10 Minute Rule

I’m doing this on my phone again, because I dedicated my day to not doing computer stuff and now I’m realizing I didn’t blog (read: computer stuff). This is a departure but one that happens on the cusp of change. I’m going into break, I’m starting a new class, I’m sitting down for a new writing cycle. All of these things are happening and I find myself moving towards it—heck I’m even starting a new (old) game in Mass Effect.

I am on the cusp of doing different things and it makes me feel good to see change and growth within myself. I need it and have needed it for a while now. Is this change good? Sustainable? Only time will tell.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Reaeaecheds upload fruit fly brain” can’t get the hyperlink in on the phone but this one is wild.
   
2. working on the phone is not for me. Not for my eyes. Not for my attle. I’m not going to make this a habit.

Nothing Changed.

I didn’t expect it to. Well, something changed–our plants sprouted like weeds. Crazy how much development you can miss in only a few days. Good thing we got home when we did because they needed to be fed and we didn’t explain to anyone that it needed to be done or how to do it. It is worth considering for trips of this length or longer. Leaving is constantly a process of explaining to the rest of the house how to take care of the house. It won’t be like that forever on a number of levels–expectation certainly being one of them.

One other thing changed… Me.

I’m in a better headspace about my work/home balance and how to manage that with a smile. I have long been the arbiter of my own fate and it is high time I retake control.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “WADA to weigh barring Trump, US officials from LA Olympics and possibly World Cup over unpaid dues” Imagine being told you can’t come to the game… in your own house!
2. Feels like reality is slipping a little bit this past day. Been having odd Mandela effect moments over some very small things. Not sure how to interpret it, other than to say it feels weird. Also weird is the number of websites discussing this type of thing. I can blame the fiction of the day, but I do not think that is the whole story…
3. Drove across the desert again today, and my body is done.

I’ve been thinking about time and where it goes when I am home. A lot of it goes to gaming. I spend hours playing Slay the Spire, though that is just the latest in a long line of such distractions designed to keep me from dealing with the hard part of my job. Here on the beach I know I can make better and healtheir use of my time, if I just allow for it. No organizer in the world is going to make me do it. This is a matter of willpower I don’t always have.

I do have a desire. What I need to get good at is harnessing that into action and finding the way to prioritze what is important in my life and my actions. Much in the same way I find ten minutes to write this thing, I can find 10 to exercise, ten to write a story, etc. It doesn’t take all the time in the world. It takes the will and the want to do it every single day as opposed to what I have been doing, which is absolutely not that. I languish and lounge and that can be healthy in doses, but it cannot be the source of everything. It cannot come first.

I will no longer blame the environment. That is what it is and I know it to be that way. How I respond is what matters.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Raucous bird tornado touches down as snow geese make annual flight to Arctic” That’s wild. And cute in a strange way…
2. Political, but also: “Man who attacked Michigan synagogue lost relatives in Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, official says” This is being treated as a terror attack, but is it? This is largely another example of the oversized media attention towards antisemetic attacks. The “largest” such attack in US history suffered 11 dead. Meanwhile, speak to any other religious, sexual, or minority group to be targeted. The Tulsa attack left nearly 300 black folk dead. Orlando Nightclub attack targeting LGBTQ left 49 dead. Mountain Meadows? 120 Mormons slain. Need more recent that the 1800s for religion? Sutherland Springs. 2017. 26 Baptists dead. Yet, what we hear is that Synagogues need to hire security and shoot first. This is just not accurate. What is true, and what is always true is recency bias and an undercurrent of understanding that what Israel is doing is going to find Americans angry and vengeful.

My legs are sore. I didn’t sleep well. I’m happy as hell.

This trip to the beach is the best I’ve had in ages. The weather is wonderful, and the ocean is very far from shore–much more so than normal, leading me to wade through the waves at the shore and enjoy the water a lot more than I have in the past. I’ve largely detached from the world back home and sunken into the culture and lifestyle here. I haven’t managed to get work done at all, but that is still to come. One of the things I need to get done is switching grad school classes. I ended up in a FLX class, which is not a format that I can work with. Basically, it works like a synchronous online class… in a different timezone… on a day I simply cannot regularly be there. So, that is a hot mess. The classes start next week and I need to figure it out before then. Cannot be behind on this stuff.

That is a problem for tomorrow’s Talislegger, as is the work that needs doing. I’m beaching it today.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Live Nation employee mocks customers as ‘so stupid’ in internal messages released in court case” Who’s stupid now, Bob?! Seriously, how does it make one stupid when the only option to get tickets is through these mediums and they drive the prices all the way up? Once again, Japan wins culture. They’ve beaten Ticketmaster out of the market with groups like eplus who offer legit prices.
2. Struggling with blurry vision, but that is likely due to spending too much time on my phone. Still, an eye doctor is in order. I missed the free opportunity at school.

I’m Back, Baby.

Love me some shoreline! We made it across the country (well a little ways–from AZ, really) to the shoreline and I could not be happier or more satisfied that I get the opportunity to be here once again with the Lady Talis. We are made for this kind of travel, and I don’t take it lightly that we have the proximity and opportunity to drive this far and make this happen.

Officially starting my Spring Break, and I will have a more cohesive main post tomorrow, but for now here are…

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Officer having ‘anxiety attack’ took ambulance sent for man dying from police shooting, report says” No comment.
2. Maxx Crosby trade canceled. That is some wild stuff right there. So now the Raiders spent all the money they had available to pay him and are in a terrible position trying to trade him after the failed physical. To quote a NFL.com article, “Well, this is awkward.” I call it a hot mess.
3. The youngest did his combine thing with Under Armor and had great results. He posted a combine score of 85, but I have no idea what that means. His measurables were fantastic and he earned some phone calls from coaches. Let’s see these evolve into offers!

It occurs to me that I am a terrible promoter of my own work. My new novel is presently sitting at #261 in Kindle Cyberpunk Sci-Fi and #310 in Cyberpunk Sci-fi overall. I don’t have a clue how to push the conversation up to top 100, let alone top 50. Of course, most of the tops are LitRPG books, so maybe I ought to throw one of those together and build off the name recognition in order to tell more stories (and make a proper living of this thing). I have plans for stories, but no plans on how to get them out there to the world. This is the problem with being bad at promotion.

This is the larger problem with being a writer without a stable and powerful publishing machine. If you have the levers of power at your disposal, your work is going to move–at least at first. Power could be a devoted fanbase of readers. That alone is what powered Shirtaloon and his He who Fights Monsters series to stay top 10 for, well, ever. Unfortunately, I never tried writing a story like that. I want to. Maybe that is the next one in line after Justice Engine.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Logan Paul’s Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card sells for record $16.5M at auction” The really bonkers part: It’s a profit of nearly 11 million! The kid who won it is the son of White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci… So, how did that dude come up on nearly 12 million to give his kid to spend on a pokemon card?!
2. Let me be in on the rip for like one week. All I need to do is clear half a million and my life problems have ended.

I started this thinking I had something to say, but realized all I really had was…

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Fox News apologizes for showing old video of a hatless Donald Trump at a dignified transfer ceremony” Because they thought he would look better if he wasn’t wearing a hat… Two things. 1) The fact they tried to spin this as an error by a staffer who ” inadvertently pulled” the wrong footage from 2025 despite the fact that this transfer happened very recently. 2) More importantly, why is this dude wearing a ball cap all the damn time? Is it a hair issue? Or is it in-group coding? Regardless, it is demeaning to the office, just like all of the people he’s hired and who’ve gone on to act like bullies and spoiled rich kids.
2. So, I am still working through this blood pressure thing. 138/98 at first read, which is rather high at first glance. It should be higher than normal upon rise but should settle out soon after. I am more concerned about the 98 than the 138. I have yet to get my diastolic regularly under 80, even with the addition of medication and the subtraction of salt. Still, to have that morning surge in a range that is somewhat manageable is a step forward. I still don’t know for sure what made it spiral to the near hypertensive crisis level. It is something I am struggling to understand.
3. Football’s free agent season is upon us. Major changes coming to some teams. The Chiefs are signing K9, setting up a showdown in the next super bowl between the mercurial RB and his former team, the Seahawks. Jets got themselves a cornerstone safety in Minkah Fitzpatrick. Now if they add Downs to the mix there, we are talking about a serious secondary upgrade.
4. No, the Giants didn’t do anything useful.

I keep on checking in on my Spring II course as if I expect to have missed something. It is a FLEX course, which I am learning is code for a course taught in all three modes. One can attend in person, online or take some hybrid version of the situation. This, to me as a teacher, is the worst. I cannot begin to develop atmosphere when my students aren’t even necessarily going to show up. All of that has me twisted and curious about the class. It also has me thinking hard about the writing I am expected to do for the class. The Justice Engine needs to get rolling. I am supposed to be working on it and a half-dozen other things (some of which are past due). I am trying to lock down these writings at present, and it has been tough to get and stay focused for any decent length of time. I’m tired and stressed and dealing with high BP and not able to focus.

Yet, here I am.

I can get through this if I do it one day at a time, and one chunk at a time. A lot of writing is organization and time on task. I’m realigning myself to being better at both and that is going to help me tackle the work.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “African antelope on the loose in Nashville neighborhood” So, one time I was visiting Tennesee and I wound up at this very very odd animal auction where I saw a few Oryx as well as Capybara and other oddities. It was bonkers then and it is bonkers knowing one got free. Run, little guy, run.
2. I am so tired of hearing asian women scream. It sounds like a very odd thing to say, but if you have kids who watch anime, you’ll definitely get it.

After a BP reading of 160/104 yesterday, I had to think about a lot of things in my life. Mortality, of course, but also all of the levers and choices that got me to that point. Today the BO is down 30/10 and I’m pretty sure it has a lot to do with not compounding stress with bad eating and no exercise. I do believe I have a chance to live, if I choose to live right. I need to stop eating as many sweets (less is more) and salty foods as I do. These things I do are the way I cope with overwhelming stress, which I tend to refer to as ‘my living in AZ condition’. I know what triggers me–anyone following the blog especially this week knows what triggers me. However, having the levers flipped and consinuing to spiral on my own is going to get me killed. Then we’re going to need to call her the Widow Talis and I am not here for it.

I am here for trying to live right. I exercised yesterday and following this blog I’ll get at it again. I don’t do very much, but what I do is a start. Being a terribly lazy person, it is hard for me to get anything started. Once the engine is up and running, I can keep it going. The startup process is closer to starship than an engine, however. Lots of levers. I started laying out my goals for the next 90 days, and that is one of those levers. I even got one done.

So, progress…

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Dealing with Iran war is ‘easy,’ Trump says. College athlete pay? Not so much” Trump goes on to say, “I saw what was happening with college sports. And it doesn’t sound very important compared to what’s happening in Iran and other places,” he said. “But it is very important to me. And if I can get it done, I’ll get it done.” To which I say, “No, you won’t. Cannot happen.”
2. Absolutely Expected Headline of the Day: “Ian Huntley, one of UK’s most notorious child killers, has died, days after being attacked in prison” I mean, yeah.

I’ve come to the (late) conclusion that Jason Statham has been doing the same movie for the past two decades, really. It’s called F**k around and Find Out. Sure it goes my a number of titles, Homefront, The Beekeeper, A Working Man, The Wrath of Man… It is all really the same thing. Statham is chilling, doing his thing, either as a single dad or just a dude laying low and quietly expecting not to be messed with. Then someone does. If not to him then to someone he cares about. Suddenly bro steps up and starts handing out the most epic whippings of the year. Then, after the beatings are done being handed out, he wanders back off into the ether.

I think this should be a genre of film in of itself. It’s already a trope: Don’t mess with the Nice Guy. It’s becoming more and more of a theme in modern films with Statham being the poster boy for such things. It feels like the conversation (or desire) being had and held by a generation of angry mostly American men. It feels like the base of a good deal of political fury, but I don’t want to talk politics. The conversation always starts with the bully. That person says or does something to provoke the nice guy, leading the nice guy to show them how this actually works. What concerns me is that the people who preference this model tend to be the ones who want to be bullies, not the ones who want to be prepared. They are often the same dude who packs heat waiting to use it. They want to be Roadhouse but are on the wrong side of the road. Always.

That’s the thing about fantasy and fantasizing… I’m recognizing a generation of men raised on this sort of fiction and hoping desperately to become what they see. They want to be John Wick. They isn’t going to end well for any of us.

Some Thoughts:

1. Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Punch the orphan macaque is outgrowing his plushie and making friends” This is one of the most popular stories in the world right now. It’s cute.. and wild.