Everyone here in Administration continues to struggle with the malaise that has crept into the bunker like a common brigand. There are large-scale projects and events in the hopper that are set to happen in the next few weeks and we are all bracing for those things to go off swimmingly. These preparations continue to demand extra time and attention, pulling focus from other, more interesting if not essential, projects.
Countdown to Surgery: T-Minus Three Weeks
This week’s ailment du jour is a bout of insomnia, an oldie but a goodie, from back in the day. I can’t seem to quiet my brain and that’s playing merry Hell with my sleep schedule, a thing I’ve worked really hard to establish in the last two years. It seems I am bound and determined to do as much self-sabotage as possible before the hammer comes down.
This isn’t coming out of the blue; I’ve done two pre-admittance interviews this week, all because the anesthesiologist took a look at me and the operation and decreed that he wouldn’t knock me unconscious unless we were at the hospital. So...yeah, now I’m dealing with United Regional, the same people that...well, insert the past four years of medical drama here. This is not a complaint against the hospital or its staff. It’s just that, well, the last time I was there, I was dealing with Cathy’s terminal diagnosis. The time before that, I’d spent a week in the hospital for nearly going into sepsis. I’m a little gun shy, okay?
Janice has been a pillar through all of this; one of her super powers is the ability to speak medically to other health care people. She’s a black belt in bureaucratic red tape, too. I am not sure how I would have fared if she hadn’t been here, making sure I was saying the right things to them, and in turn, making sure what was being said to me wasn’t out of bounds.
In Other News...
I’d hoped that I would be able to do some creative returns this year, but personal health goals continue to take priority. One of those projects is the Yet-to-Launch Podcast, a thing that requires both a writing component and a performance component in order to happen, for which, I am short on energy at the moment. I’m still working on it, you see, but I don’t have the thing ready that I wanted to present you with: a little sneak preview of the format and a couple of the characters. All I do have is some spiffy music, arranged and performed by my old friend Ben Gibbs, who you may know from any number of past projects we’ve worked on together. As badly as I want to show off the theme music he composed, I am going to hold off until my end of the deal is done; namely, voicing some stuff.
In the meantime, and speaking of podcastery, here’s a couple of things I’ve done recently (and not so recently) that you may have missed.
The 42Cast is an ensemble show I appear on from time to time to talk about geeky stuff (no, really?) and the links below are parts one and two of a three part conversation about role playing games, a deep dive that covers most of my experiences with them. Shaun Rosado and Kimi Hughes are panelists, along with me, and Nathan holds down the fort, or tries to, when we aren’t bulldozing through the conversational points.
Role Models Part 1: Gaining Experience
Role Models Part 2: Mind Games
And it’s been a while since I’ve done a Gentlemen Nerds show, but here’s one we did late last year about Sounds and Geekery, sort of an ASMR2-D2 kind of thing. The episode is a lot of fun, but you’ll want to stick around for the bonus track, from my old Violet Crown Radio Player days—a Lux Radio Theater style version of King Kong, full cast audio and sound effects, and it’s free, ladies and gents. Free! Get it now, before I change my mind.
The Gentlemen Nerds: Episode 99: Silence and Sound
Bonus Episode: The Violet Crown Radio Players Present: King Kong!
So about the insomnia… I find getting out of your own head helps. May I recommend a couple of things?
Alexa, if you have one, is sometimes the Orwellian nightmare we were warned about but it can also be a boon. Say the following incantation over her: “Alexa, play Station: Meditation” and, on a low volume, allow the music to wash through & around you. It’s the kind of thing I play for my massage clients.
Also available to you is found on the YouTube. Search for “Lubuskie Centrum Czystości”. This dude cleans carpets. And I know, I know… what’s so different about him? And I have two words: CAMERA ANGLES. And two more: SOOTHING MUSIC. And three more: SLOW MOTION SHOTS. If you are not mildly relaxed while watching this guy methodically & proudly clean the dirtiest, most garish carpets in Poland, then I don’t know how to help you.
Pro tip: Watch the carpet cleaning on mute & play Station: Meditation AT THE SAME TIME. Thank me later.