Midnight Wordle Mystery

Like many of you out there, I am playing Wordle. It is an interesting fun game that challenges and entertains me. Unlike most of you, I usually play just after midnight before going to bed. If the word is challenging or my gameplay has made the word challenging, I most assuredly am losing sleep. I should also mention that I am locked in combat with my girlfriend over this. We always compare our scores and I snicker with delight every time I guess the word in fewer choices than her–which isn’t always. After we are done, we discuss our “map” to the word.

Last night, something strange happened. When we compared our words, we discovered that we had two different words. We were completely baffled by this. We were both doing the game at almost the same time and we accessed the game through our home Wi-Fi. We have been doing the game for the last few months and we have only ever had one glitch like that one.

If you’re playing against friends or family, you might have already come across this potential problem and done some internet research to find out what happened. I thought about that last night but was too tired. It wasn’t until I got to work that the mystery was solved. If you haven’t read about it, it’s easy to find if you are curious.

I read that some people were angry and frustrated. I can’t say as that I was. Things happen. We both got the solutions to our respective words. We both had something to claim our superiority around and we both got to sleep thinking we had done well. No need to be frustrated or even annoyed.

If you are playing the game, you might be wondering if the New York Times, which bought the game from the creator for a reported 7 figure sum, my want us to pay for it. While I hope not, I really can’t be sure.

Building Suspense

I was talking to my girlfriend and she asked me if I had written tomorrow’s post yet.  She knows that ideally, I write the post before going to bed and have it publish at 6 in the morning.  Some nights I have written before we talk, and some nights it is after.  It is also true that some nights nothing comes to me–it isn’t writer’s block.  It’s either a lack of perspective on deciding what was the Perfect Moment, or no phrase that I want to incorporate in my writing sticks out in my mind.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Sometimes, I write a post because some turn of phrase, or some word combination struck me as interesting.   I have always felt confident that this kind of thing would make me a popular writer someday.

When I told her that I had the idea, but that I hadn’t written it yet, she asked me to tell her all about it.  My answer was that she could read it in the morning after it was published.  I don’t know whether I was being egalitarian or rude, but I didn’t want to talk about it until after I had written it, and I think everyone should read it on the platform–but maybe I am just being a bit goofy about stats.  I should also admit that if I allowed her asked her to read it first, she could help me fix the silly errors that seem to populate my work.

Her response was quite interesting.  She said that my reluctance to talk about it made her want to know about it more.  She accused me of building up the hype and implored me again to tell her about it.  Without even understanding exactly how, I was building suspense.

It got me thinking.  Is there a way for me to get people excited about an upcoming post?  Is there some trick I could use to draw people to the blog?  It’s pretty hard to know what tomorrow’s Perfect Moment is going to be before it happens.  I suppose if I were desperate, I could employ some fortune cookie style vagueness:

Tomorrow’s Perfect Moment will come from and unexpected place and take to an even more unexpected one.

Tomorrow’s Perfect Moment will shock you with its simplicity and thrill you with its unapologetic take on society.

I guess the question I really want to ask is; Do the ones closest to you get a sneak peak at your blogs or do you make them wait like everyone else?  Perhaps, you don’t even let those closest to you read them.  I know I didn’t tell my family about the blog until I had already finished writing about any childhood grievances that I was still holding.  Let me know what you do, and whether you share you ideas to help them grow or keep them locked away while they mature.

Also, if you want to know what the picture at the top of the screen is all about, you’ll have to read the blog tomorrow.

Ramble On

I have to admit right away that this post doesn’t contain a Perfect Moment. It is a pile of reflections, thoughts and a few questions I would like you to answer–if you don’t mind.

I was looking through the list of blogs I follow and noticed that many of them hadn’t been active for a year or more. That is certainly understandable.  People give up on blogs all the time.  Blogging isn’t for everyone. Maybe they didn’t get what they wanted out of it.  My question is, is it okay to delete them?  I mean, not deleting them won’t cause me any harm.  There probably isn’t a follow limit on WP.  However, it just seems like digital clutter.

I had a chance to go out for a burrito today. I went to Much Burrito and thoroughly enjoyed my food.  I had the chicken on whole wheat and it was quite massive when wrapped up.  I like to think this is the healthier version of fast food–not healthy actually, but healthier than going to the golden arches, but am I just fooling myself?

As cycling season is starting to wrap up–I’ve got at least six more weeks of comfortable rides, but the signs are there; sales in bike shops, evening rides being cancelled because it is getting dark earlier, and the temperatures are dropping.–why is it I am getting interested in more cycling stuff? I am probably going to buy a new jersey to replace my standby one.  It has become stained with a combination of sweat and sun block.  I remember a conversation on a group stop about someone who had on a black jersey.  Everyone wondered if he was too hot.  Now I realize that he just didn’t want the look that I am currently sporting.  Of course, to get the best price, this jersey is going to have to come from somewhere is Asia.  It will take six to eight weeks to get here and probably won’t see service this year–unless I get a cycling vacation squared away.

Is it me, or does the fall TV season look particularly bland? When in doubt, I’ve got sports.

I meant to join a group ride today.  I thought it was scheduled for the evening, but when I checked the website, I discovered that it was on in the morning and was for retired people or people with a flexible schedule.  Hopefully, I will remember that for next Thursday.

I guess, I just needed to ramble a bit today.

It Has Begun….

There is no context for this picture except that it makes me smile.

Looking forward to the new year is one of the fun things that I can do on January first. Since I am not riddled with a massive hangover, it should be easier than usual.

That’s a great word, should. It should be easy, but it isn’t.  Looking forward, one always looks back at things not accomplished and things that could have been better.  At the beginning of 2018 I chose three words to sum up the year.  They were:

Better, Bolder, Active

If I were to be honest, I was definitely better and bolder. I taught better and I took care of more things in my life.  I talked to more people and I took more chances.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I was more active.  2017 had two cycling trips where 2018 had none.  I did more riding with the club than 2017, but I didn’t feel particularly fast or fit.

I jotted down a quick list and then spent a few minutes trying to organize it. Hopefully this will help.

In 2019:

• I will make more time for the important people in my life.
• I will eat better (healthier and better).
• I will live more.
• I will travel more.
• I will sleep earlier when realistically possible.
• I will ride with the B group consistently. This will mean riding more often to get up to pace, but it will definitely be worth it.
• I will write some amazing blog posts that set the internet on fire.
• I will write more. I will write short stories and a novel.  This blog is good practice, but now it is time to practice other aspects of this voice inside my head.
• I will get more things done.

Now this is a pretty non-specific list, and I should probably set more measurable targets for these ideas, but that isn’t something I can do tonight. Tonight is for putting down some ideas and the rest of the week is for refining them.

If I were to choose some words for 2019

Confidence,  Commitment, Boldness, and Determination

Doing Better Than Last Year

Last year was a good year for the blog. I doubled the number of views from the previous year.  This had been a nice trend for the first four years of the blog.  Sadly, unless this blog suddenly becomes major reading material for a university course or gains cult following in a country the size of Malta, this trend will not continue this year.

There are many good reasons for last year’s success. The main one, I believe, is that I traveled abroad twice to Asia on cycling trips with Exodus Travels.  My writing about the preparations for the trips and the trips themselves in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand proved very popular and garnered a large number of views.  To this day, people still come across these posts and photos weekly.  Those trips were great for me and hopefully serve as inspiration for others.  Hopefully, next year will see me take at least another trip and have a chance to write about that.

In addition to that, I wrote a couple of good non-travel posts. Maybe more importantly, I chose some good tags that have managed to snag a few more views.

While this year won’t double the number of page views, I know that I will surpass last year’s number. Why am I so confident?  Well, because it has already happened.   Earlier today, I equalled and passed last year’s totals.

I feel pretty good about this and officially nominate it as Today’s Perfect Moment.

Musings on Kerouac

I am reading another book on Jack Kerouac, this one called Jack’s Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac by Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee.

The question I have for myself is why? It isn’t that I dislike the book.  In fact, I think the book is very compelling and well written.  I wish there were more pictures of the people featured in the book, but that’s something altogether different and probably not that important now that I and the world have Google.

You see, I am not that enamoured of Jack Kerouac’s work. I am not that enamoured of the people he travelled with.  I am not into jazz music and I don’t need to discover America.

This came up a few weeks ago when I was talking books with some of the new teachers at work. We were dropping author’s names like so many playing cards at a poker game.  At times like these, I do not drop the existentialists or the Beats, and I mostly criticize books that we had read in school that I do not like (I am looking at you Gatsby).

When someone brought up On the Road, my comment went something like

There were moments when I loved the book and moments when I didn’t. Some of it is brilliance, but not all of it.  However, what I do admire is the way it moved people.  It was a book that got people talking.  It was a book that challenged narrative.  It was a book that meant something, even if we can’t agree on what that is.  What a great blessing and a great curse to have written such a novel.

The people listening probably didn’t understand what I was going for (and now that I read it over, perhaps I am not being eloquent enough, or not taking a hard enough risk with my words…)

So, I am reading this book, getting sucked up into a world that became fiction that became the world again through analysis and social commentary. I am reading this book that shows the hero and anti heroes in a less than flattering light.  I am reading a book about a doomed group of people whose moment in the light burns quite brightly, if only too quickly.

I think it is because Kerouac wrote. Kerouac’s words became immortal on the printed page.  I admire and envy this with every fibre of my being.  Every time I am lazy and not writing; every time I don’t write down the idea I have for a story; every time I don’t heed the lessons on the printed page….I feel so much less.

 

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

One of those word-a-day calendars appeared in my stocking at Christmas.  This is today’s word.

I appreciate the gift.  I like words.  I like to learn more words (mostly to trounce people on Words With Friends, or complete the crossword puzzle)…but after looking at today’s word, I don’t think I have any chance of ever remembering this word.

Blogging After Midnight

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” or “It’s late.” or my perennial favourite, “You have to work tomorrow.” These are things I have heard when, rightly, I should be in bed but am fussing around with something.  In the past, these things could be video games, or models, or jigsaw puzzles, or episodes of some show I was binge watching.  These days, more often than not, it is my blog that sees me burn the midnight oil.

Part of the problem is that I can’t really control when the idea comes to me. I hadn’t planned on writing anything today for this blog.  (Don’t worry, there was most likely a Perfect Moment today, but my recollection on this lazy Saturday is drawing a blank.)  In fact, there are a few things that I could be doing.  I’ve got a couple of things I could be reading.  I could also be doing some planning for next week’s teaching.  The Olympics are on TV, too. I suppose, I could also be sleeping.

Now, here I am, after midnight, with a driveway full of snow I have put off shovelling until I need to go out tomorrow, writing a very imprecise and underwhelming blog about blogging when I should be sleeping.  I suppose there is some irony there, whether I see it or not.

There is something about the image of a writer at his or her desk, letting the idea bleed onto the pages, that I find appealing and even romantic.  That same writer struggling over ever word, every nuance, every rhythm…..Maybe it is too Hemingwayesque.  Maybe it is too retro.  That same desk now contains a computer or smartphone.  There might not even be a desk.

As for the hour, maybe it is no longer strange.  Maybe, thanks to the internet, this time is no longer the domain of the artist.  Maybe now, the hour of where we are is less important than the hour of where we send our work.

As I said, I hadn’t planned on writing anything, and I am not even sure that I have.  I was brushing my teeth when the title appeared in my head.  I tried to shake it, but it wouldn’t go away.  I tried writing it down and promising myself that I would take care of it while I drank my morning coffee tomorrow morning.  That didn’t seem to help.  I tried thinking of something else, but instead started writing my Weird Al parody of Judas Priest’s “Living After Midnight” using this blog’s title.  I guess some demons just need exorcising.

 

Three Words, Backed by Action, Could Change Everything

I’ve made resolutions in the past and sometimes kept them. I’ve made lists of accomplishments that I wanted to do, and met some of them.  However, I was often more preoccupied with the failures and this didn’t really seem like the right way to go about it. I read PedalWorks post on not making New Year’s Resolutions and it struck me as a good idea.

PedalWorks got the idea from a filmmaker (read the blog here) to select one word or phrase to summarize or categorize what you want to accomplish in the new year. He called it his mantra.  It sounded like a better idea than making resolutions, so I have adopted it for this year.

For 2018, I have chosen three words.

Better, Bolder, Active

Better

I want to do everything better. I want to eat better, live better, write better, deal with things better.  I want better things in my life.  Of course, this means putting in some actual effort.  It isn’t magically going to happen (sadly) but I think the results will be worth it.

Bolder

I want to take more chances. I want to be braver.  This is not just for my love life, but for my writing, my work, and the diversions I choose to engage in.  Bolder financial decisions might also be a good idea.

Active

I want to do more things. I want to explore.  I want to try.  I want to see what’s out there.  I want do the things I have been talking about doing. Despite the obvious need for the gym, this is meant to be more than that.  I am hoping it will mean more doing and less thinking.  It am hoping it will mean choosing engaging rather than being passive.

In truth, I think, 2017 was a lot like that.  While it had its challenges, 2017 also had its triumphs.  That being said, I don’t want a mere continuation.  I want 2018 to be even better, bolder and active.

 

Lexical Combat

There is nothing wrong with a little competitive spark. At least that is how I feel today.  I am not writing this to get into a debate about whether kids should just play for fun (and everyone gets a trophy) or kids should play in competitive games where there are winners and losers, and losing is part of the lesson.  It’s a fun topic, but not really where I am going, and definitely something I haven’t made up my mind about.

What I am talking about is healthy family competition. Okay, perhaps it isn’t exactly healthy, but familial competition is probably our earliest exposure to competition.  Yes, I could go all psychological and talk about sibling jealousy and other stuff, but I was really thinking of who gets the toy from the cereal box or who gets to ride shotgun.  Since most people plug in their own music, radio control is now out of the equation.  I might as well sit in the back.

So, what spurred this little rambling? I’ll tell you.  Words With Friends.  Yes, that’s right.  I am engaged in lexical combat with my mother and my siblings.  I am proud to say I am crushing them without having to resort to the dictionary function.  They are going to read this (maybe) and they might be furious, but that is how the cookie crumbles–or should I say, that is how the tiles lay.

I am not always competitive.  I joined a cycling club, but have never been to one of their race events, not even as a spectator.  I rarely feel the need to speed off when the light turns green.  I was pretty content to be the lowest ranked member of the dart team.

Why am I being so ultracompetitive now? I am not sure.  It could be that because it is a word based game that I feel compelled to defend my education.  I was an English Lit major and I am always going on about how large my vocabulary is.  I also feel quite accomplished at the jumble puzzle. I want to show how fast I can solve the thing.  I do crosswords in pen.

Growing up, I played a lot of board games with my family and friends. I seem to remember Careers, Who’s it, Life, and a few others being popular.  For my sister who is reading this, I know, I left out Tension–but really, that was less of a game than an appeasement.

I don’t remember any of these games being very cutthroat–though I have been involved in some full contact Monopoly games. I would have to guess that card games were more highly contested in my family.  We played a lot of them, including some that came with mild consequences.  It’s a good thing Texas No Limit Hold’em wasn’t the juggernaut it is today–if it existed at all.  As it was, War, Old Maid, Gin, Rummy and concentration were tense enough.

The tide turned when Trivial Pursuit was invented and that became the standard game at home. That opened up a whole new door of grief as to how close you could be to the answer or how exact your answer should be.

As for today, I am locked in some tough word battles, but I might yet prevail.  I am playing while writing this and as a result, this post is taking a long time to compose.  Competing isn’t Today’s Perfect Moment, but recognizing the competitor within certainly is.