Rae Roy

This week could be better. I lost a family member due to depression. I found out about my uncle on Monday evening. My DSLR camera has been misplaced or stolen. It's looking more like the latter. I discovered my missing camera issue yestereen (obsolete word for yesterday evening that I think should be brought back). I didn't know my uncle really well. The circumstances of his death have upset me though. Why isn't there more help for people with depression? We lost Robin Williams, now my uncle, and I bet countless others. How many have to die before they figure out how to stop it? I read an article recently that there is specific gut bacteria involved. How long will it be before the necessary probiotics are available to the general public? I bet they'll be too expensive for most people. I bet they'll also have ridiculous requirements for getting a prescription. Each day it seems brings a new cause in the headlines, the lion getting hunted down, Anonymous seeking venge

Chapter 17 and 18 are done. I've been pushing content to other chapters though, so I'm not sure how many more chapters I have to edit. I'm sure it will be okay. Life of a writer, I suppose. I took something into a direction I hadn't planned, but I think it's better. I think it causes some necessary tension. I watched the Rideau Valley Rollergirls Home-team Championship game last night. The first half was close. I was cheering for the underdog team, but unfortunately they didn't pull off the win. Nonetheless, the game was well worth the ten bucks despite the lack of alligator pit... I tried a new pho place. I think it's my favourite. Of course it's not remotely close to where I live. I still have a few days before I will hear from my sports medicine specialist as he's involved with the Pan Am Games. If my X-rays are fine he won't call. Otherwise I should hear something by Thursday or Friday. Well I better put my supper away and get to sleep. I hav

I'm still muddling through Chapter 17. With how long this one is taking me, I'm a little worried I won't meet my editing goal. I'm aiming to finish the second draft by July 31st. Nine days with six chapters to finish... With this current chapter, I'm aiming to prevent the tension from the earlier battle to be released completely. I want people to know the story isn't ending yet. Some of the best is yet to come. I'm also trying not to start every sentence with She or The. I'm feeling like I got lazy with my writing somewhere. I'll have to scour through the whole book to fix that. I think I can send it out to beta readers regardless though. I'm wanting them to look at the bigger things beyond word choice. I can fix wording in the third revision. It's passed my bedtime. Ciao R~

It's been very warm in Ottawa this week. It was +40 yesterday because of the humidity levels. What was I doing? I was performing Iaido setei gata as part of a demonstration my dojo did for the Japanese Festival (Natsumatsuri), which is organized annually by JETAA Ottawa. I chose to do the standing version of Mae following by Kesa Giri, Morote Tsuki, San Po Giri, and Shiho Giri. My etiquette could have been better, but we don't do standing etiquette often. After the demo I watched some Taiko drummers and joined an interactive geisha dance. I probably should have drank more water. I didn't feel great by the end of the day. Supper at an air-conditioned restaurant helped. When I got home I was treated to about 4 hours of very loud Latin music. There was a soccer game going on at the high school nearby. Normally sports teams go there and don't play music at all; the only thing heard is the odd whistle. This was so loud that despite closed windows and doors, it sounded like i

On the Saturday I went to an Iaido seminar in Saint Catharine's Ontario. It began with a buddhist ceremony to honour a man that helped grow the martial art in Canada. We did some neat warm-ups including doing Ippon-Me Mae across the gym floor. We ran through Zen Ken Ren Iai a couple of times. We broke into level specific training groups. My level only did Mae. We did Omori-Ryu in the afternoon. I think Omori-Ryu is the next iaido set I will focus my home training on. I need to remember how to do them all and their names and numbers. I learned a key tip that helps me better understand how to apply what Hatakenaka Sensei told me about my grip. She said I was too tense, which I knew, but not how to fix it. Jorgenson Sensei demonstrated the difference in how far back one can move their arms if they're tense in the shoulders vs if they aren't tense. It might take time to rid myself fully of the tension, but at least I know what having relaxed shoulders should feel like now. Sund

It's a busy week for me. This weekend is an Iaido seminar. It's a memorial for a man who passed away 10 years ago. His name was Bill Mears. I never had the good fortune to meet him. I'm told he was a gentle giant who helped grow our art in Canada. I'll likely miss posting on Sunday because of that and I'll be enjoying my birthday. Tomorrow I visit the physiotherapist to continue working on my neck, which I injured last year playing roller derby. I hit a woman in my league who was quite a lot larger than me (but that's not a challenging thing for most people). The thing is, not having been all that athletic prior, I didn't know that any neck pain no matter how slight should be attended to right away. I woke up a month later with a neck that couldn't support my head and the pain was excruciating. I've come a long way since, but it's still not fixed. I saw the sports medicine specialist today and he's sending me for new X-rays and an MRI. I'

Alright. I wasn't great at much last round. At least I didn't feel like I did nearly as well as round 1. But editing is going a little more smoothly now. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I also think my later chapters fit better in the story in general than my beginning ones, which had a lot of backstory and not enough actual story in them. What's my plan for this round? 1. The Page & The Magician: a) Finish editing my book. I had 26 chapters, but now 23. I recently completed 4 chapters in a single day. Woohoo! I've just completed the edit on chapter 14, so I'm over halfway. My word count is currently 64,908 words. It's inching up to where it should be for the genre. I must be a weird writer to be increasing word count as she edits... b) Line up beta readers. 3. First Draft: While waiting for feedback from the beta readers, work on either The Blood Waitress Club, or Scion. 4. Guitar: Continue learning to play. A new session starts this weekend, though