Made it!

So… as we were talking about a few days ago, this last stretch has been a crunch time stretch towards a long term goal, one with a deadline that got away from me.

The good news is that we made it. A lot of stress and hard work, and reaching out to ask for a hand when needed, but a successful completion none the less.

The deadline was at 5pm today. I met the goal by 10:30am. A little too close for comfort. (Of course, in the made-for-TV movie of my life, we made it at 4:59, y’know, just for the drama). Let’s not do that again.

But, following a busy afternoon of appointments, and more work required, I finally hit a quiet moment this evening, a moment with nothing (immediately) due. And it was a good feeling, just being able to exhale and chill a bit.

Now, of course, there was soon three projects on the go, editing audio, trying our a new video set-up on the desk, and starting to plan for events in 2024, but, the peace remained, and I was able to get some work done without feeling stressed.

And it was a good feeling. Good enough to get some stretching and cardio in too (after a little coaxing – Thanks for that though, it was needed.)

So let’s keep that going into the new year too. 🙂

Struggling to Code

Not gonna lie, these last few days have been a challenge. I’m usually pretty good at knowing what needs to be done, in terms of pseudocode or diagramming it out, but operationalizing it and turning it into a) functional code that b) actually gives me an answer is a significant challenge.

We all have strengths and weaknesses, is what I’m saying. Gotta get back to it. Chat soon.

After PoMo

Wrote something down earlier today, and I wanted to capture it here:

Author John Shirley mentioned that a chess program he was playing had a rather chatty Deadpool bot making commentary on the game, and came up with this:

My reply:

Not ‘never again’ though. If #Deadpool is an exarch of #postmodern referentiality and Rortyian #ironism , then the way to recovery is through the #romance of just liking things for their own sake again.

(Or to quote Abed from #Community : ” I guess I just like liking things”)

(It’s how I broke bread with the #furries and #bronies They were ahead of the curve on this. We’re good now.)

And I think this is worth expanding on, but as I said last post, it’s crunch time

Crunch time

Missed a deadline for a class, and now I’m a bit under the gun, racing against a hard stop this week. Whoops! It’s do-able, but tricky, and I find I need to re-learn how to ride the metaphorical bike just to get going again.

Also whoops!

The lesson, obviously, is never stop.

Or at least try not to let a short gap (due to a vacation, illness, or injury) turn into a longer one. Especially when trying to learn a new complex skill or develop a new habit.

This is… recoverable (I *will* meet the deadline), but it’s harder and more stressful than it needed to be, and takes away from other fun activities around this time of year.

And also, needed activities. Like the transcripts for the last couple podcasts, or the third Dr. Who 2023 special episode discussion (stay tuned; it’s a long one!).

And also the other kinds of crunches. Not the Cap’n. Just the gym kind. Managed to get in a couple sets of core workouts today. I don’t talk about working out much here. suffice to say that I go to the gym regularly (if not frequently). Weekend Workout Warrior here.

Gotta get back at that too.

But first, Crunch Time.

External feedback

Ended up going to the last local WordPress Meetup Group of the year, the 7th that I made it to since June (though not all in person). And it’s been really instructive. Not just in terms of being there, and being present, and learning new things about the blogging software that runs this site, but also in terms of connecting (again) to the larger community, and getting feedback on the stuff I’m working on here too.

It’s been productive as a motivating force (trying to move things along before the next meetup) also.

But it’s helped me reach out for help where needed, whether it’s website design, photography, music recording and editing, and all the other things that go into creating stuff for an online audience, regardless of the format.

So a bit thanks to all who have provided feedback, and for those I’ve met in person, and most of all to the organizers and facilitators who make all this work.

You are very much appreciated.