Thanks, everyone, for your well-wishes and expressions of sympathy last week. I really appreciate it, and it only serves to remind me what an amazing community I’m a part of and what a great family I’ve built for myself, brick by brick. I’m so grateful for all of you out there. It makes trying to wrap my brain around everything so much easier.
Today is the first day of June, which means it’s summer now? I’ve definitely noticed a yearning for cold, crisp white wines at the end of the day and a more robust short-sleeved wardrobe, so let’s say yes. One of the things I’d really love to work on this month is focus and consistency. I’m really good at setting up plans and projects, but really terrible with follow-through. Any suggestions or tips you could give for keeping true to the grind would be much appreciated.
Professionally I’m entering somewhat uncharted territory. I really don’t have a mind for tech; coding and programming requires such an eye for detail, and I’m just too scatter-brained to be effective. But it looks like my best opportunity for career growth is diving deeper into the technical support department I’m an administrator for. So I’m going to give it the old college try, digging into the software we sell as a solution and trying to pick up skills related to it — namely Linux administration and PostGreSQL.
I’ve also purchased a local Amazon deal for an online project management course, and I’m starting to get back into my French studies. I’m constructing a bit of a self-directed college semester around these three things, and I’m hoping by the end of the year I’ll have made significant progress in all three areas. By January 2016, I’d like to have finished the user’s guide for my company’s software and begun basic troubleshooting on support cases; finished the project management course I’ve signed up for; and begun work on Level 3 of the Rosetta Stone French course.
I’m also planning to join the Clarion Write-A-Thon again this year. The Write-A-Thon is…well, just that — during the Clarion Workshop taking place this summer in San Diego, writers set goals (six short stories in six weeks, or 50,000 words during that time for example) and work on them while raising money for the Clarion program. The money raised goes towards continuing to attract the top talent in Sci-Fi/Fantasy for an intensive program, and to offer scholarships towards so many deserving writers who would like to go but can’t due to financial difficulties.
Ryan went to Clarion last year, and another friend (and awesome writer!) Tim Susman went in 2011. Someday before the end of the decade, I hope to be there. The motivational push I get from the Write-A-Thon is quite significant, and it means a lot to me to be able to drum up help and visibility for the cause! If you’re interested in donating early, please feel free to sponsor me here: http://clarionwriteathon.org/members/profile.php?writerid=599479
Now that I’ve gotten that plug out of the way, writing has been happening in fits and starts as ever. This month before the Write-a-Thon, I want to focus on having as much fun with it as I can. For the longest time writing has been a source of stress for me; I want to make it good, but right now my experience just isn’t strong enough to do that. So screw it. Expect to fail with what I’m trying to do for now, but have fun with that failure; swing for the fences, and either strike out or get a single. You know, to torture the analogy further.
Diet and exercise are two spots in my life that are actually going OK so far; that’s a whole different post for now, and I wanted to make this one reasonably quick so I can get back to all the other stuff I need to do. I hope you’re well, fam. See you on Wednesday.
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 