Shin Masked Rider

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Howdy folks… a blogging we will go!

So it seems I finished 3 books since last week. All in the All Jobs and Classes series. I’m enjoying it for the most part… now and again I’m kinda… not in the mood, but it tends to pick up quickly. So yeah, a fun enough read. I’m on the 10th book now, so only a few more to go.

Anyway, we wound up watching the movie Shin Kamen Rider, or Shin Masked Rider from 2023. Welp, that opening was amazing and surprising. So much blood and violence. So yeah, a real hook right there. And the music was great. Unfortunately, while some of the silliness was amusing, at times it let the story down. And another unfortunate part is that our protagonist is such… well, kinda a cry baby now and again. It’s understandable, but he doesn’t stand out much like a hero. That and he kinda shakes like a little nervous dog quite often. However, there is another! Heh. So while it’s not a perfect movie by any means, it was quite enjoyable. The violence was… wow! Usually not my thing, but it was so aggressive and unexpected it kinda did wonders for the movie.

Otherwise I played some more Where Winds Meet. I got stuck on a boss fight, and I recruited Samantha to take my controller… she took a look around at my inventory and noted I was using weaker healing potions, and swapped those out… then on her first try defeated that boss. Heh, she’s the real gamer out of the two of us. Then she went back to her game and defeated the boss that I had been stuck on previously… so yeah.. If I need help, I know who to call. Just to say it again to those of you who had issues like I did before, the updates are more manageable these days, so that sticking point is basically gone. So if you had that problem before but still liked the game, give it another shot. I do love the world!

As for diet and exercise… I started up this week 2 pounds over the previous Monday… I blame the cinnamon rolls and excessive cheese I snacked on outside meal time. But, I ended the week a little over half a pound lighter than last Friday… huh? Well, I will admit that I’m now doing 2 full workout routines a day as apposed to the single one plus walking. So there’s that. My blood pressure was decent all week as well, so that’s nice. I can’t say I’ve changed anything, save I cut down my iron supplements to twice a week versus the 4 I was doing previously. And I added some probiotics to my daily routine. Maybe that’s what’s going on? I dunno bud, I’m still working out what works for me… but I also have to be aware that I will continue to change as I grow older, so what works now might not in the future. But it’s all about learning and growing. It’s kinda fun figuring out these things, and then getting the benifits!

As for my mood… wouldn’t you know it, it was pretty good. No dips, not really. Simply peaceful… save a moment where my mind started making up scenarios which agitated me into an aggressive mood. But I was able to just say, hey brain… chill. And was able to return to calmness rather quickly. So yay? Heh.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for you this time. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Evil Under the Sun

Well hello there. Might I interest you in a blog?

Welp I finished reading 2 books this week. The latest in the Lone Wanderer… I liked. Now some might say that there was mostly only set up, only a fight or two, but I enjoyed my time watching our protagonist grow. Then I noticed I had several books in a series I had begun awhile back that I hadn’t gotten to. So I read the 6th book in the All Jobs and Classes series. I did enjoy my time… I was a bit hesitant for a moment in the middle, as I thought we were about to go on an arc that I wasn’t thrilled with. I dunno, sea combat isn’t my jam I guess, but that settled quickly enough. So yeah, I’m going to read through what is out in this series until I’m caught up. Looks like there are 12 in total, so I have something to chew on awhile, unless I feel the need to wander off and grab something else.

SO, we watched a movie. It’s called Evil Under the Sun. A Poirot story. While watching it I was just happy to see some fairly well known folks involved. Maggie Smith, James Mason, and a few others you might know. All in all an enjoyable murder mystery. We had fun trying to figure out who done it, all the while frankly knowing exactly who was going to die even before the murder, which was fun because we were marking everyone down for motive and how it’d happen. So yes, I liked it. However, as the week has gone on I keep thinking on it. Sometimes I’ll just watch a film, and enjoy it, but fairly quickly move on. This one was just a treat. Visually, comedically, and simply a fun way to pass the time. Hence why I found my self treasuring the experience. I do enjoy a good murder mystery, so I’ll likely try to entice Samantha to watch some more with me. I know this Poirot(Peter Ustinov) may not be everyone’s definitive, but he was fun. We’ll see if any other ones strike our fancy.

As for other things, well… Samatha and I apparently are enjoying our time playing Where Winds Meet. Yes, I kinda suggested she’d try it out now that the update nonsense has settled down. She’s been playing it more than I have, heh. I do enjoy the setting, the combat, but especially how it just allows you to do what you want. Sure, I could just wander about gaining skills and power, but I can also just find a storyline that I enjoy and follow it until the end. I wound up helping make a giant mechanical chicken to fly up into a mountain… sure, it kinda crashed, but that was cool. And after clearing a puzzle, that was I found fun, I’m in a big old hidden city filled with mechanical wanders. It’s a beautiful valley filled with gorgeous architecture. And I may have accidentally joined sect… whoops. I didn’t mean to, but I’m not dissatisfied. Hilariously Samatha joined the assassins sect by accident, so there’s that. Heh.

Anyway, diet and exercise. So I started this week a pound under the previous Monday, and have finished about a half pound lighter than last week. As for my exercise. My squats are really growing. Last week holding it for 10 minutes was my max… now I’m past 12 minutes… Not quite 13 yet, but very close. Then I’m doing 110 squats, up and down… so yeah. My legs are really getting a work out. Muscle mass going up, body fat going down. Nice. I kinda feel like my arms are falling behind, sigh, but my core is doing good… so neat.

As for my mood… honestly, really good. Surprising as my blood pressure was up a bit this week again. I had a bit too much salt over the weekend I think. Too much cheese, but dang it’s addictive. I’d course that’s if salt is even a factor. I’ve an idea what might be happening outside that, but I’ll be experimenting to see next week… if possible. Food and other things being what they are.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Dream Scenario, Drawing, and Cleaning Up

Howdy. Let’s blog!

So I finished reading 2 books this week. The latest in Bunny Girl Evolution… decent. Better than the previous, yet not as good as other recent books. Then the latest in Amber the Cursed Berserker. Eh, I liked it well enough, but my brain thought it was another series at first as there were a lot of parallels to another series… oops. But it still wound up being fun.

As for watching things, we watched Dream Scenario. Welp, Nicholas Cage’s acting was excellent. At first you might be a little sympathetic, but as the story progresses you start to see how awful a person he is. The fame he garners, well, he lets it go to his head… and then as with most viral famous people, he gets turned upon. The reality of the world is bizarre, and the final twist really sat with me, and how terrible a person he really is. This dang movie caused some bad dreams, and well, that just speaks to its impact. You can go into it thinking it’s a comedy, and it kinda is… but honestly it’s more of a think piece for how someone with very little motivation to do anything for themselves thinks they are owed something. I align it with folks who think writing prompts are artists… they simply aren’t. Like a person ordering a pizza, then claiming they made it simply because they asked for specific toppings.

Otherwise I did some doodling… still. I honestly am surprised at my own growth in skill. That isn’t to say that it just suddenly happened, I had drawn before, for many years… yet many years had passed since I’d utilized this skill. I’d put some of my apparent growth to be me relearning, or remembering what I had previously. And yet it’s nice to see what I’ve been able to do with light and shadow, which honestly elevates anything drawn. I don’t imagine any further rapid growth at this point, but I do plan to continue to practice. I’m currently at a loss as what I want to draw right now though. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll doodle Dara-San, as she is wonderfully designed.

And I’ve also spent much of my free time this week between shifts just cleaning up and organizing my desk. I simply got in the mood to make it look nice. Mostly I’m just clearing away clutter, but I still think I’ve improved my workspace. I might shift things around a bit more, but it certainly is nice to have everything laid out how I like it.

As for diet and exercise. Welp, Samantha made us a pizza Sunday, so that apparently set my weight higher. I was up around 4 pounds over last Monday, though that Monday I was down a couple of pounds anyway. And I ended this week only a pound up over last Friday. So… I guess that’s cool. My exercise remains elevated, though I think I discovered a reason some of it has been lagging. What I’m listening to has been a podcast… one I’ve liked… yet it simply isn’t the right mood for pushing myself. I tried a different podcast, and that has helped a bit… but perhaps I should switch back to music or something. We’ll see.

As for mood… surprisingly decent. No dips, and pretty mellow the whole time. Why surprising, welp my blood pressure was up more than I’d like to see the whole time. I imagine it likely was the pizza again. A meal, a big one, with all sorts of ultra-processed ingredients simply isn’t a great choice for a diet. Samantha even felt the affects… so we likely won’t be doing that again anytime soon.

Anyway, that’s all I have for you this time. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

An Anime, and Our Losses

Hola folks! Blogging time.

Welp, it looks like I finished 2 books since last week. The latest in the Bog Standard Isekai series, good stuff. And the Latest in the Hell Difficulty Tutorial. Excellent read. Sigh, kinda hard to pick up a new book after these, as they were excellent. Also very long, hence only the two books read since last time. Oh well, I’ll keep pushing forward.

As to what I’ve been watching… Well, I’ve gotten back to watching some anime. Honestly, only one. I say some clips of it, and it looked amusing, so I sought it out. It’s called Dara-San of Reiwa. It’s about a spirit that looks over a mountain. She’s a half priestess half serpent demon. She gets found by a couple of siblings, one a tom boy, the other a boy that dresses as a girl for some reason.. oh well. They simply aren’t frightened and kinda harass her into some sort of friendship. It’s sweet, hilarious, and surprisingly also dark. Dara-San, the spirit, has a very tragic past, and it plays out in flashbacks. All the while in the present silly shenanigans ensue. Some dark stuff happens in the present as well, but it’s kept well away from the kids, who just think she’s cool and fun to be around. I love her design, as she has 6 arms, and they’ve kinda shown how they work. SO neat! It’s totally not for kids, as the dark tones and relatively large amounts of nudity would not be suitable for younger audiences. However the silliness is rather… somewhat juvenile. It has to be a passion product, because who is this for??? Well, me for one. I love it. It gives a look at some of the old spiritual practices of Japan, while also being silly. I’d recommend it, but again, the tone can be all over the place… so you’d have to decide it you are okay with the silly, and the tragic tones.

Speaking of tragedies, we lost three wonderful people this week. Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen. All people I would say I love because of their voices. And certainly for Dolly, because of who they were. I’d known each of their work from a young age, and for reasons of their own, have had them in my mind for many years. Many people would say they know Tim because of Rocky Horror, but for me it was simply because he showed up in so many animated works with that wonderful voice of his. The same could be said about Peter, but of course for me it would mostly be because of Optimus Prime, though I have learned and recognized his voice elsewhere over the years. As for Dolly, coming from a family that enjoyed the country side of music, she was always about. And we frequently watched movies or television specials with her. And while there are many songs that are wonderful, oh boy do I love Jolene. I’ve sung it on and off for years, but this week… well I let my deep voice reverberate its notes, and felt her lyrics. I’ll miss each of them.

Okay then, back to normal stuff. Diet and exercise. I was down about 3 pounds over last Monday… and I’ve ended the week down a bit over a pound over last Friday. Oops… trying to bulk is hard, especially when I experiment on my diet. I changed out one of my bulking meals over the weekend, and that seems to have caused this change. Oh well. However, my exercise routine remains mostly unchanged, slight increases here and there, mostly with my holding squats… so thats neat. But I did have to take out one thing, by heel lifts… yikes. They’ve really hurt my foot. So I’ve decided to cut them out, so my calves will just have to build up via all my walking and other things.

As for my mood. Pretty great all week. I’m always a little down on Monday’s, but that didn’t last too long. My blood pressure reflected that, as it was all good the entirety of the week. I again assume it might be because of my change in one meal, as my usual fare is quite salt and fat intense, and this was mostly beans. Heh. Oh well, I felt great, and we’ll see what next week holds.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Where Winds Meet again, and House is Horrible.

Howdy ya’ll. Let’s blog.

Up first reading per usual. Seems I only finished 2 books, both in the Bog Standard Isekai series. They are rather lengthy after all. I’m on the latest one released, so I should be moving on to something else next week. Oh well, they are good, and it’s nice once in awhile sinking my teeth into a series with my full focus.

As for watching things? UH… nothing to report. Whoops, it seems I was focused on other things. Certainly I did watch some YouTube, so I guess there’s that. Apparently I got focused on House MD clips. I suppose I could go back and watch the series, but nah. Unfortunately in my reviewing of cases and the like I found a nasty thing. It seems the sexualization of children comes into play a few times, which is just disgusting. Now I could lay all the blame on the writers, but the actors played these roles… so yikes. It’s tainted my perspective on the show and the actors involved. I know House is supposed to be somewhat of an anti-hero, but this is too much.

Anyway, I’m happy to report Where Winds Meet seemingly gotten their stuff together. The updates are more manageable, and I’ve easily been able to jump back into the game. I had a decently lengthy gaming session last weekend, and wouldn’t you know it, I’ve hit upon a quest line I can play. I say this as the previous one I was on lead me to an encounter that I simply was unable to defeat… even after multiple attempts. Now this could simply be I’m being too direct in my approach, but it was incredibly frustrating. So I was glad to be doing something else. Previously I had just been doing little side tasks/quests. While amusing, it simply wasn’t progressing the story. Now I’m back in, and I’m happy to be in the game once more.

As for my doodling. I’ve been working on something for a couple of weeks now. I believe this will be week three this weekend. Again, I’m not sharing anything per se, but I’m happy to see some progression in my art. My hair has significantly improved, and my hands are doing well. I’m drawing a male figure, one that I thought I might draw with armor… and yet I started working on the body… and now he’s going to be a muscular dude… heh. I dunno… I suppose I feel I need to work on the bodies form before I really get into fabric, or clothing of any sort. It’ll help me process how such things will fit more realistically. But yeah, it seems I’m doing well. I did try to use a pen as apposed to just my mouse, but the results were… poor. So for now, I’ll stick with the tools I know I’m able to utilize now. I will likely try to find the time to practice with a pen or pencil, as I have such available to me… However I don’t have a place I feel… comfortable to do so for long stretches of time. Maybe I’ll work something out.

Anyway, diet and exercise. I started the week a half pound over last Monday, and I ended up half a pound heavier than last Friday. According to my data my muscle mass is up week by week, as is my fat free body weight… overall nice. Now I felt a little down as my weight lifting hasn’t seemed to have increased… however my recent additional exercises have shown progress. I can now hold a sustained squat twice as long… aka from 4 minutes to over 8 minutes. Nice! Welp, I guess my legs are still my strongest feature, as has been the case my whole life. Heh, my family had always said if I grew into my legs I’d be a bit of a monster… let’s keep it up!

As for mood… hrm. Pretty decent. I had call for some downess, yet overall a really nice week. As I had stated previously I had changed up my meat and beans a bit, and that seems to do the trick. Blood pressure remained decent with it, and I guess that may reflect my increased mood. So yippee. A fix of sorts is in place. I plan on a bit of a further experiment with a certain food I indulge in every weekend to see if that helps as well. Fingers crossed.

Alrighty, that’s all I have for now. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Art and Time-Fear

Well then, let’s blog.

Reading, hrm. It seems I only finished one book this week. I will mention I’m in the middle of a second, but this series runs long. I read the second of the Bog Standard Isekai series, and it was decent. A bit too much zombie invasion stuff, but otherwise good. I’m on the third one right now… still good so far, but yes, very long.

Didn’t do much of watching anything, just a Patrick Willems vid about a movie I don’t care about, but some conversation about Steven Spielberg’s directing. Which had me pondering… do I actually care about any of his films? Well Raider’s is great… I oddly love Hook… hrm.. Catch Me if you Can is a very fun story. But yeah, I don’t think I’m really his audience if I’m being honest. Oh well.

As for other things. I’m still doodling. I feel I finished the picture I was drawing for my son, and I think I did very well… but I’m still staring my journey. I’m currently trying to make something with a different pose. I’d been focusing on straight on or profile pictures… now I’m trying to push myself… it’s difficult. I may be working on this one for awhile. Samantha has shown me something she took offense too. Apparently some artist are taking 3d models, and posing them, then drawing what they want on top of it, making poses easier to draw. While I think it’s not quite tracing, I do feel there is a bit of an element on that front. I did mention those wooden posable figures some artist use, but again, you don’t just take a picture of it and… work over that image. You just stare at it, and try your best to use that for your picture. She said in her mind it would be better to learn how to draw without such crutches. She’s taking the stance that one shouldn’t rely on technology, and learn the basics. Which I understand. However, as I don’t trust my dexterity yet to utilize pen or pencil, I’m stuck using a mouse… heh. So I guess I’m trying to learn visually first, than how to control my hand.

As for diet and exercise… my weight at the beginning of the week was slightly down over last Monday, and here at the end I’m slightly above. Okay, I guess. As my scale keeps insisting that I’m healthier at a heavier weight I shall keep bulking. I slightly changed my diet, and used grass-fed beef instead of corned-beef, which I think is slightly more calories due to the amount, a pound of meet vrs a small can, so perhaps that’s the difference.

As to why I changed to that, well I believe I stated my blood-pressure was higher than I wanted most of last week, and I wanted to see if it was due to salt. Hrm, kinda I guess? It was still a little up a couple of days… but it’s fine now. As it was this time last week. So maybe not?

Moodwise, I was fine. Any issues could be pointed towards being hyperfocused on drawing, and not being able to do so… and feeling overwhelmed easily because I couldn’t participate in drawing for much time. I believe I discovered an issue with myself. I think I have something I’m calling time-fear. Nothing feels like long enough, and I need to feel like I have time before I do anything. Perhaps this is why I’m always early to everything, because that’s my focus at the time. My goal, be it going to work, or drawing, takes precedence over everything else, and I will become agitated if anything interrupts that. Even the feeling that I don’t have time for something. Yikes. Hopefully with this insight I will be able to modulate that stress going forward, but we shall see.

Anyway, that’s all I have for now. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Phoenician Scheme

Well now, it looks like I’ve some stuff to tag about. BLOG!

First up, reading. I finished 3 books this week. The latest in The Primal Hunter, an excellent read. It makes me sad I sometimes can’t find things as well written and or fun, but it’s always nice when one comes along. The next was the latest in the Absolute Mastery series. These books go by very fast, so that’s nice. Never lingering on anything, they can be page turners, even if as literary works they cannot compare to other things I enjoy more. But, cultivation and constant upgrading powers, fun. Okay, I tried to start reading a couple of books, one was a sequel to a series I’ve been reading, and I just couldn’t get in the mood for. Another was a new cultivation series about farming. I got about 35% through, and just couldn’t justify reading it. It’s either poorly translated, or poorly written… perhaps both. Maybe I’ll go back just to knock it out, but it wasn’t matching my mood. So I decided to look around for something, and boy did i find an enjoyable series. I just started the second book, because that first one was excellent. It’s called Bog Standard Isekai. And yup, dude gets reincarnated into a young kids body alone in a town where the undead come every night. Yes there are fight scenes, and well written ones, but it’s mostly about addressing dealing with coming into a new world in a body that doesn’t making up with who you were… and of course leveling up stats, hehehe. You, I’m happy with this, and am looking forward to the next four books that I believe are out already!

As for watching things, Samantha and I watched The Phoenician Scheme. As always I’m a fan of Wes Anderson films, and I did enjoy this one. It took a moment for me to get into it, as our main character is quite unlikable, but as the story unfolds it really does something interesting. Yes everyone is quirky, and the humor is dry as usual, so lovely for me. But what the story does is meditate upon religion… somewhat from an atheist perspective. All the while having a somewhat respectful take. I’m not going to say it’s my favorite from Wes Anderson, but it is good. My emotional experience with Astroid City makes that one my favorite… and I have a big soft spot for The Life Aquatic, so they remain my top picks, but yes, I can safely say I could watch this movie again.

Oh, uh, it was my birthday this week. I got some drawing things, and I’ll be getting a replacement of jewelry that somehow went missing. Sigh, my poor silver necklace charm that I’d been wearing for around 20 years finally fell off and disappeared. My ex-wife got it for me, and I’ve been mourning its loss. But what can you do?

Hrm, otherwise I’ve need drawing. I’m working on a piece, for myself and for my son… I’m not going to share it with many folks, as it’s kinda for the universe, but not for anyone. Not that it makes sense to say it like that, I just feel that it’s… not a penance for my loss, but more a thing I feel compelled to complete. I’m really getting into hands right now, they are super fun and intriguing. Yes, they are difficult to make well, but oh so rewarding when they turn out well. In the end, it’s something that in some small way lets my son into the world again.

Anyway, diet and exercise. Well, I was up a pound over last week’s start, yikes. I assume it was because of the delicious Masala and the oh so rich red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing I had for my birthday celebration. However, I’m right back to where I was a couple of weeks ago at the end of the week… so I guess that’s good? My fat-free body weight is up, as is my muscle mass… according to the scale, so I guess things are going well. My increased exercise routine seems to be working out! I’ve recently discovered my way of doing pushups… kinda was off. I was still doing them correctly and everything, but I wasn’t doing the style I thought I was… so I’m doing that now. I felt it in the arms more this time around, so good!

As for mood… hrm. Nothing drastic, just slight dread now and again. Paying attention to my blood pressure, it was slightly elevated all week, save today. I hadn’t changed my diet during the week, so I’m unsure what the cause was… I’m planning on changing an ingredient with my beans next week to check something out… if it doesn’t help, welp, I’ve a couple of options to pursue, neither option makes me happy, but we do what we must to be the best version of ourselves.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Just a Week, and My Music Enjoyment

Uh oh, we’re in trouble, someone can around and burst our bubble…. Uh, blog time?

Welp, only finished 2 books this time around. Both in the World of Magic series. You see, I’m almost done with a third, but it’s long. As for the books I did read, decent enough. But, ya know, I’m thinking that sometimes I want something more. Which the book I’m on right now is satisfying. Yippee. Hint… a long series with a Hunter

Anyway, what have I been up to? Uh, I can’t say I watched anything, not really. Just more Doc Martin… again. I’m in the second season once more. Still a quite satisfying show. Otherwise it was just more random YouTube.

I’m still playing around drawing stuff. But I tell you what, my dang shoulder isn’t happy with me. Well, it’s fine currently, but by the time my weekend is over it does ache. Apparently spending hours in strange positions drawing with a mouse will do that to you. But it’s a ton of fun, and has given me the opportunity to listen through all the music I’ve built up over the years. I’d pondered listening to other things…aka YouTube stuff, or other streaming services, but meh. I’m happy enough to hear things I know I love.

Listening to music for me is a complicated thing. They get stuck in my head… for days at a time now and again. Which let me tell you doesn’t help me sleep. I get like a lyric or a particular interesting piece of music lodged in my brain, and it plays on repeat FOREVER! But apparently when I’m only listening with half my attention while doing other things it winds up being fine. So finally I can enjoy music again without going mad!

As for diet and exercise, welp an interesting week. I was up a pound over last Monday… then I’m down a pound over last week. Honestly I’m lighter than I was at the beginning of the month. So that’s strange. I haven’t change my diet, so who knows? I suppose I did up some reps on some things… and okay, I did add one more routine to my daily workout. So maybe that’s it? From what I can tell my overall muscle mass is larger… so that’s good. Oh well, I guess I keep doing what I’ve done, and see where this goes.

As for mood. Well now, it was pretty good. Had a slight downer Monday before work, but that’s kinda normal. My blood pressure rises over the weekend… likely because I loosen the shackles of my diet slightly then. And well, Monday at work always comes with unknown situations that must be faced. You know, usual stress from shifting from relaxation to job mentality. But yeah, overall a decent week.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Not much to report, but I do it anyway. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

In Which I Speak About My Past With Art

Ah jeez, here we go again,

Welp it looks like I finished reading 3 books this week. The second in the Adventures on Brad was first… eh… it was okay. I’m still not sold on the tense being used, but it was fine. Then I read the next in the Absolute Mastery series… decent as usual. And finally the first book in World of Magic by Levi Werner. I wasn’t sold at first, as some of it felt a little lazy, naming-wise… but that was explained later. Dude is messed up in an accident at work, and is basically paralyzed. But is given the chance to join an immersive MMO permanently… so does so. Now he’s fully in the game, pain and all… but like a player, if he dies he’ll come back. I like the setting, and the world building… I will say the stats and such can be a bit much, as they are highly repetitive, but I tend to gloss over those after I’ve seen them before… thus making it a decent read.

As for watching things, wound up watching more of the Korean drama Goblin/Guardian with Samantha. While I do love this show, as it can be down right silly while still being a tear jerker… the dang Goblin himself can be at times a big ol’jerk. Now I can… accept/explain his behavior by way of understanding he’s immortal and thus very old, and also in constant pain with the sword through his chest, he’s giving mixed signals constantly to the main girl… not cool my dude. The last couple of episodes have been him just being like an overprotective boyfriend, while pushing her away… bah. Oh well, I know how it ends, so I’m fine. Samatha is frustrated with him… but hopefully we’ll be able to finish it. Heh.

As for other things… still drawing. I’m really enjoying making shadows and highlights. But dang clothes are hard. I mean, I can do the shapes, but texture and folds… whew. I’m gonna be doing some more practice this weekend I think, so fingers crossed for improvement. But yeah, I’m having a ton of fun. I did get to show off some of my stuff to some friends, and they are encouraging, so that was nice. I’ve drawn up four pieces, but I’m not sure if anything is finished. I keep wanting to go back and fix things as I improve. Oh well, sure is interesting to see a skill I haven’t really used in years coming back better than ever.

So a bit of backstory. When I was young, let’s say elementary age.. I was decent at art. I could draw most things fairly accurately, at least enough for it to be better than recognizable. To through middle school I kept at it now and again… then high school came along, and… well, I feel I wasn’t allowed to take any artistic classes. All science and math. Now I got really good at math, scoring awards every year, so that’s neat. But my artistic side was never fully fulfilled. I wish I could have been able to draw more, or even join choir or something. But I didn’t. Admittedly I don’t know how much of a choice I had, as my parents kept pushing me away from that front. Some of that may have been my own lack of pushing back, but it’s hard to say how they might have reacted had I fought for such a path. But then seeing my sister being allowed to do such things didn’t help my disposition. I again don’t know how much she fought for it, or if they simply allowed her to do as she pleased… oh well. I’m just happy as an adult I’ve been able to pursue such things… writing, singing, and once more visual art.

Becoming an adult is getting over your childhood, as I like to say.

Anyway, Diet and exercise. I started this week weight-wise about where I was the previous one, and I ended slightly higher. Only like .4 of a pound. So alright? I will say however my reps have increased, and I’m feeling stronger. My fat free body weight, and muscle mass has increased, which makes sense, so that’s cool. So yeah, I think my bulking is going well. It’s slow, but steady.

Mood-wise, pretty decent. My reading downs, though there was some issue with a work thing that I won’t get into. But hopefully that’ll be refunded shortly. All in all, I’ve been doing well. It seems my combination of getting enough omega 3’s, and keeping my blood pressure consistently at good levels is truly helping. There may be other factors I’m not accounting for, but yeah.. I think I’ve got this.

Welp, that’s all for now. I hope you have a great week

TTFN

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

The Kid Who Would be King, and Art

Well hello there, shall we blog?

So up first, I finished reading 4 books this week. The first one was A Healers Gift. It was okay… but it was written by an author I’ve enjoyed before, so I pushed through. Their use of tenses feels wrong, but it’s a decent enough story. The last book I finished was the sequel, so, I guess I’m okay with the books? Anyway, I also read another book in the Absolute Mastery series, yup, more of the same… decent. And I salt read the latest in the Unintended Cultivator series. Oh yeah buddy, give me the good stuff. So overall a decent week of reading.

So we watched The Kid Who Would Be King. I’d heard it was decent before, and I was randomly served a clip and thought, oh yeah, I meant to watch this. So we rented it, and gave it a go. The fire horses and knights looked really cool… but like, were they really a danger, they fall apart if they’re tripped… sigh. Honestly it’s a decent enough kids film, but sadly I found the plot to be a bit flimsy here and there. Dues ex machina all the things! The best part of the film, for me at least, is all the Merlin stuff. The clip I saw was with him, so that’s why I felt compelled to watch it, and yeah, he’s amusing, but sadly it doesn’t make up for what I would call… simplistic writing. Oh well. If ya got kids, or are willing to ignore some of that, it’s fun enough.

Oh buddy. I did some more arting… uh, am I actually good at this stuff? I mean, it looks surprisingly good to me. Again, I’m not sharing here, but I’ve had some folks take a gander, and they liked it. What’s really surprising to me is looking at a doodle I did a few months back, and the huge difference. I’m getting all the good vibes from playing around, so I’ll probably continue. I plan on starting a new one, this one doing some anatomy work, so we’ll see how that goes, but what I’ve done with a head is… shockingly good to my eyes. I didn’t think I could do this stuff. Years and years ago I had doodled, and it was okay, but I kinda set it aside. And now out of the blue, I’m kinda good? Of course it doesn’t hurt that Samantha is an excellent artist and I’ve watched her draw amazing things over the years. That and we discuss the process often enough. I guess I picked up on some things. That and one of the YouTube channels we used to frequent, SINIX Design, talks about how they draw. So here I am, having fun with this instead of playing games. Go Linux powered Krita! Heh.

Anyway, diet and exercise time. So… I was a pound heavier at the start of the week over the previous… and here at the end I’m the same weight as last week. Diet didn’t change. So, uh, perhaps I’ve found the exact amount to eat to maintain my weight week to week? I dunno. I was trying to bulk. Whoops. As for exercise… reps are doing well… and my additions have grown in reps… so perhaps I’m burning just enough calories for maintenance. Whoops again. My legs have always been pretty muscular, but uh, getting a bit more crazy guys. Heh. My arms are lovely, and my torso is looking pretty neat. SO yippee. My scale does biological age, and it seems to saying my younger days are at a higher weight than previously, so I’m going to put that down to good muscular growth. Aka, any weight gain is stemming from muscle. Nice.

As for mood. Honestly it’s been okay. I had some stuff come up over the previous weekend, and yeah, it was stressful. But it didn’t send me spiraling as it might have in the past. My blood pressure was decent throughout the week, so perhaps that’s what it is. I’ll continue my observations, but I believe I have that issue licked at this point.

Alrighty, that’s what I have for you this time. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

Oh, a link you say? Here ya go.

The Owl and the Mystery of Sorcery

https://www.amazon.ca/Owl-Mystery-Sorcery-Steven-Oaks-ebook/dp/B0DDF5B7QT?ref_=ast_author_mpb

TTFN again!

You Must Be Drunk link to the Amazon store here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: You Must Be Drunk is published. Find it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8KH6WM. Did some editing, looking good, if slow… back to it next week.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.