Inktober 2021 starts mere hours from now, 31 days of prompts that are meant to be done in ink or ink-like media. I have participated the last two years, but strangely am still uncertain whether I want to take part again this year.
Part of my ambivalence is the first few prompts are rather uninspiring to me. Another part is feeling I should be devoting more time to structured learning on my drawing instead of doing a bunch of goofy prompts, which can help, but are maybe a better way to “cut loose” than to hone my skills.
I planned to do a walk/run combo today, with an eye on the weather, as a heavy rainfall warning was still in effect. It was dry when I headed out and a fair bit cooler at only 13C, but with only a light breeze blowing it didn’t feel bad.
Today is a stat holiday so I expected to see a few more people out on the river trail, despite the gloom and sure enough there were. For some reason, their presence sufficiently annoyed me into thinking the lake would be better, so I wrapped up my walk, headed to the lake and did a 5K loop around the northern side trails.
There were people at the lake, too, some ill-prepared for the weather, but the weather itself got progressively nicer as I ran, with the sun poking out at one point. It was not to last.
As I neared the 2.5K turnaround point, a group of three people ahead of me were fanned out, blocking my way. I called out “Behind you” to alert them to my presence–I was on the left (passing lane). The guy directly in front of me opted to just suddenly stop moving, apparently thinking this was the correct course of action. And it is, if a collision is the desired result. I slowed down and he moved aside at the last moment, realizing the error in his plan.
The run was otherwise uneventful. I started out with what I thought was a deliberately slow pace but was actually 5:44/km. I ended with an overall pace one entire second faster than my last run. Woo. The splits did not show the usual renewed energy in the last few km. I guess I was tired, or maybe just not trying to push. Yeah, that’s it.
Still, it was an otherwise fine run, especially since I hadn’t intended on doing one today.
As for the weather, the rain began on the walk back, when I was in Lower Hume Park (about 1.5 km from home), so I didn’t get utterly drenched or anything.
Here’s a shot of the lake post-run when the sky was shifting back to ominous-portents-of-rain:
Stats:
Run 660Average pace: 6:07/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 2:32 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 30:46
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 13ºC
Humidity: 86%
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Weight: 177.9
Total distance to date: 4905 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (35 km)
I’ve actually watched a few movies recently, perhaps finally feeling the pangs of not seeing a movie in a theater since March 2020 (it was Onward, which was on Disney+ by the end of the month as all movie theaters shut down for pandemic fun times). Now, I don’t actually miss seeing movies in theaters (hell is other people), but movies themselves? Yeah. And I’d been wanting to indulge in some science fiction. It didn’t even have to be good. Which leads me to my first mini re-review:
Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013): I mostly remembered this one as being inferior to the 2009 remake origin story, and it still is. There is plenty of silliness to be had, from re-purposing bits from the original Khan storyline to no good effect (the Spock/Kirk death reversal, which lands with an utter thud), Khan now a supremely white Benedict Cumberbatch (though he is wonderfully slimy and weird in the role) and once again using improbable devices to propel the plot forward, like having all the Starfleet bigwigs conveniently meet in a room lined with huge windows and completely vulnerable to attack (guess what happens next?!)
Still, J.J. Abrams is adept at keeping the action rolling, and there is plenty here. This is basically an action movie in sci-fi clothing. There is also some nice interplay between the cast members (I could watch Karl Urban as McCoy all day long) and everyone just seems to be having a good time in their roles. The effects are big and loud and very Abrams.
In the end it’s not a bad movie per se, even though there are any number of weak points, but this is a case where Abrams’ approach of “more is more” somehow manages to hold together till the end.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Director’s Cut (1977): Spielberg wanted to fix some issues with the original film and asked the studio for money. They agreed with one condition–that he show inside the mothership. He reluctantly agreed, giving us the “special edition” of the movie. That’s also included on the Blu-ray I have, but I skipped it in favor of the Director’s cut, which is essentially Spielberg’s fixes, but with the mothership interior rightfully cut.
Some effects, particularly the matte work and the painfully obvious set that comprises the mountain road where the police chase a group of UFOs, do not hold up very well, but this movie is now 44 years old, so I’m willing to cut it some slack. Other effects still hold up decently and the mothership’s arrival at Devil’s Tower is still spectacular.
There’s a lot of very Spielberg stuff here–the camera dollying in to a character (or out), overlapping dialogue, quirky people who feel real, not out of Casting 101. There’s also something almost painfully authentic about the domestic scenes involving Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and his family. In one early scene, one of the boys climbs into the daughter’s playpen in the living room and starts bashing apart a doll on the rail. Why? Because that’s the kind of mindless, attention-seeking destruction kids engage in. It’s great.
You can quibble with some actions of the aliens–Spielberg is clearly more interested in setting a mood than being logical, but the moods he creates work so well–from the subtle horror of screws on a floor vent unscrewing themselves and toys coming to life, to the child-like wonder of watching the mothership interact musically with the scientists gathered at the Devil’s Tower landing site.
This is also a very 70s movie. The pace is deliberate at times. There is no build-up to a final big action scene. The story ends gently, and there are no real villains. It presents the idea of aliens wanting a kind of cultural exchange. It’s hopeful and just nice.
Also, despite coming only two years after Jaws, the fashions hold up much better than you might expect. Maybe the 70s have just become hip (or groovy) again.
September is a transition month in a number of different ways, even more so this year than in others for me in particular:
At the start of the month it is still summer, and it can be quite sunny and warm
By the end of the month it’s fall and while the weather can still be t-shirt-worthy, it can also be what it is currently: in the low to mid-teens and very much The Rains. Now begins the slow turning of all the lush greens of summer, to be replaced briefly by the explosion of fall colors before everything turns gray and naked, like the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
And this marks the first full month after leaving my job of close to nine years. I won’t go into details here, but will say that it has been a month of planning, working and setting up toward the future. It has also been a boon to my mental health because I had grown to despise both the work and work environment at my previous place of employment. Getting out of there was like removing a slow drip of poison into my system.
My birthday is also in September, so it’s a chance to reflect on gaining another year and being happy about that vs. the alternative
The start of the school year is no longer particularly meaningful to me now, for which I am grateful, but I am aware of it on the periphery, with kids no longer out and aboot the same way during the day
October brings the last of the warm weather for the year (if we are lucky), the aforementioned explosions of color (the highlight of the season by far), Halloween (the holiday I am indifferent to, but I do enjoy seeing how people decorate their homes and yards) and, of course, pumpkin spice everywhere. What’s the deal with that, anyway? Pumpkins aren’t spicy!
The good news is I am down slightly for the month, even if it is “margin of error” down. It’s still better than up.
More good news is that my body fat, despite still being up for the year, is trending downward as I exercise more.
The not-as-good news is while down for the month, I’m still up from where I was at the beginning of August, so I am still not yet back to where I was before the re-ballooning began.
Most of the month, my weight bounced right around where it ended, around 177 pounds. I mean, it’s better than 187, my all-time high, but I’d really like to break the 170 mark before collecting a pension.
I remain donut-free, though.
I will make a modest prediction for October: I will be down a little again.
Stats:
September 1: 178.4 pounds
September 30: 177.9 pounds (down 0.5 pounds)
Year to date: From 174.2 to 177.9 pounds (up 3.7 pounds)
Body fat (year to date):
January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
September 30: 23.3% (41.4 pounds of fat) (up 3.3 pounds)
With another heavy rainfall warning in effect, it’s hard to believe it was mere weeks ago that the whole province was kindling waiting to explode. But here we are, complaining again as The Rains resume.
And now, a haiku:
Rain, rain and more rain
Contemplating ark building
Umbrellas for life
I went out late this afternoon to close my rings and get some fresh air. The weather threatened rain, so I actually wore pants (well, sweatpants). Plus it was only 12C.
I was nearing the path leading to the stairs down into Lower Hume Park when I heard from the other side of the pool building the distinct crunch of two vehicles smushing themselves together. I paused my walk, went around the building and saw two cars by the crosswalk, the one that was directly behind the other featuring a new buckled hood.
The crosswalk here on east Columbia is one that features pedestrian-controlled flashing lights, but I did not notice them flashing at the time (though I wouldn’t swear they weren’t). The drivers of the vehicles were out and no doubt exchanging information and going through the usual fender bender rituals.
What I noticed next was a guy with a dog on the crosswalk. He looked hesitant. I am guessing this is what happened:
Guy with dog gets to crosswalk and does/does not push pedestrian light
Guy with dog steps out to cross
Guy in Car #1 sees this and obligingly stops to allow Guy with dog to cross without getting run down
Guy in Car #2 is oblivious to all of this for whatever reason and plows into the back of Car #1
Guy with dog then crosses and continues into the park, despite being a direct witness to the collision
Here is the guy wearing a very bright red hoodie.
But his dog was leashed!
I at least give him kudos for making himself highly visible. He should have at least talked to the guys in the cars, though. But he had a dog, and that means he (and by proxy) his dog can do anything they want, including ignoring accidents they have just watched happen directly in front of them.
Because someone has already written it, minus the plural. The only thing I missed was the local town corruption–but maybe I was too young and naive to imagine hearty mountain folk being bad.
The season, not like falling down the stairs or something.
The days get shorter
And the trees explode with color
Then everything dies
On the one hand, the last line is rather bleak. On the other, fall ends on December 20th and by then the sun sets at something like 3 p.m., it’s always cold and almost always raining, the trees are stripped naked and vegetation is all withered, dead or gone.
But lawns still look really lush and green.
All right, then.
The days get shorter
And the trees explode with color
It sucks after that
More accurate now. But fine, here’s a “happy” version:
The days get shorter
And the trees explode with color
Hot cocoa and gloves
