Looney Tunes!
Well, I talked about my 2022 this past Monday. So . . . Let’s see how everyone else made out this year. Wait . . . I think I remember this going south a bit last year. No politics! Now for the questions.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash Hi SEers. John is with you today. On the third of December, I wrote about different kinds of humor. You can go HERE…
More Humor Discussion with Some Examples
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Not even sure I have to go into details with this one. It’s a destroyer of egos and causes people to quit. Not only with writing, but with most adventures. This can birth doubt and keep it fed for as long as it’s around. One never knows when it will turn up. Even a barrage of uplifting platitudes can fail if this horseman strikes correctly. So, what is the last of the quartet?
Negativity
This can come from any source. An author may create it in their own minds and hearts because they don’t feel right about their path. They might have a frustrating story section that causes negativity and leads to doubt. Internal negativity is easier to shrug off, but it’s also the more likely one to remain if it goes unchecked for too long. Think of it as a chronic mental illness since getting it once doesn’t mean you’re immune. Negativity always leaves a little behind.
More commonly, we get this from outside influences. Negativity comes from every bad review, piece of criticism, and day without a sale. It’s lurking within the words of devil’s advocates who think they’re helping. Naysayers don’t even hide this horseman since it’s their main weapon to get you to quit. People may say that you just ignore it or cast those people away, but it’s not always possible. Some sources can’t be removed from your life because there are other connections. It’s really easy for someone outside of your life to tell you to get rid of people because they don’t have the emotional connection and won’t be the ones to suffer any backlash. As for the ignoring, that doesn’t work forever because even stone can get worn down by a constant trickle of water.
Something I want to add is a little bit of psychology that I read about a while back. If a person is constantly bombarded by negativity instead of positivity, their brains will change to treat that as the norm. This can lead to semi-permanent pessimism, anxiety when happy, and distrust of anyone offering to help. All attempts to be optimistic and positive are herculean because we’re fighting against our internal wiring. It’s not impossible, but it’s a path that can be ruined by even the smallest failure or criticism. This is where devil’s advocates end up being a problem too. They mean well and think they’re cheering you on, but they’re really reminding you that bad things can, and probably will, happen.
Question time!
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To be fair, I’m writing this on October 23rd because I want to write it up and not put it off until the last minute. Figure anything big can be added later, but at least I have some kind of reflection.
To be honest, this year started off really rough and stayed there for a while. Last school year was crazy both as a TA and a parent. It was the first one that was primarily normal after covid, so a lot was going on. Pushed my body way too much and triggered a few chronic issues. For anyone who remembers, I talked a lot about my IBS flaring up, which triggered other issues. So, it was a good year in regards to health, but I managed to get things under some control.
Parenting-wise, I spent the majority of my time helping my son with schoolwork. It helped him get an overall average of 95 by the end of 7th grade and start off strong in 8th grade. Yet, I did want to spend more fun time with him. We got that over the summer and I threw him a big 13th birthday party. His Halloween costume was a success, so a lot of good memories were made. Only thing I wish we could have done is a trip, but it was either that or the birthday party. Figure we can do a father/son trip next summer once we figure out the overall plan. He’s now too old for most camps and I was hoping to work the summer session at school. Any camp he can go to is fairly expensive.
A big event from work was that I got tenure. That’s a big milestone that many teachers look forward to. Makes me feel more relaxed and calm when it comes to stability. Funny thing is that my anxiety and shoddy self-esteem still makes me rather numb to the weight of it all. I’m proud, but I don’t like dwelling or even reveling in things like this. I just start looking at the next goal or the work in front of me. Guess spending most of my life getting very little recognition means I don’t know how to handle it. Oh well, I’ll have to work on that issue.
Writing was touch and go with nothing new getting published. I started the year thinking I could start in on writing the second Darwin book. Instead, my son’s schoolwork and my health issues made it nearly impossible. It wasn’t until June that I got to start in on that project. My summer goal was to write books 2 and 3, which got jostled by me catching covid at the start. It wasn’t a bad case, but the brain fog afterwards forced me to write less than I had hoped. Ended up finishing the 3rd book in early October. That’s why I decided to start preparing the outlines for books 4 and 5 starting in November. This way, I can dive into the books after new years.
Nothing else really happened beyond surviving. Still got the same friends and I don’t really go out. Trying to eat better when it comes to lunch, but exercise is routinely an issue. I get into it and then something happens. For example, I was doing great and then covid hit. Made it hard to keep a constant schedule, so it was whenever I could and then never. Almost got back into it and then I developed a sciatica. Maybe I should take the hint and stay away from the exercise bike?
Blogging went rather smoothly with me never missing a day. Even started the animal posts, which people seem to like. Gives some variety here, which is good because I’m running out of teasers and writing topics. I need to figure out what to do about Tuesdays since I can only post so many teasers before I’m giving away most of a book. Spoilers are an issue too. Maybe I’ll repost the old ones that were popular until I figure something else out.
Anyway, that was my 2022 in a nutshell. Some excitement, but mostly nothing to write home about. Maybe things will change after I write this post and I’ll add something on at the bottom. Maybe midterms will trigger a big event and society will collapse. Maybe someone will want to turn ‘Legends of Windemere’ into an anime or graphic novel. Who really knows what will happen in the next 2 months? Guess we’ll see.
Here are some funnies for those who celebrate Christmas. Enjoy this time with your families . . . Seriously, just stay home until about 1 PM. Let the rest of us get some shopping and movie viewing done before you emerge. You have your traditions and we have ours.
Well, I made it to holiday break in relatively one piece. Not that the week didn’t try to take a few chunks out of me. You can tell since this post is being written today instead of the night before. So, what happened?
Since it was the last week of school before the break, there was a lot of stuff going on. My son had plenty of tests and was still doing a little catch up from having flu. That meant our afternoons were filled with work, so we didn’t get to spend a lot of fun time together before he went to Florida. On the work side of things, it got rather crazy some days. People are trying to get tests, assignments, and lessons done before break. So, there was a sense of time running out along with a countdown to the break, which is hard to fully explain. It combined with the parenting side of life to leave me drained and going to bed around 9:30 most nights. Only reason I was awake later was if someone kept messaging me.
It’s currently -10 outside with wind chill. So, I’m staying inside, but my room still doesn’t have much insulation. It’s really cold and that makes it hard to focus. Doesn’t help that I’m having some anxiety issues, which include full body issues. It’s even taking me a long time to write this because I keep stopping to practically tear at my skin. Is there anything more useless than scratching? It’s a reflex, but one that doesn’t do anything to alleviate the issue for more than a few seconds. I’m going to have to muscle through this if I want to get anything done.
Of course, I didn’t get any writing done until last night. Started writing Darwin & the Demon Game, which took a while to get into. My overall goal for the break is to get the first 5 chapters written. That’s optimistic since I would need 5 days with nothing else going on to do this. Today is looking iffy due to the itchiness and it already being after 10 AM. I might get 2 sections instead of 3. I have a Tuesday appointment that might not cause any issues, but probably will. Wednesday is probably going to be a wash since that’s when the insulation guys show up. No writing in my room when they’re doing that and I don’t know if I’ll be able relocate to somewhere else in the house. If I can get into the 5th chapter then I’ll be happy.
I’m a little bummed in general too. Went to check out the Legends of Windemere books to see if any reviews turned up. The later books don’t have many because a lot of people quit the series or did an overall review on the first book. So, it’s pretty easy to sink those ratings. Saw that the final book got a 1-star rating with no review attached. This counts as 21% of the ratings since there’s so few. Dropped it below 4.0, which is why I really hate how averages works since it would take several 5 stars to undo that damage. I know these books don’t sell, but it’s still frustrating to see one take a hit like that, especially with no review attached. Glancing at the other books, looks like most ‘ratings only’ are low stars. Guess that’s how the business works now.
Right now, the plan is write and stay warm during these cold days. My son is back Thursday morning, but we haven’t made any solid plans. Depends on the weather and how much energy we have. This break and the one in February aren’t that great for events because it gets so cold. All popular events are inside and tickets go fast. Doesn’t help that flu, covid, and a respiratory virus are running around, so you don’t want to get sick before school starts again. Playing catch up with schoolwork isn’t easy once a kid gets to 8th grade, so I think it’s best to be careful. We have plenty of Lego sets and movies if we get stuck indoors. Video games too if I can get a replacement Joycon since the right-hand one has a drift issue. Might have to wander out for that when it isn’t as cold as it is today.
If there was anything else to talk about then I forgot. Met all the basic goals of this week beyond ‘staying healthy’. I mean I did, but the itchiness means I didn’t accomplish the mental health victory. Maybe a warm shower will help out and I can dive into writing once I’m done. The section I’m going to write is a simple conversation in the prologue to set up the first chapter. If I can write that in an 1-1.5 hours then it means I have a shot at getting 3 sections done today. Fingers crossed.
Goals of the week:
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Welcome to our little ornament store. Each of our products has a little enchantment to enhance your holiday season. At least, that’s what we hope. Here is a list of our most popular ornaments. Don’t mind the names. We’re Jewish, so we just call them like we see them.
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(Totally forgot that I did a poem on Darwin Slepsnor. He’s definitely evolved a bit since I did this poem. For one thing, I made him a little chubby and gave him a plan. This poem is accidentally insulting at a few points too, so you can tell it was done long ago.)
*****
Foolish halfling
Cursed by curiosity
Beyond that of any cat
Matched by a mouth
Enslaved to every impulse
That crosses his simple mind
Standing to the waist of man
And leaner than an elf
He continues on the path
Driven by no quest
Without a plan in mind
Or a compass in his hand
He runs a dirty hand
Through his hair of brown
Tangled like a nest
As he stares
With eyes of emerald innocence
At the world around
None would fear him
With his foolish grin
And friendly introduction
Free of any guile
He stands as easy prey
Another victim from the gods
The truth is hard to see
Darwin is a childish scamp
Wielding mighty magic
Beyond his understanding
For he is the Sleep Caster
Master of all dreams and slumbers
His ignorance is a blessing
Unaware of forces
That rise to eat his soul
Darwin dances on
Enamored with adventure
And the friends he makes ahead
Years will pass
Before his legend grows
Though he will never know
The greatness he has earned
As he wanders
To all of Windemere’s lands
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I said that I’d do a list to consider when making an apology. So, here we go:
Short list this time because, in my opinion, apologizing shouldn’t be that complicated. It shouldn’t be a game of emotional manipulation. Just say you’re sorry and think about what you did. Maybe you don’t see what you did as wrong, but the other person definitely does. So, accept responsibility and think about ways to be better.
Now, I’m sure some people will point out that there are those who claim to be hurt and demand apologies for the slightest incident. I agree that this is the opposite side of the apology abuse coin. Some people do flip out over everything and demand an apology, which they might not believe. What can you do about this? Personally, I think you should do a simple apology and then walk away. Otherwise, you’ll be manipulated into apologizing for every action . . . People really do suck, don’t they? Some can’t even get apologizing right.
Hi, Gang! Craig with you once more. I’m hacking this out with a glass of whiskey on my end table, so it might be a little more uninhibited than some …
Taking a second thought
Legends of Windemere 