Starpuck seeks The Steady Hand

[starpuck]

"Oh aye, ye'll hear the rumors float about now and then.  Most folk don't talk about it much, but a few souls go lookin' for it.   The Steady Hand.   Now see, most think they get that name from the fact they got steady hands- whether it be snatching a purse, picking a lock, or firing off a well placed arrow into their target..."  the grizzled old barkeep grins wide at this, "But they'd be wrong.  They're an order of watchmen that have remained constant and true since their beginning;  reliable, consistent... steadfast.   Ever steady, ya see?   What do they do?"   A chuckle follows at that.  "Whatever needs doing, lad.   Whether it be a misguided merchant stealing wares, or a corrupt king ordering the unwarranted deaths of his people, The Hand'll set things straight.  Just as they've always done.  And just like they'll do far after we're gone from this place."

 

And so the darkness of winter comes; feasts and celebrations, and the subtle whisper of the shadow demons called Stress and Worry.    It is not something that can be avoided, it must be walked through with relentless effort and determination.

 

 

(I know, I know, it's an old game, but soooooo good.   The whole series is soooo good!    And I needed a little bit of narrative for this challenge because I've already faced the gloom monster!!)

 

Starpuck seeks The Steady Hand

 

Our adventurer has been gaining experience and wisdom along her path thus far, and now she seeks to join up with an order that will help her maintain the course.    They are hard to find, and strict with their members, but their cause is worthy and the honor that comes with the title is no small thing.    To succeed in this trial, she will need to show them the strength of her determination, and prove unwavering against the winds of the season.

 

The First Challenge - Through Perseverance, One Finds the Key

Exercise must be maintained to prove to The Hand that our adventurer is worthy of joining.    The key to their hall is won with tireless commitment.  

IOW:   Keep exercising as the winter settles in heavy upon the land.

Goal: 5x a week.   (This has been sustainable.)

2-3 Lifts per week, fill in the other days with movement.

 

 

The Second Challenge - Through Practice, One Finds the Door

Study, and application of learned skills will prove to The Hand that one is ready to always adapt to the situation or task at hand.    The door is discovered by spending time in search of new skills and growth.

IOW:   Maintain the art hobby.   I've come so far, I enjoy it, it brings me happiness and peace, and.... and I see I have an official special NF title these days!  So own up to it!

Goals: 

1. Sketch Often, 7x/week   (a doodle a day, or if more time is spent on a drawing that's fine too)
2. Tablet practice 4x/week
3. Art lessons 1x/week

 

 

The Third Challenge - Through Rest, One Finds the Reward

Without proper rest, the members of The Hand would quickly fall to ruin from exhaustion.   It is important to show them that you are capable of quiet rest and reflection.  

IOW:   I need to get my night time routine under control!  I've been sleeping less and that's not good!

Goals:

1. Establish a routine for night.  (Wash face, brush teeth, floss, relax.)
2. Set a firm weekly schedule for what nights, have what curfews.  (D&D nights will have later to sleep times.)
3. Stick to above schedule.

 

 

 

Other side quests for this challenge will continue to be:

Find budgeting/money tracker app and use it!

Continue adding money to savings account for house fund.

Spend some time outdoors.

 

 

Things I will no longer be tracking?   Is tracking food!  It's a habit!  I am no longer counting this among challenge goals.   Same with the cooking at friends house and limiting fun meals.  I enjoy it, and I am in a good habit of doing it, so I will see how it goes without making it a focus point.

 

 

[Wild Wolf]

FIRST!!!!

 

Here for all the Dragon Age/BioWare goodness  

 

Wolf

[Elastigirl]

Love the theme.  Just reading it gets me motivated .

[Raxie]

I've been meaning to play Dragon Age for SO LONG I've heard such good things. I have a few games on PS3 that I've owned for so long and just never gotten around to, that's one of them. Your challenge will likely inspire me to get on that ASAP. You rock!

[starpuck]

Tentative thoughts on weekly sleep curfews based on routine schedule of events.

Mon:  Home activities.  Lights out by 11pm.

Tue:   Home activities, but group Don't Starve night.   Call game by 10:45pm.  Lights out by 11pm.

Wed:  Home activities.  Lights out by 11pm.

Thu:   D&D night.  Home by 11:30, immediately to bed.

Fri:     If hockey, head straight home from hockey and go to sleep. NO PC, NO PHONE.  BED.  If out with friends, home by 11:20 and lights out by 11:30pm.

Sat:    If hockey, same as above.   If no hockey.  Home by 10:45pm, Lights out by 11pm.  (Church in morning.)

Sun:   D&D night.    Home by 11:30, immediately to bed.

 

 

Tentative Money Tracker Categories

Work Groceries (For breakfast, lunch and snacks, M-F)

Cooking at Friends Groceries

Gas

Whim Purchases (Add category as purchased)

[Raxie]

18 minutes ago, Starpuck said:

NO PC, NO PHONE.  BED. 

 

Can we like, get this tattooed on our foreheads or something?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Found you! Following.

[SevenFootGeek]

*sneaksneaksneak*

 

*GLOMP*

[TimovieMan]

Dragon Age? Following!

Even if I didn't finish Inquisition.  

[starpuck]

On 11/20/2018 at 11:28 AM, Wolfpool said:

FIRST!!!!

Here for all the Dragon Age/BioWare goodness  

 

Wolf

Well to be fair, it's the Dragon Age trailer to one of my favorite songs, but the narrative about the Steady Hand was original.  (If not highly borrowed from other loves of mine.)    But now that everyone has Dragon Age hype, I might have to provide!

 

 

23 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Love the theme.  Just reading it gets me motivated .

Woo, thanks for being here Elastigirl!

 

 

23 hours ago, Raxie said:

I've been meaning to play Dragon Age for SO LONG I've heard such good things. I have a few games on PS3 that I've owned for so long and just never gotten around to, that's one of them. Your challenge will likely inspire me to get on that ASAP. You rock!

Omg, it's so so good.  Did you play any of them?   They get you in the feels.  RIGHT. In. The. Feels.

 

 

22 hours ago, Raxie said:

 

Can we like, get this tattooed on our foreheads or something?

For reals, right?

 

 

21 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Found you! Following.

Yay!  Wouldn't be the same without ya.  <3

 

 

19 hours ago, SevenFootGeek said:

*sneaksneaksneak*

*GLOMP*

YUUUUUSSS ALL the sneaking and glomping.  Good to see your face here!  Well I suppose given our height differences... good to see your bellybutton!

 

 

1 hour ago, TimovieMan said:

Dragon Age? Following!

Even if I didn't finish Inquisition.  

It's quite the investment.    And one can get lost in the Hinterlands.... so tempting to get lost there for ALL the levels.

 

 

 

I've been keeping things chill this week ya'all.   It's zero week.   It's a Holiday.   I've a lot going on.   So, I am doing things, but not tracking them and not worried about hitting numbers.   I for sure will get 2 lifts in and 2 moves.   Probably a 3rd move on a day and I'll be good with that.    I did some tablet art on Monday, got sketching in Monday and Tuesday, but have been really addicted to The Forge event in Don't Starve Together.    It ends on Dec 4th, but a coinciding event, Hallowed Nights, ends tomorrow!!!  And I NEED to get 100 more spools of thread, so I can weave the special event skin to reskin the chest structure into the Scary Chest structure before it is no longer available.    Once that's done, I should calm down on the game addiction.    I also have 3 unfinished games that I really need to remedy.  Assassins Creed Syndicate, Witcher 2, Pillars of Eternity.   Oof.   Soo many games to play.

 

Food has been fine.    My boss fitness partner, says that I should eat at maintenance for 2 weeks before going back to a cut, so I might try to eat a bit closer to that this week- fitting for a Holiday into Birthday week!  Right?    I think I will do just that.    He also said to be aware I will probably pop up a few pounds, but they come back off once you return to the next cut.    I think this is a good plan - but I know my brain will struggle with it for a bit.   Gulp!

 

 

That's all I got for now!

 

 

[Cheetah]

Happy challenge!

[starpuck]

Got a very solid workout in today at lunch- again, after warring with myself for almost 2 hours on not really feeling like doing it.  But you just gotta do the thing, right?    I am at my PR level for all my weighted things; squat, bench press, deadlift.    I am back up to 5 x 5 of real, unassisted pull ups.    It was a struggle, but it was a great workout.

 

I need to be in bed now.   Because I am getting up two hours earlier than I would get up for work, to go skate hockey tomorrow morning before family affairs.  AND, my nephew is coming to skate with me!!! So excited.

 

I smartly, logged off my video game by 9:30, and spent the last hour with relaxing LotR music on and working on art.   Colored the 'Dungeons and Dragons meets Don't Starve Together' thing I sketched the other day.   (Stole an existing background, it's ok.  Shhh.)

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving all you guys!  

You are indeed, something I am very thankful for!

[Sloth the Enduring]

Have you ever thought about starting a D&D webcomic? ‘Cause I’d read the heck out of that.

[DarK_RaideR]

7 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Have you ever thought about starting a D&D webcomic? ‘Cause I’d read the heck out of that.

That is actually a great idea... Maybe next time Starpuck DMs a game for her fellow rebels over the interwebs we should stream it over twitch or something #CriticalWannabes

[Cheetah]

That sounds awesome!  

 

Good work getting the workout in, and awesome work on the pullups!  Keep it up!

[starpuck]

Happy Thanksgiving all my Nerd Family!

 

Started the morning off at 5:30am, - got up, drove to the rink, skated 2 hours for some hockey family time.   Really cool this year because I got to bring my nephew, who had a great time in net!   Also burned ... get this, 1200 calories during the skate.  So yeah.   I will not track the rest of the day, and just enjoy good food and company.

 

Check in with ya's all tomorrow!

[obax]

I've finally started playing through the Dragon Age games (I'm still on #1), and that video makes me want to get back to it (I took a break because the combat system annoys me).

 

Following along, of course! I'm hoping some of your Steady Handedness will rub off on me...

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Ugh, no. It's way too soon to call Dragon Age Inquisition old >.>

 

 

Following!

[starpuck]

Well hello and welcome to those who have found their way here!    I took the rest of zero week off from just about everything.    Except... the 'taking a week off' only really meant that I didn't update here like mad, or worry about jamming sketching and art in all the time.    I've been on that kick for like ... 80 days straight?   So a four day break is probably good for the muse and all that.   I did keep up with tracking, exercise, and other general well being, so it's a pretty hefty win.

 

Tomorrow is Day 1 of challenge, and I am not sure how it's going to play out.      Because ... "BLIZZARD".    And not the fun, game developer kind.    Probably waking up to somewhere around 6-12" of snow-  which we are still expected to go into work with, so it will be up early, to shovel/snowblow, then shower, then off to work, arriving late, and having a slow day as the rest of the world will call it a day off. :p      I should be asleep - but I think the unknowing has me all wound up.    So here I am updating before Week 1 starts proper.

 

Perhaps I will make sure my BuJo is prepped, then crawl into bed. 

 

[EmCee]

Yay! Go starpuck! 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

It's a shame you can't work from home. Have fun Rangering through the blizzard.

[EmCee]

I saw the storm system move through last night - was really interesting to see how it was split up between rain and snow. Half the city and the burbs got a ton of snow and the half just got rain  

[starpuck]

Oi guys!  I've learned a thing about Starpucks.    I had long suspected this, but chalked it up to self rationalization...     Early morning, high intensity workouts -- they mess me up big time for the whole day.

 

I've been struggling with major body aches, heaviness of chest, head ache, and general exhaustion since this morning.    Well what did I do this morning?   I had to shovel ridiculously heavy snow because the snowblower we have, bought by Mr Bigger is Always Better - can't handle wet snow!   It just clogs up and stalls out.    So hand shovel... 8" of slush-ready snow.   I burned 700 calories in an hour... as much as I do playing hockey.    And now I feel like I was hit by a truck.

 

This is the SAME feeling I had all day on Thanksgiving - when I had woken up early to skate hockey with my friends from 7-9am.     So now I know for a fact, my body does NOT tolerate that.

 

It's left me barely able to keep up at work; so all the extra stuff I normally do is feeling rather oppressive to attempt.   I am, thankfully, sane enough to count that shoveling as a 'strength' day for this week.     But I will have to see how I feel after dinner to determine how much art is happening.  It may be a veg out night and super early bed.

 

 

[Cheetah]

1 hour ago, Starpuck said:

learned a thing

 

Learning things is good!  Sorry about the weariness, though.  Rest up!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

2 hours ago, Cheetah said:

 

Learning things is good!  Sorry about the weariness, though.  Rest up!

I agree with Cheetah™