Accomplishments for Saturday, November 27, 2004:
- Ran in the morning. Man, am I out of shape; I walked half the time because I was so out of breath. On the other hand, that should improve within a week or two if I keep running every morning.
- I haven’t uploaded any photos for nearly a year, but I finally got around to uploading four of the ones I’ve taken since then: Beware of Dog, Sunset at Work, Blue Sunset at Work, Red Sunset at Work, and Laputa Cloud.
- Hosted another Guy’s Night Out, which was a blast. We watched Godzilla vs. Mothra, the MST3K episode “Space Mutiny,” the first episode of Macross Plus, and the Cowboy Bebop episode “Ballad of Fallen Angels.” Everyone seemed to have a great time, which of course was the point. One of the adults made milkshakes, which was a special treat beyond our standard fare of burgers and hot dogs and chips.
The adult who made the milkshakes stayed late and showed me most of Starship Troopers 2, a rather execrable movie. Phil Tippett (legendary special effects man) directed it, and predictably, the special effects sequences are excellent but that’s about it. The entire thing was apparently shot with a handheld camcorder; the quality was low and the shots bounced around a lot. This made for an odd juxtaposition with the breathtaking shots of attacking Bugs.
On the other hand, it was an undeniably fun flick, even though part of the fun came from pointing out the stupidity of the characters and the convenience of certain plot devices.
Accomplishments for Sunday, November 28, 2004:
- After my morning run, I went to Leesburg Baptist Church, where the pastor gave an outstanding sermon. It was really two sermons in one; he began with a freeform talk about how important it is for us all to just stop and listen. Not to each other; to ourselves and to God. “Be still and know that I am God.” In the second half of the sermon, he spoke about angels, and listed the ways in which angels speak in the Bible: They give messages of joy, they encourage, and they warn. I’m doing the sermon an injustice with this summary.
- Proofed another chunk of the novel I’m proofreading. I got up to page 102, which is the point at which I promised the author to send what I had so far. That’s a good feeling. I still have another two hundred pages to proof, though.
- Tried to plant bulbs in my garden, but the ground is soaked after all the rain we’ve been having. The area I’m planting in is waterlogged, anyway. So instead, I trimmed some shrubs and raked the lawn, which is standard autumn garden maintenance.
- Made potato chips and fried turkey for dinner, during which I watched episodes 21 and 22 of .Hack//Sign. The story is definitely building up to a big conclusion, and wonderfully, it’s all
character-driven . What a rarity, and I’m thankful for it. - Hopped online and uploaded the rest of the photos that have been sitting on my hard drive for almost a year: Dragon Trail at Sunset, Melted Gold Sunset, Paintbrush Sunset, The Grotto, Leaf Wallpaper, Leafy Bower, and Overshadowed House. I also found an Asian block print that I plan to paint on the wall of my downstairs bathroom (the entire room will have an Asian theme).
- Worked a little on my current short story, “The Old Man,” but it’s just not coming. The characters just aren’t speaking to me; maybe I need to journal about them a bit.
- Replaced the air filter for my heating system.
I have a girl interested in renting my spare bedroom. That’s exciting, if a little scary. I’ve never really lived with anyone before, so I don’t know exactly what to expect. I think I could live with pretty much anyone, but I fear that my ignorance is feeding me a