Category: Photography

08/17 “Cheers, Old Friend. We Still Miss You.”

It’s been a year to the day since my best friend died. I’ve gone through the day with some quiet contemplation while enjoying my memories. There are still moments that are jarring to me: I’ll think I see him walking up when I visit one of our mutual places like the downtown coffee shop, or I’ll hear someone use a phrase from history that he liked to use in conversation, or I’ll be excited about something I’ve written for an upcoming session and reach for my phone to call him over.

These moments occur and I have my short moment of realization, confrontation, misery, and acceptance. They haven’t decreased but my acceptance of them has grown. Simple time has been the greatest aid to this acceptance, but reaching out to mutual friends has made the burden a great deal lighter.

I’ve thought about how I’d write this. It’s my comfort and shelter when handling rough emotions, and missing a dead friend is right up there with ‘rough emotions’. At first, I wanted to give it a sense of professionalism, a sign that I’ve grown as a writer and presentor.

I immediately scrubbed that idea. It needed to be short, flowery, and showing emotional vulnerability. That’s not to show a sign of growth, but because it would have been what Brady wanted. He would have wanted the above paragraphs because he would have laughed in genuine amusement and quietly be humbled that he was so well thought of. He would have mocked me mercilessly for it, and I would have enjoyed seeing my friend in such high spirits.

So, to get back at Brady by making him uncomfortable: to all you readers of sufficient age, a toast!

Here’s to Brady, the Commodore. You’ve been gone from us for a year, little brother. We miss you and will never forget you. Just know that, if you’re wrong about heaven and your soul is up there, I’m flipping you off as you would do for all of us.

You were my best friend, Brady. You were an acerbic ass and malicious mocker of verbal missteps, and I miss you.

Cheers, readers.

-JB Swift

8/17 Late for Tuesday’s Sunrise and Page Updates

The weather app kept saying that local sunrise was at 6:37, and I went wandering out of the house five minutes after, cranky and caffeinated.

A downside to living in a low-elevation rural area is that you know when the weather can make for a good photo, only you’re surrounded by towering pine trees. But you get what moments you can.

There’s some updates to the RPG site! Also, an interesting consequence: adding a new sport to that universe. It took some editing and seeking advice from other GameMasters, but I’ve added a new Character Biography page that details the Lady Sandhawk’s Chief Engineer (his early life, at least), Pilzuche Ozz.

https://swiftscorner.wordpress.com/pilzuche-ozz/

What I wasn’t expecting to develop from that is the need to add two new items on the “RPG Wiki” list: Ghetrek’d, a version of rugby, and the Kera-Mata, an interpretation of the Māori war dance, the haka. I’ll add more details over time, and I’m keenly interested in exploring the concept. But now that Ozz is on the site, I’m going back to the Adventure 2 writing.

With that, it’s time I clocked in and started slinging letters. Hopefully I’ll be done before the storm hits.

Stay safe, readers!

-JB Swift

08/16, Tuesday’s Teachings and Site Maintenance (Plus, a Route Cat!)

As you can see, I’m trying an addition to my post titles, but I don’t think I’ll ever resist the temptation of alliteration. It’s an odd little comfort in my writing.

Also as you can see, I’m handling a bit of teaching at the day-job today. Decades ago, a new-hire was given a full month of training/semi-apprenticeship. We’d learn how to sort the mail, maintain our address books, and develop the physical endurance needed to function as a postal worker.

Nowadays, there’s a week of class and three days of riding with a veteran carrier, then you learn the rest while on the job. I don’t approve of the modern training method, and I’m known for making sure that our new folks are given as much information as possible. Up to and including having the new-hire take written notes, and of course, letting them know they are free to ask questions.

There’ll be writing opportunities throughout the day, and I’ll be working on the site later, as well. Now that the schedule is posted, it’s apparently not fitting properly in the window. Because why should it work correctly the first time?

But I’ll figure it out and fix it in all good time. For now, it’s getting the 6yr ready for Kung Fu class and some quiet note-taking.

To finish out today’s post, I present to you: this route cat!

I can’t help but empathize with the cat. I’m usually ready for a nap when I’m walking by this mailbox, too.

Stay safe, readers.

-JB Swift

Sunday Yard Work, Page Posting, and Event Set-Up (Fixed)

Welp, apparently this post was supposed to go up on Sunday, but due to technical problems (I’m the technical problem), it only posted half and waited until Monday morning. Frustrating, as I was finally getting a daily posting habit down. But I’ll get it fixed and we’ll restart the posting numbers. So, here’s Sunday’s posting, readers:

When you work your day-job for 6 days a week, you have to accept that there will be chores you just can’t get to until Sunday.

Apparently, one of those chores should not be mowing the dog yard when Louisiana rain is almost daily. Went outside in the morning to see patches of grass so tall, I couldn’t see the corgi. Started to tackle it with the push mower, but the yard overwhelmed the humble battery-powered machine. Instead, I took out the weed-eater and went at it with the motions of scythe.

Took over an hour (found ant piles and killed them, found dog poop and cleared it) but the yard looks presentable and no longer like a hostel for snakes.

Now, why there are some patches where the grass withered when right next to them were candidates for a jungle, I have no idea. Gardening, I know, but apparently not grass management. Next on the list will be trimming the bushes down into a hedge. It’s an ongoing project for this exhausted postman.

But I did get some writing in, as well. I finally started my Postal Living page, and hopefully I can stick to my goal of having an essay written for a Sunday posting. Might need to go back over the first one, though. It reads more grumpy than amused (never write when annoyed, folks), so it’ll get some attention this week.

Made progress on Adventure 2, and it’s coming along better than last time. Who knew that having your source material in the correct file would be the thing you need when you’re obsessed about documents being in the right place? I’ve set for that to be posted by this Friday, so let’s see if I can meet that goal. I’ve also started work on more character pages, as well as updating the current ones as players read them over and realize they had background notes they never gave me. *exasperated sigh*

I’ve also figured out how to set up the Session Schedule! It’s on the menu for the Star Wars RPG selection at the top of the site.

Happy Sunday, readers!

-JB Swift

Last Nights’ Moon, Han’s Sleep Pattern Problems, and Writing Fixes

It was 1:30AM last night. I was between segments of my biphasic sleep pattern and preparing breakfast and lunch for the day-job, when who would toddle into the kitchen but my 6yr-old daughter.

“Heya, kid,” I said. “What brings you out here at this hour?” Were it a school night, she would’ve been sent scurrying back to bed, but it’s the weekend, so I don’t need to be strict.
“I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said, peering at the pan full of food. “Why are you cooking?”
I explained to the 6yr that sometimes, Dad wakes up and has to wait until he’s tired enough to go back to bed. In the meantime, there’s chores to do. “Sorry, kid, but you get it honest. I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. It’s rare when I sleep through the night.”
The 6yr stayed up for about an hour, asking questions while I went about the meal-prepping, cooking, storing, and cleanup. She asked for ways to get her to go back to sleep and was told to go read a book, since that has helped me in the past. She tried that and was passed out on the couch shortly after.

A Swift tradition, that.

Of course, I always have company during my “can’t go back to sleep” time. There are other gremlins that like to stare at me while I do my late-night cooking, just waiting for me to be clumsy.

After seeing to the sleeping gremlin-princess (she forgot a pillow and blanket but she did grab her portable night-light, bless her) I went about my own routine to get myself ready for bed. Dawn would be soon, and I wanted to be rested for the day shift. I did manage to get a decent picture of the night sky, with the full (or gibbous, I’m never sure) moon making its way across.

It was just when I felt like I could go back to bed when I realized something about the chapter I had been working on. I have been struggling to get it finished for the past week, but it had never come across as what I was looking for. I usually refer to my notes taken during the session when this occurs, but I couldn’t find the outline or session recording to factcheck myself (and this is precisely why I record the sessions, with the players consent, of course) so for a moment there, I was worried that I would have to do a complete rewrite.

When lo and behold, the recording had been accidentally downloaded into a different set of files, those meant for this sites’ wiki-styled articles! The outline was there! As excited as I was to be able to make headway, I told myself I could wait until the next evening or Sunday.

We have a session tonight! The Field Group has a terrific challenge ahead of them, and they’re going about it smartly, RPing their hyperspace journey as their strategy discussions. I’m looking forward to what they come up with.

Lunch break is done, so back to the mail I go. Stay safe, readers!

-JB Swift

He’s happy I’m home; he’s just old

This is five minutes after I’ve come back home from a long shift. He’s always stupidly happy when I come through the door, but once the formalities are out of the way, old man just wants his rug and for me to not leave my seat so he can justify staying there.

In a few minutes, the kids will be abed and I’ll be writing, so he’ll get his wish. But for now, there’s the chaos of parenting to behold!

-JB Swift

Old Man Casey’s Morning Routine and Computer Stress

I suspect he know I’m trying to leave when he suddenly does this instead of peeing in the morning. Oh no, Case, go ahead and take your time. Not like I have letters to sling or anything.

This is following the late-night stress that was my focused too intently on figuring out the calendar/scheduling problems that cropped up over the past day. I might be a millennial and have a basic understanding of technology, but when I say basic, I mean that wholeheartedly. The phrase “I don’t know what I’m doing” is reflexive once I have a computer in front of me.

But I eventually figured it out and sent word to my players about the upcoming events. I’ve debated linking that to the site so everyone could just come here to find out when a session will be available, but I couldn’t find a way to do that without my players’ identities being made public. That just isn’t something I’m willing to do without their permission.

At least today is one of the days this week where I don’t feel the need to skip lunch and be done early(ish). I packed the tablet with me and queued up my plots/chapters, so I’ll get some writing in during the day.

Back to slinging letters, readers. As a bonus, another majestic picture of Old Man Casey just living his best life.

He’s a good boy, and just as goofy as the rest of us.

Stay safe, readers!

-JB Swift

Early Morning Fog on an Unexpected Day Off

I’m betting it was the back-to-back 11.5 hour shifts. Maybe management is wanting me to take it easy and recover from the stresses of overwork. Or they had not gotten to my name on the “This Guy Don’t Need A Life” list before I had clocked out for the day.

Either way, I have a Day Off! It’ll be enforced by the Postal Tradition of “On my day off, I don’t have a phone and cannot be found”, while I wander around the house or to town to take care of chores and errands.

There will be a few writing sprints to attempt after the errands, but the next couple of days will also be used to refine the challenges for the Main Arc players. They’re in the Arc Finale Adventure, and while I don’t purposefully try to kill the characters, I want them to have an appropriate sense of difficulty.

The primary antagonist…oof. The players will have their work cut out for them.

While I’ve been considering the challenges of the day, be they physical or metaphorical, I was able to enjoy a few minutes of quiet on the front porch, while the woods around us was shrouded in the Louisiana fog.

Stay safe, readers!

-JB Swift