They’re difficult to see, but those are night herons. They like to nest and raise their young in a few trees on my route.
While adorable at first, they’re vicious little dinosaurs. Very territorial and perfectly fine with charging at the unsuspecting mailman. Everybody always assumes that it’s dogs that we’re wary of.
But the birds, man. Don’t forget the birds.
-Swift
For all my progressive and liberal tendencies, I am very much a creature of habit and I’m reluctant to try new approaches to old techniques.
I’m also terrible with tech. It took several years of explaining to my elders that I have no idea why their computer wasn’t working and was more comfortable with the electronics of their generation. I tried learning how to code a few times; the results were amusing and infuriating.
But if it’s at a level I can understand, I will eventually try. It’s when I can figure out how to incorporate the new approach with my old understanding that I get excited.
Such as bento box breakfasts and scannable notebooks!
My wife got me both of these, and it’s taken a while to learn their usefulness. But, once I got over the hurdle that is “Swift is afraid of personal change”, they’ve turned out to be some of the coolest things I’ve received in a long time. (Sarah is a smart woman; she knows to give me a practical challenge that’ll result in me making my life a little easier in order for me to be happy with gifts.)
Learning how to cook for a bento box is a unique challenge for a US Southerner. Portion control is a strange concept and I can’t help but cook enough to feed 5 people even if it’s just me eating. But it turns out that one of my personal recipes (tuna with fried egg…just trust me, it works) is also a bento box recipe with rice and soy sauce. I can work with that.
The learning process is slow and I am reluctant to change, but if I can figure it out for myself, I’m all for it.
With that, the morning break is over and it’s back to the mail. Hopefully I’ll be awake long enough this evening to work on some of these pages, or at least start on an essay. Happy reading, folks!
-Swift
After taking off the month of May, and not forcing myself back into the routine the first week of June, I’ve returned to the blog site!
Which turned out to be a good thing for several reasons. May was a hard month this year, for myself and my fellow US citizens.
For myself, it was work stress and pet stress. Casey, my oldest dog, has really been showing his age lately. He’s slower, doesn’t play as much as he used to, and does not want to leave my side whatsoever. I’ve been keeping him inside most of the time now, as the weather in Louisiana doesn’t really agree with him anymore. But don’t worry: he still has an appetite, he will at least paw at me and the family for pets, and he still loses his shit at the sight of a squirrel and I’m suddenly having to chase him through four acres of land, so I know his quality of life is still good.
For my fellow US citizens…well, it’s been painful and maddening. But I’ve promised myself I wouldn’t use this platform to explore my personal politics much, so I’m going to avoid those kind of essays at the moment. If I get frustrated enough (or drunk enough) I might explore those writings. But for now, this is a storytelling site and I’m keeping it that way.
Speaking of storytelling, May was very productive!…and I can’t post a damn thing of it yet! Speaking of being frustrated.
The novella is pretty much outlined and the Sidewinder story is almost ready to be put up. I’ve run into some fun complications, though. Mostly of my own doing, as I obsess over giving my players as much information as they need and try to present that information as if it were a fiction in development (because to me, it is) which has demanded a lot of my focus. Not to mention my old adversary: Work Exhaustion.
We’re in the summer months, and 12-15 mile walks in Louisiana heat will beat the ever-living hell out of you. I’ve found myself waking up at my desk numerous times, Word document up on the computer with barely anything written on it, and I start cursing at myself as I wander off towards my bed.
That said, I’m going to keep making the effort to write, post, and edit my work as I go along. I have several pages here that need detail and attention, so they’re moving up on my priority list. Stories, what-ifs, and writing projects will soon follow. Till then, happy reading, folks!
For everyone patient enough to reach the end of the post, I present to you: Casey! As he is almost every time we go outside now!
Old man won’t leave me until I all but push him away and say to go pee in the grass.
Swift's Corner 