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Apologies, but I need to get something silly out of my system. It’s not that silly, but just on loop in my head.

OK, now that that’s out of my system (3 months isn’t long at all), it’s on the to the rest of the blank page. It’s putting up quite a fight today. I won’t let it win. There will be words that form thoughts. Soon.

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. -Albert Einstein

This writing thing is tough on days like today. That’s because I can think of not a single original thought to put forth here and it’s annoying. I’m also fighting off a buzz of distractions that are in my head. Those thoughts, that have no substance, are the hardest to get away from because they keep playing, like an old radio station, in a tight loop.

Like right now, suddenly, I’m thinking of a different song than the one above and it’s stuck playing its hook over and over again. Maybe I can purge it if I listen.

…

Well, that was fun, but I don’t think it worked so well. The page is looking less blank, so I’ll consider this battle a draw and return for more combat tomorrow.

 

Photo Credit: Annie Spratt

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If I were having coffee with you…

It would be a very late (or early) coffee this time. I’m occupied with life, which is a good thing. It’s been a time that’s not free of productivity, luckily. Most of that is the emotional kind.
 
The Doctor Who group that I’m a part of had its first pub trivia night in a while. It’s also the first one for this year. I got the lowest score. I attribute it to having a bit of trouble holding onto memories of some past Christmas special episodes. The quiz was entirely based on just the holiday Who episodes, after all. I do hope to do slightly better next time. It was fun, and there were even a couple of new members that joined in.
 
This weekend started off with a visit to the Tet Festival at the OC fairgrounds. That’s one of the many local celebrations of the Lunar New Year. It was an enjoyable way to take in such a vibrant culture. It was also a comfortably warm day!
 
I started off today trying to figure out some future excursions. The theme this time is museum trips. Living in the Los Angeles area means there are quite a few places to take in the arts and excellent museums. I am keeping some favorites in mind, like the Getty Center and The Huntington. I’d also like to visit some I haven’t yet or haven’t in a long time, such as MOCA and LACMA. Visits to some that I’m new to, such as The Paley Center, are also on my list.
 
I’m looking forward to another interesting week, with a birthday celebration this coming weekend (I hope.) February is around the corner.

More sharing: #WeekendCoffeeShare: In Which I Talk a Bit about Art

Featured photo by Ganapathy Kumar

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With one week remaining on its Kickstarter campaign, the Micro.blog indie microblogging project has surged past its original $10K funding goal with $66,710 pledged by 2,381 backers. This puts proje…

Here’s to hoping that this will gain more traction than App.net did. Letting one post on one’s own blog (from a handy app even!) is a feature I like. It means that, more and more, the content I post will be at a place where I control it – here.

Source: Micro.blog Project Surges Past $65K on Kickstarter, Gains Backing from DreamHost – WordPress Tavern

 

Photo credit: Lauren Mancke

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Here we are, nearly a week into a new presidency, and I see that there’s news that the Doomsday Clock has been advanced 30 seconds forward. This advancement is due to the statements of a single person, our new President. I don’t come here to dwell on the dark times ahead, only to occasionally vent about it.

On a lighter note, pub trivia was enjoyable last night. It involved a written quiz, mostly dealing with Doctor Who Christmas specials’ trivia. I got 4 out of 20 (the worst). I totally would have done better had I simply re-watched the most recent Christmas special episode. It was good because it wasn’t overtly “Christmas-y.” There was even a superhero who faced a powerful villain. The superhero, I should add, was “accidentally” created by an encounter with The Doctor.

4/20 whoops!

All who participated got beautiful blue pen/stylus combos. Also, since I was rather hungry, the fish and chips were mighty delightful. A friendly lady and her mom were the newest to show up for the meetup as well. Even though I missed who I’ve been missing, it was still a welcome diversion from the larger world. That crept in a bit as we were wrapping up–it’s nearly inevitable with a group of sci-fi and fantasy nerds that something that threatens the foundation of our fandoms (science is under siege currently) would get even a passing mention.

Gallifrey One is nearly here but still feels far away.

 

Featured photo credit: Matt Quinn

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Frost. It happens out here too.

It’s another Wednesday. This one is the last of January, so it’s got some importance.

I check the outside temperature: 39 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s going to be another chilly day in Southern California. I decide that I’ll be layering a bit towards the warm and toasty side. There’s no need to be shivering during my walks.

I wrapped up my self-assessment for work yesterday, so there’s going to be a performance review meeting looming soon. It feels like the years are going by faster, and I think that’s due to things not settling into a dull routine daily grind so much at work.

After work, it’s time for another meeting of the Real Timelords of Orange County, at our favorite pub. This time, it’ll be the return of the pub quiz. I still have some gaps in my Doctor Who knowledge, but the best way I know of to fill it in a bit is to be around these fellow fans.

Pub food. Yum! Photo credit/original: Edward Franklin

I’ll also be seeing one person in particular that I look forward to seeing again every single time we part. Yes, my girlfriend. It’s hard to put into words how awesome that is, how happy I am, and how much like a dream it still feels like, after almost three months. Perhaps it’s still the honeymoon phase, but I can at least start to see further than a few weeks of the future. I hope that this will continue to extend further and further out.

We’re looking forward to the annual Doctor Who convention, Gallifrey One, just over three weeks away. Soon, I’ll be checking to see which panels I might like to attend during the daytime portions, and even some evening activities as well. I’m slowly increasing my daily step goals, in preparation for the miles of walking that are coming.

February is nearly here! January has been exciting and scary. I’m looking forward to less of the latter in the comings weeks.

 

More Wednesday writings: WRITE ANYTHING WEDNESDAY #103

Featured Photo Credit: DG Jones Flickr via Compfight cc

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It’s one of those days. I’m not sick, but I did not sleep well, so I’m partly in zombie mode. Funny thing about days like this is that they usually come when you need to focus on at least one important thing. Today: self-assessment for work.

It’s a necessary thing that one gets used to over time but is still no less harrowing.

Even after all these years of steady work, I still think that I have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to my performance.

On a brighter note, there’s more sunlight visible this morning. Perhaps my outdoor walks today will be a bit less chilly and breezy. I can always stand for less watery eye time during the day.

Hopefully, a combination of more sunlight and a few strategic naps are just what I need to make it through the day without crashing badly.

Image credit: Overwatch Wiki

On an entirely unrelated note, I’ve been missing Overwatch a bit more lately. Somehow, I put myself on an extended hiatus from playing it, but I think that with the Lunar New Year celebration kicking off in-game soon™, I’ll make a comeback.

I’ll still mainly play Genji, though. The world could always use more ninjas. 🙂

 

Featured photo by paul morris

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My favorite kind of weather is also the kind I’m most comfortable in. It’s the late Spring-type of weather. It’s a clear sky. It’s sunny outside and warm, but not too warm. It’s just warm enough for a t-shirt and shorts, but not so hot you just feel like staying in a pool all day.

It’s warm enough outside, but it still doesn’t drain you when being active. It’s also something pretty common here in Southern California. I think that’s partly why I’m writing about it today, a day where more rain is in the forecast. It’s been a wet weekend and Winter in general.

It’ll be a green Spring, and that’s a side-benefit to all the rain. That’s something to look forward to during all the low-energy days and when slogging through increased traffic jams.

Prompt: What is your favorite kind of weather? Why?

On a slightly less depressing note, it’s Monday again, which means it’s time, once again for:

Music Monday

This week’s choice is:

I just finished Titanfall 2‘s campaign last night. It’s quite good, although I can understand why some might not like the ending mission, it makes sense since I believe the story’s not over yet. There’s still some action remaining, and I’m sure Titanfall 3 will happen. Trust me, this isn’t the last we’ll see of BT and Cooper.

More music here: Music Mondays – 2NE1

Photo Credit: BobMical Flickr via Compfight cc

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The problem: my name, when ordering food or drink always gets mispronounced or misspelled. Or both.

Some of you know my struggle. Some of you just resign yourselves to live with it. Some of you have fun with it. It’s the latter group I envy and want to join.

I know. I know. It’s a silly thing to obsess over.

That’s me, though, with the name Ryan, and I suffer along with the Bryans and Brians of the world in that it’s sometimes also misheard when I say it and when I hear their names shouted out instead of my own.

So, one solution my friends (and one close to me in particular) have resorted to is to use a different name for themselves when ordering. One that is different than their real name names. A name that will not be misspelled or mispronounced. Their “coffee” (or tea, or a smoothy, etc.) name/

This name thing is harder than one might think.

So far, I’ve not had much luck, and the most recent attempt, “Joe,” resulted in Joey on the cup, cheerfully written. If it gets to be too frustrating, then that’s why you see this post because I need your help.

What names have you had successfully being pronounced and written?

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It’s been another relatively quiet week. At work, I am working with January data after finishing December.

I can’t say that I was too busy to post over the weekend, although I did have a rather late night Saturday. That pushed the weekly Coffee Share post to Monday. I used to have lazy weekends. This is a good thing to miss.

Monday was also the observance of Martin Luther King Jr., which I also observed. Today’s the inauguration of a person who could start dismantling some of the progress made since even before Dr. King’s time. That makes the timing very relevant.

On Tuesday, I observed my talent for relying on calendaring to keep my brain free to accept lots of invites, worry-free.

My annual intention to get in better shape appeared on Wednesday. I want it to become a habit this year. I’m not getting any younger, after all.

After work, yesterday, I took in some excellent jazz performance with my girlfriend. It was a highlight of this week, with the drummer being the MVP for sure. We’re both looking forward to taking in more cultural events like this.

Today’s dusk, by me

 

That brings this ride to a close for now. America has a new Commander-in-Chief (and more protests to that fact.) The weather is very rainy here, and I’m going to a 35th-anniversary screening of the classic film, TRON, tonight.

Tomorrow, I am taking in a play and spending time with good friends again in the evening. It’ll be another fun weekend.

 

Featured Photo by Emilia Syldatk