New Beginnings
December 21, 2012
Surprise, surprise, the world did not end this morning. It was scheduled for UTC 11:11, but delayed due to technical difficulties. I was up then (6:11 local time), to see what CBC would say about it - nothing much, although their signal did drop for a few seconds at 6:11. Spooky. Turned out was related to the terrible weather out there, the feed had more drop outs over the morning. This was a Winter Solstice thing too, related to Earth's orbit around the sun, so would have happened for everyone at the same time.
But, of course, it didn't. Today, in spite of a vicous winter storm, marks the start of our slow climb back to longer days, celebrated in ye olden days as the start of a new year. A good opportunity to look at the past year and re-focus. As such, I've some new beginnings to think about.
- I'm finally getting over this latest back twinge, and am now at the stage where the problem is more from lying in bed much of the day. Happened Sunday, while cleaning up before the Christmas gathering with kids and grandchildren, and bent over to pick up a scrap of paper. Twinge, spasm, collapse onto floor. Almost better now, but had to cancel our get together. Luckily I hadn't started cooking. Son and family over Sunday I think, daughter later in the New Year. Right now, I do need to limber up, and am feeling a little more mobile each day, so have started a morning yoga-like routine. It's from A Morning Cup of Yoga, a 15 minute morning session that uses the kitchen counter and a chair as props. Most are doable even now for me.
- Even though ROW80 is done until January 7th, I'll be focusing now on developing better writing habits. That will mean writing for an hour every morning, early in the day while I feel fresh. Actually, for three 20 minute sessions, as I need to take a quick break to stretch my back and rest my eyes. For topics, I'll get back to doing some Flash Fictions, and my blog.
- Publishing will be another focus each day- as in selecting, editing, and submitting short stories and novels. Right now I have a publisher interested in two of my novels, so I am pushing extra editing time into the day.
- Other stuff - I dropped the Coursera Intro to Astronomy course. Not very intro, and a little ragged around the edges. Was described as 6-8 hrs a week, but most are doing double that. I may take it again, next fall, as it is free. A few months ago I signed up for The Modern World: Global History since 1760 (4-6 hrs a week), Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life (3-4 hrs a week), and Introduction to Philosophy (1-2 hrs a week). All look fascinating, and unfortunately all scheduled now to start at the end of January. Total load projected is 12 hrs a week, so I'll see how editing is going by then. I also started a New Scientist subscription for the year. I used to read this years ago, it's a fascinating international blend from all the sciences. It's sent out weekly, and I chose the print edition so I can easily pass it on to others.
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