Levelling up

 Here's a neat tool I've been using for a couple months, rarely missing a day: lvluplife.com

At first glance it's a cute way to turn life into a Dungeons & Dragons styled role-playing game and a motivation tool with regards to your goals, whether it's getting out of bed in the morning, acquiring your MBA degree or everything in between. But you'll see it's more than that.

A selection of fairly simple goals are available, sorted into categories such as Creativity, Social, Health etcetera, and each goal has an experience point (XP) value plus one or more ability points in one or more of the six categories above. You'll find three of those ability categories familiar but with Culture, Environment and Talent in place of Wisdom, Dexterity and Constitution. With each level increase, more goals are unlocked and at increasingly higher values.

But you can create custom goals any time, at a maximum value commensurate to your level at the time. 

Collecting XP moves you up levels. But your ability scores are not really numerical and move on a floating scale. Your most-exercised ability is automatically 100% and the rest are at the appropriate ratio. So volume of achievements moves you up levels but only life balance improves your ability meters, which is very wise!

Balance is also encouraged as follows: The higher the goal's point value, the less frequent it can earn points. The minimum goals are each once per day. Some of mine now are once per week. This stops you from loading up on "Play Grand Theft Auto for one hour" and scoring it eight times a day!

So it serves as a daily planner. You can mark which goals are "current" (intended) and filter on those as a to-do list. Any goals that are not point-scorable are greyed out. So the goals available for points are the goals that are "due."

It's so much more useful than it looks at first glance.

From the office of the Search for Terrestrial Intelligence: email of the week

From: Support Prime ID:834614608 <no-reply@gozagoza.com>

Sent: September 21, 2022 2:29 PM
To: nathanael_13@hotmail.com <nathanael_13@hotmail.com>; eladmarom@hotmail.com <eladmarom@hotmail.com>; mzrray@live.com <mzrray@live.com>; marcsearllegend@live.com <marcsearllegend@live.com> +95 others

Subject: Re: Reminder: [Activity Report] Your account is sign in on a new device. Wed, September 21, 2022 6:29 PM #[5024281770]

A Message From Amazon Prime!

Hello.

There is a forced login on your account that we think is suspicious, we will include details of the suspicious login:

Date : Wed, September 21, 2022 6:29 PM
Country : Texas, United States

Our system has canceled all your pending orders. Your account will remain on hold. To fix this problem, please verify using link below.

You need to verify your account before "September 23, 2022" or your account will be permanently suspended.

___________________________________________

To: jong-un.kim@korea-dpr.com

Sent: September 22, 2022 1:15 AM

cc: Support Prime ID:834614608 <no-reply@gozagoza.com> nathanael_13@hotmail.com <nathanael_13@hotmail.com>; eladmarom@hotmail.com <eladmarom@hotmail.com>; mzrray@live.com <mzrray@live.com>; marcsearllegend@live.com <marcsearllegend@live.com> +95 others

FWD: Re: Reminder: [Activity Report] Your account is sign in on a new device. Wed, September 21, 2022 6:29 PM #[5024281770]

Dear Kim,

These cowboys who I told you about: Not content with roping calves and squeezing Bronco's testicles and all that yee-haw nuttery, now they tried to penetrate my Amazon-Prime account on "September 23, 2022" and now my pending orders are cancelled! I can't take it anymore. Please send all of your nukes to Texas, pronto.

Maybe spare the children if you can?

Thanks Kim and congratulations on the "heinous isolation" campaign and your recent coitus with the Nukes goddess. Say Hi to Jinping for me next time you're at the Great Hall! 

jigeum-eun annyeong,

NDR

Let's be brief

So much to talk about I suppose but still I'm in no hurry. Let's start at the bottom tier for today and then see what tomorrow brings:

The... League of Slither. Nope. The... Professional Schizoid Slither League. Yeah that's better. Here's a random profile of the day:

This is Bluebird Sausage. He's the newest member of the tour, finishing 30th of 31 entrants in his first pro competition; the prestigious Gotham City Tourney earlier this month. A very tough venue to start a career at, and this week, his second appearance, it gets no easier with another Grand Slam event, the Torneo Strangiato. After two rounds he sits in 18th spot. With just a little more improvement he could finish in the money. 

Speculation around Bluebird being a blood-relative of tour-favourite Earlybird Pancake (now sitting fourth at Strangiato) does not fly. They've never even met until this week.

Kiss Me You Tool and Mister Squishy are the surprise leaders at the mid-way break in Macedonia with a stunning 4K lead over the rest of the field! 

And that's it for all the sports news that matters. Everything else is baloney. Good luck in your two final rounds in Macedonia Blue!

How I survived the war

Miraculously I did not procrastinate in my preparations for leAvIng tHe hOUsE and did not suffer a bout of anxiety and regret and did not cancel at the last minute. Hurray!

The Gimp Bus ride was mildly problematic as was navigating this alternate new-to-me train station but I made it aboard and rode for free because I couldn't figure out how to pay! Believe me, I tried and tried until I thought they would leave without me if I didn't give up.

At Destinationville Station the walk to the city bus area was a real chore but nothing compared to the walk to the church from the "nearest" stop. Thank god I had over an hour to kill and a seat-on-wheels to repeatedly stop and rest on. 

Father/Pastor/Minister Jim saw my arrival at the rear loading door/gimp access area and ushered me in, gave me water, elevatored me up to the sanctuary and installed me on the wrong side of the gallery which was fine! Groom #2 is also a friend, just of less seniority.

The ceremony was magical with a couple goofy moments and I teared up of course.

Another rickety elevator ride, another slogging journey 'round...

to...

the front...

of...

the church...

where my first post-covid mob of humanity awaits and I'm late-oh-well for the photo shoot. 

Sweet Michael is Roddie's best man and we fall in together, laughing. It's been too long. He's giddy and inaudacious as always and introduces me to his charming and gentle partner (now co-homeowner). He seems to have grown up and not changed! They are a gorgeous couple.

I've anticipated asking Roddie's daughter if she remembers me (with little hope) but so surprisingly she sneaks up from behind me and says, "Hey, you probably don't remember me...!" Oh but of course I do, sweet one. Of course I do!

Her little brother must be... 19 by now? He's at home with brand-new Covid and the separation is hurting he and Dad.

Roddie remains unclear about the plan to get me and my walker to the distant reception hall until the parking lot empties along with my will to protest. The driver demands the walker which he easily deposits in the yawning trunk and I am ushered into the limo. I'm in nice casual (but not quite dressy) trousers, aging black dress shoes, spiffy shirt (not well pressed) and blossoming tie. The five-guy wedding party are decked out in snappy greys, bowties and actual flowers. I really don't want to infect the onboard wedding photos but I relent, enjoy the company and the champagne and try to cling to the shadows when the photographer, riding shotgun, spins and fires.

At the hall I make friends and play at the illusion of conversation while choking on the DJ's pounding din.

The meal is too good to be true , highlighted by decadent fresh raviolis, ample filet mignon and the best crème brûlée ever. The red wine is premium and the cute considerate waiter delivers bottle after bottle seeing that I have mobility issues. I drink copiously of that and of the Stella Artois (because it's not Coors or Keith's thank god) and of the Johnny Walker for some goddam reason. Because it slightly reminds me of real scotch? I knock back four doubles in total. Maybe I thought I'd grow accustomed to it. I didn't. I sure hope I didn't think it would make me look cool. I do realize that nothing makes me look cool. Look I hate to sound like a snob but I don't know how you people drink that swill!

Ah I'm sorry! Personal taste is so arbitrary I know. But it's fun to complain.

Fucking swill drinkers...

Spending this night with Roddie and Michael and their marvelous mates was... just brilliant. The best time I've had in years. How did I manage to stay away from such lovely friends for so long? I must be nuts.

The next day I feel the pain. My body is broken. Ah well. I feel like a hero home from a journey to the kingdom to romp with royalty. And this is despite the gentlest return possible. Those sneaky devil friends would not hear of me bussing and training home. "Your carriage awaits!" said Michael, when the party was undeniably over.

"What are you talking about!"

 An Uber of course. They're too sweet.

Not a typical hide-at-home Saturday morning

I managed to snooze for a couple or three hours with Seinfeld providing a soothing white noise. I have to go pick out a goofy tie, perhaps a tie clip, maybe even a ring. Have to give my hair and beard a trim, spiff up some goodish shoes, shower and brush. Lay on some Old Spice (or is that Olde?)

Pack a small briefcase with my relevant notebooks, crossword mag, wallet, keys, mask, pens.

Get dressed, and lumber outside and sit on my rollator walker seat for about 11:15AM to soak up some fresh air before the DARTS bus comes to pick me up.

Catch the train out of the harbour station. Transfer to local bus, exit a couple blocks from the church at about 2:25PM which gives me an hour to migrate the two blocks on foot to get to the 3:30PM wedding.

Remember Rockin' Roddie anyone? He's finally marrying his sweetheart after fifteen or twenty years of dating. Crazy kids.

Knowing Roddie there will be very decent red wine and scotch on hand so I plan to drink like an absolute boss monster and catch a morning train home again. I'll figure it out as I go. It'll be an adventure. I got $20 in the bank and another $25 in my Presto (transportation) account. I can't imagine anything going wrong.

Cheers

No one wants to get killed I guess

So I promised to try again tomorrow, which has magically become today but in eleven minutes will become tomorrow; otherwise known as the day after. And I can already see that this is going to be a hopeless pool of drivel to be deleted or just never posted.

Whatever I wanted to say yesterday and put off until today - I don't remember what it was. And now there are nine minutes remaining.

I watched a Netflix flick called Kindergarten Teacher and it started a little tame I thought but then snuck up on me and grabbed me by the nuts toward the end. One of those well-crafted character pieces that really resonated. Great film if you're blessed with empathy. If you totally don't get it that's okay. You're probably just one of those empathy-starved monsters that seem to be arising more and more often in society. Or maybe I'm just one of those people getting really good at spotting them. Anyway don't worry about it. It's fine to be a monster. Monster is just a label. Don't worry about it. You're as entitled to life as anything. It's not your fault that society was built with the lame assumption that everyone has empathy. Sometimes I have seen myself as a sort of vampire assistant who falls in love with a person starved of empathy (it's a real pattern) and I know how to help them fake it and make life better for them but we never get to that point because I'm too scared to talk about that subject with them. Insulting a person without empathy - well - that might get you killed. Who knows?

Cheers

Entry #1213

That seems like a big number. Twelve hundred and thirteen blog posts since... 2006 I think. And what have I accomplished in all this time?

A lot of research. A lot of semi-intellectual recreation. A lot of movies and documentaries. And a lot of trifling work on so many unfinished projects. Like more than two hundred for sure. I get too many ideas too quickly. But these aren't accomplishments. I've actually completed more than 75 videos, mostly for distribution within my own small circles; rarely using my own footage. And some of them are quite good but they're private in essence, serving my own small associations. Some people are still shy about the internet. So it's my goofy fun-time stuff that goes on YouTube, such as The Flatus Trilogy, or in that narrow zone where YouTube machinations will enact music copyright blocks but Vimeo won't, then on Vimeo.

Well, I feel like this is getting boring already. Whatever I had intended to say, we'll try again tomorrow, eh?

Cheers.

OH my GOrD he's Writing a blog pOsT

Yes he is, ladies and gentlemen. He's hunting and pecking away at his little keyboard and pecking the wrong key twice in every five pecks and drumming on the backspace key more than anything else.

And now, ladies and gentlemen he's marched it all the way back to "hitting" and changed it to "drumming on" because, Holy Noodles Batman, he's a writer don't you know!

And he's living the dream. He stayed up ALL NIGHT because he knew there was no use trying to sleep. He did some championship level laundry in the early dawn gloom. OH YES boys and girls, the early dawn gloom! What a wordsmith. Unrivalled I tell you.

He crashed mightily come morning, awoke after an hour and a half, PROMPTLY FORGOT he slept an hour and a half and would later tell a filthy scheming evil lie about not even sleeping a second.

Oh and what's this? He's speaking in the third-person perspective now! Wait. Check the records. Check the.... the.... thing. Whaddaya call it? What the court reporter... transcript?? Let's say transcript. Okay, never mind. Turns out he's been speaking in the third person since the very beginning.

Now where was I? I mean, He.

So after a good bout of confusion where I almost cancelled the Big Outing I actually got together with The Ponderer. She picked me up; me freshly showered, Santa-nian beard trimmed way back, newish clothes, teeth brushed etcetera, in shoes even... And we hit the Dollarama for bread, some chili, some noodles... what Caramilk bars? Who said anything about Caramilk bars? Some crackers what will make my lonely cheese happy...

We went to Tim's for coffee, tea, hot chocolate and bagel-muffin food and talked about dead and dying people but in a good way and was reminded how much I love life and love my friends to pieces. The Ponderer of course and even the ones once close who I don't see anymore. Even the ones who I loved so dearly with all my heart, such that every day was either blissful or aching. I wonder sometimes if they read this blog even though they've had enough of me in person. Well, if you're reading... I still love you with all my heart, as I have every single day, even the days when you were sadly mistaken, and thought that I didn't.

Peace y'all.