Technical Tuesday 0003

So I haven’t done one of these in a long while. I know – I even forgot to come back and finish the two parter back in May. (Which, let me know if you’d like to see the rest of it, and I’ll go and redo the whole thing from the beginning.)

Now, a little Truth before we get into the Technical Tuesday. For the longest, I think I realized that the problem I have been having, even with these structured posts was that I tried to limit them too tightly. I wanted the Muse Mondays and the Technical Tuesdays to be nothing but absolute solid stuff about writing. Mondays being for things that could provide inspirational help, and Tuesdays for the technical aspect of actually writing.

Unfortunately, I’m just not that good with the technical aspects of writing – and I’ll fast run out of things to post for Muse Mondays, I suspect, if I limit it to just purely writing related. BUT, if I were to expand both series to things that have made my life better as a writer. And class them by whether or not they inspire me (Muse Mondays) or assist me (Technical Tuesdays) – I could open up the series to a great many more things. While Mondays sound like they won’t really be changing, they actually will be. It’ll go from just things that could inspire just writers to things that can inspire all creative art.

So, with that being said, into TECHNICAL TUESDAY 0003!

Okay. So literally, this purchase, which as of this writing I’ve had for a little over ELEVEN hours, has made my life so much sweeter.

I love listening to music all the time. As I work on my stories, as I draft blog posts, as I do some upkeep work in my bullet journal, as I do actual work related work, ALL THE TIME. To be quite honest, it is something I do pretty much more than anything else.

Additionally, I have this issue where silence actually makes my head hurt, because my hearing is sensitive enough that I pretty much have to have something to focus on or else I’m straining to hear the silence. Which probably makes no sense, but my ears complain if it’s too quiet.

So I’d been looking at wireless bluetooth speakers for ages. I wanted one that was respectable, had good volume levels, decent range on the wireless ability, and an aux port – but that was also a little waterproof (ie – I could sit it next to the tub while I was taking a bath and wouldn’t have to worry). I know this seems like a big list, but I have certain needs that I was really wanting it for over everything else.

I finally bought one on amazon this last thursday, and I got it saturday evening. (The joys of Prime, am I right?) I charged it for a little over 1.5 hours and then I connected it to the old iphone 4 I have and use as an ipod and shower radio and all that. (no, I don’t take it into the shower – I have a glass box shower and it’s just outside the glass.)

Well, off of that 1.5 hour charge (which wasn’t to full, by the way) I’ve already gotten 7 or so hours of playtime at near max volume – or a few notches down.

Right now, it’s playing off of my iPhone 6+ next to me, and I think I have the volume at half. Music sounds great, it’s just fantastic. I’m sitting at work and it’s a great little device to have parked on the desk not far from me. It’s about the same length as my iPhone 6, and is roughly 1.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches deep. It’s a tiny little brick that makes a lot of noise.

And it’s so nice to not have to worry about whether or not my computer is going to freeze at work because the 4GB of ram doesn’t like four internet tabs + scrivener + word + itunes running.

If you want the one I have, find it HERE.

I’ll definitely post another comment about this speaker either later this week or sometime next week. I’ll probably post my review after I’ve had it a week, and done some bonus damage to my eardrums.

Muse Monday 0004

Okay, so, after the depression situation that was last week, let’s look at something cool again!

If you know me IRL at all, then you’ve probably heard me gush about architecture. It’s probably one of my strongest loves outside of space and coffee and swords and winter. (Yes, I know my list of cool things is weird. Did you actually think I was normal, because if yes, please be advised: AM WEIRD.)

So , anyways, BACK to the architecture!

One of my most favorite things that I have ever come across on twitter was an account that tweeted cool looking home design pictures. It was connected to a website called Home Adore – and let me tell you, Home Adore is a bit addictive.

They have hundreds, if not thousands, of examples of cool residential architecture.

Like the Edgeland House, which is a unique take on a Native American Pit House.

Or the Sorrento, which caused me to have a twenty minute long crisis of the mind. You’ll figure out why when you read the page and then look at all the pictures. Hint: Look closely at the kitchen pictures.

Or the Vista Mar, which has absolutely stunning views as well as both stunning interiors and exteriors.

I find the Derby House to be one of great value to me for one of my stories – it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to the house I see in my head for one of my characters. Though, their decorations are more colorful.

This Penthouse in Moscow is probably one of the coolest I’ve seen on the site, I especially want the light fixture from the kid’s room. But, I will say it’s got interesting features in the form of the exterior walls – being at such angles.

And this Modern Home in California, with it’s unusual design including lots of skylights and lots of glass accents, and unusual windows on each of the bedrooms.

And then while I was just kicking around on their website I found a modern castle like thing, and I WANT IT.

A setting tells as much about the story you’re writing as you choose to let come through. A slick clean space may mean that your character’s don’t spend a lot of time in that area, versus a warm comforting room may be the hub of the home. Or, it could even reverse.

As Usual, I am Behind

As is actually quite normal, honestly, I’m behind. It varies every single year as to when I get behind.

In 2009, I was behind for the whole first week, and then I managed to catch up and make my first win.

Normally, it yo-yos back and forth between the line between weeks two and three, and thanksgiving week.

I’m almost always behind going into week four. I’ve done dictation in the past, to catch up on a twenty thousand word deficit. I’ve managed a 6k day to finish out a ten thousand word catch up in two days.

 

I’m good at being behind. Usually somewhere in the range of eight to fifteen thousand words behind. Currently I’m just short of a full ten thousand behind. Well, I was this morning. I’ve managed to cross 19.2k putting me right at something like nine thousand behind. My plan? Well, it currently includes making that gap as short as I can over the course of a couple of serious writing sessions today. I’m not quite aiming for a 5kday, but I’m sure as hell going to try. (I’m also going to try one of these word crawl things that are seriously taking off this year. Harry Potter Year One – here I come – provided I find some digital dice. I should add my dice to my ML kit.)

 

Basically, the TL:DR of this post is quite literally – IF YOU ARE BEHIND, YOU STILL CAN WIN.