Day 87

Spoiler Alert! May contain planning-stage plot/character details or other spoilers!

11 Apr 2016

Contains affliate links. So JavaScript is seriously messing with my brain. Every step, I get stuck on the logic and syntax. Even when I hack my way through to the next module, I’m not sure if I actually understood how I got the solutions (hint: mostly by swapping terms until one sticks)… At this rate I’m going to have serious issues when it comes to the assignments.

But it’s also more rewarding to knock off the modules when I’ve been stuck for ages on the logic or syntax. freeCodeCamp has really put together an excellent program. Concepts are broken down pretty small, but not everything is explained, and testing comprehension happens continually and organically, teaching problem solving skills along with the language theory, syntax and usage.

There’s not a ‘cheat/answer sheet’ either. You can go ask questions in a subject-matter forum (if you’re willing to look like an idiot) or Google for answers, but even then, you have to do some work to make the solutions fit your problem. I’m excited by the possibilities, and not a little bit horrified at how much harder this got once I pushed past the html/css/bootstrap front end design stuff… perhaps not as genius as I’d hoped to be :(

Also struggling with packing questions, as in: how much luggage to take (how much can I physically move through time and space? what does that cost?), how many things to leave behind, what matters, what doesn’t, how long will I be gone, what shoes will I wear with that!?!

Shoes are the hardest part of travel. Well, laundry and avoiding chafing and shoes, anyways. And not looking like a hobo or an easy mark while puffing under a mountain of luggage (full of shoes).

Sounds insane, but I want to make room inside my bag(s) for other bag(s) because of course you need different bags, just like you need different shoes and jackets/sweaters/coats and… So I get caught in a cycle of “wouldn’t this be good to have” but “I can’t take everything” and “I should just start over…” and make myself dizzy.

Actually tracked down a hockey bag in ValueVillage that wasn’t disgusting and all the zippers worked… but it turned out to be too big for standard luggage, which gets super expensive. So now I’m adjusting the plan - maybe one of those foldy-zipper clothes luggage things? I could just flop it on top of the big suitcase and drag them both along? And no wheels or hard structure could save weight?

But also, that’s a huge and unnecessary distraction since I haven’t even rebooked my flights and I still need to finish this story…?

(pauses to go get Mescal and refocus) I haven’t really heard that alcohol helps people focus, but it helps me slow down and hone in, somehow. Maybe it blasts the airways enough to clear my head? Like an allergy-fighting tonic?

I’ve been hooked on Medium for the last couple weeks, since freeCodeCamp got me on it. Switched from doing surveys (because the money is pathetic and the distraction is unending) to that in the mornings, which seems like it may be good for my creativity, and undoubtably good for my Twitter following.

Articles on feminism, writing, coding and business combine to give me a boost in the relevant and timely creative ideas department. A series on digital interfaces, implants and virtual reality helped bring a lot of clarity to Inspector Hayne5’s role and interactions in the Tower.

The Underground kind of just sprang into being a couple weeks ago after I realized how the SkyTrain tunnels and Royal Centre are so close to Bentall Centre (the model for the Tower and Freedom). And then Lily Morris (Angelique/Morris1) sort of materialized along with her home and Morris2’s unexpected survival. Which means that no named and developed people have actually died yet, which is kind of a problem if I go for the whole dystopian dark supernatural fantasy angle.

It’s funny how I went from having no idea who Kelley Armstrong was to really taking her work as a sort of roadmap, a litmus test for “can I do this?”. It’s been like the “what would Kelley Armstrong do?” show around here lately. Like: “oh, look, Kelley has first person AND third person present narrative!” and “Kelley doesn’t wrap up loose plot threads until the next book either!”

So I guess that goes to show that collaboration novels are something to remain open to in the future (came across her through her excellent collaboration series (The Magisterium ) with Holly Black/currently reading her collab. series (The Blackwell Pages ) with Melissa Marr.

Although, the true moral of that story is probably to be open to making new friends, lol. Any authors out there looking to drive yourself crazy by trying to cowrite a series with me? I wonder if team writing feels more or less hopeless and insane than solo creative work…

And now that I’ve blown through exactly one half of my allotted writing time… onward to landmark Chapter 40!

Monday

Start time: 10:30 am

Location: couch/living room

Drinking: Los Sietos Mezcal

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