this morning when I started talking about how my sidebeefs needed an aura that glowed like a corona, because the beefs themelves couldn’t glow since absorbing light is part of their power. And I came up with a stage name for myself in the style of action film stars: Burt “Mutton Chops” van der Beefs, and starting talking about how I’d punch bad guys with these sick beefs. And that’s just a couple highlights from today!
I rarely go for flashy, attention-seeking looks-and by “rarely” I mean truly rarely-but this was the time and place. I won’t be keeping them for long, maybe as little as a couple more days or as much as five or six weeks, but what a delight!
This is also the first time anyone’s seen my bare chin since shortly before I came to the Mountain in 2011, as I almost never shave there. (The razor tears my chin apart.) With this new do, I’m thinking it might become a tradition for me to give myself an unusual (or complete) shave whenever I move away.
May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce.
Victory Laps
The past two weeks have seen me in high spirits, not only with respect to this formerly stressful and occasionally anxious calendar year but in the absolute span of my life as well, which sets a much higher bar. Finishing my first book has simultaneously eased my workload considerably, spurred me on to numerous victory laps, and granted me the opportunity for an actual vacation-in mindset if not geography.
Obviously I’m a fairly prolific writer in some respects. This journal and its several thousand entries will attest to that. But never before have I published a complete, long-form work. Even if it is “just” a prelude, and even if the publication wasn’t by a major publishing house so much as on my own website by me, I find myself cautiously but tenably thinking of myself now as a published author, and it’s a lot more satisfying to say and to think than “I’m working on…”
Second-Guessing
Although I’ve learned that people in general are untrustworthy, I rarely second-guess myself. I consider it an affliction and I have some pity for the people who constantly feel as though they can’t trust their own judgment.
That’s when it comes to life in general. In my writing, I actually second-guess myself a fair amount. Just today I submitted a question to a popular Tumblr. As usual, I carefully worded it and reviewed it closely before sending it in. But, after the fact, it occurred to me that an instance where I wrote “builds trust” wasn’t correct, and it would have been much better for me to say “builds understanding.” And, of course, since the question is already turned in there’s nothing I can do to change it, which razzles me.
Thankfully I haven’t experienced much second-guessing with respect to the Prelude-not anymore, that is. During editing I experienced it frequently. But because I edited it so much, and so thoroughly, and because I’m just plum exhausted on the Prelude after working on it so hard and for so long, I can’t think of anything specific that I would change.
My First Sting
I’d never knowingly been stung by a winged insect-until today. I was walking along our front walk on my way to the Astronomers’ Lodge to get a cup of coffee, when a number of yellow jackets swarmed me. I looked up and saw they had built a small nest under the eaves.
For some reason I turned around and walked past there again, and this time one of them stung me! It felt like a tiny prick. Mainly I was worried about Surprise Anaphylactic Death, seeing as how I’d never knowingly been stung before and wasn’t sure if I am allergic to such things.
Golly these little suckers were aggressive! When I returned outside to finally get that coffee, I went out the other door instead, and found a second, smaller nest under the eaves there. But those ones weren’t aggressive, and indeed I’ve never encountered such aggressive yellow jackets.
Tonight they die.
Unfortunately the other nest is getting sprayed too. I’m normally be content to leave insects be when it comes to the outdoors, even in the immediate vicinity of the house, but I make an exception for pests-especially dangerous, aggressive ones.
BEEFS OF GLORY
I’d never worn sideburns in my life, because I typically rather dislike them. However, I’d been thinking about it for a few days, and went ahead with it on Sunday morning, August 30.
Was it ever the right decision! That first day, I spent all day on either edge of the boundary between sanity and outright glee all day. I couldn’t stay away from the mirror. I conspicuously sought out neighbors and tourists for conversations, where I have proceeded to act completely normal, as though my face weren’t home to some of the most GLORIOUS SIDEBEEFS in space AND time. I did my weekly video game stream on Twitch that evening, and my sister called me Mr. Bumble and asked if she could please have some more. I posted about it on Facebook and amused everybody.
I should say, these aren’t just sideburns. These are mutton chops-enormous, outrageous, like wearing a side of beef on either side of my face. I figured, if I was going to do sideburns, I was going to DO SIDEBURNS. This is definitely a tongue-in-cheek look for me, but, come on! These sick, disgusting, wicked sidebeefs! Burly beefs! Beefs of beauty!
Click on the picture for a larger version:
I’ve been hamming up my beefs here at the house and delighting both Amy and myself. We have this rapport where I say ridiculous things and her brain fuses blow and she melts into a puddle of laffy-taffy, and I’ve been playing the sidebeef card repeatedly and hard. For instance, she lost it this morning when I started talking about how my sidebeefs needed an aura that glowed like a corona, because the beefs themelves couldn’t glow since absorbing light is part of their power. And I came up with a stage name for myself in the style of action film stars: Burt “Mutton Chops” van der Beefs, and starting talking about how I’d punch bad guys with these sick beefs. And that’s just a couple highlights from today!
I rarely go for flashy, attention-seeking looks-and by “rarely” I mean truly rarely-but this was the time and place. I won’t be keeping them for long, maybe as little as a couple more days or as much as five or six weeks, but what a delight!
This is also the first time anyone’s seen my bare chin since shortly before I came to the Mountain in 2011, as I almost never shave there. (The razor tears my chin apart.) With this new do, I’m thinking it might become a tradition for me to give myself an unusual (or complete) shave whenever I move away.