I’ve created a novel called Cosmic Tingles with this description:
When the world starts to get subtly stranger, a little weirder, is it all in your mind or is reality actually changing? Or maybe both?
I just need characters, plot and a story and I’m done. Easy peasy.
Well, oops. The month started well but the last week or so my noon walks dried up as the weather turned soggy, I missed some runs and I found chocolate chip cookies and blueberry muffins.
In the end I picked up a hefty 2.8 pounds on the month, going from 155.2 to 158 pounds.
But I’m back on a regular run schedule and the muffins have been banned, so I’m reasonably confident the weight will start dropping consistently again.
Stats:
October 1: 155.2 pounds
October 31: 158 pounds
Year to date: From 165.9 to 158 pounds (down 7.9 pounds. Last month I was down 11.4 pounds)
And the body fat:
January 1: 19.1% (31.7 pounds of fat)
October 31: 16.4% (26 pounds of fat–up two fatty pounds)
Run 548
Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Langara Trail
Start: 12:36 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 26:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 10-11ºC
Humidity: 71%
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Weight: 156 pounds
Total distance to date: 4262 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
With the days already too short to keep running after dinner, I made the decision to resume running along what is officially known as the Langara Trail, the 2.74 km path that loops around the Langara Golf Course. Today I rented a locker at the school gym and was given the combination to the lock. I think the last time I used a combination lock was in high school. I got the lock open right on my first try, unlocking an achievement. I’m also kicking in an extra $5 to use the towel service, saving me from having to take stinky damp towels home every week.
The run itself went perhaps a bit better than expected given how long it’s been since I ran the trail. I managed to skirt around the tree roots and some patch work has made the trail a bit smoother–at least until The Rains return. It was cool but not uncomfortable so shorts and t-shirt were fine, with minimal sweating. Predictably, my pace on the west side (downhill) was notably brisker than my pace on the east side (uphill). I don’t expect that to change.
In all, it was a decent start. Plus, no cyclists!
Pays off in the sense that I have no idea what I’m doing. Which isn’t much of a payoff. The irony is I just finished a book a few weeks ago (Story Genius) that specifically lays out, in great detail, how to plan out a novel.
For NaNoWriMo 2017 I have made it as far as the “I think I may write a novel” stage.
I have gotten no further.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve set up Scrivener again so I’m ready to go with that if need be. But as far as what I’ll write…no clue. My success rate when going in and latching onto some plot device at the last minute is not terribly good. It is more terribly terrible. This means my effort will likely crash and burn.
Perhaps, though, something fantastic will come to me in a dream tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or maybe the first night of NaNo. After that it probably won’t matter.
Maybe for the eve of NaNoWriMo (tomorrow) I’ll try to inspire myself with another patented* list of lovingly handmade writing prompts.
* reasonably certain you can’t patent these
This is in reference to fall the season, not fall when you snag your foot on a tree root and splat on the ground.
Coming back along the Brunette River trail from my run two days ago, I took this shot. It was tricky to get one without people in it because it was mild and sunny and the weekend. I’m not anti-people, mind you (unless they’re cyclists at Burnaby Lake), I just prefer my scenery shots without people wandering through them, unless they’re people I know.
Mid to late October is that one time in fall I can enjoy. It’s not always raining, it can be fairly mild (today I went for my noon walk wearing a t-shirt) and most of the trees still have their leaves and the leaves have donned their pretty autumn colors.
I adjusted the white balance a bit in Affinity Photo, using the default “warm” setting. It actually makes the colors, especially of the leaves on the ground, more accurate. My iPhone 6 tends to take photos with a cool tinge to them, which is handy for giving everything a vague dystopian quality, but not entirely accurate vs. reality (or is it? Dun dun dun.)
In a few more weeks it will be much cooler, the trees will look like the blasted skeletal remains of the post-apocalypse and the daylight will last for about twenty minutes. But at least it’ll be nice to snuggle under the blanket on the couch.
In which minimal effort is expended on play time.
Run 547
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:04 pm
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 56:22
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 14-17ºC
Humidity: 61%
Wind: light
BPM: 163
Weight: 156.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4257 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
This was a bit of a strange run in that it was both slow and good, like rich Corinthian maple syrup.
Wait, that’s not right.
But the run was still fine. I started out briskly then fell into a much more relaxed pace and in fact from the third to the seventh km my time kept getting slower and slower, even though I wasn’t feeling tired or experiencing any discomfort. I was definitely not pushing as I’m still off peak form and working my way back up. It wasn’t until the final km when I began to step on the gas again and my pace did indeed pick up a fair bit. The average, though, was still 5:37/km.
Interestingly, the bear warning signs have been taken down. I’m not entirely convinced the bears know this, but I didn’t spot any notable wildlife on the trail.
The pending work on the bridge at Still Creek is still pending, as there was no activity there. The lack of rain over the last few days also meant no puddle jumping, today, but a new hazard was in play–the gorgeous yet slippery fall leaves.
The leaves actually weren’t too slippery–though I still have to be careful on the boardwalks because they definitely take on a banana peel quality when laying atop a damp set of wooden planks–but they still present a danger in that their currently copious number means they can fill up large puddle holes, making them appear deceptively non-hole like. They also tend to obscure a lot of the exposed roots, especially along the Cottonwood trail, which, as you might guess, has a lot of cottonwood trees along it.
It’s very pretty, though.
I started out a bit later but in doing so it appears I missed the morning rush, so yay. There were runners and walkers and people with dogs, but everyone was friendly and aware, possibly because it was so dang nice out. It was 14ºC when I started my run a few minutes past noon, already quite warm for October 28, but it then rose to 17º by the end, which is downright comfy for running. This turned out to be a record-setting high temperature, so thank you global warming!
I’ve purchased a knapsack with the plan to rent out a locker at the school gym, so I can run at lunch hour during the week. It’s pretty much too dark to run after work now, which makes me sad in a weird way I can’t quite put into words. Though I’m not crazy about the trail around the golf course, it will have to do. Maybe if I stick to shorter runs I could even consider increasing the number of times I go jogging. We shall see.
Run 546
Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:02 am
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 26:57
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 10-12ºC
Humidity: 77%
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Weight: 157.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 4247 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I felt un-good in the early morning so I took the day off work. By mid-morning I felt well enough to venture outside and then risked a run, because while my stomach was upset, my legs seemed fine.
Because I wouldn’t normally be running at this time my usual prep routine was a bit off. As in, I was over one km into my walk to the lake when I realized I’d left my AirPods at home. I briefly toyed with running sans music, decided no, I didn’t want to listen to my own breathing for upwards of half an hour, and went back, thus adding about 2.5 km to my walk.
I opted to wear the old-fashioned EarPods instead of the shiny new AirPods. I hate to admit it, but having the inline controls on the wire is very handy when running.
With milder temperatures and sunny skies, there were more people than I was expecting out on the trail, including two massive walking groups, one of which was not going to accidentally startle any bears as you could hear them gabbing from 20 km away. Very excited about nature, I guess.
I was surprised to find parts of the Avalon and South Shore trails partly-collapsed along the northern edge. Apparently the base layer in some sections was insufficiently made, and recent rain has started sloughing swaths of gravel off to the side. I’m curious to see how quickly repairs are made.
Speaking of repairs, the corner near the sports field that had water lapping over half of it in Saturday was being worked on by an earth mover. Once done it should be shored up enough to prevent further flooding. Ironically, to get around the machinery and piles of loose gravel I had to duck onto the field, which is still a water-clogged soup.
Now if they can just fix that one other stretch that floods, it will be possible to do a dry run (so to speak) even under the wettest conditions. A boy can dream.
As for the run itself, I opted to do a 5K and walk out, rather than risk 0ver-extending myself so soon(ish) after the 10K and I was faster at 5:20/km, though that’s still a fair bit off my best 5K pace. It’s funny how slacking off just for a week or two basically kills your fitness level. The run went fine, though, with no problems encountered. It felt colder despite actually being warmer, primary due to a) wearing a t-shirt (one of my old silky-style shirts I stopped wearing a few years back–they’re still in good condition and feel sexy) and b) it being drier gave the air more bite. It was fine, though. Other people are practically jogging in parkas.
I am undecided on what to do for Thursday. The sun will be setting at 6 p.m. on the dot, meaning even if I head out as soon as I can after getting home, the sun will still set about ten minutes into the run. It should be clear, though, and last light is just after 6:30 so I should be able to complete the run before it gets dark for real and the vampires come out. But this is probably the last chance to do a post-work run until late January (assuming we’re not up to our armpits in snow like we were this past January).
Run 545
Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:38 am
Distance: 10.04 km
Time: 54:44
Weather: Rain, rain showers
Temp: 7ºC
Humidity: 94%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 163
Weight: 156.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 4242 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
It only got up to a chilly 7ºC on today’s run (the normal high for today is 14ºC) but I actually only felt a bit cold when walking back after the run, when my body cooled off and suddenly it really felt like 7ºC. I wore my long-sleeved t-shirt and do not regret doing so.
Today was one of those tricky days, motivation-wise. I’d miss running during the week for various reasons, so I knew I’d be off my form (I once read that more than three days off will see some deterioration in form, however minor), plus it was raining steadily even before I headed out.
But head out I did, confident, at least, that there wouldn’t be too many people out on the trail on such a dreary, cold day. There were still more than expected–but most were runners, with a few scattered dog walkers and a couple of those “I love walks in the rain” types. And no cyclists, so that was nice.
I felt fine throughout the run, with the left leg holding up well, with only an echo if the stiffness I’d experienced recently. I wasn’t exactly a blur of speed to start but by around the 4K mark I began to pick up the pace and the last few km, when the rain started to at least ease up a little (but not entirely stop) I significantly improved on things. Maybe I was just eager to get home and get dry.
The trail was a mess of puddles so I was constantly running along the edges and switching from one side to another. At the sports field the usual floody spot was flooded. I tried skirting it on the left but the narrow lumpy, grass-covered hump you have to traverse looked a bit more questionable than usual, so I backed out and went around. The field, of course, was completely saturated, so my feet got thoroughly soaked, no different than going straight through the puddle, really, just less splashing.
The resurfaced part of this stretch is holding up so far. Water pooling up at the edge of the field is not yet high enough to start lapping over onto the trail. Right around the corner, the last part that borders the fields, there is a large swath that has flooded, with water carving through the fresh gravel, forming a semi-hazardous uneven surface. A strip along the left was still bare, so I was able to get by without taking another plunge.
There were new signs all over the place but not telling people to GET OUT. Instead, these were warning that from October 2017 to February 2018 a project to replace the bridge at Still Creek would be underway. It’s the largest bridge on the trail and there is no detour route that can be used, so it would seem that running a full loop would not be an option for some time–except the sign says that the period of no access should only be three weeks. I’m curious to see if the new bridge closely matches the current one.
The bridge at Deer Lake Brook still seems more rickety and in need of replacement, but I’m not a bridgeologist, so what do I know? It actually felt a little more stable today, possibly because I ran over it slower, to avoid slipping.
Overall, a perfectly decent run in less than decent weather. I don’t miss the heat, but I can’t say I’m overly fond of running in the rain, either.
The Fold by Peter Clines
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’d probably average the rating of The Fold to 3.5 stars if I could. Overall it tracks closer to 4, but parts of it bring it down a bit.
This is another “opening a portal to other dimensions maybe isn’t a good idea” story and I’m a sucker for them. The Fold is a quick, snarky romp filled with grouchy scientists, weird cockroaches and quantum donuts.
Anyone looking for a lot of hard science to chew on may be disappointed. The science, such as it is, is deliberately vague, even goofy. The main character is a high school teacher, not a scientist, albeit one with a genius-level IQ and eidetic memory (like photographic memory, but covering all senses, not just sight). Mike Erikson catalogues everything he experiences through metaphorical red and black ants that carry information back and forth, allowing him to essentially treat his mind as a computer with near limitless storage. This comes in incredibly handy as the story unfolds (no pun intended), though Erikson points out the downside to one of the scientists, namely that every horrible thing he witnesses also stays with him as vividly as if just happened.
Erikson is hired by a government friend to check out a secretive government-funded project working on a way to fold space and allow for instant travel over vast distances. Located outside San Diego, the small team of DARPA scientists working on what they call The Albuquerque Door treat Erikson as an interloper, though he assures them he is an impartial observer who would like to see them succeed. They assure him that The Door is very safe.
But things go wrong. Then they go very horribly wrong. Part of the fun in the second half of the novel comes from watching the team grapple with events spiraling out of their control and seeing how they react and adjust (or at least valiantly try to). Without getting into blatant spoilers, the story eventually heads off in a direction that feels more like fantasy, with the science feeling more like magic. It’s a little weird.
The banter between the characters is snappy and the pace never flags. There are no real subplots or distractions from the main event, so it’s an easy read to plow through.
Oddly, perhaps more than any book I’ve read in years, I kept imagining specific actors as the characters. The head of the project, a man named Arthur, brought to mind Morgan Freeman so vividly that I would confidently place a bet on Freeman playing the role in a movie adaptation. Or at least the casting director trying to nab him for the part.
Likewise, the engineer Sasha I saw as Sarah Douglas circa Superman II (1981). I’m not even sure why. The weirdest was probably the inevitable (and, IMO, unnecessary) romantic interest of Jamie, who made me think of Pam from the TV series Archer. Yes, she reminded me of a cartoon character.
The Fold is far from perfect, but the whole thing rolls along so smoothly it’s hard to get upset by what amounts to quibbles. As with most alternate dimension stories, it’s never too wise to spend a lot of time examining the plot, lest you find holes you could squeeze a mirror Earth through.
If you like these kinds of stories and you’re not fussed with the science being a bit flimsy, you’ll find The Fold well worth the ride.
In which I try my old technique of coming up with the title first and the story second. Since this is brainstorming and I rarely control my impulse to be silly this is not terribly likely to yield useful results, but stranger and more horrible things have happened.
The entrance of the New Westminster SkyTrain station this past Sunday as I went to my writing group:
The guy who wrote this (and come on, you know it was a guy) is probably great fun to work with. Or exist with.
Also, that lopsided “u” (if that’s even what it is) disturbs me in ways I can’t really explain, though the switch from upper case on the left to lower case on the right is not so much disturbing as it is odd. Also also, does this guy carry around felt markers just so he can scribe his colorful opinions in public whenever a thought strikes him? I’m willing to say yes, he does.
Also x3: I wish I had something witty to offer regarding the guy wiping his nose under the LIQUOR STORE sign, but alas, nothing comes to mind.