Recalibrating · 9:54pm Jul 27th, 2014
Well, I just updated. Sorry it took so long I just didn't feel like writing for a couple of months. To be honest, while there are a lot of good points to this chapter, on the whole, I don't like it. I just posted it because I simply can't read it any longer. Hopefully you guys don't hate it too much. But at last I can finally, finally move my mind out of the guest rooms of the Canterlot Palace and into someplace more interesting. In an effort to make everything suck less, there was a lot of trimming and rewriting, so unfortunately some of the characters, most notably Gimlet Lime had to have their scenes drastically altered. It just made the story a little more streamlined in my opinion. And OCs suck anyway as a general rule of thumb.
As I've said, there will only be one more chapter to the story, but it's probably going to be a long one and I'll try not to do an animiesque ending where everything is rushed in the final episode. But I make no promises. What I do promise is that there will be a party, and there will be dresses, and there will be detailed descriptions of the party and the dresses and feelings. However, the mane six (aside from Twilight) won't be playing as large a role in the final chapter as I originally planned because I've come to the conclusion that when writing a love story, while it's good to have multiple characters, the story should center on the ones in love. Also I still suck at writing conversation where more than three or four characters are involved. I'll try and work on that, but not in the next chapter.
As for real life, I think the main reason why I haven't felt in the mood to write for so long was due to work. I actually didn't have the energy to finish this chapter until I took a week off. My first vacation in three years. I shouldn't complain though, I had a nice long vacation before this job, called unemployment. And there are worse jobs out there. I was speaking with some of my old friends and they tell horror stories of working in unix/linux for contracting firms that major companies subcontract their IT functions to. That being said, it could be better too. I saw a job for an HPC administrator for New Zealand's version of NOAA. I was thinking about applying for it, but I lack the years of experience and the mathematics degree. Oh well. Maybe by the time they are hiring again, I'll have at least one or the other.
I'm thinking of getting a masters in CS, with the eventual goal of getting a doctorate in something cool. With my current masters, unless I want to take a butt load of leveling courses, I'd have to go for something fun and exciting like logistics or something else business related. I'm still not sure if I will go for another degree though. The stress from getting the last one sucked, and I think it would be worse now since I'm juggling a job as well. Or maybe it will be better since I won't have time to sweat the small things.
Anyway, another major change in my life is that I've made the decision to get down to 180 pounds. I've been cutting for a couple of months now, following the caloric and macro guidelines of myfitnesspal.com for eating at a deficit and it's been working for me. I'm down to 230 from 260. I've also been trying to jog about 5k two to three times a week with a starting strength weight lifting routine on the off days. Even though I jog comically slow, I think it's helping a lot. Having weighed in at 320 at my heaviest, I'm amazed at where I am now, but I have a long way to go still. Hopefully I make it one day.
One last thing, I just picked up viscera cleanup detail on steam. So if anyone wants to get together and perform some awesome virtual janitorial duties, hit me up on steam.
Nice to see you alive and well! I've been watching your stuff for... awhile now actually. If there's one more chapter, I think I'll wait until it comes out and you end the story. Then I'll sit down and read the whole thing in one big sitting. I love doing that with longer stories.
Also, if you're going for another degree, since you've already got a CS, try to find a job you love doing and maybe go to school part time after getting settled into a good job. Don't burn yourself out. It's a bad, bad road to go down. Good luck!
Nice job on the weight loss. That can be really difficult for a lot of people; it's just too damn easy to eat. As for the story it is nice to see it alive. Glad to see it isn't going to be abandoned.
Happy to hear for the most part your life is improving. I go to the gym alot, but until my job starts up as a vet tech. at a military base *The security reviews and clearances and paperwork take like 2 months* I'm still eating crap. But between gym, eating better, and wrestling down military grade German Shepards for vaccinations I think I'll get in shape again quite quickly.
I need to re-read this story, it has been so long that all I remember is its awesome and deep and I really liked it in the past.
Sorry to hear you dislike this chapter, might just take you a bit to get back into writing, or maybe you are just one of those writer's that is never satisfied with his own work. I only have one story, but it takes me a ridiculous amount of time to be satisfied with each chapter. Between reading it over and over for grammar issues, wondering if something I did is worded correctly, how the characters actions are coming off as to readers, I get like a chapter every three weeks, and they are like 1/4 of the length of yours. How some people manage a chapter a week or even two I have no idea.
Well, good luck, hope things continue to work out for ya, and in the meantime, I'll try to find a few hours to re-read through your story.