Category: Blogs!

01/06/2025 Year’s First Fire

When you live in a tropical climate zone but have a temperature-related excuse to use your fireplace, it’s something you want to show off.

After clearing the room of the Christmas debris, or as the holiday-folk call them ‘decorations’, I cleaned out the fireplace and laid down the first fire of the season.

Also testing out a statement from my father-in-law that our fireplace, like his, can be used as a second stovetop. His fireplace is a standalone, however, and isn’t halfway into the brick chimney. He wanted me to fry an egg with it, but I’m taking the lesser path and just trying out the old kettle.

The house is already warmer, and the weather reports say we’ll be staying around 30 degrees Fahrenheit (or around -1 Celsius if you’re anywhere not in the United States; I know, we’re stubborn about it) so we’ll be getting a lot of use out of this part of the house.

I’ll be in class readying for graduation presentations tomorrow, so I don’t think I’ll hit the daily word goals today. But I might be fortunate. We shall see!

01/03/2025 An evening’s escapade in nerdiness and grooming

I haven’t made it to my daily word goal yet (and the other monitor is staring at me with my outlines), but I’ve made a little progress in other things!

Namely, my continued study in cybersecurity and getting rid of what my wife calls the “mountain-man beard”.

The certification exam is in February, and I’ve been struggling through the practice tests every day. I say ‘struggle’ because I’m taking my certifications out of order; I’ll be testing for A+ and C+ later in the year. The Security+ studying has already laid the foundations I’ll need for the other two, so at the least, they’ll be easier.

As for the mountain-man beard…

If I look like I’m scowling, it’s because I don’t have my glasses on.

It was definitely time to take it down. I can only tolerate so much grumpy wizard.

Now I’m less of a grumpy wizard with the same giant forehead!

Now, on to the writing!

1/02/2025 Kicking off Resolutions!

1: Keep up with daily blog posts, even if it’s just a check-in.
2: Daily word goals for SWRPG novel and personal novel.
3: Keep self at low-key energy and not allow stress to control the day.

I wish I could hold myself to a loftier new year resolution, folks, but after all these years, I’ve learned the wisdom surrounding the concept of resolutions: they’re not for big and life-changing struggles.

In the past, I would’ve said “I’ll get my book published this year!” and would genuinely strive to accomplish that goal. I’d also suffer burnout and depression at the fact that the story I wanted to publish was getting away from me, because I was focused on ‘finishing’ the story, not ‘writing’ it.

This time, I just want to write those stories. If they are finished before the year is out and I can get them published, I’ll figure out what to do. Until then, I just want to enjoy the story that’s in my head. I have other, more stressful things to handle in the coming months, so adding such a lofty goal seems…counterproductive.

The daily blog post goal is doable, I know. I’ve done it before; I just kept losing my way on maintaining it. This time around, I’ll work to actively make a posting, even if it’s like it’s stated above and I’m just checking in.

Kind of like today, where I will show off an accomplishment: I made bread!

My first baking attempt that didn’t ruin the dish.

01/1/2025 Happy New Year, folks!

Just so we’re clear: I’m alive!

Still grumpy, but alive!

We made it to midnight here at the house but endeavored to keep it a low-key milestone. 2024 was a tried and true kick-in-the-teeth year, folks. I’m not sure what 2025 will bring but I’m promising myself to not push myself too hard this time around. There are writing goals, to be sure, as well as career goals and wishes.

December wound up being the most progress I’ve made in several stories, as well as a study-heavy month while getting ready for the Security+ exam and hopes of a different line of work. I’m not sure how I managed that, but I’m not questioning it.

I hope all of you stepped into this new year without holding on to the stresses of 2024 too tightly, and you take the time to breathe and ready yourselves for the coming months. Check in on your people, especially yourselves.

Stay safe out there, folks.

-JB Swift

PS~ Old Man Corgi!

12/01/2024 A Quiet Post before Peak Season

To say that I’ve been “too busy to write” would be both an understatement and, ultimately, a false analysis…

I’ve been officially elected as Local Branch President of my postal workers’ union! I take office in January 2025, and local management has grown to hate me personally while maintaining their professional aloofness. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

But when I get ‘here’, I try to put that hat back on its hook. I have to do that all the time at work, now. Here, I get to be the traditional nerd and writer. With that, I have an update!

“Pawn Predicament” is over 50% finished! I set the goal to be finished next Star Wars Day. The website’s ‘chore list’ is erratic and lengthy, but I’ll be tackling each entry as I can and will continue building the series.

I’ll have to get back to putting up the Christmas decorations, but before I go, an obligatory picture of the new Golden Retriever, Cooper!

He’s a psychotic puppy, but he’s adapting to the Swift life.

Stay safe out there, folks!
-JB Swift

10/23/2024 Being Political without the Platform

Here’s something they don’t tell you about Union leadership: you become a politician when you sign on.

I’m not much of a public speaker (I know, what a surprise), and in fact I hate public speaking. But I’ve taken classes on the subject and have learned how to give speeches and sound convincing.

We’re going to ignore the fact that I wax exposition every RPG session. That doesn’t count.

Today was a full day of being Chief Steward. After setting up my mail route to be carried by others, I went into my little office, set up my desk, and spent the next several hours on the phone, writing emails, and holding 1-4 people meetings, including talking to staff members for State Representatives.

I have, basically, been a politician all day.

Ain’t a fan, but it’s what’s needed for this area.

I’m more exhausted from today than I’ve been from being out on the mail route. I think I’ll take it easy for the evening and try to write a little before I pass out at this desk.

Narrator: He will, in fact, be asleep in his chair maybe 20 minutes after putting his children in their beds.

Here’s hoping! Stay safe out there, folks!

-JB Swift

The Uphill Battle of Responsibilities (Old and New!)

Never let it be said that I will shirk my responsibilities, but I keep getting told to not forget my responsibilities to myself and my own well-being.

That well-being is best handled by letting myself have time to write, but the moment I sit down and think about it, there’s a moment of pure terror as I start to get overwhelmed by everything in my head.

Is there a hill I can run screaming towards?

…oof. I need a secretary, or a program that’ll function as one and whack me with a stick when I start to wander off.

It doesn’t help that more ideas keep cropping up and crowding my attention span, but that’s what you get when you pare down your writing/creative work to the minimum for several weeks. But I have a morning to get at least three or four things done.

That list doesn’t include checking in with players in my campaigns and setting up the next Side Arcs or finishing out Solo Arcs for other players. They’ve been so patient with me and I’m stupidly grateful.

So, what do I do when I am confronted with the Sticky Note Secretary?

Why, ponder a different and completely unnecessary project, of course! Specifically: taking the knowledge I’ve gained about lightsaber fighting (I’ve been teaching Basics and Shii-Cho with a few likeminded local nerds) and trying to put it into a new style that is based on my Kung Fu education.

Soon to be filled with notes that’ll never see the light of day!

Not that this will take over my free-time, but I will occasionally jot down notes after practice and having figured out a possible form.

Now, to use an hour for writing sprints before I feel guilty for using my time for myself!

Stay safe out there, folks. Take care of yourselves.

-JB Swift

Three Months Later…

I’ve finally had a quiet moment to remember that I have a website!

Holy hell, it’s been a whirlwind of a time over the last three months, folks.

I’ve been fired from the Post Office, enrolled in a Cybersecurity course, made Interim President of my local union, got my job back, and then I had to scramble to keep the new plates spinning along with all of my other ones.

I’ll be honest, folks. I’ve been exhausted for weeks, and I keep finding things to look into. Somehow, I still write, though it’s been sporadic (at least one paragraph a day) and it has to compete with both an upcoming newsletter for the local and some eight grievances a week (which are 25-30 pages each) and my own physical exhaustion from the day-job work.

I went from having absolutely nothing to do to having to plan out every half-hour on some days.

But I’m still here! I’ll have to set up a reminder to make a daily post (and pencil it into my calendar), but the practice and daily life-writing will do me good. At least the daily writing prompts have gotten more interesting!

Stay safe out there, folks.

-JB Swift