Check-In: 2015-04-27 (Monday)

Body: PASS (walking, diet and sleep neutral)
Mind: WIN! (taxes, writing, Unity)
Spirit: WIN! (walking outside, taxes, writing, Unity)
Social: PASS (walking with friends, corresponding with family)

The main victory yesterday was getting my tax return completed. This required a couple of visits to the local H&R Block, but as they're just around the corner from me and I was able to go during office hours, the waits weren't that long. I also had the relief of getting money back rather than owing--I was concerned given the stocks I'd sold, but apparently work pre-paid that tax for me (as evidenced by the cheque I took in the other day).

It's interesting to note that all of my Mind victories went under the Spirit column as well. This has always been true with writing,  because I feel so boosted every time I write, and the same vibe is coming off of Unity. Learning to make things happen in a game engine is somehow liberating. Though I'll be glad when I'm done with this tutorial, useful as it is, so I can get on with the real game design. Taxes were just a relief, because they always feel like such a burden until they're done.

Check-In: 2015-04-26 (Sunday)

Body: WIN! + FAIL = PASS (walking, diet, but late night)
Mind: WIN! (Unity, writing)
Spirit: WIN! (walking outside, Unity, writing, TV)
Social: WIN! (TV with friends, walking with friends, correspondence with family)

Sunday was, of course, noodles day. During the earlier part of the day I did some writing work, and in the evening I started learning Unity via a tutorial on how to make a simple space shooter game. Jason joined me for the walk to noodles. Other than the late night, this was a bang-up day.

Check-In: 2015-04-25 (Saturday)

Body: WIN! + FAIL = PASS (walking, diet, but late bedtime)
Mind: WIN! (learning game engine, writing)
Spirit: WIN! (learning game engine, writing, music, TV)
Social: WIN! (visiting friends, watching TV with different friends, corresponding with family)

Yesterday was a great day. I went to Jason's house where Andrew gave us a tour of the Unity engine for game development. It's similar in layout to Frostbite, in terms of the environment anyway, though the engine itself is much more modular, which I like. It also uses Java and C# for scripting, which I think I'll enjoy much more than the awkward visual schematics that Frostbite uses. I'm sure schematics have their advantages, like the ability to visualize logical flows, but I find it makes simple actions like comparisons, ifs, loops, and even just holding values like integers to be really awkward. But that might just be my lack of familiarity with how schematics work. It's not like I received any formal training other than a 20 minute tour from a designer once.

Anyway, all that happened after I had a really big breakthrough on the novel outline. I often find that when I get a big story breakthrough, I'm less keen on it in retrospect than I was at the time. And while this has happened somewhat in this case, I still think there's a lot of useful ideas that came out of my brainstorm yesterday that deserve follow-up.

If all that wasn't enough, I popped by my friend Andy's place, where he and a different Andrew were watching Marvel movies and goofy YouTube documentaries. So the Social category was a huge victory yesterday, and yes, 75% of that was made up of Andrews.

I fell a little short on steps because of all this, though I still easily beat the 10k steps recommended by Heart and Stroke, so that's still a pass. I also ate a good deal of salad with supper, with a gloriously delicious grapefruit for desert, so diet was a win too. I got to bed late, though, so I'm only going to call that a pass.

Check-In: 2015-04-24 (Friday)

Body: PASS (walking)
Mind: PASS (puzzles, job search email)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside, games, puzzles)
Social: WIN! (visiting work friends)

Another day of walking to stay healthy, with diet and sleep times being neutral. It would probably help my mood if I were to work on improving the diet and bedtimes, but a pass is still good.

When my parents visited early in the week, they left behind the puzzle page from the newspaper, and I found myself completing a couple of crosswords, a word search, a jumble, and a sudoku puzzle. I also sent an email, following up on an inquiry I'd made with Canada Post at the job fair on Wednesday. Not intensive work by any stretch, but it did to some minor testing/training of willpower for a pass in the Mind column.

I also dropped by my previous place of work to visit some friends on their afternoon coffee walk and to drop off a cheque for some taxes owing on some taxable benefits I'd received while still there.

Check-In: 2015-04-23 (Thursday)

Body: PASS (walking)
Mind: WIN! (writing, carpet cleaning)
Spirit: WIN! (writing, carpet cleaning, walking outside)
Social: PASS (corresponding with family, visiting with friends)

My Fitbit decided to glitch out on Thursday but I think I was in the vicinity of my step goal. Fortunately, the Fitbit decided to unsnarl its internal logic and started tracking again later in the evening. Diet and sleep times were neutral.

I've been getting a lot of good writing time in lately. My wordcount is still essentially zero as this is still outlining work, but every day brings new thoughts on the outline. I still find myself willing to struggle with this storyline despite the fact that it's not easily congealing, so I'm not quite yet ready to abandon the project to tackle a different angle. Anyway, writing is good for Spirit victories as well.

Went on a walk with Jason in the evening, which was when my Fitbit was out of commission and not recording. But my body logged the steps anyway in the form of cardio health, and that's the key thing.

TODling Over to City Hall

Wednesday evening this week, I attended a class put on by the City of Edmonton about Transit Oriented Development, or TOD, though bafflingly, everyone spelled it out "T.O.D." rather than just saying Tod, like the name.

The class is apparently an elective as a part of a series which includes three core classes and four electives. I'm signed up for a mish-mash of core and electives, though if I pay attention in the fall I'll be able to finish up a certificate. The certificate isn't worth a lot in terms of post-secondary education, though I'm sure it will still demonstrate a certain keenness and intelligence anyway. And more important are the information and contacts.

The attendees were an interesting mix, including one CEO business mogul in land development, a city prospector involved in waste routing, a number of interested citizens, and several city employees interested in learning more about the city. My table was mostly young guys. There was Tim, who had just returned from an extensive stay in Shanghai, Benny, an employee of the city, and Devin, who is doing research and analysis for real estate. They were all wearing dress shirts and carrying business cards; by contrast, I was in my track pants and carrying a backpack. But nobody seemed to find me out of place, and they were all quite bemused to hear about my video game testing background.

The first hour was introductions and a light lecture--I personally would have liked this part to be a little more intensive, but I understand that may not be appropriate for the audience. After that, we spent two hours playing with maps and Lego. We were split into groups of about six or seven members and were given one infill design challenge and one "greenfield" exercise, where the hypothetical transit center is being placed in completely new development. The entire class then went from table to table to see what the various groups had done, while the instructors and classmates commented on each design. The development mogul had an interesting take on things, as he liked to identify which land would be most valuable, and liked to see that developed with commercial or residential rather than something like a parking lot. Lots of other opinions were quite interesting, though, like how groups proposed to take advantage of parks and plazas or tried to mix uses in the higher density neighborhoods to keep them active across the whole day.

My next class is a full-day class on May 9, which is about transportation. I'm interested to see how transportation as a general topic is different from transit more specifically.

Check-In: 2015-04-22 (Wednesday)

Body: PASS (walking, diet)
Mind: WIN! (job fair, cover letter, urban planning class)
Spirit: WIN! (urban planning class, walking outside)
Social: WIN! (urban planning class, corresponding with family & friends)

Sleep was neutral--not early enough for a win, but not late enough for a fail. There was more victory to be found in my visit to the "Employment Supershow", though I found the superlatives didn't really apply. Most of the opportunities were for restaurants or construction, though the City of Edmonton was there and I'll definitely be checking out their job board in the next couple of workdays.

But the real points were scored in the evening. I attended a class put on by the City of Edmonton for educating people in the basics of urban planning, which was both mentally and socially stimulating--and trying new things is always good for a boost to Spirit.

I'll go into it a little more in my Friday post this week.

Check-In: 2015-04-21 (Tuesday)

Body: PASS (walking)
Mind: PASS (carpet cleaning)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside, games, TV)
Social: WIN! (visiting family, watching TV with friends)

I fell 300 steps short of my walking goal yesterday, though as far as my body is concerned that's still a solid win for exercise (it's always tricky on a TV day, since I have to get the majority of my walking in before I go). Diet and sleep times were adequate (neutral).

Mom and dad and I figured out how to assemble and operate the carpet cleaner, so I did the entryway as a test sample. It's fairly slow going so my plan is to do a little every day or two, which breaks up the work into pleasantly small chunks and gives the carpet lots of time to dry in-between.

As mentioned above, it was an Agents of Shield night with work friends, good for spiritual and social victories.

Check-In: 2015-04-20 (Monday)

Body: PASS (walking, diet)
Mind: PASS (paperwork)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside, games)
Social: WIN! (vising family, visiting friends)

On Monday I started getting organized again, figuring out paperwork and such. Jason was able to come out for a walk, and mom and dad came in for a visit as well, for a solid social victory.

I was able to get to bed at a non-terrible time. Not early enough to add that as points in the win column, but certainly early enough to not cause problems.

Friday's Post Was Hit By Tornadoes

So what happened to Friday's post last week?

Well, the most honest answer is a mixture between "I forgot" and "I was lazy." But in the spirit of "better late than never" and "put lots of things in quotes," I'm doing one today, and I figure it might as well be about the fascinating things I was ogling when I should have been writing my Friday post.

The subject was tornadoes.

Tornadoes deeply fascinated me the moment I heard about their existence as a child. I remember lying awake in my bedroom one night, scared that a tornado would come through my wall. Even as a very young child, I knew my fear was irrational, but the idea that a cloud could start to spin and become dangerous is just so wild and evocative that I couldn't let it go.

A lot of my intense dreams (arguably nightmares, but I often find my nightmares are as enchanting as they are frightening) are about vortices. Often these are tornadoes, but I remember one that was a world-destroying space vortex, possibly a black hole. The people of Earth were staring up into a night sky as it descended on us.

I think part of what makes tornadoes fascinating is the beauty of them. Part of it is the outlandishness. The fact that they are so destructive hits our emotional centers as well, and then we really become hooked.

Below are a few links of videos I've been watching on tornadoes.

Witness Joplin, a documentary on the deadly Joplin Tornado (not always a happy story)
World's Top Most Deadliest Tornado (and baffling superlatives) by Nova
Skip Talbot's deconstruction of the El Rino tornado, which impacted many storm chasers.
Skip Talbot's video of a multi-vortex with satellite tornado

Check-In Catch-Up: 2015-04-14 (Tuesday) to 2015-04-19 (Sunday)

Once again fell behind. No matter. Catch-up, restart, begin again.

Body: PASS/FAIL (walking, diet, but some late nights)
Mind: WIN! (writing)
Spirit: WIN! (writing, games)
Social: PASS (visiting friends, correspondence with family)

I'm definitely having trouble maintaining a good sleep pattern. Living alone without a work or school routine seems to make things challenging. On the other hand, it's not all failure on that front either. I've managed to restore my sleep to a fairly healthy pattern. I just need to watch out whenever I'm still on the computer at midnight.

I haven't put a lot of effort into the job hunt, but on the plus side, that's often because I'm being distracted by the writing bug. That's a good sign for my creative future.

Random: Hipsters Explained by Mathematical Formula

I know its not a normal posting day, but I came across a brief news story about a mathematician who has modeled the behavior of hipsters, or any other group attempting to buck trends.

Check-In: 2015-04-13 (Monday)

Body: WIN!+FAIL=PASS (walking, yoga, diet but late night)
Mind: PASS (errands, cleaning)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside, errands, haircut)
Social: PASS (Skype)

Yesterday my glasses came in at the local Lenscrafters, so I walked to Kingsway to pick them up, and returned via the Save On Foods. The loop hit my step goal for the day in a single shot (not counting the rest at the mall for a few minutes). I also had good dietary habits with fruit and vegetables included--I'm developing a fondness for red navel oranges (hm, apparently "navel" is the right spelling). On the other hand, it was another late night, albeit better than the previous night, and the day was otherwise so top-notch that I just can't give myself a fail for it. So let's call the net value a pass.

I did a bit of tidying up for Mind points. Of course, my idea of letting things get messy these days is nicer than what clean looked like a few months ago, so I figure that's worth a solid pass.

While I was at Kingsway I got my hair cut. There's always something refreshing and uplifting about having tidier hair.

Chatted with my friend Jim over Skype for some social contact. Jason claims he's starting to get better so maybe I'll have a walking buddy again soon (he might already be up for it today, but I was busy getting poutine).

Check-In: 2015-04-12 (Sunday)

Body: FAIL (walking, diet, but late night)
Mind: PASS (writing)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside)
Social: PASS (TV with friends)

Did the traditional TV and noodles with Shane and Dean on Sunday. I was mostly good on the physical front but as late nights are continuing to be an issue I'm going to call that out as a problem to work on.

I did a bit of writing for Mind points.

Check-In: 2015-04-11 (Saturday)

Body: PASS (walking, rest)
Mind: PASS (rest)
Spirit: PASS (gaming, rest)
Social: PASS (rest)

I took Saturday as a rest day in most categories. I still got my walking done, but put few expectations on myself otherwise. This may sound like, or even be, a cop-out, but I figure I'm allowed one of those every week or so. :)

Check-In: 2015-04-10 (Friday)

Body: PASS (walking, diet, but late night)
Mind: WIN! (job application)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside, job application, gaming)
Social: PASS (walk with friend)

I'm continuing to struggle with late bedtimes, though yesterday I did have a lot of success with diet, eating quite a lot of vegetables and fruit, so I'm going to call Body a pass.

I managed to put in my job application with Canada Post. I figure any day where I put out a resume or a job app counts as a good day for mental focus.

I managed to head to the south side to meet up with Andrew, a former BioWarian friend of mine, for a social victory. It was also good for getting my steps in early.

Check-In: 2015-04-09 (Thursday)

Body: FAIL (walking, but late night)
Mind: PASS (paperwork, creativity)
Spirit: PASS (paperwork, gaming, walking outside)
Social: PASS (TV night)

Thursday, I followed up on some glasses and contacts I'd ordered in Victoria. Somehow, both the optometrist and the glasses vendor managed to take my order and my money without actually sending anything in. Fortunately, they both still had my orders and now (supposedly) are moving things along.

In some ways, this may be a good thing. It would have been tricky if the orders had been coming in while I was in Vegas. Still, it's some stress off my mind to know that the orders still exist and I don't have to follow up on where a grand of money went.

I also watched TV with my work friends Nathan and Paul, as wells as Nathan's wife, Karen. We're trying to get caught up on Agents of Shield in time for the new Avengers movie in May. And it's good to stay in touch with some of the BioWarians. My main regret about leaving that place is the people.

True Callings

While the idea of a True Calling is romantic and unrealistic--I suspect the reality is that most people have many viable options for what they can do with their lives to live happily and well--I've been thinking a lot about what I really enjoy and what I'd really like to do.

The rational part of me figures that it would be silly to put all my eggs into the writing / game design basket, given that there's a high chance of it failing to pay and even if it does pay, it may take a while. This is where I've been doing a lot of thinking about kinesiology or other scientific studies.

On the other hand, my brain is media-centric. I write mini-plotlines all the time as drill, and when I get a good creative run for a couple of hours it feels like my entire day was wonderful. So I'm beginning to wonder if the urge to study something scientific is, at least in part, a fear reaction. That is, it's a way to avoid pursuing what I really want to do.

This is especially true if I do manage to find some part-time work that manages to pay the bills. Once my needs for staying alive are met, I'm free to do whatever I want with the rest of my time. That may still include some science for the joy of it, but I'm brimming with creative ideas that I'd like to pursue--invention is not going to be my problem. My only problems are going to be picking a handful of things to focus on and then following them through long enough to see if they pay off or not.

Over the past several months, I've been searching for that "attitude" that Hadfield described in his book. That is, the angle or trajectory you take through your life. If I want to do creative work--and it seems like I really do--then I need to angle my efforts to make that a reality. Taking care of practical needs like mortgage payments and food is certainly a part of any strategy, but I need to make sure that I keep working towards what I really enjoy.

Generally speaking, this doesn't affect my short term plans very much, at least not in terms of job hunts and school applications. It does affect what I plan to do with my time in the day-to-day, however. It seems wise for me to do something creative most days. The effect on my mood is just too large to ignore.

Check-In Re-Re-Start: 2015-04-08 (Wednesday)

I'm once again attempting to get these going as a daily habit. Failures to do so, no matter how many of them there are, are irrelevant, provided I keep trying.

Body: PASS (walking)
Mind: WIN! (creativity)
Spirit: PASS (creativity, walking outside)
Social: PASS (texting, Skype)

Missed my step count by a few hundred yesterday, but that's still well over the 10k steps for health. My diet wasn't terrible but it wasn't great--I'm going to aim for more fruit and vegetables today. Bedtime was lateish but not terrible.

My mind was racing with creative ideas when I was walking, and I managed to scribble down a bunch of ideas both in the afternoon and the evening. An easy win in the Mind category and enough to call it a pass in Spirit as well, especially after getting outside in the sun.

Socializing is a little tricky lately with Amber and Jay under heavy bombardment by mean colds. Still, managed to Skype a bit with my friend Jim. If necessary I'll use a gratitude meditation as a surrogate, but hopefully Amber and Jay will be feeling better soon.

Beginning the Job Hunt

The month of March is now over, and with it ends the time period where I deliberately allowed myself a chance to organize my life before beginning the search for work. The job hunt is now upon me.

I did some poking around online yesterday. One thought that occurred to me what that if I wanted to get cheap courses, I could try to find a job at a college--staff members usually get deals. But as I browsed the University of Alberta job board, I started to notice an emotional reaction that I was beginning to have to a lot of jobs: I don't want to work in an office.

Based on my experience at BioWare, office work can be sedentary. I like the mental aspects of the job, but I'm really keen on staying more active. The thought of sitting at desks and in meeting rooms isn't appealing to me right now. So I've decided to make a stab at getting a pleasantly active job, my main leads being Canada Post, which claims to be hiring, and possibly some gardening work, which would probably be harder physically but might also train me in more interesting skills. I have a friend who is a nerd for the ecology of a garden, how the mycelium contributes to the soil, and such, and I really enjoy TED Talks which discuss using ecological farming methods.

As a slightly different angle on the same concept, I'm going to hang my digital shingle for editing work and see how it goes. While not physically active work, online freelancing would let me pick my own hours and could earn quite a bit more money than the other options. It would also give me drill on becoming a better communicator.

As for school, my interest in kinesiology appears to be sustaining over the months, so I'm going to give it a shot. And if I decide that some other elective grabs me more, it's always possible to switch streams.

So now that I have a plan, it's just a matter of executing it.

Check-In: 2015-03-31 (Tuesday) - 2015-04-03 (Thursday)

Body: PASS (walking, diet, but late nights)
Mind: WIN! (paperwork, planning for the future, scribbles2bits)
Spirit: PASS (walking outside, planning for the future)
Social: WIN! (visiting with friends, corresponding with family)

The last few days have been primarily social, as I've had a fair bit of contact with friends during walks and skype, though I was also fairly creative and managed to get some brainstorming done and into digital form. My bedtimes have drifted late again, though I've still been getting up at a reasonable time, which isn't sustainable but at least makes it easier to recover. This now being April, I'm beginning to turn my thoughts towards school applications and the job hunt.