Clatter Platter
Nov. 28th, 2023 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebeYesterday was spent working, mostly. It's interesting how easy it was to get back into the routine: wake up, meditate, morning walk, work, breakfast, work, lunch, work, cleaning house, D&D game, dinner, bed.
R. is on vacation this week, so he's spending the time with video games at the moment -- which is good for him. He's hoping to finish "Shadowbringers", the third expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, by the end of the week and I like his chances. He might be tempted by the Power Wash Simulator, but I'll do my best to keep him on the straight and narrow.
The day job was fairly chill yesterday. I had a few emails waiting for me, two support tickets, and a ton of lab results to QC. Lab results are relatively easy certificates, but they do take a little bit of time. Currently I think I can do maybe up to 5 or 6 an hour, though it might be faster once I make improvements to my workflow. If the tech handled everything correctly it's really no problem getting things out the door, but when I catch something it can take a little more time figuring out what to do about it.
Today I think I might take it a bit easier; just handle the (non-lab-result) certificates that were due yesterday and whatever's due today. If I keep focused on it, I think I should have a couple hours left over to set up the new month in my Bullet Journal and/or settle the budget for the month. I'd also like to get started with writing, maybe reorganize my Google Drive so it's more conducive to that sort of productivity. I'm also seriously considering downloading Scrivener and Dropbox to the work computer but that might be encouraging poor habits overall. After Udacity, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to keep work and home things a bit more separate if possible.
With writing, I've taken on a "commission" from a friend in England who'd like to do a sort of game-show project where six characters sign up to receive random transformations every day for a week, with the possibility that they could become a part of a deific pantheon if they're *really* lucky. I'd write a short story introducing the characters as they got ready for the event, laying down their hopes, dreams, and relationships. Then, every day for seven days, we'd do this random draw for who got changed and what changes would occur, with a quick update detailing what's happened. Then, at the end, there would be another short story checking in with the characters as they learn to live with their changes. There's a planned twist, but I'm not entirely sure how that would work in the context of the story. I'm not sure it's the best twist, especially since it doesn't really recontextualize the action that's come before. It's more of a "Oh, huh, that's interesting" note to end on.
It's still early days and there's an awful lot to work out. The plan is to get started with the New Year, though Further Confusion comes right up on that. It would be nice if we could, say, drop the story on January 1, do the live changes that week, and then maybe follow up with the ending short story on January 15th. I'll check in with him to see if that's actually doable.
Other than that, I'm slowly coalescing Swiftie's Intergalactic in my head again. I think I know Deimo's main problem -- his fear of engaging with a wide and dangerous universe out there. In that way he's something like me, who feels relatively small and powerless, but who really thinks the world is a wonderful place. I wish I weren't so anxious about everything so I could live more fully -- including writing a porn piece about someone too scared to have a one-night stand and how he finally comes to do it.
I think I'll be OK with both of these projects as long as I accept my pacing. I can be tremendously slow when making things, but that's mostly because I want to get the details I really care about right. Learning how to be faster comes with time and practice, so all that's left for me is devoting actual time to practicing. There's no time like the present; while I'd like to write at least 30 minutes every day in December, beginning the habit now only increases my chances of success, right?
So: I'll be working on three projects next month -- Swiftie's Intergalactic, Unlicensed Adventures (my D&D campaign), and this commission. There's really good variety between the three so I think it won't be too hard to jump into a project when the mood strikes. It's most important to put in the time when I say I'll put in the time.
Today will be a little easier since we don't have anything planned for the evening. I can take it easy at work, move into my new Bullet Journal month at my leisure, and handle whatever comes my way. After the day job, I can put a little energy into cleaning up the burrow before making dinner -- and eventually playing Final Fantasy XIV. I've finished Heavensward, the first expansion, and now I'm doing clean-up quests before the next story kicks off. In Shadowblood, we're finally going to put some work into the Ala Mihgo(??) refugee crisis. It's a more grounded story, but it also feels like it will be quite engaging.
R. is on vacation this week, so he's spending the time with video games at the moment -- which is good for him. He's hoping to finish "Shadowbringers", the third expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, by the end of the week and I like his chances. He might be tempted by the Power Wash Simulator, but I'll do my best to keep him on the straight and narrow.
The day job was fairly chill yesterday. I had a few emails waiting for me, two support tickets, and a ton of lab results to QC. Lab results are relatively easy certificates, but they do take a little bit of time. Currently I think I can do maybe up to 5 or 6 an hour, though it might be faster once I make improvements to my workflow. If the tech handled everything correctly it's really no problem getting things out the door, but when I catch something it can take a little more time figuring out what to do about it.
Today I think I might take it a bit easier; just handle the (non-lab-result) certificates that were due yesterday and whatever's due today. If I keep focused on it, I think I should have a couple hours left over to set up the new month in my Bullet Journal and/or settle the budget for the month. I'd also like to get started with writing, maybe reorganize my Google Drive so it's more conducive to that sort of productivity. I'm also seriously considering downloading Scrivener and Dropbox to the work computer but that might be encouraging poor habits overall. After Udacity, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to keep work and home things a bit more separate if possible.
With writing, I've taken on a "commission" from a friend in England who'd like to do a sort of game-show project where six characters sign up to receive random transformations every day for a week, with the possibility that they could become a part of a deific pantheon if they're *really* lucky. I'd write a short story introducing the characters as they got ready for the event, laying down their hopes, dreams, and relationships. Then, every day for seven days, we'd do this random draw for who got changed and what changes would occur, with a quick update detailing what's happened. Then, at the end, there would be another short story checking in with the characters as they learn to live with their changes. There's a planned twist, but I'm not entirely sure how that would work in the context of the story. I'm not sure it's the best twist, especially since it doesn't really recontextualize the action that's come before. It's more of a "Oh, huh, that's interesting" note to end on.
It's still early days and there's an awful lot to work out. The plan is to get started with the New Year, though Further Confusion comes right up on that. It would be nice if we could, say, drop the story on January 1, do the live changes that week, and then maybe follow up with the ending short story on January 15th. I'll check in with him to see if that's actually doable.
Other than that, I'm slowly coalescing Swiftie's Intergalactic in my head again. I think I know Deimo's main problem -- his fear of engaging with a wide and dangerous universe out there. In that way he's something like me, who feels relatively small and powerless, but who really thinks the world is a wonderful place. I wish I weren't so anxious about everything so I could live more fully -- including writing a porn piece about someone too scared to have a one-night stand and how he finally comes to do it.
I think I'll be OK with both of these projects as long as I accept my pacing. I can be tremendously slow when making things, but that's mostly because I want to get the details I really care about right. Learning how to be faster comes with time and practice, so all that's left for me is devoting actual time to practicing. There's no time like the present; while I'd like to write at least 30 minutes every day in December, beginning the habit now only increases my chances of success, right?
So: I'll be working on three projects next month -- Swiftie's Intergalactic, Unlicensed Adventures (my D&D campaign), and this commission. There's really good variety between the three so I think it won't be too hard to jump into a project when the mood strikes. It's most important to put in the time when I say I'll put in the time.
Today will be a little easier since we don't have anything planned for the evening. I can take it easy at work, move into my new Bullet Journal month at my leisure, and handle whatever comes my way. After the day job, I can put a little energy into cleaning up the burrow before making dinner -- and eventually playing Final Fantasy XIV. I've finished Heavensward, the first expansion, and now I'm doing clean-up quests before the next story kicks off. In Shadowblood, we're finally going to put some work into the Ala Mihgo(??) refugee crisis. It's a more grounded story, but it also feels like it will be quite engaging.
