NaNoWriMo 2016 Pre-Update #1

Let’s check in on my progress in preparing for NaNoWriMo 2016!

First, a recap of my prep schedule below.

September:

  1. Come up with a story idea
  2. Choose a program for the actual writing part

October:

  1. Ruminate over the chosen idea, perhaps outline a bit
  2. Configure the writing program as necessary

Since October hasn’t arrived yet, let’s look closer at September:

  1. Come up with a story idea

Progress: None whatsoever. I can say without hesitation that I have devoted no thought to what I might write about, other than a vague notion that it will be a story in which things happen. This is partly because the first week of September is the start of the fall semester and this is a very hectic time for me in my current work. My brain is not inclined to creative thinking during these early days. This is a bit of a stretch this year as Labor Day didn’t fall until the 5th, meaning I had five entire days to do nothing but think without significant distraction and instead of thinking I did other things, like eat olives. Mmm, olives.

2. Choose a program for the actual writing part

Progress: Some actual progress. Right now I’m looking at four different programs and mulling the pros and cons of each. The four are:

  • Microsoft Word 2016
  • WriteMonkey
  • FocusWriter
  • Scrivener

I’ve used three of the four in previous NaNoWriMos, with FocusWriter being the brash rookie trying to win me over. A succinct evaluation of my experience in using each would be:

Microsoft Word 2016: Technically I used earlier versions of Word but the last few have been essentially the same. I’ve encountered no issues in using Word for NaNoWriMo.

Pro: Works across Windows, Mac and iOS
Con: Way more than you need to write a straightforward novel, formatting code is a hidden, tentacled monster that will try to strangle your story if you start mucking about with it

WriteMonkey: Again, no issues. The spartan nature of the interface puts it squarely in the distraction-free writing category. Most of its extra functionality is hidden behind keyboard shortcuts or a single menu that is hidden by default.

Pro: Simple, highly configurable interface
Con: Curiously slow to start up, current version is Windows-only, some features are limited or hard to use

Scrivener: A mix-up in local vs. cloud (in this case, Dropbox) saves resulted in a catastrophic loss of a large chunk of the story (thousands of words). This derailed my attempt and further pushed me away from using Scrivener for any writing. Scrivener is essentially the opposite of WriteMonkey, with an absolute ton of options and tools, most of them staring you right in the face (though you can hide most if you choose).

Pro: Many options for researching, outlining, organizing characters and more, interface can be tweaked, scenes can be easily moved around, works across Windows, Mac and iOS
Con: Instead of a single file, it creates many, introducing more points of failure, save mechanism annoyingly saves after two seconds of inactivity by default. This can wreak havoc if you save to a cloud-based drive.

FocusWriter is similar to WriteMonkey, but emphasizes a different set of features, including backgrounds and ambient music intended to put you into a relaxed and writin’ kind of mood. Curiously I find these rather distracting so have turned them off. It works on Windows and Mac, which is a plus.

At this point I am leaning toward either WriteMonkey or FocusWriter. WM has a spiffy new version in the works but it may not be ready before November. The current version (2.70) is still perfectly fine, just less sexy (and Windows-only). FocusWriter is nice but I haven’t found that feature yet that would convince me to use it over WriteMonkey.

I expect to have settled on the tool in the next few weeks. As for the story idea? Maybe I’ll do some brainstorming this weekend. Yes, that’s it.

Run 459: A comfy run in the rain

Run 459
Average pace: 5:16/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 26:33
Weather: Light showers
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Stride: n/a
Weight: 157.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3670 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I skipped Tuesday’s usual run because I was wiped out from work. This is not normal, but the first day of classes for the fall semester when you work at a college IT help desk can do that to you. I came home feeling like I’d walked 20,000 steps. Which I had.

I vowed to stay on track by running tonight and despite ominous clouds, I stayed true to my vow. Due to a light rain and a temperature of only 14ºC I donned my long-sleeved Nike shirt, though in the end a regular t-shirt would have been fine (because there was virtually no wind, so it never felt overly chilly).

Somewhat unusually I fell into a comfortable pace quite early and stayed there for nearly the entire run. Looking at my splits I had the usual drop at the 2km mark but actually got progressively faster to the end of the run, with my final km pace being 5:03 vs. 5:07 for the first km. Until about the last 500m I never tried to push beyond this comfy pace so I am surprised to see I kept picking up speed.

The right leg felt fine for the first half of the run, began to feel a bit stiff in the second half, but began to feel better again before the run ended. It is weird, my right leg. I can handle weird better than injured, however.

The rain was pretty light and wasn’t even a nuisance on my glasses like it usually is, thanks to the aforementioned lack of wind. The trail was all but deserted, save for a cyclist or two. I know it makes me seem anti-social but I kind of like running Omega Man-style.

Overall I’m pleased with this run. It is probably the most relaxed I’ve felt while doing a 5K in a long time.

Book review: The Communion Letters

The Communion LettersThe Communion Letters by Whitley Strieber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I decided to pick this up because it recently got re-released as an ebook.

This is a collection of letters received by Anne and Whitley Strieber after the publication of the latter’s book Communion, and some its subsequent follow-ups. (The book came out originally in 1997.)

I’ve always enjoyed Strieber’s Communion books because a) he’s a novelist, so he knows how to tell a story b) the stories he recounts are by turns freaky and fascinating and c) they satisfy a part of me that is intrigued by the possibility that the reality we see and the reality that might be could be vastly different things. There is some scientific evidence to suggest the possibility of parallel dimensions, for example. Imagine if we had definitive proof–it would shatter our current conception of the universe. The mere thought that multiple Adam Sandlers could exist is almost too much for the human mind to comprehend.

But I digress.

The Communion Letters is loosely themed into chapters focusing on specific types of encounters with beings that may be aliens or have some connection to the dead or could be super-evolved humans come back from the future to keep us from screwing up the planet. Each chapter has a short introduction from Whitley (Anne’s task was to read through the staggering 200,000 letters they received) but the bulk of the book are the letters themselves.

They range from odd incidents that may or may not be explainable through conventional means, to stuff that would fit right in with the wackiest theories floated on Ancient Aliens. The quality of the writing is just as varied, with some letters being somewhat disorganized as the authors backtrack on their thoughts or interject in the middle of a recollection with something else, while others have that “just cracked open a thesaurus” feel to them. More than a few are not just well-written, the stories they tell are riveting, filled with details of small town life interrupted by strange, sometimes wondrous and often terrifying events.

In the end no definitive conclusion is drawn by Strieber, other than a wish that science would study the people reporting these experiences, to help demonstrate that their stories are not just the products of over-active imaginations or even mental illness (Strieber says he read over many writings from people suffering mental illnesses and found a clear distinction between their work and the stories recounted in the letters they received).

At times creepy and at times so out there that I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes, The Communion Letters is an interesting showcase for ordinary people to sound off on their experiences with the “visitors.” If the subject matter intrigues you, this is worth a read, even if the selection of letters could have been a bit stronger overall.

View all my reviews

Run 458: Snakes, side trails and people everywhere

Run 458
Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 10:09 km
Time: 56:05
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Stride: n/a
Weight: 156.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3665 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I was still a bit concerned about the stiffness in my right leg so my plan today was to run steady but not push so I expected my pace to be lower–and it was, but only by a few seconds, coming in at 5:33/km. More importantly, the leg behaved and there were long stretches where my breathing was relaxed and I just felt good, that feeling where you feel like you could keep running forever or until your shoes completely fall apart.

There was some sun heading to the lake but it vanished behind the clouds for the run. The promise of sun and a slightly later start meant the trails were packed, with both joggers and walkers a-plenty. Reluctantly, and for the first time since I tripped, I opted to take all three side trails, to help avoid the crowds.

The good news is it worked. The side trails were completely clear and I remained upright the entire time. Here’s the tree root hazard report:

Spruce Loop: one root on the left side of the trail (not an issue as I was running on the right)
Conifer Loop: massive root that crosses the entire width of the trail and sits in the open. It’s impossible to miss seeing it. There is one other prominent root, on the left side. This is the Evil Tree Root, the one I tripped on. It was in the sun today and looked deceivingly harmless.
Piper Mill Trail: a few small roots located in the middle of the trail

While I settled into a comfy pace for most of the run, the starting km was an unusually brisk 5:03/km, the closest I’ve come this year to breaking the five minute mark. This is not a mark I expect to break, so seeing the time was a bit of a surprise.

I spied a garter snake slithering rapidly into the brush ahead of me. It was much faster than the python I saw a few weeks ago. It probably sits lower on the food chain than a python, though. For reference, this is what it looked like:

Western garter snake

I am happy to report no dogs off-leash and every runner and pedestrian was polite and alert. Overall, a surprisingly pleasant run.

My fantastic rendition of a ring-tailed cat

Did you know a ring-tailed cat is not a cat? Did you know I sketched a ring-tailed cat back in junior high and upon looking at the sketch today I had no idea what it was, except that it was small and furry and possibly a little mean? Did you know that I discovered it was a ring-tailed cat (which is not a cat but a relative of the raccoon) by doing a search for “ring-tailed animals” and coming across a similar image?

Now you know. Hopefully these trivial bits of information didn’t shove out something way more important from your brain.

Note the small backwards check in the lower right of the drawing. I think this was my teacher’s way of saying, “I acknowledge your work but dare not comment on it.” Which would be fair, really. I’ve never been more than a mediocre visual artist.

The scan is actually a photo I took with my iPhone 6, which I then cropped on my PC. Isn’t technology grand? The original image is 5×7 inches. Also, the ring-tailed cat appears to be missing a leg, a recurring theme in my animal sketches, apparently.

Ring-tailed cat, sketch done at age 15.
Ring-tailed cat, sketch done at age 15.

And here’s the same sketch using the Composition filter from the iOS app Prisma. These filters are so sophisticated they can make my trashy junior high art actually look kind of neat. Did I mention how grand technology is?

Ring-tailed cat with groovy image filter applied.
Ring-tailed cat with groovy image filter applied.

Run 457: Never mind the tree roots, here come the cars!

Run 457
Average pace: 5:31/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10:05 km
Time: 55:32
Weather: Clear
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 158
Stride: n/a
Weight: 157.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3655 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

With more time than originally expected, I did a 10K to round out the week of running, with the sky cloudy and the temperature 17ºC. The wind was light but felt a little brisk. Winter is clearly on the way as of September 1st.

For some reason my right leg was feeling a bit stiff on the walk to the lake, which struck me as odd as it felt fine yesterday and I didn’t run or even do a walk yesterday, other than trekking around on the job. I chose to hold back a bit for the run as a result, and while the soreness persisted into the run, it settled down and I don’t feel it made any real impact. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, at any rate.

The trail was pretty quiet but two people were blatantly violating the unspoken “walk on the right” rule. I got out of the way for one, reluctantly, while the other opted to pass on my right, which was pretty much where the trail did not exist. He managed to stay upright.

Despite yesterday’s rain, the trail was dry and puddle-free, apart from some water on top of the dam (and I didn’t run on the dam). It did rain after the run, so I am happy to have dodged that.

When running clockwise there is one notable danger point and that’s where Roberts Road leads into the parking lot for the Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavilion. When running counter-clockwise you emerge from the trail and cross the street with a clear view in both directions. When approaching from the other side you have a giant wall of vegetation creating a blind spot on your left–the side where traffic will come in from. It looks like this, courtesy of Google Maps street view:

Where joggers and cars hopefully don't meet.
Where joggers and cars hopefully don’t meet.

Generally this is not a problem as there is very little traffic and on a weekday, who would be coming out to the rowing pavilion, anyway? Someone in a small blue car with no brakes, apparently. As always, when I approach from the dangerous side, I swing a bit wide so I can see any vehicles ASAP and if it looks clear, I run across to the safety of the trail on the other side (it was shortly past that point that I ran into the bobcat/lynx, so safety is a relative thing). The blue car emerged at nearly the same moment and I quickly pulled in close to the edge as it sped by. It was obvious the driver was not expecting pedestrians. He or she was a dummy, not to mention reckless. But I got by and finished the run.

The pace was only slightly off my previous 10K and I’m happy with that. Sunday’s forecast currently looks perfectly pleasant, so here’s hoping it remains such. Almost every other days is a variation of “rain because summer is over, suckers.”

Just two months until National Novel Writing Month 2016!

It’s only two months until National Novel Writing Month 2016 rolls around. Will I take part? Most likely. Will I succeed? Odds are trending toward 50/50 (at best). My current plan is I have no plan, but this year I will definitely make a plan and have it in place one full month before this whole thing kicks off on November 1st.

I’ll report back at the end of September on the status of the plan, possibly while weeping in despair.

Yesterday I spent some time looking at various distraction-free writing programs but didn’t find any that really clicked. I still prefer WriteMonkey and am hoping the sexy new version launches soon, though I am doubtful of that. I could use the current version of WriteMonkey and probably should. Or Word. Or a notepad and crayons. Or anything. It already feels like I’m making excuses. I wrote my first (admittedly unfinished) novel by hand–using a pencil! Well, several pencils. I don’t need the newest, shiniest writing software in order to write.

But I want it.

Anyway, the proto-plan still in development is to have both the tool and story idea nailed down a month in advance. If I don’t I will officially give up before I even start.

Here’s to my maybe success in a month and my maybe greater success in three months!

Albums or music I would like to see (but never will)

(Ignore for a moment that you can’t actually see music, unless it’s on a sheet.)

Nostalgia is fun, but sometimes it’s best to remember what was and not what might be.

  • A new Pink Floyd album featuring the Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright line-up. This won’t happen because Rick Wright is dead, for one, David Gilmour would never agree to it for another, and even if all four were around and agreed, I doubt they could recapture their best work. The dream is gone. I have become comfortably numb.
  • A new Alan Parson Project album. Not one of Parsons’ solo efforts, but a reunion between Parsons and his co-creator of the Project, Eric Woolfson. Woolfson died a few years ago and the closest the two came to working together again was when Parsons remastered their entire catalog. Given the time apart to each do what each wanted (Parsons toured with a live band, Woolfson staged original musicals), I think they might have produced something decent with a one-time reunion.
  • R.E.M. with the original Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe. line-up. R.E.M. produced some great material after Berry quit but they also produced some of their most uninspired music, too and it was obvious at the end that Mills and Stipe were glad to leave it all behind. A one-off album with no obligations between the four of them, something that would be a fusion of their original sound–jangly Byrds-style rock–with the best of their more sophisticated later work would likely be a worthy listen.
  • An album of original material featuring the vocals of Barbra Streisand but written by a strong songwriter, not someone who would write timid or predictable pop schlock. Streisand has an amazing, powerful voice but her rare forays into pop music (Guilty, etc.) are undermined by material that is often pedestrian. I can’t actually think of a good fit here right now because I’m out of touch with much of the contemporary music scene, so insert your favorite songwriter here.
  • Another Simon and Garfunkel reunion. Just kidding. I would like to see some sort of Simon and Garfunkel-esque collaboration, though. For one half of this duo I nominate Mike Mills, former bassist of R.E.M.
  • I’m not sure I’d actually like to see this, but it would at least be interesting to behold what Billy Joel would have to say with 23 years having lapsed since his last album, 1993’s River of Dreams. Would he be an angry old man or merely cranky?

Run 456: Holding back while moving forward

Run 456
Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 26:57
Weather: Clear
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Stride: n/a
Weight: 158.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3645 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

If there’s a word I’d use to describe tonight’s run it would be nice. I was wary of the right leg being stiff from Sunday’s run and conditions were comfy, so I adopted a more relaxed pace. Even so, I still came in at 5:20/km and with no discomfort. It did feel like I was on the edge of some cramping a few times, which made it easier to justify the moderate (yet still reasonably zippy pace). The combo of the pace and temperature of 19ºC meant my heart rate was lower, too, which is always a plus.

I headed out later than normal due to a late dinner but the bonus side effect of that is the sun had dipped behind the trees, so I didn’t have to engage in a staring contest with it on that one part of the river trail.

Overall, this was a mellow, almost relaxing run. I’d practically forgotten what it was like to run without the elements conspiring against me.

If the forecast holds up, there’s a better than 50% chance that Thursday’s run will be soggy. I’m hoping not because I prefer rain-free runs to not rain-free, but I’ll head out regardless, hoping that one day someone will invent technology that keeps glasses dry when it’s wet out.

The sound of summer writing prompts

What better way to anticipate the shorter days, colder weather and incessant rain that will come with the arrival of fall than to throw together a bunch of writing prompts looking back fondly on summer?

  1. Write a story in which a curmudgeonly campfire recalls all the lame ghost stories told around it over the years, saving the very worst for its last dying ember.
  2. Include the following words in a summer tale: canoe, grizzly, bucket, haberdasher, pointillist, gerund.
  3. Write a journal entry in which you refused to help someone with poison ivy because you thought it was contagious. Remember to include how stupid and selfish you were, then conclude with a witty comment about how silly life can be.
  4. It’s so incredibly hot your computer melts, so you try writing a story using pen and paper but it’s so hot the paper bursts into flame, so you try writing a story using a stick in the sand of a beautiful tropical beach but it’s so hot the stick burns to cinders, so you try writing a story using a chisel and stone tablet but then Moses grabs the tablet away from you. Twist ending!
  5. The Beach Boys are your next door neighbors. Write a story about your zany adventures living next to a bunch of guys who won’t shut up about cars and surfing and what is Brian doing in the backyard there?
  6. Make a list of all the things you can do in the summer for less than $1,000,000.
  7. Surf’s up but stocks are down. Write about the world’s worst stock broker surfer champion.
  8. Summer is the favorite season of many people. Invent a new season that would kick summer’s ass, if a season could actually have an ass.
  9. What if dogs threw Frisbees and people caught them in their mouths instead? That would be one weird thing to see in the summer, wouldn’t it? But don’t write about that, write about an ice cream truck that is secretly a kid-eating monster.
  10. Summer spelled backwards is remmus. Write a poem about how remmus the backwards summer would fool everyone by being cold instead of hot and stuff like that. No, that’s pretty dumb. Write a sequel to the story about the ice cream truck that is secretly a kid-eating monster instead.

Run 455: A difference of degrees (16 of them, to be precise)

Run 455
Average pace: 5:28/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 54:57
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 17-18ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 158.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3640 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Today was my first post-vacation 10K, coming nine days after the last one, when it was 30ºC. It was also my first run since this Thursday when it was even hotter at 33ºC. The weather has changed and I’m reasonably confident the last hot days of summer are over. With the sky overcast and the temperature a mere 17ºC (which is, in fact, almost ideal for summer running and is perfectly fine even if you’re strolling out and aboot), I set out this morning to find out just how much of a difference 16ºC could make.

As it turns out, a lot!

My pace last Friday was a molasses-like 6:01/km, one of the few times I’ve slipped past the six minute mark. I was not impressed. I was sad. I felt old. And slow. And sweaty. I remember struggling to pull my shirt off I was so sweaty, like the start of some porn scene gone horribly wrong.

Today I decided to start exactly at the 0 km marker and run the exact, official Burnaby Lake Loop, to see how well the markers matched the GPS. When I strode past the 10 km marker the watch showed me at 9.88 km–pretty close, really.

And when I passed that 10 km marker I was not bathed in sweat. I actually only sweated a little, mostly in my favorite spot, which is around the sides of my temple. Why these spots generate so much sweat I do not know. Maybe my brain is mentally jogging at the same time. My pace turned out to be 5:28/km, not only handily eclipsing the previous 10K but also besting my fastest 10K post-injury, which was 5:41/km.

The only downside is the right hip area started to feel a little sore when I applied thrusters. Moderating my pace corrected this, though it still feels a little sore tonight and I suspect it may be a bit stiff tomorrow. I’m not overly concerned as it feels sore rather than hurt.

Given the cooler conditions there weren’t as many people out but still more than I expected. There were a lot of runners, including more cute young male runners than I am used to seeing. I only point this out because almost all runners I see, male or female, tend to be in their 30s or older. I didn’t recognize most of these runners (I see a few regulars most days) and one of the young guys was absolutely drenched with sweat, as if he was in a bubble where it was still 33ºC.

Other than the small degree of soreness in my right leg, the run went very well. For the first time in a long time I actually felt a second wind on the back half and my pace picked up after the usual midway drop. It was nice.

Tuesday’s forecast is currently calling for around 21º about the time I am running, which is warmer but still much cooler and the rest of the week looks like poop from a summer weather perspective, with a chance of rain and highs in the upper teens. I’m liking the temperatures but could do without the rain. I’ll take the rain (to quote R.E.M.) over more 30ºC+ temperatures, though.

Things I wish I could do

In no particular order:

  • play a musical instrument without causing people to scream or cry
  • experience genuine passion for something
  • run without falling (again)
  • try out VR
  • jump ahead 100 years to see what it’s like
  • go back and fix three random screw-ups from when I was a kid
  • find the work best-suited for me (updated June 22, 2024)
  • never have stuffed up sinuses
  • sing, sing a song
  • uninvent dubstep autotune (updated June 22, 2024)
  • fly, because it would be cool