All

This weekend was rather special for me. I went to a wedding. Not in itself very special, except that it was for a friend of mine, Mike, who I haven’t seen for years, and a friend I knew I missed, but didn’t know how much I missed until I got to spend time with him again.

While waiting in the church, we were entertained by a few musicians as well as a choir of creaking pews and people continually shifted, hoping to find that one position that would allow them to sit comfortably. That position doesn’t exist, I’m sure it.

Then Mike walks in with his groomsmen, a few of whom I’ve known just as long and missed just as much. To see Mike, you’d never think the guy has had a bad day in his entire life. He always looks happy. Despite that, as he waited at the front of the church he wore a grin of pure joy.

The music begins anew and the bridesmaids come down the aisle, met by the groomsmen counterparts. This is something we’ve all seen dozens, if not hundreds, or times. But it’s also something we never tire of. Perhaps it’s the pageantry of it all. We get to see a parade of ladies who look even more beautiful than they normally do, men who have shed their casual garments to impress in tuxedos.

And then there’s the bride. No matter how gorgeous the bridesmaids look, the bride is always more radiant. This weekend was no different. Mike’s bride, Jaclyn, was beautiful. It was difficult to pull my eyes away, but remembering how I felt when I saw my own wife come down the aisle, how the air in my throat seemed to solidify, I had to see Mike’s face.

I turned just in time to see his trademark goofy grin turn into a smile of a true happiness, and he gently dabbed a tear away from his eye. This too, was beautiful.

The remainder of the ceremony was pretty standard aside from an odd reference to the movie A Knight’s Tale by the priest. Odd choice. I would have though he would have chosen something a little more recent or….good.

Our time at the reception reminded me why we had all become such good friends in the first place. It also made me sad that I hadn’t been around for so many years. These guys lived in one city and I another. It’s not a good excuse, but it’s the only one I’ve got! All excuses aside, I’ve made a vow to myself, and others, to get away from my city and visit theirs far more often. In fact, my good friend Adam gave me 365 days to make the next visit happen.

Great wedding, great party, great people. Thank you so much for inviting me, Mike and Jaclyn. I couldn’t be more honoured to have been a part of your big day.

Only 364 more days to plan another visit!

A week after finishing the second draft of Living Legend, I find myself being quite unproductive. Sure, I’ve done a little work on my website, and some bathroom renovation, but I was hoping to write some short stories before November and that just doesn’t seem to be happening.

All of the above has me wondering about the power of a deadline. I had one for Living Legend. I was the only person holding me to that deadline, but it still existed. I don’t really have a deadline for anything on all of October. It’s a ‘let it all hang out’ kind of month.

Time Management Ninja (http://timemanagementninja.com) claims that tight deadlines are the best way to get anything done. If you have a project that you think will take you 5 days, set your deadline for 4. The reason? If a project will realistically take a few months, but it’s given a deadline of 3, the project will somehow take 3 months. If the deadline is for 6 months, it’ll magically take 6 months.

According to the TM Ninja, tight deadlines ignite creativity, reduce wasted time, build confidence and make the impossible possible.

Maybe this is why I haven’t done anything this month. I’ve told myself they’re things I’m going to do in October. Perhaps when this October is winding down, and there are only a few days left, I’ll scramble and finish 3 or even 4 short projects.

Beyond work, taking care of my kids, and writing the only other thing I’ve really put any time into is a game called Infinity Blade III on the iPad. I’ve always been a big fan of this game series.

When the first one came out, it seemed expensive since most games were free or $0.99. $1.99 was considered expensive, but IB came out costing $6.99! To be fair, the graphics looked better than any other iOS game I had seen to date, it was a unique type of game, and the people who hadn’t been scared off by the price were raving about it. So I bought it.

I was blown away.

When the second game came out a while later, I didn’t hesitate. And when the third was released recently, I was waiting for release day.

What I’m really impressed with is the story this game brings. Not just the story during the course of the game, although it is fairly interesting. Author Brandon Sanderson wrote 2 novellas that bridge that gap between games. The first book, Awakening, picks up where the first game ends, giving readers and gamers some of the answers to lingering questions. The second game then picks up where the first book ends. And the second book picks up where the second game ends. And I’m sure you can guess where the story of the third game picks up.

What I’m getting at is that none of the story is retold. Nothing is recycled or rehashed in an effort to get more money out of fans. It’s all original story, and to get it all you’ll need to experience both the games and the books. That impressed me even more than the game. CHAIR had taken the two hobbies I love the most and combined them into one experience.

If this has convinced anyone to give the Infinity Blade series a try, do yourself a favour and start with the original game. By jumping ahead you’ll rob yourself of the whole experience. To be fair, though, anyone who would want to give this series a try, probably already has.

My site had begun, but it’s an unorganized, half-developed mess with no real value or content. Kind of reminds me of a teenager’s bedroom.

Yes! Much to mom’s aggravation, I was one of those teens with the eternally messy room. Though in my case I’m not sure the word messy did my disastrous room justice. I’ve seen pictures of houses after a natural disaster that still looked better than my room. My own wife, who knew me back in high school, told me long after our high school days that she was horrified to sit anywhere in my room. It’s shameful to think about now, but until I’ve completed a working time machine all I can do is push forward.

What does that mean? The continuing development of this site. What you’re going to see for a while is something that looks half done (because it is) with posts that are these for testing only. Eventually, however, the site will be fully functioning and will blossom with at least half-relevant content.

At that time if anyone were to look far enough back and see this post. It won’t make a bit of sense.

Hello user from the future! If you think my site is bad now you should have seen it when I made this post!