Weekly Update, November 30, 2020
Greetz internet friend and welcome back to my weekly update post! I’m doing something that I never do, and that is writing this the night before. Why am I doing that/this? Well, that’s a good question, and I am happy to answer it. That’s because I decided to try NaNoWriMo this year, which is where you try to write a novel in one month. I started on November 2nd with the goal of writing 60,000 words by December 2nd. As of Sunday, November 29th I’ve written 38,080 words and I discovered that I could write 3050 words in one hour if I was uninterrupted and focused. That means if I can keep up that pace I can finish the novel in just over seven hours of work. That means it is possible for me to finish all 60,000 words in a month, but only if I focus and buckle down right now! That means that, instead of writing my weekly update in the morning, I’m going to take that hour and a half or so and use it to write and if I focus, that could mean an extra five thousand words and put me that much closer to the target.
Anyway, whether or not I finish, my goal was to write 30,000 words in November and try to finish it in December before the end of the year and I have already done the first part, and I am in good shape to do the second as well.
I’ve based the novel on the short story that I wrote here and it imagines what a future society would look like a hundred years or so after the end of that short story. I wanted to write essays at the end that would describe the political and educational system, and also has a Declaration of Independence and a set of rules for how businesses would be allowed to grow and would be deterred from growing too large.
It’s a very ambitious project, and if you are interested, keep checking back on this space later as I’m sure I’ll share more about it in the future. In the meanwhile, let’s get on with it
Politics
I don’t want to talk about politics this week, because I don’t want to give any oxygen to Donald Trump and his little coup. It’s pathetic and doesn’t merit discussion, but I wish that Democrats would take it more seriously and actually do something instead of sitting on their hands going, “golly gosh jeeze!” I’m also pretty tired of the Democrats stinking up the place and the Republicans enabling this soft coup and their total lack of any moral conviction. It’s disgusting and I don’t have time for it!
Black Lives Matter
This is another area where I do not have much to say this week, outside Black Lives Matter! I saw that there was a new book out about Sojurner Truth that looks really interesting, and if you don’t know about her I would highly recommending checking out this book and that’s the extent of my recommendations and suggestion for the Black Lives Matter section this week, outside the continued suggestion that you look for BIPOC to follow on social media and listen to their perspective!
I also want to mention that I will continue to not watch the NFL after what they are doing to Colin Kaepernick. It’s clear that he’s being kept out of the league despite being better than half the starting quarterbacks just because of his politics. It’s disgusting and I will not support the NFL until they make it right, which will probably be never since they denied him his chance to have his career. I’m sure the future will view it a bit like what happened to Muhammad Ali, except more disgusting because it was in the 21st century!
Professional
Last week was a mixed bag, where I learned stuff about web app penetration testing and made some mistakes about not communicating well enough. I’m also struggling with burnout and I’m sure that trying to write a novel in a month, on top of all the other crap I’m doing, is no way to deal with burnout (unless you are trying to make it worse). Next year I’m going to make sure that I pencil out time in November to do NaNoWriMo and take it more seriously than this year.
Another cool thing that happened was that I had another person share that they liked the article I wrote in 2600, and that always makes me feel good to know that people are reading it. I wrote that article two and a half years ago, when I’d only had one infosec job and I’d not done nearly the work I’d done now. I feel like so much less of a scrub or a skid than I was then, and I still believe everything I wrote in that article. Still hate gatekeeping and gatekeepers too! Some things haven’t changed.
Personal
I’ve already written about NaNoWriMo, and I know that Thanksgiving is a holiday that is problematic and fraught, but let me be honest with you, dear reader. I know that 2020 has not been a good year for everyone, and it has been particularly brutal for tens of millions of Americans. However, there have been a number of really good things that happened to me and my family that I am thankful for. Yes, I understand that Thanksgiving has a ugly history attached to colonialism, and I acknowledge that. However, it can ALSO be a time when we give thanks for what and whom we are thankful for and acknowledge where we have things to be grateful for. I never though I would be able to buy a house – ever! This year, we managed to do it during a pandemic. I swore I would never have a dog, but a few weeks ago Bruiser moved in both to our house and our hearts. If you follow me on Twitter, I’m going to be updating my profile picture soon to include my new best friend.
Overall, there is much to be grateful and thankful for this year, and while I do not want to be insensitive to people who are struggling, I also want to be honest and share when things are going well. If things haven’t gone great for you in 2020, remember that there is another opportunity right around the corner. I would suggest that you just keep working, and if you can, try to work a little harder. I am not going to give anyone a pep talk, and I have to finish up and edit this so I can go wake up my wife from her nap and get on with the rest of my day.
However, I want to encourage you that if things are not going the way you want, that things can change. Two years ago we lived in a small apartment in Orange County and today we own a home in the Coachella Valley of California. All our hard work eventually paid off, and I believe that it can also happen to you if you keep working and grinding.
Lol, I said I wasn’t going to give anyone a pep talk, and that’s exactly what I did! Anyway, I appreciate you reading so far, and that’s it for me!
People to follow
As I do every week, here are some tech and non-tech people you might consider following on Twitter.
Martin Luther King III - The son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bernice King - The daughter of Dr. King
@cetolyne - great friend, awesome programmer, super helpful!
@blenster - cool maker, very positive, well worth a follow!
@GWeessies - very smart person doing interesting research!
Marley - first place champ! Marley is one of the best on Twitter!
Null Coder - another awesome person to keep an eye on!
@EvilMog - creator of the DC MUD and an interesting person to follow.
TrakoZG – an internet friend who tweets excellent things
Sofia Rune – brilliant scholar who shares things that are both insightful and valuable
MildThrone – up and comer with a small following for now, but I think this account is on the rise!
That’s it, internet friend! Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope you enjoy it! Moreover, I hope you have a very nice day and a most excellent week!
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