Nuggets of Wisdom

A couple of hits:

I have been reading about critical thinking in board games. The starting point for this research has been chessmasters as it seems to be the game with the most extensive discussion about how to improve your game (versus the designer games I play which are cool but rather new when compared against the classic game of kings). The revelation from this delving has been the importance of physical exercise. For a mental game like chess, it was surprising to see the importance chessmasters stressed on daily physical exercise and a good diet. A sort of base for the pyramid of their skill. A healthy body, follow by rigor puzzle/exercise of your game, followed by lots and lots of playing. These words of wisdom could apply to any task really. The end of this is that I have begun exercising again. Eating better to follow.

The previous post eluded to my exhaustion. One of the things I have missed because of this situation has been my reading. I am lacking the mental power to engage with the hard books I like to read. I was struck by this thought by two annoying comments. The first was a comic by Penny Arcade with a comment of doing something just to be reminded how smart one is. The other is the flippant comment of my boss that "Reading is for suckers". The former made me doubt, the latter made me annoyed.

Finally, the writing is happening. Slowly, with some mental pain, but I have broken 21,000 words on the novel. The reassuring thing for me is that I still know the story has legs to make it to novel length. In my previous attempts I get sense around 5,000 words and find I don't have enough to say, or the story's idea has fallen apart. This is not happening this time and I am quite excited about it.

I hope that we can keep this up.

Posted with Blogsy

Tired...of Waiting

I am not sure how Real Estate agents deal with the long waiting game of selling property. It is a very mentally taxing experience, as you really don't have much you can do (apart from some cleaning) but wait for someone to put in an offer. I guess it's less stressful when it is someone else's money, but now being in the process I am not sure how anything is sold or bought. I am very much looking forward to moving in November.

The selling experience has not been helped by having a newborn. My son seems a lot easier than the first time we had a baby.Still, a bit of a sleep debt accumulating here as well as the added complexity of baby's older sibling needing attention. Again, looking forward to being in the house by November.

I should clarify that these are "background noise". There has been a lot of happy things going on this Fall. Another book club meeting happened, attended a baby shower in an amazing hidden treasure of a house, board games, birthdays, etc. These have been welcome distractions from the previous mentioned stresses.

Still, I expect to be more coherent by the end of November. Baby son will be sleep training and will have his own room. My daughter will finally have a basement, backyard, and bedroom to play in and not keep constantly clean (as is the case right now in the condo. It is rough to have to constantly maintain a place that is lived in but doesn't look lived in). Just a couple of weeks to go.

Today I hiked on a trail just North of my work for the second time, going further than the last. It was a wonderful walk, winding through a natural area before ducking under the 401 and flowing into a formal park and suburban neighbourhood. Listening to Enya, I found myself at the top of the hill that commanded a view of the Don Mill area, with its towers floating in an ocean of trees. The hum of highway and a cold sun completed the scene. I need to give myself a couple more of such moments to carry me to November.

Soon...