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Today, I consider one of those deep questions I often thought about as a teenager. What would I do if I were locked in my favorite department store overnight? I certainly don’t spend as much time in stores as I used to, after all.

If I were locked into a department store overnight, it would have to be Toys R Us. I’d actually choose that one because I’m just a big kid at heart.

I’d start the night off with some LEGO building perhaps (something small, I’d pay for it in the morning.) Then, for a little while, I’d play the video games already set up on display. Perhaps I’d get pretty good at them too since I’d have a long stretch of time to play.

Lastly, because I’d likely get a bit tired, I’d nap for a bit. That would probably be it until opening time. I know, it’s not super exciting, and no supernatural stories like the movie Mannequin, but I’d enjoy my time.

What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite department store overnight?

I’m interested in what others would do. What store would you choose? Let me know in a comment or a new post that links back.

Source: 180 Journal Writing Prompts – Prompt #21

 Photo Credit: Exile on Ontario St Flickr via Compfight cc

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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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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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It looks like there’s rain in the forecast for the next 5 days! It’s time, once again, to watch out for the drivers that have trouble with wet roads.

After work today, I’ll be catching some jazz with my girlfriend. The most recent 2 and a half months have been pretty much the most exciting and also scary ones of my life. I have the awesome luck to catch the fancy of such a strong-willed, yet fun-loving person. I’m very guarded with my feelings, but she has a way of making me open up a bit.

Sometimes, I get super excited about something I’m a fan of and she eats it up. Speedgaming, or speedrunning of games, is a recent example. That’s often when I see friends take on the dear-in-the-headlights look. I start to build up enthusiasm, and low interest makes me self-conscious fast.

She seems interested in learning about what I’m interested in. I want to get to know her better. That’s a challenge since I’m no expert in charm. Romance doesn’t come easy for me, only the observation of it, until now.

Alright, that’s enough mushy talk for a while. I needed to get a bit of it out of my system.

Photo Credit: Rowan Heuvel

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It’s another gray morning. Winter wants to assert itself down here in a place known for sunny days and palm trees. My reminder app again urges me to bring an umbrella. It’s fun to carry, even if I don’t get to use it.

Browsing a few of my regularly visited websites, I come upon a nice poem about kissing. A bit selfishly, I’ll share it here:

Not lip lock, but subtle exploration.
Light kisses, butterfly kisses, deep kisses.
A portal into the soul of your lover.
Too often the hurried prelude to the big score.
Meant for lingering and delight.
Complete unto itself. A foretelling.
Your mouth will teach me
more than the words it speaks.
Only kiss me for five minutes
and I will know who you really are.

— Mike Essig

I confess that I’m not much of a poetry writer, but I am starting to see more romantic things less cynically lately. I suppose my girlfriend could be a factor in that. I hope that she appreciates my small (for now) romantic gestures since I’m flying a bit blind through this, mostly playing it by ear and seeing where our whims take us.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my nerdy interests with here such as a get-together to watch some of the current Games Done Quick marathon. In the world of gaming, it’s a bit like the Olympics of speed-gaming, but it is sometimes very fun to watch people who are great at completing games quickly. It also reminds me that quite a few classic games have nearly endless possibilities for fun.

I need a new calendar for my wall. I think I’ll enlist some outside help to find a fun one for 2017. If you’ve seen a fun calendar online, leave a link in a comment below. I might actually pick one if nothing catches my eye during my occasional trips to the local mall.

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If we were having coffee, I’d first agree with you that 2016 was a crazy year, but it’s also full of fun times.

After going on at length about the grand Star Wars celebration this past summer in London, I’d transition briefly into the surprisingly good gaming(and a few salty moments) had with Overwatch. I’d probably need a new drink at this point. After a brief nod to San Diego Comic Con, it’s on to Blizzcon. So much fun!!! Met a lot of gaming buddies.

Then we’re heading into the insane election and the somewhat troubling outcome, wrapping up with how we intend to keep our part of the world sane.

Happy New Year!

Inspired by and participating in: #weekendcoffeeshare

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Things I did today included the usual. I walked, I did some work, I learned a few things. Not a bad Friday, for sure.

Now, I am looking forward to a weekend of festivities. That’s a bit unusual since it’s been a while since I’ve celebrated the changing of the calendar year. I’m glad that I am this year since it’ll be with good friends and it’ll even be a joint celebration for a wedding and another friend’s birthday.

That’s pretty impressive, and I note it here, so I’ll know that I anticipated it highly. I also do not have any sense of dread of awkwardness that usually comes at the countdown to midnight. It’s a good feeling. A very good feeling. I can get used to it, but I will not take it for granted.

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It’s Christmas Eve again! Feels like just yesterday that I was looking forward to 2015’s Christmas morning. That one went relatively uneventfully and peacefully. The immediate family and I convened for the day’s festivities once again, at the casa.

This year, it’s again looking like a smooth day is coming up, but so many good, and a few not-so-good things have come to pass. First, the not-so-good.

America is celebrating the holidays as usual, but it’s been a kind of crazy year. There’s still some pretty serious racial tension in the country, and it’s only been worsened by the surreal election of our next President, who is going to be a person not known for having much in common with the majority of citizens. He’s almost trying to bring a different, more centralized rule. Not even inaugurated yet, he’s known for using taxpayer dollars to spend the majority of his living time at his personal residence, in his mansion-like penthouse in New York.

I’m sure New Yorkers affected by that aren’t super happy about that, with the traffic snarls it’s likely caused already. At any rate, the next 4 years are going to be interesting, to say the least.

On to the good, though.

Work’s been going decently well, with the company continuing its growth and reorganization into a “product-oriented” style. There are product managers and marketing managers for pretty much all the core and even the newest, cloud-related products. Some coworkers have come, some have moved on. The annual Halloween party was pretty fun.

Speaking of Halloween, that marked a pretty good life transition for me. It feels pretty good to have an adventuring partner in real life and I’m glad it grew from a friendship of a few years already. I look forward to reading her messages, hearing her voice (and laugh), and, of course, spending time together with her. I like to think of myself as a hopeless romantic, which extends to the fact that even though I don’t really think I’m the coolest guy around, I still manage to delight her, even while she is enchanting me (hopefully, she’ll read this and find my written awkwardness adorable.)

I’m still trying to grow and improve every day, expanding my knowledge as much as possible, while also having as much fun as I can along the way. This is about as close as I’m going to get to an annual retrospective for 2016. I won’t dwell on what I did not accomplish more than to say that my intentions for 2017 are fairly similar and continue on some from 2016. We’ll see what the new year brings, soon.

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confucius-dont-stop
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
–Confucius

I sit and read another post that reminds me of some key aspects of building new habits, and realize, with a bit of disheartening clarity, that I’ve stumbled on one of the tips put forth by Belle Beth Cooper on the Buffer Open Blog:

Focus on one habit at a timeOne of the hardest things for me when it comes to building new habits is to not take on too many at once. I always have such grand plans for the things I want to get better at, and so much enthusiasm when I first start out, that I want to build several habits at once.

My setback has been due to taking on too many habits at once. I’ve only had success in January with one: writing more consistently. Honestly, I should have paid heed since only one new habit could realistically be firmly established in such a short time.

I actually am at the point where I feel like something important’s not being done if I don’t at least start a post. Even if I don’t hit the publish button, as long as I’ve saved some thoughts, I consider that enough to check the box in Momentum (a fine habit tracking app!)

Screenshot 2016-02-04 20.28.15.png
Trimmed some stuff and finished a book, so took a break to decide on what’s next.

I think, after this sharp reminder, that I’ll give myself a few more weeks before adding another important habit. I’m also going to hold myself more accountable. Part of that will be to partake in a more formal course of action. Specifically, an email course.

Read more at: How to Build Life-Changing Habits Through Tiny Changes

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Another Saturday, another convention. This time, it’s Anime Los Angeles, and it’s the second day. This is only my second anime-focused convention, and it’s certainly larger than the first I attended a couple weeks ago.

The main things noticeably different, to me, than a more general or even comic convention is that the vast majority of cosplays making their prescence known are anime-related, and there seems to be a higher percent (just guestimating that) of cosplay overall. A very colorful couple days this is so far.

I’m also making progress in my solo legendary playthrough of Halo 5: Guardians. I’m discovering that I don’t play as badly as I used to, and my “carry” through co-op legendary can soon be forgotten. Finding hidden weapons caches can help as well as careful coaxing of A.I. teammates to either handle threats, or become fodder (sorry) can help speed things along; against The Warden especially.

I was hoping for some writing inspirarion after almost 2 days without a post. Nothing caught my eye this time, so there you go!