Life - Valentines

Life - Valentines

"So what did you do today?"

What did I do?

I played 8 hours of Diablo 3, spread out into intervals, Over 24 hours since season 2 launched I raced a character all the way up to 70 alone.  A reasonably impressive feat I think.

I also made myself an omelette, spinach, arugula, chorizo and an excellent, sharp British Leicester cheddar.

I took a walk in the sun for about an hour.

I hung out with a buddy of mine for 3 hours while he hunted monsters.

I wrote four pages of music for a piano composition that I'm thinking about.

Watched a documentary about sustainability, sushi and the bluefin tuna.

I wrote a triptych scene for the first time for a game I'm making.  Each part of the triptych is a similar scene but done in a radically different writing style.

I sorted a stack of about 90 cards by colour and playability for my next tournament.

Chatted with a friend from Romania.

Did a small, 4 inch by 4 inch watercolour painting for a friend's birthday.

Got a bag of popcorn from my sister from Seattle, it's my favourite.

"Oh.  So...you didn't..."

Have a casual sexual hookup with another mid-twenty something celebrating an arbitrary day in February revolving around pink red and white?

Nope.

I'm not even bitter. Today was a good day.

Quotes - Hayao Miyazaki - On Worldbuilding

Quotes - Hayao Miyazaki - On Worldbuilding

"The creation of a single world comes from a huge number of fragments and chaos." - Hayao Miyazaki

I saw this quote earlier today and have been thinking on it a lot.  I do a tremendous amount of world building in my day to day life, spend hours thinking about character and place, moments and scenes.  I might spend tremendous amounts of time charting back individual items through fictional history.  I find it relaxing, and it warms my brain up.

I've been pondering how many of those weird little indiscriminate strange moments go into everything we make.  When we create, how far out do we look, how do we connect dots.

And then do we have the right moment to step completely outside ourselves and look at HOW we did that.  I don't spend enough time on that.  But I think I did today when I read that quote.

Tragedy - Roald Dahl - Loss

Tragedy - Roald Dahl - Loss

Roald Dahl wrote this heartbreaking account about his daughter Olivia, who died of Measles.

Awful drive. Lorries kept holding us up on narrow roads. Got to hospital. Ambulance went to wrong entrance. Backed out. Arrived. Young doctor in charge. Mervyn and he gave her 3mg sodium amatol. I sat in hall. Smoked. Felt frozen. A small single bar electric fire on wall. An old man in next room. Woman doctor went to phone. She was trying urgently to locate another doctor. He arrived. I went in. Olivia lying quietly. Still unconscious. She has an even chance, doctor said. They had tapped her spine. Not meningitis. It's encephalitis. Mervyn left in my car. I stayed. Pat arrived and went in to see Olivia. Kissed her. Spoke to her. Still unconscious. I went in. I said, "Olivia Olivia." She raised her head slightly off pillow. Sister said don't. I went out. We drank whiskey. I told doctor to consult experts. Call anyone. He called a man in Oxford. I listened. Instructions were given. Not much could be done. I first said I would stay on. Then I said I'd go back with Pat. Went. Arrived home. Called Philip Evans. He called hospital. Called me back. "Shall I come?" "Yes please." I said I'd tell hospital he was coming. I called. Doc thought I was Evans. He said I'm afraid she's worse. I got in the car. Got to hospital. Walked in. Two doctors advanced on me from waiting room. How is she? I'm afraid it’s too late. I went into her room. Sheet was over her. Doctor said to nurse go out. Leave him alone. I kissed her. She was warm. I went out. "She is warm." I said to doctors in hall, "Why is she so warm?" "Of course," he said. I left.

Life - Don't Click Send

Life - Don't Click Send

I had a window open to message you.  Technology is funny that way.  I never wrote anything, but there's a window open for it.

I'm working, watching code spiral through and numbers dance the screen.  An almost...a not notification.  You're typing something to me.  And then you decide not to, and it disappears.  Four times it happens.  I watch it the same way I watch my debug windows and wonder.  It appears again, you're typing.  And it disappears as you delete whatever it was you wanted to say.

I wonder what you wrote.  I wonder what you wanted to say and didn't.  What you wanted to say and couldn't.

I don't type anything, just think in the darkness to myself.

I guess we had nothing to send one another anyway.

Quotes - Protection

Quotes - Protection

Because no act of aggression is as fierce or as insuppressible as a true act of protection.

Writing - Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - The Truth of Names

Writing - Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - The Truth of Names

Wizards posted this yesterday. When I read things like this, it reminds me that the world we knew of twenty years ago has changed, is changing, and is different. It's not changing perhaps as fast as we'd like, or without the growing pains...but it is getting better. It's a story about a woman, who holds equal footing in a fantasy setting as any male counterpart (perhaps in truth more than equal footing), and it's a story about strength.

Give it a read.

Art - Life and Death

Art - Life and Death

A little beautiful two sentence story that I came across a week ago.  And I haven't really stopped thinking about.  It's by Constructionpaperandtears.