Captain’s Log

My first hackathon

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There’s a concept that I’ve held since I was a boy, maybe 12 or 13 years old. That you should aim for the moon and plan to fall flat on your face, because you’ll probably land somewhere in-between and hopefully it won’t hurt as much when you do fall flat. Decades later, I consider this thinking fairly integral to my nature, and it’s often how I approach things.

Today, I found myself in a somewhat odd position. Going into a small hackathon, my private view was that I should just be glad not to be thought a fool. Insert good quote often attributed to Abe Lincoln here. The project was something that I chose, largely because it combined a technology that I wanted to learn more about and figured that building something small in this context was a good way to both participate and knock that off my bucket list. Well, both off my bucket list, since it was my first hackathon.

While I didn’t win, I placed well enough to walk away with both a nice little prize and positive comments from several people that I respect. That’s actually a lot higher result than I expected. My little project was based on an idea that I’d typically plan for a 3-day effort when left to my own devices, and compacted into about a 4-5 hour event to deliver something demonstrable. Not great, not horrible, in my personal opinion. I really didn’t expect much more than a thanks for participating, or at best, being glad not to be taught an idiot. No thoughts of positive mention or reward really factored in my desire to participate. I was far more interested in building something to learn if the tech was worth poking further than succeeding at anything.

Part of me, I kind of have to wonder what that form of thinking might say about the environment that I grew up in. See, it wasn’t necessarily anything anyone did to me. My family was a bit harsh more than touchy-feely in such respects, but nothing all that bad happened. Like, I probably gave up expecting to ever make someone proud or happy at my achievements by the time I was 6 or 7. Just knew it wasn’t going to happen. That’s the most I can really say about that, in the sense of ‘bad’ on the subject. I’ve known people who had things thousands of times worse than I ever did. It was fine, really.

Sometimes as an adult, I also think about the distinction between what I grew up around and the kind of person that I am, that I choose to be. It makes me wonder how much is innate versus a side effect. That’s the contrast that tends to draw my attention. On the flip side, thanks to good friends, over the years I’ve come to believe in the need for positivity. Even if, to be honest, I tend to be more of a hope for and work towards positive things than expect positive things kind of person.

Unrelated to all of that, however–I must say that I did have fun. I would’ve been happy even if I didn’t end up with anything to show, but I was glad to land somewhere in-between. It’s one of those things, I always thought might be fun to try but never really had a lot of opportunity to focus on. So, I think that’s one item off my personal bucket list and another off the equivalent for my technical interests.

Coffee

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One of life’s simple pleasures is grinding coffee and brewing a cup. At least for me it is, and one that I often find delegated to special occasions because of all of the clean up; my grinder, actually stays pretty clean when not in use.

This morning’s plan? COFFEE!!! I’ve ground enough to fill my coffee can sufficiently to last until Monday. It’s also the first time that I’ve had coffee all week, thanks to being sick. Guess it’s the cross point between feeling better and fuck it, I’m making coffee.

Afraid its permanent

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When you end up dragged out of bed, half asleep, and you still have the wherewithal to school people on more efficient basic usage of vi, you know that vi is now embedded permanently and deeply in the very fibre of your being.

I had some suspicion that the muscle memory wasn’t the only thing that is etched into me, but any doubts that I had, are now gone. vi is firmly paste the “You can pry it from my cold dead hands” level of integration.

One of those beautiful things

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After being teary eyed thanks to NCIS S18E9 Winter Chill, I decided this was a poem worth remembering.

When I die

Give what’s left of me away

To children

And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,

Cry for your brother

Walking the street beside you.

And when you need me,

Put your arms

Around anyone

And give them

What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,

Something better

Than words

Or sounds.

Look for me

In the people I’ve known

Or loved,

And if you cannot give me away,

At least let me live on in your eyes

And not your mind.

You can love me most

By letting

Hands touch hands,

By letting bodies touch bodies,

And by letting go

Of children

That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,

People do.

So, when all that’s left of me

Is love,

Give me away.

— Epitaph by Merrit Malloy

That truly is a beautiful epitaph, if I’ve ever heard one.

A lazy Sunday

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On one hand, it feels like it’s been a terribly unproductive day–the most that’s really gotten done this Sunday is grocery shopping and making coffee. On the other hand, that feeling of “Fuck, sometimes it’s nice to sprawl out on the couch,” does rather summarize the need for rest and relaxation.

Of course, that doesn’t counter the fact that eventually, I still have to get up for one reason or another \o/.

A rare addition to my anime worth remembering list

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In catching up on the season’s anime these past few weeks, I found my attention turning to The Too-Perfect Saint. Honestly, I found the series’ opening episode to be like a salve for an old wound. Not long into “The Saint Who Never Smiled” came that feeling, “Ahh, she’s like me…like I was.” That moment when you realize that Philia’s life makes it so the pains inside can’t be shown, because it will only bring her more suffering if they were to realize what’s underneath; it left me misty-eyed by the time she reached the national border. It’s so close to home.

I remember when I was young, feeling like “To die inside with a straight face” would be the most valuable life skill to master. It’s the memory of that place that makes Philia’s story feel so soothing. In many ways, I recognize the character as a kindred spirit, and more than a few artifacts of my younger self in how she adapts. Odds are, this will be one of the new series I end up finishing.

That it chooses to show not only how the protagonist was treated but her own thoughts behind the veneer, I applaud. It’s essential to the characterization, even more so given the contrast between the vile people who would sell Philia to further their own ends and the sweetness she encounters across the Girtonia-Parnacorta border.

For me, it’s the kind of story, where you root for the character. It tugs at old pains, long since gone but perhaps ones never to be truly forgotten. Looking back, I can’t help but hope that Philia’s story finds a happy ending. Because I know, when you’re in a place like that in life, it can be so hard to imagine what that looks like–and how beautiful it can be to reach the other side. I can’t help but wonder if that will manifest itself in the character’s development, or be simply buried under the tied of the plot, but I plan to find out.

Ya know, I have a feeling that double-rewards day is going to get taken advantage of this time. As a frequent reader of Light Novels, seeing translations of the first two volumes on Amazon, I think my reading queue can use a few additions.

Well, that makes me feel better

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Today, I decided on a little test that’s been on the back burner for a while. See, being on the shorter side, my slacks don’t really go with my shoes as well as they do my boots. It’s also a bother to roll up the pants legs and keep them from unrolling if I’m out for a while. Meanwhile my house shorts aren’t suitable for my typical on-the-go load, thus the experiment: belted cargo shorts. The perfect combo for comfy shoes and still having the usual stuff in my pockets.

As I was getting dressed and putting my socks on, a thought occurred to me. Women can be quite attractive in knee length socks and a skirt. My hairy legs with shorts and boot length socks on the other hand, I imagine would make someone cringe as not the Zettai Ryōiki that they desire to see 😅. Being more of a boots and trousers type, I haven’t really worn shorts as outside wear since circa high school, but it’s an efficient solution for times where I want to where my shoes rather than gear up in boots just for a quick errand.

To the woman at Publix who complicated my Vibram Furoshikis, thanks, you really made my day a little brighter!

Random irony

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A couple days ago, the top sheet I’ve used as a light blanket tore, after probably 15 years of being used. I used to keep it apart, so when the dogs stole my blankets I’d still have something and it kind of evolved into being what I wrap myself with at my desk, etc.

In shopping for a possible replacement, I came across a blanket that I decided to order in the hopes of replacing it, since the woobie is a bit too warm for the same use cases.

The part that makes me snortle about the irony of it all? It’s expected to arrive the same day as a winter storm and several inches of snow!

WiBArM

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There was a game that I played as a child on our old Tandy 1000 that I’ve wanted to look up for about the last 20 years or so. A relative had sent us a copy, but no one really could read it since the instructions were in Japanese. The 5 1/4″ diskette however, worked just fine.

One of those problems with being a kid, even if I can remember things from way back in more details than I probably should, is that memory is more visual than auditory for me. My best recollection of the name was something like ‘Wib barn,” but hey I was like 5 when I played the game! It’s not like I could spell yet! Literally, I was using MS-DOS before I could read…lol.

Needless to say, trying to find the game on this side of the floppy diskette era has been largely fruitless whenever I’ve tried.

Well, last night I was watching a video on 80s game development, and noticed that the clip of Thexder was Really, Really similar to what I remember but definitely not the same game. Sadly, doing some research into the game also showed that its sequel wasn’t it. Also, I’m pretty sure that I never encountered the Firehawk games personally.

Attempting to find similar games led me to the similar games tab on Giant Bomb, which began as mostly another exercise in futility. I’ve tried to look up the game in the past, always without success. Like seriously, how many late 80s side scrollers were there where you can transform between a robot, and a jet, and a car while exploring pseudo 3D dungeons reminiscent of the Windows 95 Maze? Yeah, you’d think that’s easy, but a lot of old stuff on old video games never made a big impact on the Internet. There were more than a few such ‘robot’ games, but I don’t think any that combined all three modes.

Then in scrolling through the list, I come across one word and it’s like “Holy shit, I remembered the name right,” and lo’ and behold: their page on Wibarm even matches my childhood memory to a tee on the screenshots. It’s without a doubt the same game, and it checks all the boxes: the three modes, the side scroll and 3D like dungeon, and the almost RPG like battles when you encounter the mobs.

So now, after many years, I finally know what that game was, and that my childhood memories are even more accurate than I expected.

Demon Lord of a Small Village

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So, there’s been a project that I’ve been kicking around for a few years. It originally began as a story idea that grew from another idea for a light novel, and took on a small life of its own among my pastime of typing words into a computer. When I was reaching the end of the experiment, I found myself wanting to continue that tale, and well, by the time I was working on the second major story arc, I was already thinking of publishing the first one as a traditional ebook in order to share it with a wider group or creating a new section on my website to host the series.

In the end, I decided to focus on a Kindle release.

Now available on Amazon!

As Lucious lay dying on the battlefield, he never could have imagined that his final moments would lead him to a meeting with the breathtaking goddess Luna. She needed a champion’s aid in saving her realm of Cerulea, but it turns out there is just one problem with saving the world – she needed him to become the demon lord!

Reincarnated into a world full of swords and sorcery, Lucious is left in the tutelage of the goddess’s devotees, from whom he learns all manner of magic and martial arts. He spent his childhood in the demon’s village of Nefharoh, preparing for a future confrontation with humanity’s summoned hero.

Meanwhile, the half-elven Seraphim grew up traveling across Cerulea with her merchant parents. At first, she believed that Lucious found her annoying, but as they spent more time together by the river, they became close allies, supporting each other, and their friendship blossomed with the passing years.

However, life remained peaceful in the quiet village of Nefharoh as time passed. Seraphim inherited her father’s business, becoming a successful merchant herself, while Lucious resigned himself to living an ordinary life, believing that he would never be called upon to face down the hero. When Seraphim needed protection for a special delivery to the capital, Lucious joined her on the road, unaware that this journey would push them both closer to their destinies and to each other.

Recently, I turned my attention from ideas on volume 8’s story to preparing the first volume for publishing, specifically having a professional book cover made. While the general flow of the story hasn’t changed since my original creation, significant editing and cleanup has gone into publishing volume 1, along with writing a new chapter bridging the first and second acts.

The more I’ve worked on my little hobby, the more I’ve enjoyed their adventures and the characters that join them along the way. Volume 1 focuses on the protagonists and introducing them and their world, setting the stage for the rest of the story arc and those that follow it.

I’ve written a fair bit of stuff for fun over the years, but I usually talk myself out of taking it any further than a short story. Well, this time I managed to talk myself in the other direction. Over time it’s gone from a small concept to a complete work with a length similar to the light novels I often read for fun. Here’s hoping that some readers out there will enjoy Lucious and Seraphim’s antics, and be interested in later volumes.

Perhaps I’ll add a section to my website as a place for books I’ve written…assuming I can talk myself into sharing the rest of my stories, lol.

As a side note, ordinarily I don’t earn anything if you click links on my site. Never had any interest in that sort of thing since this place serves as my journal. But obviously as the author of the book, this scenario is a tad different :).