I’ve not been writing on here much of late because, to put it bluntly, I struggle with whether my blog (or any non-fiction I write) deserves to be shared with the world.
Continue reading “archie was here (but not necessarily writing)”
Category: life updates
not even home is like home, and other things behind the curtain (life update #5)
Hey stranger,
It’s been a little while since my last update, so let me catch you up.
- What I’ve been Reading: I am keeping busy offline, trying to match my reading pace with the rate I’ve been collecting books from little-free-libraries around town. These have consisted mostly of more short story collections, including old SFF treasures like The Many Worlds of Andre Norton (by Andre Norton of course) and new SFF gems like How Long ’til Black Future Month? (by N.K. Jemisin) as well as some of the non-fiction variety like Henry and June (the diary of the incomparable Anaïs Nin).
- What I’ve been Writing: Despite accomplishing huge leaps and bounds with my online research as a writer and a writer of specific genres, I had to spend a few months completing an online math course (yes, dreadful, I know!) for a credit requirement that I hope will qualify me into teacher’s college someday soon. Since passing that (yay!), I’ve made some serious headway on one of my novel-in-progress, which I had been referring to as Animals but have since begun calling Woods. I am thick into the world-building as well as the scene-ordering, so I expect to be completing draft number two before the end of this calendar year.
- What I’ve been Watching: With travel on an indefinite hiatus, I’ve found some relief in the form of binging seasons of The Amazing Race. The U.S. version started in 2001 (imagine, travelling pre-9/11 and pre-pandemic!) but I skipped to season 5 which so far has been mostly entertaining. I’ve already finished the 7 seasons of the Canada version, which was actually more enjoyable (beginning after 2010) maybe because with a lower budget the contestants travel more locally – including my home town!
Speaking of my home town, let’s get on with the main event, shall we?
Continue reading “not even home is like home, and other things behind the curtain (life update #5)”
archie’s life in numbers – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Hi! Thank’s for clicking.
I’ve been reaching some milestones in my life of late, and it had me thinking I ought to share some of that with you the reader.
So in the spirit of Death waiting for no one, let’s get on with it:
help fish from drowning (life update #4)
Dear whoever you are…
Yes, I’m still here, still writing on this blog, though not as often as I had planned.
Oops?
It’s been over a year since my last life update, so here goes…
Let me recap some of the events that have happened:
I’m still living in the Arctic (and if you’re a writer you should too!); I continued working as a full-time sub teacher at a primary school (and really loved it), but in the last few months have switched to a duller paper-centric office job; my best friend died and it was damn brutal for a long while, and I’m only now adjusted to all the leftover emotional scar tissue (some of my coping strategies are listed here); I essentially relapsed and had a tough go of things before again getting sober for what has been about 6 months (read this for more about my life with addiction), and I’m still a writer…
- What I’ve been Reading: I’m happy to say that I am still (*slowly*) reading through my multiple bookshelves of books, mixing it up with the genres and authors. On audio, I’m listening to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre which is so far so good, albeit more intense than I was expecting. On paper, I’ve been reading through multiple short story collections, including Kurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House, J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories and also Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man – all white men from roughly the same time period yes, but different styles that are very instructive for my learning eyes.
- What I’ve been Writing: I’m also really pleased to say how much progress I have been making of late in working on all my stories, thanks to my new desk-job, which offers me a lot of opportunities to edit, daydream and research. My priority story of late has been one called Graves (which was my very first story!). This story is one of the Big 3, along with two others (I mentioned in a previous post working on one series called Animals and another post working on another series called Warriors), which means I hope to publish each of them traditionally, as novels, with a major book publisher, someday…
- What I’ve been … Watching: I have been enjoying a lot of Queer Eye on Netflix, which is really satisfying not only because of the emphasis on self-improvement both inside and out, but also it’s just nice to see how much a difference it can make in anyone’s life to have cheerleaders really route for you and encourage the fuck out of you because that is the basic ingredient toward any sincere personal growth.
Okay, so on to what I want to say here today.
it was the best of times – if only someone told me (life update #3)
Aloha!
Thank you for clicking on over here. Welcome welcome, or welcome back.
It’s been too long since I wrote on here, and so I thought y’all deserved a brief update on my doings and my pondering and all. Continue reading “it was the best of times – if only someone told me (life update #3)”
writing reminds me how i’m so clueless (life update #2)
Hey, Hi, Hello.
Thanks for clicking 🙂
I have some fairly eventful life updates since my last one, and so want to get right into it.
Continue reading “writing reminds me how i’m so clueless (life update #2)”
the slow times of writers (life update #1)
Hey again! Thanks for stopping in 🙂
Oh, how am I doing? Gee, you are so thoughtful – thanks for asking! Continue reading “the slow times of writers (life update #1)”
why archie writes – reclaiming my life
To really answer that, to explain why I write, I have to go back a few years.
I spent most of my childhood and adolescence inside schools: Kindergarten, Primary School, Middle School, Secondary School, then university for two consecutive degrees.
During this time, I developed a wish to help – who or how, I was still unsure on that part.
After abandoning plans to become a “mad scientist”, I eventually specialized in Criminal Justice and Criminology and worked for a few years at different Legal Aid clinics.
It was an interesting time for me that afforded opportunity to work alongside inspiring people – mostly women – who mentored me about the legal system and its shortcomings at addressing the root causes of social injustices.
Still, I carried a vague aspiration to help people.
The insights from these lawyers, social workers and counsellors all likely contributed to me soon seeking out alternative ways to effect change through volunteerism and community actions (including organizing many large-scale events and demonstrations).
I was feeling more aligned with what I wanted to be doing, to be helping others.
It was in my late twenties that my life switched course.
archie the writer – becoming a full-time artist, not growing up or getting a job
I hate work.
I really do.
I think most people do too.
And by ‘work’, I mean essentially any situation where you would not be there, doing that task, associating with that place or those coworkers, if not being paid for it.
That creates a pretty clear distinction between:
- careers that really challenge ourselves to grow, expanding upon our own potential, rewarding our efforts and investment of time and talents…
- jobs we do to pay off debts and otherwise serve as a checkpoint in life because we were told this is how to be an adult.
This is an important difference, but so often do we conflate ideas under one broad label. Just as we mislabel ‘work’, we confuse ‘success’ (equating personal fulfilment with competitive materialism) or ‘confidence’ (equating liking yourself with pride and vanity).
Continue reading “archie the writer – becoming a full-time artist, not growing up or getting a job”
archie writes 