My Actifit Report Card: March 11 2021

I got a new phone, and this one has a working accelerometer, so I’m going to get back into tracking my steps.

I also need to get better about sticking to my writing schedule, so this will be the place where I narc on myself whenever I don’t get stuff done.

I’ve been a little less active than usual because it’s Lent, so I’m not going on my long morning walk to get a caffeinated beverage. I went out to the local duck pond this morning, which is very local so it didn’t get me all that much in the way of activity. However, I haven’t been in a while and it was fun to see the ducks.

The same pair that’s been around basically forever is there, and there’s a gray one that’s been with them for at least a year now.

Once I got back I cooked breakfast and did some listening to economics stuff. I’ve really been on quite an economics kick, which is good and bad.

It’s good because at least I’m learning something. It’s bad because I’m probably not learning anything with direct relevance to my life.

I had some stuff due for one of my classes, so I wrote it up. That involved giving a writing sample, which I tend to have lots on hand.

The one I used was a piece that I sketched out for a novel. I’ve been tweaking and nudging my fiction style for the novel I’m going to work on soon. I want it to feel incredibly raw and intense, with just sheer kinetic energy. It ties into my Exoworld game that I’ve been writing about (check out my blog @loreshapergames), and I’ve been pretty excited to work on it, but I’m still finishing the concept phase and fleshing out the lore of the universe a little more so I don’t break anything as I write.

Here’s an excerpt:

I turn the corner and I’m face-to-face with a guy holding a gun. Barely human. Spurned. I know there’s a person behind the angles. He’s got the same eye-shine I do. Shared blood. Different branch of the family tree, though.

And family feuds are the worst. My hands go up, palms outward.

“I’m not your enemy.”

He doesn’t scatter my brains across the alley. “Why are you here, Exemplar?”

I calm myself. There’s a chance. I pull down my sleeve.

“See this?”

Red star, gold outline. Six skulls underneath. Above when my hands are up. He recognizes it as something an Exemplar would never have. “You’re a long way from home, Red.”

“Had a falling-out with them. Still hate the Exemplars. As much as you do.”

He hesitates. I pick up the slack. “Want to talk to your boss, make him my boss.”

I run an undercurrent of the Umbriel accent in my voice. It works. He lowers the gun.

It’s not finished yet, especially that final little paragraph. It won’t all be so start-and-stop, but I wanted to evoke the frenetic feel of the scene.

Then I spent most of the day catching up on news and doing more economics stuff. It’s interesting how much I can make a day disappear when I don’t have a regular day job.

Then I spent a significant chunk of time working on a book on pacifism. I’ve felt particularly compelled to write it and make a case for pacifism because it seems like the most noble of all goals. But I’ve also been putting it off because I don’t know that I’m sufficiently articulate.

Of course, I can let myself get down about how little I accomplished. I should have sent out a couple resumes, since my academic program is nearly done and I need a job soon, but I’ve been putting that off and focusing on my writing.

That’s not to say that what I’m working on isn’t important. But it probably won’t feed me. I need to make sure that I’m heading in that direction sooner rather than later.

This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io

Walking