When I got my first job , I promised myself that I would never work on my birthday
I think I've kept true to that promise (mostly)
I usually take a vacation day
This year , I came into work but I'm not actually doing any work
I decided to dress "fun" , jeans and a hawaiian shirt
I can't pass up $100 I'll need to pay off my house
I created an outside movie screen
Three yards of black out cloth from the fabric store
some thin wood , nuts and bolts from HomeDepot
and an overhead projector
connected to my laptop
I tested it out in the front yard by watching Captain America
A few people driving by cheered me on
and a cop snuck up on me to say how cool it was
In order to pack not too much
I packed only what was needed into a bin
Driving up to Rifle River
Immediately lost two hours stuck on I75
I think there was some problem with the Ambassador bridge not letting trucks on
and then more construction
Set up camp
Splashed around in the river a bit
I waited until after dark before setting up the movie screen
I watched Thor Ragnarok , and Men in Black International
I didn't get the crowd of excited people I was fantasizing about
I discovered that the fire needs to be a lot hotter to get the popcorn to pop
Weather was cloudy all morning
the sun didn't come out until the afternoon
I stopped at every large rock , and watched the people go by
I broke off and removed a bunch of protruding tree branches
(the hand saw i brought was ineffectual)
I saw four sets of boobs flashed
I did my best to not lift my kilt , but some ladies insisted ;D
Towards the end of the river , I waited for everybody to go past , so I could do some skinny dipping
Watched Avengers Endgame
and made sure there was enough fire for popcorn
I used up all of the paper briquettes I had made
They burn for a long time , but are hard to light
I was planning on sleeping in
but the weather had other ideas
It started to rain in the morning
so I quickly packed up , and got on the road
Instead of taking I75 all the way home
I took M23 and I96
I think I'll take that way from now on
I put on sunscreen too late
I got a bit sunburned , but not too painful
The guild was fighting Sylvanis
It was my first time there , we weren't struggling too much
but after break , I was asked to leave
Then they beat her
I'm pissed off because all I wanted to do was finish the quest
I'm not interested in running heroics and mythics to get better gear that is going to be made worthless in another few months
Here's a sexual fantasy I just came up with
I want a female shape-shifter who is devoted to me
She can change into any other woman's form
So , I can see every woman naked , and have sex with them
Isn't that what every man wants ?
The tent needed cleaning and drying after last week's camping trip
I was again going to use the living room to get it clean
So , I cleaned and tidied the storage room , living room , and dining room
but when I discovered that the tent was too wet to have inside
I set it up on the front lawn to dry it off
Good news is after procrastinating all summer , I ended up with a cleaner house
Half the world won't leave me alone
The other half leaves me lonely
i won't be sharing this idea with anybody else
for fear of being called "edgey"
One thing I like about this neighborhood
is that there is a lot of diversity in the design of the houses
It's an older neighborhood that filled in over the decades
Any developer that would be creating a new subdivision
would make all of the houses large , expensive , and relatively identical
I'd like to see a new subdivision build with a random and semi-chaotic selection of houses . . .
[FANTASY START]
I've got a square mile of open land in the middle of a city's suburbs
I install some streets , and divide the land into plots of differing sizes
I offer people the opportunity to design and build their own houses on the land
I will offer people loans
The people must live in the houses they are creating
"I'm not trying to make money . I'm trying to create a non-cookie-cutter neighborhood"
Tree filled park \ community area in the center
I wanted to go out sailing this weekend
For some reason , I'm having a hard time getting myself out of the house
All summer , I've tried to get out and enjoy the heat
but I just sit around the house , playing video games
I've been binging DragonBall Super and Baruto
There are hundreds of episodes to get through
After a lot of "effort" , I finished DB , and got caught up on Baruto
When I get deep into a piece of fiction
I often mentally create self-insert fan fiction
In March 2020 , when covid started , and I got laid off from work
I started watching a lot of anime
Since I had a lot of free time
more than once , I found myself sitting in the dark , for hours , just world building in my mind
I'm not sure if it counts as "lucid dreaming"
It feels so good as I create characters , plot , settings
The stories don't get created linearly
Usually , it starts with a question pertaining to the piece of fiction
"How are they going to handle this ?"
"What will happen when these two characters meet ?"
"Who would I want to be in this world ?"
If I've got two pieces of a story , then I try to find a way to connect them
If something doesn't work logically or thematically , I either erase or re-write it
Once I can't come up with anymore story beats , I mentally run through the whole story from start to finish
It's the creation of the story that gives me so much joy
but when I try to re-live the story a second or third time it almost seems like work
During the creation , I'm freely flowing as anything goes
During a second "viewing" I have to remember the story "correctly"
Only once or twice have I ever tried to physically write down the story I've created
I think I'll use this space to share my stories with the world
It's going to be fan fiction from a non-author , so don't expect much quality
This is a scene based off the Goblin Slayer universe
I wrote it down a while ago
It feels unfinished , because I ran out of ideas , or time to write it
and now I'm not feeling inspired enough to flesh it out
I'm the father in this story
I think it was inspired by my wish to have somebody to share my knowledge and wisdom with (without having children of my own)
and in the manga , they're going to build a training center so the veterans can teach the newbies how to survive , I like that idea
Receptionist 1: welcome to the adventurer's guild . what can i help you with today ? Son: ... Father: don't look at me . tell her what you want S: i'd like to register to be an adventurer R1: i can help with that . just fill out this form Receptionist 2: can i help you with anything ? F: oh, no thank you . my son decided he wanted to be an adventurer . so i figured it would be a good idea to escort him down here , and give him as much help and advice as i could offer . i used to be an adventurer myself R2: oh wow, this is the old style of guild tag F: yup . i only made it to obsidian before deciding to give up the adventuring life F: ... :) R1: ? R2: ? F: oh sorry , you two just remind me of the receptionist back in my day . i had a huge crush on her . but she knew enough not to get romantically involved with an adventurer R1: :) R2: ;) F: so , when i stopped being an adventurer , i came back here and asked her to marry me . and lucky me, she said yes R1: :o R2: :D S: ... ?! wait , mom used to work here ? F: yup , she was a receptionist for more than ten years , a long time ago now S: ... and you got married just like that ? F: no , not just like that . we courted for a couple of years . she worked here , while i served at the temple . after we got married , we lived in a small apartment here in town . when we started a family , we needed more room . so we bought a small cabin outside of town and the surrounding land . we grew some crops and raised some animals . i put in less time at the temple so your mother could continue working here . when she got pregnant for the third time , she decided to devote all of her time at home . as our family grew , so did our house . your six brothers and sisters were born , and then you came along . and here we are R1: :) here is your guild tag . it's important , so don't lose it S: thank you F: next we'll get you equipped at the blacksmith BlackSmith: what can i get you ? S: i just registered , and i need some gear BS: that you do F: first he's going to need some protection S: dad ! i'm a mage . i can't go around in some clunky armor . i've got my caster's robe F: oh really ? -whack- S: OW !! what was that for ?! F: i'm an old man who hit you with a stick , and you're already on your knees . if i was an enemy that was really trying to kill you , you'd be dead BS: :] F: let's get him a coat of chainmail to wear under his robes BS: that's a good idea -thud- F: how's that ? S: i felt it , but yeah it didn't hurt BS: that armor isn't indestructable , but better to have it than not F: good, now let's protect his head S: ugh F: you need a bonk on the noggin ? S: no ! no . F: good , you're already learning from experience BS: a leather skull cap should serve S: don't you have anything better looking ? BS: that's what leather looks like . you want to paint it, or stick a feather in it , that's on you F: -sigh- we're trying to keep you alive , not get you laid S: ... F: how about a shield ? S: what ? no ! BS: a shield gets in the way of casting spells F: mmm okay S: ... F: let's splurge on a really nice pair of boots . you'll be doing A LOT of walking AND running BS: not to mention kicking S: :D i like these F: what do you think ? BS: i think he looks like a well armored twink S: what's a "twink" ? F: somebody that gets superior equipment from a higher level adventurer S: is that a bad thing ? F: not really . but if people ask , just say it's an early birthday present from your dad . which it is S: :) F: now, let's talk offense S: i can cast spells F: and at some point you'll run out of spell slots . you'll want a weapon S: i've got my staff F: certainly hang onto that , but you'll want a blade at your hip BS: i've got daggers and short swords over here S: i like this sword , but i don't know how to use it BS: then you should head to the training center F: the what ? BS: it's a place for newbies to learn adventuring . they just built it F: oh ! we're definitely heading there next Training Officer: hello ! you're a new porcelin are you ? S: yes sir TO:. . . and then the TO gives them a tour of the training center
Pity me , for I have a hobby that's dependent on the weather
Every weekend , I've been checking the weather forecast
hoping for the wind to blowing enough and in the right direction
To go out to Cass Lake , the wind has to be blowing out of the west , and at least 10mph
If it's not blowing out of the west , I can't sail around the parked boats on the east side of the lake
And if it's not blowing hard enough , I get stuck paddling back
The heat has had me desperate to get out on the water
so I took a chance with a south-west wind and 14mph
It turned out to be a delightful day of sailing
The wind was kicking up the waves a bit
but the water was noticeably warm
When it comes to sailing , starting and stopping are the hard parts
Once you get going it's smooth sailing [eyeroll]
I like to stop in a shallow part of the lake to jump out and soak my head in the water
Getting back in the boat and getting underway before the wind blows you into an obstacle is tricky
The "correct" way to get back into the boat is to climb aboard over the stern
but I often get scratched up by the rudder and tiller
so , I try to jump aboard over the side
When I tried it today , I capsized the boat :\
Upon reflection , this day was unusually unusual . . .
My phone says I've gone over my data plan
I've only got 2GB
I didn't think I've been watching that much youtube
New work shoes
Spent time getting shoe inserts to fit
Walking feels funny now
Went to the fruit and vegetable store
to get fruits and vegetables
Stopped at home for lunch
Made sandwiches
Took the boat off the car
The pile of bricks I had stacked up next to the garage
Somebody had scattered them around the driveway
I'm assuming it was some shitty kid
I need to install some security cameras
Driving home from work
there were a bunch of DTE trucks in the neighborhood
I didn't think much of it until I got home and discovered I have no electricity
So, I'm sitting outside with a beer writing in my blog
Mom called
"Talked" with her for a half hour
In reality , I just listened to her ramble on about nothing
I've been using the blender to chop up a vegetable cup before cooking with rice
Today , instead of chopping up the vegetables and putting them in the cups
I ran all of the vegetables through the blender
and ended up with two gallons of green-brown slurry
then filled the cups and put them in the freezer
I've been hunting for PawPaw fruit
I like the idea of a fruit tree that thrives in the midwest without much effort
I found a place that sells them , but they're out near Lansing
https://earthy.com/
I drove out there today , only to discover that they aren't a normal store , but a warehouse that ships fruit to other places
So , I'll have to order some online