Stress...

I found this note the other day saved in a folder from long ago, sent by my regional manager in 2007. (Incidentally, that year, I failed to follow its advice, but I've done much better since then.)

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water & asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.”

“If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all of the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.”

Some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

• Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.
• Keep your words soft & sweet, in case you have to eat them.
• If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
• When everything’s coming your way, you are in the wrong lane.
• Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

April plans for Forsaken Realm!

So, Akeem and I are in talks to come back to York and have a little release party at the Sylvia Theatre on Thursday Night, April 28th. We haven't announced it officially just yet, and gauging the level of interest in this is pretty difficult, but we think it would be a lot of fun, and pretty neat.

Since the book comes will be available for purchase at the beginning of April, we are hoping that attendees of the event (it would be free) will have had an opportunity to have gotten their copy and have read it by that day.

Akeem's so excited that he's already created a poster for advertising the event, pictured on the left.

And then life...slowed...down...

Today, I realized that continuously checking my email was unnecessary. I had been in the habit of receiving about 20-30 emails per day, nearly half of which needed to be responded to right away. To this end, I got a data plan for my phone not incredibly long ago to cut down on the difficulty inherent in being able to address issues in a timely manner.

Today, I received two emails. Two. The smart phone that I got to keep me from going crazy juggling my responsibilities at work a little while ago is now a completely unnecessary Facebook conduit. Do I like it? Well, it's a funny thing when you get what you want. I think it will take some getting used to.

On the plus side, in our larger space here, I've been able to unpack action figures that were stored for years, as well as bust out my old comic books, including my favorites. In the 90s, during the height of the comic book market explosion, a book called Excalibur was written and drawn by a guy named Alan Davis. It featured three former X-men who went to England and teamed up with a couple of superheroes there. You know how people get upset when they adapt a British sitcom for American audiences? This was the opposite. Imagine 3 main characters from a very popular American action show thrust into a British storyline, frequently with humorous overtones. It was quirky and amazing. During a time when comics kept getting darker and darker, this strange spin-off stressed adventure over action, magic over mutants, and I loved it.

Anyway, if you're going to simplify and streamline, and slow your life down, it'll probably be okay if you find some long-lost comics to remind you of who you used to be. And if you find some old Alan Davis Excaliburs, check them out.

Megaman X

A few days ago, Xavier read his first word. The reason that I know this is because CeCe squealed with delight in a manner that was certain to be heard not only by our current state, but indeed, any other states in which we have resided. I was proud, to be sure, he quickly followed his success in sounding out then reading CAT by reading CAN, but my level of excitement paled in comparison to CeCe's. I thought it was perhaps because I am a far worse parent (I am, by the way, I can admit it), but then today, I squealed over something that CeCe barely cares about. That's right, that is a picture of Xavier playing Megaman (part 9, which is an 8-bit game). Today he learned to walk, jump, and shoot, and die over and over again. I'm soooo proud!