Skyscape³

On wanting to be a superhero

Wednesday November 2, 2011

I've been focusing on fitness a lot lately. I have time set five days a week to exercise at my local gym, and I generally get in anywhere from a half hour to an hour. On top of that, I walk back and forth to work for another 40 minutes of exercise a day.

I find heroines in video games and on television to be a huge motivator. Who doesn't want to be able to race against the pursuing alien forces across the rooftops of Hyllis like Jade in Beyond Good and Evil, or push their physical limits like Chell from the Portal series? 

My workout consists of weights, stretching, and cardio, and sometimes running when the weather is fine. I've been working hard, and have definitely noticed a little more clarity and muscle definition, even though my range of mobility and endurance have stayed relatively the same. 

The biggest obstacle I've come across has been from friends and family insisting that I "don't need to lose weight," asking "Why do you want to go to the gym? You look fine."

This whole effort isn't about weight loss. It's about better fitness, stronger limbs, and being a better me. I want to be just as strong as the characters who engage me so readily, and it's a real challenge to get the people around me to understand that. So many people equate physical activity to weight loss, and there's a real problem there. Fitness isn't just about weight. It's about goal-setting, endurance, and greater overall wellness in life.

I'm going to keep trying, and keep working toward peak health. The meat I'm made of is all I've got. I have to take care of it, and make it into the heroine I'd like to be.

Crippled by thriftiness

Wednesday April 27, 2011

I've been having a hard time lately balancing career and conspicuous consumption.

I don't have a smartphone. I don't even have a phone with a monthly plan: I purchase minutes whenever I need a top-up. And, as a result of my avoidance of a smartphone, I don't use Twitter in my daily life. It's such an expense - a $400 phone plus thousands in required plans and potential buyouts.

I don't have a tablet, an iDevice, or an MP3 player that does more than blink the song title happily back at me as I jog. I couldn't imagine spending more than my car (I drive clunkers) on a device that's obsolete in 6 months, while not providing any heavy computing power or even a keyboard in the meantime.

I don't use a PVR. I barely watch television: I sometimes use one of the radio-to-television stations while I clean, and I like being able to watch the newscast when I'm not at work, but were it not for those minor things I'd be canceling entirely. The idea of spending obscene amounts on a monthly television plan just doesn't gel.

I own a PS3 and a PC, but no other consoles. I own a limited library on my PS3, and play a minimal amount of video games on my computer. I only play the games I genuinely care about and want to spend money on: I'm notoriously cheap with video game purchasing. The photos of my friends' game collections make me cringe: even at an average $30 a game, they've spent a good portion of a university degree on games, and an untold number of hours.

So... by not having all of these trendy expensive toys, am I really hindering my career and the perception of my tech-savviness to those around me? Even the business write-off aspect doesn't increase the perceived value of having them. Is it unreasonable for a web developer in this day and age to avoid things that just don't make financial sense, even if they're becoming a bigger and bigger part of the job?

I see people who absolutely don't need these devices purchasing them, particularly those who have limited funds. It's confusing and discouraging to me: why go into debt for these tech toys? They don't even need them in their workplaces; they purchase them for the cool factor or for the kitsch.

I just can't do that. It's not that the money isn't there - I save heavily, and could easily afford all of the above devices. The issue is that I value having money in the future instead of things that give absolutely no value past their obsolescence... but is that removing my ability to make money and stay relevant in the future? It's quite the headache to me.

The limitations of Christmas

Thursday December 9, 2010

I have some really great new content to post over at Creat and my .com, but I can't. Why? Because they're gifts for people this holiday season!

I decided to invest more time in making gifts or in heavily customizing them. After last year's postponement of Christmas and the hustle and bustle surrounding my aunt and my dad, it's kind of nice to have the time to spend with making gifts something people genuinely want or will enjoy. 

I actually forgot about some of the gifts I had found much earlier in the season. That made shopping a bit easier. I took a bit of time off work to get things done when things would still be calm in stores during the week.

In my family, Christmas is very important. I want to do my best to make it a good one this year!

Cold and calculating

Thursday November 25, 2010

My electrical bill doubled for the month of November. After a call to Hydro and a call to my landlord, I was fairly confident it wasn't a billing mistake. I realized what the culprit was: my space heater. While my estimated calculations didn't quite match the increase, it still is the most likely cause.

When the radiators go out, it's the only heat I have. When I go to sleep, it keeps my feet warm enough to let me sleep through the night. When my clothes and shoes are soaked through, it dries them thoroughly for wear the next day instead of four days later.

I really like my space heater, but I just can't justify that kind of a cost. The device itself cost less than running it. It's made me a little sad, but I guess it's back to wearing big fluffy socks to sleep.

It's been a while... really

Wednesday November 10, 2010

After breaking my personal and professional blog apart, Skyscape3 fell to the wayside. Switching over the database and reskinning the design proved to be a chore I just didn't want to do. As a result, I haven't blogged in the past year. I wrote draft articles, but I had nowhere to put them, and so this place kind of just sunk into a non-functioning mess.

It was probably for the best that I didn't have my blog running in the past year. Many events - the loss of my aunt, my dad's battle with cancer, the decline in the use of my hands due to severe tendonitis, and others - were best left without an additional distraction.

I'll be going through old blog posts and unpublishing the ones I'd rather not have public over the next while, and I'll be fixing up a few other things, but everything should be up to speed fairly soon.

Hopefully I can get back to a steady stream of thoughts and content, and share more of my photography. I really do miss this place.

Thanks for your patience. It really has been a while, hasn't it?