Courtesy, Family Stuff, and Writing

[davetheanalyzer]

 The end of another month. I didn’t revert to vacuuming my house hangout section every two weeks after all. My nephew had laid out track on the 11^th and I didn’t have the nerve to ask they be removed. I left it to this Sunday, where my dad helped. This time, there wasn’t as many corrections, though I’m unsure if it’s because I’m doing it more correctly or he decided to let mistakes slide. He took up vacuuming the wall and ceiling corners and other places, which I surmise I’ll be taught at some point. We finished within an hour, which was a relief. Dad talked about tackling other parts of the house next on a weekday but I hope we can reserve it for weekends. It isn’t exactly fun but it’s necessary especially for my asthma and at least it gets me some exercise. 

Speaking of dad, he is revisiting his childhood. He’s always been inclined to mechanical pursuits, so he’s been ordering toy tracks from Ebay, the kind that were popular around his youth, and commandeering the main living room for their use. They aren’t always the same model, so he has to MacGyver them together. He’s often ordering new tracks, announcing bids and the countdown to sale (Don’t worry, he isn’t spending much money apparently).

It’s caused some annoyance in the household, but with his sucky job, it’s his one outlet where he could let loose and have fun. He seems to find the challenges of putting the track together and losing bids fun. Me, I’ve just learned to automatically look at the floor when I enter the living room and hopscotch around. I rarely go in anyway for more than taking my nebulizer if it’s too late at night, so I quickly adapted. However, he’s rearranged the tracks so they aren’t in the way as much.

Done with the chapter 15 rough draft of We Will Hold On Forever. I’ve been anticipating writing these scenes for a long time but they mostly went okay. One element I’m handling well but the rest don’t always go as planned. Rewrites are definitely in the future, since I want those scenes to have the punch they deserve.

I’m still fiddling with the Godzilla one-shot when I have the time. I’m trying to make sure everyone is in-character and editing down parts is still a challenge. I can only get them down a page instead of several like I read in writing advice. I just want to cover so much and it takes several goes for me to let go of sentences. Ah well, hopefully I’ll learn better from experience.

And speaking of experience, I’m working on another draft for my original story in Writing Portfolio. I don’t like it much. Maybe the second go-around I dislike a bit less but this should be an “and-time-passes” summary and I feel like I’m spinning my wheels when writing out those scenes. I tried to introduce worldbuilding into them so they have purpose but I’m unsure of how successful I’ve been. I’ll do some last edits and post author notes on my intentions but I wonder if I should mention this ambivalence. That might sway the feedback, even if I’m going to post it at the bottom. Maybe only mention it briefly.

My helper asked me to poke the volunteer job place, and it turned out they had jobs available. I was originally going to go last Wednesday but our not-snow day cancelled it so I went this Wednesday. I was tempted to bring my phone but I was unsure of how to enter new Internet connections, so I brought my laptop as usual. I decided to play a analysis video and audio drama as I stuffed envelopes, my helper unpicked something from something else for it to be reused, we tore wrapping from square cloth items, and organized cookies in clear boxes. I admit, I kind of lagged on the last one as pausing the audio drama led me to click around online. I’ll do better next time. We couldn’t see any movies this month but we plan to see A Wrinkle in Time next week and at least my other March release picks are still playing.

Instead, I went to a play. I’m not into plays unless Mom is in them, in which case familial obligation kicks in. I usually turn down invitations to see them but my rejections in the last two or so weeks made me wonder if I was missing out on something. I could get very used to routine. Maybe I should branch out a bit? So with some reluctance on Saturday, I decided to go with a family friend to a local play about Einstein and Picasso meeting at an inn. We got there a bit late. That combined with not always hearing what the actors were saying spoiled my mood and I couldn’t muster much interest. There were some neat or cool moments but on the whole I wouldn’t have regretted missing it.

I’m guilty to admit I might have almost said something rude to one of the actresses who knew Mom. I said it was fine but got cut off by the family friend before I could add in maybe too blunt terms it wasn’t my thing. I mentioned that to the family friend and Mom, and she must have talked with him, for she came to me later and talked about faking enjoying plays when interacting with the crew, complimenting a certain aspect or saying it wasn’t my cup of tea. For example, I could have said I was impressed at how well they stood still for certain moments. I was annoyed at being suggested to tell lies, but selective and polite truths are a bit easier for me to swallow.

Then I saw a Tumblr post scolding people who don’t pretend to enjoy going to theaters or other events with friends or family, and I started feeling guilty. I’ll try to go for the selective truth thing next time. I don’t think anyone noticed my expression or thoughts but I don’t want to be that kind of jerk. I could also turn down theater invitations. Others wouldn’t have to suffer my annoyed or bored tolerance and I could occupy my time with something I really enjoy.

That’s all for now. I’m trying to catch up on fanfic writings I fell behind on, and getting through a long school reading. I hate it when the former happens. Ah well. Until the end of April, See you!