So, another update and the only one I am planning for November. And I got to say these last two weeks have, ironically, been very productive with my personal writing. Actually, since 9/24, I have been keeping with my writing. It is curious why all of a sudden, after months of apathy, suddenly I am writing.

I partly believe that since fall is the time to go back to school, there is some internal part of me that is still in “school mode” even though I have not been in education for a very long time. Another theory is that hot weather makes me lethargic and cooler weather motivates me. I did write a lot during my recovery last December and it was mildly chilly. I went a whole summer only doing weekly blog updates and this past summer was fairly muggy.

Another theory I have is that I finally just started to write and was on a roll. And now that my current writing project is done, I now have to take the time to outline my next one. I will admit, I vaguely followed my last outline but it was a help to have after months of not writing anything stimulating. I look forward to my next project, I feel it is going to be a fun time.

Although, I have to admit, being engaged with a writing project wakes something up in me. Both in a good way and a negative way. The good is I am more focused and motivated to be productive. The negative is I get antsy, annoyed very easily, and feel like I will explode at any moment by the slightest things. Thankfully, I have been in retail long enough to keep myself in check and have my customer service persona out at all times. But it has been a struggle to keep my creative “arsewhole” side of me from expressing itself at work or when I’m out with friends.

It is beyond cathartic for me to write. But there is a side of me I do not like when I get into writing mode. I am wondering if that mindset and attitude is another reason why I avoided writing throughout the summers. I got a lot of hours in during that time, mostly because it was my location’s busy season.

Going forward, I still want to engage with writing but really need to better understand myself. Well, maybe I do have a better understanding then I believe. Self-awareness is something I believe most creatives struggle with. Anyway, I am writing again and as soon as I get my outline done for the next project, I will be blazing through that.

I know most people dedicate their time to writing during November. Not really sure why November was the month of choice for people but I hope to also keep at it this month. I’ve been good through late September and all of October, so crossing fingers.

Beyond that, not really sure what else to share. I have been enjoying anime a lot more during my down time. I have also been walking outside a whole lot more, which may have also been another factor that has helped with motivation. Zach and I checked out Watkins Glen state park, which was pretty awesome.

Nature is cool when you actually take the time to enjoy it. After checking out the gorge, which was epic, on the trail back we walked by a cemetery and I took some pictures of names on tombstones. I know this is going to sound morbid but I like to find names on graves and see if any inspire me. Finding cool names for characters in future projects is always fun. But for some reason finding names on tombstones gives them more weight. Plus, cemeteries have this chill and eerie vibe to them that naturally is both calming and forces you to stay focused.

I am also into these machines that crush pennies into cool designs. It is one of my many small hobbies and I get a kick out of these things. The “elongated pennies” are cool mementos for visiting different places. Well, at the gift shop for the state park, I asked one of the staff if they had such a thing. And Walkins Glen did have one, in a clothing store of all places. And it was out of order. I was excited and shocked then sad and frustrated by this, all in the span of ten minutes. I brought coins just in case the state park had one and of all times, it was out of order. And these machines are not in high demand for maintenance.

Sadness aside, the park was a highlight that I recommend to anyone. Just be ready to walk a lot and walk up and down a lot of stone steps. And watch for slippery rocks, it can be tricky to navigate. The gorge is not a trail to be taken lightly, do your research and have some good outdoor boots on.

My gaming group has started a new game in the Star Wars setting. We are using those funky dice with the cool symbols I had brought up in past updates. I was tempted to get another Genesys set but they are out of print and going for way more than I am willing to pay. So I just got another set of Star Wars dice. My Wookie’s first successful combat encounter was against a surprise turret. I ripped that sucker off the wall before it even got a chance to fire. My Wookie, Crunchy, is BAMF.

Well, I am almost at 1k in words and I would like to keep these short unless I have more interesting things to say. One thing I’m going to do more in the future is to utilize the keyboard keys and scrabble pieces for the update titles. I became more and more dependent on my dice collection to save time. But now that the updates are once a month, I should try taking the time to use those letters and numbers I used back at the start of the website's birth. I’ll still use the dice but mostly have them as decoration.

Well, I should peace out and get this posted so I can spend the rest of my time off plotting my next outline. This blog has fired me up to write creativity again but I want to be good and still make an outline. Until next time—

Good Luck and it is so windy out right now, WHOA!

—BUCK (Upload 11 / 05 / 25)

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