Quick post

It has been one of those weeks where I have thought of a couple of blog topics, but haven't had the sense to put them down in any substantial way.
The only thought I have some small things. I have started running, got new bedroom furniture, and got my haircut.
I realize this is a non post. More substance to come.
S out

Roller coaster

Sitting down after a long day, actually a long week, I find myself reluctant to type. I promised to try and post twice a week, so here goes.
It is funny how as I get older, or maybe since I became a dad, that tired comes in different flavors now. I seem to remember being tired in university and high school was pretty much was either mental tired or physical exhaustion. Now there seems to be more categories to apply. Happy tired, emotional drained,  achy tired, too tired to sleep, tired of queuing, tired of routine....etc.
I have been developing a theory that despite the young adult drama my life was actually pretty easy and this new menu of weariness is because I have a more engaged life. A sign of experience that my body struggles more to cope.
I like this to the alternative to the thought of it just being the fact I'm old. I would concede that I should exercise more.
This topic hit me because I struggle this week with sleeping, IKEA, projects at home, writing, work, the news cycle, organizing some events. It didn't really hit me until I tried to explain a game to someone at game night. I am a little brain weary.
Fortunately next week promises to be a bit better. Still I think I will start going to go to bed earlier.
I am done. Good night

Spring is here!

Toronto might not have the warmest weather, but the birds have arrived, the trees have decided to bud, and squirrels are attempting to find food. It is also very, very wet. Therefore Spring is here!

When I was younger, Spring was not one of my favorite seasons. I am one of the autumn people. That is not to say I'm a Halloween sort of guy, rather I am a lover of falling leaves, air with that dry, cold nip, the rustling floor of a forest, fall festivals, and the underlying thought that the end of the year holidays are approaching.

Spring has recently been re-evaluated in light of my daughter's arrival. A child sees the seasons differently and they shape and warp your life accordingly. Old maxims fall away as you are forced to deal with new truths. Winter is now judged more harshly; the park is not available as the sun sets so quickly; multiple layers of clothing bring weariness and battles; cabin fever afflicts all people under five. Oddly, the start of Winter is great with many happy memories, but by the end of January, children seem to decide that the cold season has gone long enough. These new facts have given Spring a different look in my eyes. I now find that I look forward to the longer days, the diminishing layers, the green parks, the farmer's markets.  Spring and Summer are simply easier for children, or rather their parents.

Another plus for Spring is that I have learned to cook, and farmer's markets become alive again in Spring. I find excitement in the colours of berries, veggies, and fruit in the market. I realize that I have been getting these things in the grocery store (and in winter it is my favorite part of the grocery store to go to), but there just is more of it, and it's fresh.

In short, I raise a glass to Spring, but remain steadfast in saying that Fall is still the best.

What have I been upto?

I can honestly say it has been productive. I can't even say that I am working away from the ipad. I have been doing some experimenting to move from a passive consumer of content on the tablet to a creator who engages with the greater world. It was not a straight path, especially with the setting up of twitter feeds, but I feel I am moving forward. A brief recap of the Grande experiment!

Writing

I have been experimenting with the blogsy app, which is a very excellent blog poster and I recommend anyone to pick it up if they have an ipad. I currently am working on three blogs and one tumblr, but I can do all the posting through blogsy. It allows you to drop in pictures, videos, and links with a gesture, and tends to take away the excuse that the tools are in the way of the art.

The other writing has been done through iwriter. A smart, simple interface where your word processing experience has been distilled to the essence of writing; getting letters typed onto a page. All distractions have been taken away and so one is left with the work being the only hurdle to face. Currently, I am crafting through a novel there. My first novel project of any substance since Jericho the Ungermly Germ (which quietly begs for a rewrite....maybe in summer). About 16,000 words in right now and emotionally I feel I am almost done the early setup and am ready to get into the main plot.

I am taking a page from Becky, and am going to attempt to send out more fan letters. There is a lot of things I like, some being by artists early in their careers, and I should really let them know they are awesome (which is probably a good life lessons-- you should always find the awesome in others and remind them of it). I plan to do one this week for Lexxy Douglas, an illustrator whose work is amazing and who created a wonderful strip in the last elimination round of Strip Search (the only reality show I have ever watched).

 

Drawing

The biggest play/experiment that I have been getting drawing on the ipad. I have been mostly using two apps, Sketchbook Pro and Paper. Whereas Sketchbook Pro is quite expansive

To see where I'm at, it is at one of my other blogs, Trying Art with Friends , personally I feel I am still going through my awkward stage of drawing on the ipad, but I have found the ipad drawing tools exciting and look forward to getting better with them.

Cleaning

The last one will have no presence on the Internet, but we have been actively cleaning out condo in preparation of our second child. I am a pack rat and an interest moth, so this is a very stressful process as I find memories or tools for desires of my past that are hard to part with. That said, I didn't have as much trouble getting rid of the old receipts and to do lists, its more the books and idea papers are harder. The compromise is that we are going digtial for books (1,000 digital books take up no space) and converting my notes and writing to digital format. It will be the "grinding" task of 2013.

Gaming

I have been a little busy to get any major game sessions, but I have got some Love letter in, as well as a couple games of Hive. I am trying to convince my brother to run a game of Twilight Imperium. I will be going to Snakes and Lattes later this month probably.

 

Finally there was a crusie in there, an uptick of work at work, a GGK book signing, and general living. I would say I have been fairly productive, despite some side tracks watching You Tube television shows, reading twitter feed, plants vs. zombie, and Bastion.

That the start of Spring in a nutshell, a promise of more posts (as always)

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