Random Raves 54: You will succeed. It is inevitable.

[Gori the Grey]

Ha ha! That didn't take long! (As it wouldn't also with me; I'd have just skipped the freezer stage altogether).

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Ha ha! That didn't take long! (As it wouldn't also with me; I'd have just skipped the freezer stage altogether).

It lasted from Saturday afternoon until Monday night. For a Creme Egg, that's a long time.

Now I have a few more chocolate goodies. There's a lady who lives on the ground floor who does baking and usually makes a batch of mini-banana muffins for the manager and staff. The manager keeps the plate in his office and shares with the staff and any tenants who wander in. This particular day, someone else dropped off some assorted chocolate bars, and when I was told I could help myself, I came away with two muffins and a few chocolate things. I'd never heard of a couple of them, but one of them was a Coffee Crisp - regular size, not one of those pint-size Halloween ones. So I came away with a nice haul of goodies today.

The muffins were good - freshly baked. The chocolate is still in the freezer. It should last longer than the Creme Egg did.

 

[warpus]

Whoa, we can see the northern lights here. At this time of year.. At this time of the day.. Localized entirely in the night sky

A bunch of my family members and other relatives and some friends are/were just outside right now staring up and taking pictures. It's not super bright but you can see it! I've never experienced this in my life before, it doesn't feel like it should have really impacted me much, but I feel like I was just a part of something. Seems silly but it was fun to share with people close to me. I guess maybe it's just that it's a cool once in a lifetime thing and it's an unexpected positive, distracts you from the stresses of life, and everyone was all excited about it at the same time, texting each other, sharing pictures, etc. Made me feel a bit like a kid again.

Must have been a hell of a solar storm! I hope it doesn't mess anything up. Is anyone else seeing this?

My phone's camera sucks so I can't post any photos. But you can see one somebody took from my town here

 

[Birdjaguar]

Nice picture!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

You're two hours ahead of me and it's not dark enough yet to see anything. I've got a northeast exposure outside my windows and a larger window a couple of corridors over. I'll have to wait a bit. Plus it's cloudy.

I remember reading a headline or something about increased solar activity that's visible further south: Solar storm could bring northern lights to Southern Canada

Anyway, go out and enjoy it. I remember one time in January, standing outside in my housecoat for about half an hour, completely mesmerized. It was about -20C, thankfully no wind, and my dad thought I was insane. I stayed as long as there was something to look at, and it was really bizarre, seeing what looked like a whirlpool of color up in the sky overhead.

My dad had hot cocoa ready for me, and didn't give me a hard time even though it was after midnight. That was in the vicinity of 20 or so years ago.

​

 

[Arakhor]

It was too cloudy to see anything last night. I couldn't even see a single star.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Too cloudy here, as well. Actually, some of that haze could be smoke from wildfires both from BC and elsewhere in Alberta. Either way, the Northern Lights weren't visible here last night (the Moon was, though, very thin crescent in the west).

 

[warpus]

We had a weird fog here that added to the mystique of everything. It was like.. semi-foggy and shifted around suspiciously. At times it was tough to see where the fog/mist began and where the northern lights ended. But when the northern lights colours came out stronger it was more obvious

 

[Hygro]

I got a job this past week. So ends 18 months of uncertainty and increasing credit card debt.

 

[Synobun]

I got a job this past week. So ends 18 months of uncertainty and increasing credit card debt.

I had no idea you lost the job from that bootcamp program you were in. What happened with that? Crazy hours/pressure?

 

[Hygro]

I had no idea you lost the job from that bootcamp program you were in. What happened with that? Crazy hours/pressure?

The bootcamp finished, they hired me for part time work later while I looked for my first real job in the industry. I joined a large firm that serviced many big box retailers' tech needs. It was fully remote and I was doing a bunch of trainings in bed, in hammocks in the tropics, it was a mixture of the best ever and super boring. I paid down a bunch of debt, lived well. I won their intra company hackathon, 1st place, against hundreds of more senior level engineers. Probably helped I didn't have much on my plate but still.

They laid off the first round of new hires after the hackathon, but me and my team survived. Who else they kept and cut seemed to have no rhyme or reason.

Then they told me they wanted to make me a manager. Then they laid me off and said "all the other companies are doing it." And "the economy is uncertain". They laid off almost all their new hires by the next round of layoffs, all the best ones including the one guy I told them they should definitely not let go.


I then joined a startup looking to make a way to connect disabled people with functional off-the-rack, not "adaptive", clothing where I learned a ton and got paid nothing. Venture funding has all but dried up. And then the CEO got called into war against Gaza. :| It was basically just the two of us. And while he did a lot for finding partners and making waves, the product was tech and that was 100% on me, and I need an income to focus like that.

Anyway the hiring market in tech has been terrible, and finally through a friend found a position at her company who is desperately understaffed in the tech department.

It's kind of a dream position from a pay meets flexibility meets nature of work. It should be quasi easy, but still challenging enough and creative, in all the right languages and (lack of) frameworks. The hours are low, the pay is good, so I get to chill in the middle.

 

[Tee Kay]

Edit: wait this the rave thread, thought this was rants

Uhhhh rave is therapy has really been good for me lately and I'm unpacking a lot of mental stuff from decades ago and I finally feel like I'm healing as opposed to changing band-aids.

 

[Narz]

Edit: wait this the rave thread, thought this was rants

Uhhhh rave is therapy has really been good for me lately and I'm unpacking a lot of mental stuff from decades ago and I finally feel like I'm healing as opposed to changing band-aids.

What style of therapy & did you have a good vibe from the therapist from the get go?

 

[Tee Kay]

What style of therapy & did you have a good vibe from the therapist from the get go?

just your usual CBT and some EMDR

yeah good vibes from the get go. I generally know if I like a therapist from the first session. I've had two previous ones who were like this, about a 50% hit rate.

I do have to pay a bit out of pocket. Ten sessions a year are partially rebated by the government healthcare here, but it's still 100 AUD out of pocket each session. But it's worth it. I'm in a virtuous cycle of therapy -> communicating better with people in general -> doing better in life in general -> better therapy sessions.

 

[Narz]

Congrats glad to hear

 

[warpus]

Bought some walking shoes for my Portugal trip yesterday. Badly needed good walking shoes in the first place, but I HATE going shoe or clothing shopping. Finally got off my butt and picked out a really nice and comfy pair of shoes that fit me well. They are "casual hikers", with no ankle support, waterproof, but basically look like the sort of shoes you'd wear on a walk around town or on a short hike. So they should be perfect for my trip! Key is that they are super comfy, I ended up trying 6 pairs or so until I landed on the best fit and look that I was happy with. So I am pretty happy with this purchase and excited about my trip

 

[dusters]

I started penpaling with a woman in Japan who wants to learn more about Latvian culture.

I get to ask her about modern day Japan, but she isn't as interested in history as I am. I plan to ask more about herstory though.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I joined a writers' group on FB that's for 50+. It's an interesting mix of people, including one person who's blind and uses some sort of technology aid that lets her 'read' and 'see' what's online, whether text or pictures. I mentioned my Merlin/Highlander crossover and that I'm still researching the Glencoe Massacre... and one of them promptly said she grew up around there, her mother's ancestors include the Macdonalds, and a grandmother's ancestors include the Campbells. "Ask me anything," she said, and gave me permission to message her.

When I figure out a list of questions, this should give me some good information to go on, since I'm trying to keep the historical parts of this fanfic as accurate as possible within the context of a crossover between two historical fantasy shows.

 

[dusters]

I joined a writers' group on FB that's for 50+. It's an interesting mix of people, including one person who's blind and uses some sort of technology aid that lets her 'read' and 'see' what's online, whether text or pictures. I mentioned my Merlin/Highlander crossover and that I'm still researching the Glencoe Massacre... and one of them promptly said she grew up around there, her mother's ancestors include the Macdonalds, and a grandmother's ancestors include the Campbells. "Ask me anything," she said, and gave me permission to message her.

When I figure out a list of questions, this should give me some good information to go on, since I'm trying to keep the historical parts of this fanfic as accurate as possible within the context of a crossover between two historical fantasy shows.

It is funny that I loved Highlander series, my username on discord is Quickening to this day. I also love Merlin as an archetype - wise old man, powerful, peaceful, loving. I would love to read your crossover whenever it's finished.

I sent 3 stories to the biggest literature journal in Latvia and they said they would read it. Almost 2 months has passed without a reply from them.

Stories I write are eccentric -
First is about a boy who stopped growing at age of 12 physically, but mentally he kept growing
Second is about secret societies on Earth and fall of them
Third is about a Japanese man who just retired and gets an AI companion, a robot to talk to to feel less lonely

I visited a critic at Latvian Writer's Union in January and he once again said that my ideas are unique enough to be interesting for readers. I have written fiction for 15 years now.

So at the moment it is up to me to find someone who is going to publish these stories in paper. They are short - about 8, 6 and 2 pages long.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It is funny that I loved Highlander series, my username on discord is Quickening to this day. I also love Merlin as an archetype - wise old man, powerful, peaceful, loving. I would love to read your crossover whenever it's finished.

I sent 3 stories to the biggest literature journal in Latvia and they said they would read it. Almost 2 months has passed without a reply from them.

Stories I write are eccentric -
First is about a boy who stopped growing at age of 12 physically, but mentally he kept growing
Second is about secret societies on Earth and fall of them
Third is about a Japanese man who just retired and gets an AI companion, a robot to talk to to feel less lonely

I visited a critic at Latvian Writer's Union in January and he once again said that my ideas are unique enough to be interesting for readers. I have written fiction for 15 years now.

So at the moment it is up to me to find someone who is going to publish these stories in paper. They are short - about 8, 6 and 2 pages long.

I wish you luck. It can be a bit of a slog and exercise in patience to get published. I have a friend in BC (next province to the west) who wrote travel articles about 20 years ago, and he created the Fuzzy Knights webcomic. He also created the original version of the Iron Pen competition that I have run here (very sporadically, I'll admit). I used to compete in Iron Pen on the gaming forum where it originated, and took it over when my friend decided to drop it in favor of getting serious about writing his first novel.

Along with the story came the business of trying to find an agent and writing cover letters and resumes. I ended up reading SIX drafts of that novel (I was one of the people who helped with editing and feedback), and to this day I consider it a fun read. It's a shame that's not the one that actually sold, but years later he's a published novelist and the webcomic is still going.


It's going to take quite awhile before that Merlin/Highlander story is done. I've barely started writing, since I'm still in the preliminary ideas/research stage (some scenes and dialogue get written down when they pop into my head, though, so some of it's written). The BBC Merlin series takes place (loosely) in the 6th century and I'm taking these characters up to present-day. So that's 1500 years' worth of storyline to decide.

Because it's a Highlander crossover, of course I'll be using some Highlander characters but will avoid using the same historical events that were used in the TV series. THANK GOODNESS someone posted a series of videos on YT that show every single historical flashback Duncan MacLeod has in the series, covering each century he's lived. That way I know which events to avoid, while not putting any of those characters in an impossible situation of having to be in two places at once, or not having enough travel time to get where they need to be. These videos are hours and hours each, but they've saved me loads of research time that I'd have to spend watching each episode and taking notes. It's also a great way to trace the lives of some of the secondary and recurring characters, like Amanda, Methos, and Hugh Fitzcairn.

BBC Merlin's version of Merlin is a young man who's about 19 in Season 1 and the series covers approximately 10 years. He does have an "Old Merlin" disguise he uses a few times, but thankfully that's not the main version of the character. And while this version of Merlin is immortal, it's not the same kind of immortality that the Highlander Immortals have. So I had to decide which Merlin character would become Immortal (had to be childless, and die a quick, violent death that doesn't involve beheading; I decided to toss the nonsense about having to be a foundling, since I see this version of immortality as a rare genetic mutation, rather than some changeling silliness).


I've never submitted anything for professional publication, since I write fanfiction and that isn't something that can be professionally published. But my understanding is that it can take weeks or months to hear back.