Ramblings Prime: Short But Sweet?

Classic scenario: I'm at work, I've got nothing to do, I can type. Therefore: ramblog. Is very appropriate. So, casually tired, here I sit type-type-typing away into nothingness. And by nothingness I mean I have no plans for how this will all pan out, ramble-style. Just like always. It's like I think of this stuff exactly as I'm typing it. Weird how that works, right? I don't know if that makes for a good or terrible writer, but I don't really classify myself as a writer so...yeah. I just type things and have no strong opinion one way or the other on stuff.

With regards to world news: Olympics are neat but Canada does better in winter sports, people do dumb things in a variety of ways that can be anything from annoying to very hurtful, and nature be crazy. There, summed up the entirety of news everywhere in one kinda rambly sentence.

Unrelated, I'm contemplating getting a new phone, mine's done well considering that it's...when did the iphone 4s come out? 'cause I got it the week it did and am currently still using it. One sec, I'll find out...   ...   ...  ... October 2011. It's now approaching September 2016, maybe I'll get a new phone for its 5 year anniversary...though not through a phone provider, unless they let me buy it outright. I like only paying like $10 a month for my phone plan and don't want to have to deal with paying the stupidly large canadian phone bills that we have. Granted, I can only get away with it 'cause I barely use my phone as a phone or any sort of communication device. I mostly use it as a tiny computer that lets me surf the interwebs (as long as I have wifi, which is most of the time, and if I don't then I'm probably somewhere that I should be being social). I would probably like/utilize a more powerful one though, the 4s is starting to show its age. Plus like all my charge cables are breaking due to the weird twisty nature of how they work. I mean, they still function, but dang is there fraying and that's not a good thing when it comes to wires that run electricity through them. 

Entirely unrelated, I've got this incredibly dry skin patch on my left foot that I have no idea how it happened, but I've been using some sort of intense hand treatment cream on it and it's been showing improvement like within days. I'm very pleased with the results, frankly. Added benefit of it smells pretty good. Goodbye weird cracked dry patch of foot! You won't be missed!

Additionally unrelated, currently in a 10/11 day stretch at work, yaaaaaaaaay. These are always fun, dealing with people and not being able to escape or really relax because suddenly someone orders 50 gallons of paint over the phone for the next morning. That was yesterday, at about this time actually. I had no chance to get it all ready because I was actually busy yesterday (which may or may not be a good thing...) but gosh dang that's not a fun thing to get unexpectedly when working by yourself.

Oh, right, I tend to type these things up when I'm "working" by myself because what else am I gonna do, talk to a coworker that doesn't exist? Pfft, that's just talking to myself which is basically what this is anyway. So I'll just continue to do this. Though actually I should probably take out some garabages and check the colourant levels. Meh, in a bit, those never take too long.  

...I had something else I was gonna type about, but it seems to be eluding me... getting new glasses? No, that wasn't it (but I still should). Uh... Oh! Right! Apparently I've started writing a short story (probably) as a continuation of my Eorzean adventure that ended abruptly last post. It's about a Miqo'te (basically: cat person) Adeata (who is actually the character I entirely didn't name but was talking about) and her adventures. It might be a series of short stories eventually, who knows! And I super don't know what I'm doing or have any real plans for it, but it's a fun little endeavor that requires substantially more...um...let's just call it self-editing. With the rambles I basically just vomit thougths onto a keyboard and see what sticks. Ew. That was an unpleasant, but accurate, description... and a pretty good example of what I'm talking about. These short story type deals have a lot more thought and structure put into them. A lot more deleting of things that I type down initially, I guess. Things that I just ramble about aren't exactly how these characters/people behave. I've also gotta get a knack for different speech patterns down, 'cause while Adeata is my character and pretty easy going with her speech (which happens to be similar to how I type normally) I've got some other characters based on or exactly representing people I know in-game that have specific speech patterns that aren't mine. So it'll be a fun practice-times.

Anywho, only like 13 minutes left before I have to have the store closed, so I should probably wrap this up. I did get the colourants and garbages checked a little earlier though, so don't worry about that, I've just got standard closing stuff to do.

Cheers! 

~Cam

Bored? Make a story!

Wow, half an hour in to my saturday at work and I'm already typing up a thingy. What kind of thingy? Hows about a random-made-on-the-spot story thingy? Ready go!

Once upon a time...

No, too conventional. Hows about "Long ago in a distant land?" Also cliché, and therefore not what I want. What about "Down, deep down in the ground there dwelt?" I dunno, I don't think I want to confine myself to a cavern setting. Blast it all, let's just "Some time ago in a place that probably doesn't really exist" this story and see how it goes! 

Oh, right, genre. I'm thinking classic fantasy with maybe some modern twists. Apparently my headspace is mostly filled with classic fantasy, which might be slightly obvious to those in the know, but who knows! I might do entirely random things! Anywho...

Some time ago, in a place that probably doesn't really exist, there lived a cat. By all accounts she was a pretty normal cat. She lived a catty life and dreamt catty dreams. Then a thing happened, but she was just a cat and didn't really care or pay attention. Conflict arose around her, but she just catted around it, mostly ignoring things that didn't involve her. At somepoint the conflict reached its climax, but she didn't care, she mostly just ate and slept with some grooming mixed in occasionally. A resolution occured and one side of the conflict emerged the victor, and there she was, still not caring about it because she was actually just a cat. Cats have no time for the menial conflict of lesser beings, so she had no time for this epic tale that was unfolding around her. Before long everything was back to normal for the world at large, but she continued to not pay attention. She lived out the rest of her life as a very normal cat, nothing important or extraordinary happening to her, and she was content. 

How's that? Huh? You thought it was weird and had no point? Yeah, that was kind of the point. I'm a strange guy, and make strange things and a story with no direct point or meaning or actual progression is something I'd do just because. Metaphors? What metaphors? I mean, being that it's a story that I just made up on the spot you could probably make something up, but I can assure you that I did nothing intentional with anything that might be construed as a metaphor.

Okay, round 2, based in the realm of Eorzea (which is from a game I play regularly), readygo! Edit: minor preface, the measuring system in Eorea is basically inches and yards but uses the terms "ilm" and "yalm" instead...because...reasons...to make it fictional I guess? Also currency is "gil" 

Off in the distance she spotted it, a glimmer on the horizon that would be missed by most folk looking from the same range. She knew in an instant that it was her mark thanks to years of honing her senses and learning the geography around Limsa Lominsa, the city-state of organized pirates. Urging her steed and companion Felwind forward, they trotted along at a quick pace to avoid distractions and hoping dearly that they'd reach the mark in time. Timing always came into play when on the hunt, being off by even a second could end disastrously. 

Making good time through the meadow they arrive on the scene with time to spare. The target is massively tall, with an incredibly hard carapace but slow moving to the point of being nearly stationary. Quietly dismounting Felwind about thirty yalms away, she proceeds slowly and silently to avoid attracting unwanted attention. As she sneaks towards it she loosens her trusty axe from its holster, readying it in her hands to strike. With a deep, calm breath she winds up, no hesitation in her motion, and swings hard. With a solid "Whack!" the axe finds its mark. Over and over she strikes, deepening the the wound until it collapses onto the ground. It's over. She cleans her axe and puts it back in its holster, slight grin on her face as she admires her handiwork lying on the ground.

"This'll make some high quality Ebony lumber," she says aloud, talking to herself. "Should be able to get a good chunk of gil for this, people seem to be using quite a bit of it lately." 

"Kweh!" Felwind chimes in, apparently pleased.

"Yeah! Let's get this hitched up so we can get it back to town quick-like, I don't like to keep the markets waiting" she says as she motions at Felwind to come over. With a practiced hand she binds up the log with sturdy ropes and attaches it to Felwind's barding. "Kweh..." he sighs impatiently, this is always the longest wait. "Oh hush you. We'll be on our way soon enough, I know you have a hard time standing still" As she pulls the last knot taught Felwind lets out a soft chirrup in anticipation. A quick once over for all the fastenings and she give him the okay. They walk side by each through the early morning sunlight shining over the coastline.

And that's as far as I got before getting busier than anticpated. I'm probably actually gonna continue this, I think it's a decent start. 

Anywho, I'm off! Cheers!

~Cam

Nonsense for the Sake of Nonsense aka: Talking to Myself

So, here we are again. Me: a guy working at a paint store and it being slow, you: a person who stumbled across my inane ramblings. The consistency of these meetings is baffling, how does it always happen like this? I mean, we keep running into each other here, it's like fate or destiny (which are almost the same thing? yeah...) that we should be in each others lives. So with that, let us being anew!

Sooo, how are things? Mhmm, mhmm, oh that's neat. Go on, yeah, yeah? Really? Huh, never woulda thought. Good for you, glad things are turning out that way. Me? Oh, you know, same old same old, still alive and still making colours and stuff, I live a pretty consistent life but I'm mostly content. Only mostly? Oh, yeah, well, I figure I could be better at some things I do and I wouldn't mind if I was better at friending and/or staying in contact with people, but those things aside I'm pretty happy with who I am and the people in my life which is all that really matters, right? Yeah, I think so too. The things I want to improve on? Oh nothing really important, just creative type stuffs that I haven't been making a big effort to work on, probably 'cause I've been working a lot and don't have a lot of alone time. Nah, it's not that big of a deal, I just tend to be more open and creative when alone, I find it hard to really let loose when there are other people around. I think I might be unconsciously choosing to avoid interfering with whatever they're doing by being quiet and out of the way, so I kind of turtle into my own little world. It involves a lot of wearing headphones and not-talking, this little world of mine, but it's a place of my choosing where I can escape from people. Nothing against my roomy and his dog, they're great, but I'm a super introvert and would happily live alone if it was a feasible option for various reasons. I feel far less confined when no one's around, inhibitions just fly out the window, there's much more grooving and singing and playing things at a not-headphones level of sound...I mean, it's not constant, but the likelihood of those things occuring is increased quite drastically.  Being less inhibited tends to get more things done, just in general, I seem to be struck with inspiration and motivation more frequently when I'm by myself. You know how the really extraverted people tend to not know the difference between being alone and being lonely? I'm super the opposite of that, I rarely if never feel lonely by myself but it has occasionally happened when I'm with a group of people. I bet some people can't even fathom that idea, being lonely while with a bunch of people. Granted, that only really happens if it's a group I'm either not very familiar with or don't know at all, but it's not exactly a common occurance (possibly because I don't actually go out much if at all, but that's another topic for another day). I've officially lived alone for like less than two months, during which I was working six days a week 'cause a coworked had left for a rial company and we had literally no time to replace him (it took like 3 months, plus then training that person, I was working 6 days a week for a solid 4-5 months, I got very tired), so I haven't really had time to just be in a place by myself when not tired constantly. Actually, as it so happens, for like a month starting in September I'll be living alone (with a dog, so only sort of alone) because of a certain Brostralia trip that's happening, so I guess I'll have a decent chance to see what the solo life's like...hopefully, we may also be looking for/hiring a new person to train around then, so I may again be doing the six days a week thing. I know it's not really a tough job and it's been pretty slow lately, but it's still working retail and people suck (in general as a broad statement) so stress levels get pretty high... especially if there's a big sale in the middle of it (which means we'd also be open on sundays, so that's rotating 13 days straight for us [we trade off so that we don't actually go insane]) and september seems like the time when the company might spring another one on us. 

Unrelated, you know how life is hard sometimes? Yeah, sure is... Actually I had nowhere to go with that statment, my life isn't that hard currently. I've got relatively few expenses, I'm in relatively good health (I think, I haven't had any issues that I'm aware of... I should probably get a check up at some point), I sleep fine more often than not, I've got people in my life that care about me which is swell, other good things that I can't think of right this second. So yeah, life's treating me alright for some reason. I have no idea why though... I mean, I like to think of myself as a nice person and treat people well, I'm fairly certain I could be classified as generous and helpful, so I've got that stuff going for me, but there's a part of me that feels like I haven't earned what I've got. I don't really think that, but there's a small nagging doubt about it, kinda like how I've got this small part of me that's all like "What if I'm actually super dumb and people are just humouring me?" I guess nagging doubts are just part of a human experience, and they probably don't really mean much, but if I weren't as cheerful and jovial as I am already I'm pretty sure I'd just be sad and guilt-ridden constantly. Granted, eliminate the cheer and joy out of most people and you'll probably end up with sadness incarnate or just straight raw fury, so I guess that's kind of a moot point. Bummers aside, I think it could be worth it to explore these nagging doubts at least enough to find evidence against them so they can freakin' shut their dern mouths. Silly little brain mouths all spouting garbage and trying to make you feel bad for no reason. Ugh. Regardless, not now, maybe elsewhen. 

Have I mentioned recently that I love the term "elsewhen?" It basically just means "later" in most contexts because time (as we experience it) is linear, but nobody uses it. It's like "elsewhere" but for time. I'm the only person I know that actively uses it, which is fun. Added perk of nearly everyone immediately understanding it because it's so similar to a fairly common word.

That seemed like something I've said before. I mean, I know I say that to people fairly regularly, but I'm having a reasonable amount of deja vu involving typing it. I've probably put it in the blog at some point, but since when have I been one to go back and look at things I've written before? Basically never, that's when...except maybe for some stories I never finished. Continuity's important for good longterm story telling, yo. Barring those exceptions that may very well never see the light of...internet... I rarely if never look back to prior posts, especially for these rambly type ones, kinda defeats the purpose of rambling, don't it? Rambling AND fact checking? Bah! Ain't nobody got time for that! Heck, I barely fact check in real life, I just say things with confidence and people believe me more often than not. Granted, I rarely talk in such ways without actually knowing, and people can basically look up anything anywhere thanks to phones and internet. It's kinda crazy how powerful these tiny computers have become, sitting in our pocket is more computing power than was even available like 15 years in desktop PCs, and while this is probably common knowledge it kind of blows my mind a little every time I think about it. The pace at which technology is proceeding is...well it's very quick. So quick that I'm a touch leery about where technology's going to end up, because one of the next big milestones for it is physical integration. This could go all sorts of ways, both good and bad, being anywhere from restoring people's lost appendages with tech that you can actively feel with and control with your brain (good) or so heavily integrated that theoretically people could be controlled to do things they otherwise wouldn't (bad). It's still all very up in the air, and I'm not really gonna swing one way or the other, the technology itself is not inherently good or evil, it's what you do with it that matters. I'm just an advocate for seeing things from multiple points of view, don't take one person's ideas and opinions to be the be-all end-all for your own.

Super unrelated: I get a decent chunk of comments at work about how, when hammering paint lids on with a rubber mallet, it must be a good way to vent frustration to do that. This is utter and complete bullhonkey, if I were venting anger/frustation on the paint lids I'd have broken a lot more paint cans. I'm hitting these lids with very, VERY controlled strikes in order to minimize unnecessary effort and get them on quickly. I'm a pretty large guy, if I were to take the mallets and swing with large force things would probably not end well. So yeah, definitely not exerting my full force on these cans.

Anywho, I got busy at like 4:30 and now I'm just wrapping it up at home base.

Cheers!

~Cam