Just Relax for a Minute

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Hiya. Here we go again. Blogging Time!

Oh, books. Welp I’ve read 52 books this year so far… that was my little goal. But this week I only finished 3. 2 Hamish Macbeth ones, and another random harem-lit book. The Hamish’s are shortish, so no surprise, but the other was a little long. So I guess it’s okay. I don’t think I’m going to hit 200 unless I really get the bug for some book series I haven’t found yet… so there’s that. Oh well.

As to watching stuff… nah. Ain’t been doing much of that at all. Nothings been snagging my attention lately. If I do watch anything it’s mostly been background noise on YouTube. I did add a podcast to my potential list of listening things… it’s about Linux. Ah, how I’ve missed that type of conversation. I don’t think it gets its due… and I’m really hating, and have hated, the way Windows has been heading for several years. 10 was semi-fine, but 11 seems outright terrible with some of the things it’s doing. Now if I can get Linux to play nice with VR I might not even run windows at all anymore… I suppose I could do standalone, which luckily is an option for my headset, but things seem a bit smoother, and I have more options running it from a PC.

So yeah, lots of time in VR. It seems to sooth me. Heh, I even had a relaxing time over the last weekend one day. Met a new friend, and they had us just chill and do nothing… not even talking, just listening to some background music… It was very soothing. Yeah, I know, it’s weird. But I think the notion that we always must be active, even when your hanging out with someone can be a detriment, or even a burden. Sometimes you should just let go, and enjoy the moment for what it is. I tend to stare out at my little pond, watching the birds do their thing even while I’m in the middle of reading. It’s soothing. Just let it all go for a minute guys… the moment should be enjoyed. You can always go back to what you were doing in a little bit. Relax… it’s these little moments that make life worth living, because it resets you and gets you ready to live the rest of your life.

As for exercise and diet… welp it was an increase week… upped my reps by 20 again… I’m starting to solidly workout 30 minutes everyday instead of the 20 or so it had been before… meh… I get more audiobook listening in. I did also up my protein intake, and am still losing weight, so there’s that. I got off track for a little bit with some excess eating one day… gosh, it only takes falling down one time to put me back two weeks… oh well. I suppose I’ll just say it was helping me stabilize my body so I can lose weight while gaining muscle, heh. Tried out some new protein powder… seems fine. Tastes awful though, even the flavored ones. We got some little sample packs to try them out… bah. Plain is the worst, but even the flavored ones are a bit rough to swallow. Oh well. Had a bit better vitamins and stuff… so there’s that. All hail the Body Improvement Club!

As for my book… doing fine. Almost done… almost. I have additional writing I do on the side that kinda slows down the editing, but not a huge amount. So it should be out this year… maybe even in a month or two. There’s cover art that has been worked on, so I should be ready to go when I finish my edits up here soonish. So yay that.

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

TTFN

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 Some Work Training and Body Improvements

Howdy y’all. Have a blog post.

Books, yup. So I finished reading 3 books this week. Surprisingly all harem-lit, and not awful. 2 because they had interesting worlds, and very little erotica… eh, I guess I’m getting icked out by some of the writing some people do for that these days. And the third one because it focused on the relationships in what I would call a “Love Focused” way. Big families, good times. Well, big families that care about each other and each person is a unique character not just a list of characteristics to ogle over. Anywho, fun.

Otherwise it’s been a week of “training”. A bit of a slog, but it should be done now. It’s work related, so I’m not going into detail, just something that needed to be passed. I’d done the same training previously, so nothing new.. though some had been updated since last time. It can be fun to learn things, though the newness from the previous iterations wasn’t there for me. Oh well. It’s completed. I found it stressful with a deadline though.

On the front of watching things… uh… nothing really stands out. I mostly spent my free time reading. The outdoors was good enough for my balcony reading time… so I did that. I’m boring I suppose.

Diet/exercise time. I visited friends over the weekend… and food was present. While I forwent desert, I still partook of a delicious meal…. Over much, heh. My weight went up higher than usual, but since I felt I lost too much weight from the week prior, I’m not terribly disturbed. I even included more protein powder this week as an experiment… I believe, though I could be mistaken, that my strength increased. The muscle soreness I get from exercise and my exertions at work were lessened. So that’s good. It’s an increase week next week, so we’ll see how that goes. I did get my weight back down to within a pound from the previous week even though I gained over my starting week weight, so again not bad. Visually I believe I have improved, so perhaps it’s just muscle weight. I’ll consider getting more protein in the diet again this coming week. The stomach muscles are starting to show up, and my arm muscles have continued to be doing well. It’s rather neat to observe ones own body shaping over time due to a diet and exercise. I’m excited to see what I can continue to do with this body of mine.

My book is still going well.. just a little left. YAY. Edits are minimal at this time.

A short update, but that’s all I have for now. I hope you all have a great week.

TTFN

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 post, and some VRchat thoughts

Hello all. A blog post for ya.

Books books books…. And a book. Heh. Yes, that means I finished reading 4 books this week. 2 Hamish Macbeth ones, a former farming lit-rpg that because of drought became city living… and one Harem-lit. Yeah, I’m not so sure about that last genre anymore. I think I enjoyed them for the found family aspect, but sometimes it’s all about the physical… and that’s been making me uncomfortable lately. I dunno… either I’m changing, or I’ve just come to realize some things about myself. I’m reading one now, and so far it’s been fun, but again it’s about that found family aspect, and the story. If there’s no story… like what’s the point. I could just read smut… but meh.

Sad Panda stuff. That 38 and a half hour review for the Beverly Hillbillies was taken down. I only got 11 hours through before it disappeared… now I’m sad. Copyright was claimed, even for the sections that were out of copyright… so that’s no good. Hearing a bit about the production… and how the gentleman doing the review was injured and nearly died, and how it helped the family get through that rough time… well… I’m just sad that it’s gone.

Honestly, I’ve not done too much outside this stuff. Some YouTube, some editing, and lots of VRchat. I have a gaggle of friends, and it’s always fun to hang out with them. So of course I spend time just being silly. I keep telling them I’m not a fan of games, but their response is I’m playing a game. Well, not to me. VRchat to me is more of a place to be social. I find that fun, and I’m not here to play games, either created in the platform or psychologicaly as some folks seem to want to do. Nah, I’m here to meet people, learn their stories, get to know them, and if they need/want it, offer some of my life experiences in hopes of helping. Oh, and I’m there to play dress up. Heh. Looking at all the avatars is tons of fun to me, but with a group it can be quite silly. Acting out the characters with each other is very amusing… at least to me. Hah, and in some public worlds, getting asked to join a Warhammer game, or Star Wars battle by an Orc or Stormtrooper is rather amusing at how often it happens.

So yeah, editing and the like is still going well. Not much to add over the last several weeks. I’m getting very close to the end… so yay.

Exercise and diet is going well. I’m down another 3lbs over last week… and I’m looking pretty good. My old clothes are fitting… only slightly loose, heh. Tall and lean, and definition. Oh boy, am I happy with my progress, even if it’s tough sometimes. The increase this week was a bit rough, and my routine grows longer… again. Heh. Fun times.

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

TTFN

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.

Beverly Hillbillies(edit-gone now)

Howdy there folks. Another blog post for ya.

Welp, I read a bit this week. Seems like I finished 5 books. A couple of Hamish Macbeth, a sci-fi sequel for a series I’ve liked, my audiobook about a necromancer, and finally the latest Dragon Heart novel. Oh goodness, some good stuff. I can’t praise that Dragon Heart series enough. It’s gorgeously worded, and so contemplative. I love it. It was a slightly longer book than my usual fare, but dang, I couldn’t put it down.

Okay, so last week, as I write this, had April fools day. Um, one of the YouTubers I watch now and again uploaded a video. Nothing unusual about that, and since it was the first, of course it was a silly thing… Um, but it’s 38 and a half hours long. Okay, so I’m thinking maybe it’s just a long video that’s repeating, or maybe has long stretches of silence…. NOPE! He got his dad to review the Beverly Hillbillies. FOR 38 and a half hours. But that’s not all, he’s also going over Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. Side tangents into production and the actors as well. Now I’m only 10hrs in myself at this point, but I just can’t stop watching it. I haven’t watched anything else on YouTube really all week… well, some random video’s with the wife, but this has been it for me. WHAT WILL I DO WHEN I’M DONE?! Anyway my favorite thing is when the reviewer states something silly, then stares deadpan at the camera for a minute. It’s hilarious! I’m old, so maybe only someone like me will think everything about this is great, but you should give it a chance… there’s so much here!(Edit-Sadly, in the week since I wrote this it was taken down. I write about it a bit in my next post)

The book is going well. I’m coming up on the end.. sorta, and I think there’s little for me to change… maybe the odd word here or there, or clarifying some explanation or what not, but it seems like it’s going to be smooth sailing until the end… hopefully I didn’t curse myself with this statement, but I’m hopeful.

Exercise and diet… doing well. I’m down 3 pounds over last week, so that’s something. The increase week didn’t kick my butt… but has shown some improvements in the old body. I did add some additional movements with my shoulder exercises and I’m feeling that, heh. I’ll tell you a little secret. My reps are in the 300’s. Oops doopsy. I’m a monster. Heh. I wonder what it’ll be like as I keep increasing. Every two weeks I add an additional 20 to 40 reps, and I’ve been doing that since September last year. I weigh less than I ever have as an adult, and I’ve definition. Heck, I don’t think I’ve weighed this little since Middle School… oh dear. It might be time to up my protein. HEH.

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

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.

Barbie… It’s PINK!

Howdy folks. Time for a blog post.

So, let’s do the book thing. Looks like I finished reading three books this week. One slice of life farming in a lit-rpg world, and two isekai-like power fantasies I guess. Good stuff. I also just realized part of why my reading has slowed down is because of exercise. Yes, I’m listening to an audio book, but I generally read much quicker than someone can read a book to me. I suppose I could have finished reading a few more books, but the body improvement is a nice trade off in my opinion.

Okay, so I finally watched something again. Movie wise… heh. I wound up watching Barbie with Samantha… and it was a ton of fun. Some people are offended at the way the males are treated in the Barbie world, but guys… they’re dolls. All of them, including the Barbie’s act like the toys they are… as they were designed. Is that a fair system for sentient beings? Nah, but the story is about how the toys live. Of course they’re going to feel disillusioned when they are presented with alternatives, hence why the Barbie’s fell into Ken’s new way of doing things. New is not always better, but at least in the aftermath Ken is given more autonomy to understand who he wants to be, and the Barbie’s can see them as more than just the accessories that they were made to be. I felt it was really well done. You can’t please everyone, but you can make it entertaining, and it was. It fulfilled what a movie should, and that is be interesteing… and went further by actually telling a good story at the same time. It truly was a love letter to the toy Barbie, and if you go into thinking about that, instead of it just being a social commentary, I think you’ll have a decent time. RECOMMENDED!

Otherwise, on my days off I’ve still being playing around with VRCHAT. Mostly I’m exploring worlds. Sometimes with the friends I’ve met along the way, which is highly entertaining, but sometimes on my own. I also enjoy doing this to show off what I’ve found with friends, and also having them show me around as well. There’s so much to see and do. I wound up playing some games even. My thumbs hurt after a session of playing what I think was called VRchat Ball, but then we moved on when the complaints rolled in, mostly mine, heh. Accidentally wound up in a public world doing that, and had to quickly leave due to the nonsense people were spouting, so there’s that. The lesson is truly learned, don’t go into public worlds if you don’t want to hear children and others calling each other slurs and the like… eep. But yeah, I enjoy my time there, it’s nice. The people I surround myself with are genuinely lovely people.
As for the book, it’s doing well enough. I’m getting near the end, and I’ve rarely had to change anything. Yes I could read through it faster, but you know it takes a bit more time when I’m being critical. I ain’t going to sit here and tell you it’s some masterpiece or anything, but I think it should be entertaining, or perhaps interesting at least. I can’t wait for you guys to read it.

Exercise… welp. As I said last time this week was an increase week. All reps upped by 20. It’s been a slow creep to get to where I am, and I’ve shown results because of it. But, while my last post talked about staying the same weight and seeing how I feel… well it’s been a few weeks at the same weight, and I think it’s time to lose some more. I didn’t restrict my calories as much those last few weeks, and nothing changed, so I guess it’s back to eating the little I did again. I did that this week… and I’m feeling fine and everything. So I suppose that’s good. I dunno, it’s hard to tell when you reach a goal when it’s visual I guess. I look good, but I’ve got some things I want to improve. All aboard the improvement train! I’ll likely try to lose a few more pounds, and then hold off for a couple of weeks again, just to let my body settle properly. I don’t want to go too far in one direction, but I also don’t want to lose what I’ve gained by getting too lenient on myself.

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

TTFN

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.

Trying to be better in many ways

Hello you. Yes YOU! Um, have a blog post?

As I don’t know what I’m going to be writing about, I shall fall back on my usual. How many books did I read since last post? Oh boy, 4 books. Neat. Two murder mysteries, and 2 fantasy books with lit-rpg elements. Fun times. I had a good time with them. Ah, the weather warming up is helping I tell you. I’m looking forward to more time outside reading. I hope it stays nice, though I’m hearing tell of some rain in the night. Which on the weekend is when I get a fair amount of reading done under the stars.
I’m a boring guy. I just want to relax on my days off, and to do that I enjoy just reading things. There was a time when I also enjoyed watching random old shows or other things that have relaxing vibes, but I think I’ve been stuck inside too long over this winter to really be able to enjoy that anymore. Perhaps I’ll get back into it when winter inevitably hits us again… but not right now.

As may be apparent, I’ve also come to enjoy my time in VRchat. It has been a task of mine over the last several years to figure out how I can return to being more social, and this “GAME” appears to be working for me. As a 3rd shifter, who shuns going out during the day, and not really having an option I’d want to avail myself at night (dances, clubs, bars?), there wasn’t much for me. I used to enjoy going to bookstores or just walking the mall, but that’s not really a thing for a late night guy like myself. And those alternatives in brackets before are not my thing. So now I can just pop in the game and listen to people talking around me, and even join in. I’ve met some interesting people, and have made new friends… not something I’ve really done in over a decade. I’ve kept my friends, I’d like to think, but not made new ones. So this is just a ton of fun for me… As I’ve discovered I’m not just an introvert, I’m an introverted extrovert. Meaning I do love my alone time, but sometimes I get really lonely, and just want to hang out with a couple of people.

This current lifestyle, if you want to call it that, has led to some negatives though. The biggest one I’ve discovered is that I find myself wishing to talk to people more… And while that isn’t a downside for most people, for me it is. Where I work I’m generally alone, and since it’s overnight there’s no one to talk to. Which is frustrating, and now I’m starting to feel some loneliness creep back in because of it. Now, I’ve been able to sporadically have quick messages back and forth, but since I don’t want to be a nuisance I generally don’t want to avail myself of the kindness of others. Schedules are different, and I don’t want to keep people from sleep. That and I can’t focus on a conversation, as I am working… heh. Oh well. It’s better than nothing, I just hope not to negatively affect others with this currrent desire for conversation. I’ll just have to learn to deal with this, as I have learned in the past to just be isolated.

Anywho, the book is going well. So there’s that. Nothing much to report, save that I’m getting closer to finalizing it. So I’m hopeful it’ll be out before the year is out at the latest.

As for exercise and my diet, things are doing alright. Next week is an increase week for me, so longer reps and likely an increase of weights are in my future. Diet wise, I’ve increased my calorie count, as I’m just about where I want to be. Right now it’s all about toning what I have. I’ve kept my weight stable-ish, so I’m not dropping pounds, though I do look slimmer to my own eyes. Perhaps that’s just my skin firming up, which is what I want. Now it’ll be about putting on some more muscle I suppose. Though I do miss the endorphin hit from stepping on the scale and seeing it drop… but I know that can lead to anorexia, and I’m very much trying to avoid that. Though according to the bmi I’m still not where it wants me, when I look in the mirror, and have asked Samantha her opinion, we’ve both agreed to lose any more would likely make me look skeletal… so I’m with some difficulty holding on to where I am.

Anywho, that’s all I have for you right now. I hope you all have an enjoyable week.

TTFN

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.

Music, and my love for Ranma

Greetings fellow travelers. A blog post awaits you here.

Ah, books. How many have I read since last I wrote here? Hrm, only 2. Ah well, can’t complain really. One was quite long, and I’m in the middle of another long one. Still, I haven’t disliked them… so there’s that. All sequels. I suppose it has become harder to find new things, though the audio books have been unique. But as I only listen to them while exercising they take a bit longer to get through.

So, what have I been up to you ask? Oh, nothing much. In the end I’m quite boring. No movies or tv shows to speak of. However while in VRchat I listened to some music with some friends. How is that so interesting… at least for me? Well, for the most part I avoid listening to music. I do love it, but I find it hard to sleep at times when a particular song gets trapped in my head. Luckily nothing did this time, as mostly they were instrumental or the like. Pink Floyd tracks from the Meddle album are wonderful, but lack lyrics, which is good for me. I may have shed a tear or two, as I do miss listening to music, and these songs were wonderful. However, as I felt I had overcome this hurdle to my enjoyment… I slept fine, I listened to some more through the week.

Surprisingly nothing stuck in my head…. That is until I listened to some openings from Ranma 1/2…. I love this show, and yes it’s old, but I was in a rather dark place when I watched it originally. My wife Samantha(girlfriend at the time) had left for school, and I wouldn’t see her for quite awhile… it wasn’t until years and years later when we finally reconnected and eventually married. However, at the time I was at loss as to what to do with my life. A friend had gifted me two seasons of Ranma, and before work everyday I’d watch an episode or two. I found it very comforting. So now I associate those intros with melancholic happiness. They were a relief of sorts to my daily depressed state. As such, they get stuck in my head easily.

This is the power of music to me. They can transport you, either to where you were when you first heard them, or to a world which is created by their sounds or lyrics. They are in a way, a means of communicating emotions, even more so than just speaking and trying to explain things. And to my ears and mind, an even deeper way of conveying an empathic viewpoint to another person. Oh, I’m not saying it happens for everyone, or even if it’s an accurate transmission of ideas, but there’s something deeper there than what we usually get just by talking.

Anywho, otherwise it’s just been exercise and editing. Nothing much to convey here about that. All positive, and things are progressing, so there’s that.

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

TTFN

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.

Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball

Hello Friends. A blog here.

Welp, reading is going well enough. I finished 3 books since last I wrote a blog post. All sequels of course… why would I read anything new? HEH. I rather enjoyed them, so there’s that. I blame the slight increase over previous weeks due to the weather being pleasant in the late afternoons and evenings. This has allowed me once more to utilize my balcony so I might read. I find when it’s too cold or rainy that I just watch YouTube inside instead. Ah well.

Okay, I’m unsure how to write what I want to hear. As almost everyone knows by now Akira Toriyama has passed. This man was the creator of Dragon Ball, a series that has deep meaning to me. Not just because it was a show that kicked started my love for anime, but because it helped me start something even more important. Samantha, my wife, and I met in large part due to DBZ. Sure, we may have started off discussing the books we were reading at the time, but that’s something we would do in isolation. DBZ, now that was a show we could watch together.

Now this was back in the 90’s, and my exposure began when my father woke me up early one Saturday morning to get me to watch a show with him. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Death was a factor, and the fights were stellar. While, unbeknownst to me, I had enjoyed anime previously, those shows had been highly edited for the English speaking market. Voltron and Battle of the Planets being the two biggest ones I liked, but they were not like this new show. I got into it, and forced myself to wake up very early to catch DBZ on network television. While talking about books with Samantha, this show came up, and we’ve to this day still not talking about it. I don’t know why, but almost every long conversation we have winds back up with Dragon Ball.

All this is to say Toriyama had a huge influence on my life. I’m married because of it. I love anime because of it. I’m into things like cultivation novels and Japanese things because of it. I am who I am today in large part due to this one thing. It’s not my whole being, but it is a large part of me. So when I heard that the creator had died, well I just couldn’t process it. Even now, anytime Dragon Ball comes up in conversation I just can’t help lament the loss of Toriyama. I will miss this man whom I’ve never met and never will. Thank you Akira Toriyama for making such an influential series that it seems the whole world loved.

Sigh, sad panda. But on to other things. I did a silly this week. I ate too little. I got a little light headed, but I kept it up for 4 days. The benefit was I lost a fair amount of weight. Downside is my muscles are rather sore. Oh well, time to eat more. I’ve finally broken the barrier I had previously, 10 years ago, and am lighter than I’ve ever been as an adult. So there’s that. I still feel I’ve got a little more to go, I’d say 10 pounds or so, but I’m not going to eat as little as I did this last week. That was silly, and mostly to see if I had the will power to do it. Apparently I do, but let’s not do that again. I’m too friggin stubborn sometimes. Next week is an increase week(exercise) so I’ll need the calories. Time to stock up on that this weekend… but not too gluttonously, heh.

The book is going well, so there’s that too. Getting closer every time. YAY.

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

TTFN (Spirit Bomb

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.

Steven Universe

Hello there. A blog post… amazing right?

Welp, books books books. YUP, I finished three books since I last wrote a blog. One fairly amazing audiobook that I’ve been listening to while exercising. It’s about other things, but the fascinating part for me was about different mentalities. Autistic adjacent or the like. A cultivation novel in a series I like, good as well. And a light novel my wife was praising that I found a bit subpar… I dunno, it just didn’t click with me. Perhaps it was the translation, or perhaps I’ve grown harder to please over the years. Either way, it was still a good week for reading.

As for things watched… or not. I wound up finding a YouTube channel that was reviewing Steven Universe… a 5 hour video… heh. I’ve got maybe an hour left of it. Fairly entertaining. I do love the show itself and own it, but it was amusing to hear other people’s takes on it. I’d remained fairly insular, as in not interacting or looking at the fandom, as it has been toxic at times. However these reviewers comedic takes have been amusing, and distracting when I needed it. Poor Steven learned the wrong lesson as a child, and as he grew up he thought he could fix everything. Nope. As a child he was there for his friends and family, and it wasn’t that he was fixing anyone, he was letting them fix themselves. We can all be forgiven if we continue to see a positive outcome to our interactions for mistaking that for us actively helping. No, I’m afraid the only person who we can fix is ourselves. We can only be there for others as they hopefully learn to help themselves. We can be supportive, but we can’t force others to do anything, let alone change.

Exercise continues to go well enough. My weight is weird though. These last few weeks at my Monday weigh in has been the same each Monday… disheartening. However by my end of week weigh in I have continued to lose a pound… so I guess I’m still on a downward trend, and my weekend habits aren’t affecting my overall accomplishments? HEH. Oh well, I still have noticed a difference in the mirror. Larger muscles, and my belly is almost gone. So that’s nice. I’m still feeling I’m around 10 pounds away from where I should be… but that of course is contingent on my muscle growth as well. I should be using a tape measure for my waist as apposed to a scale to mark my progress… but meh. I’ll just try not to be too disheartened as my weight inevitably fluctuates. Muscles weigh more than fat, but that means I need to pay attention to any changes visually to make sure that it is indeed muscles growing and not fat. WEEEEEEE!

As for the book. Doing very well. I’ve enjoyed the last little bit I edited/re-read, so I think it’ll be worth your time to read. Getting closer every time.

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

TTFN

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.

Brave Star Movie

Hello friends. I have returned. A brief reprieve of my blog post past, now again words for you.

Welp, reading. I finished 4 books since I last wrote here. Nice. A doubling. No doubt due to the slightly warmer weather allowing my return to my balcony. Two cultivation novels, one sequel, and one new series that offered a humorous tale though one I found not as enjoyable as I imagined sadly. Yet cultivation novels offer me more comfort and entertainment if not enlightenment than anything else. I attempted to search for another like it, and then when starting something realized I had already read that series. Whoops. I guess I in general have already overfished such a category.

Anyway, Samantha and I did watch something. Apparently someone had uploaded the Brave Star movie. Was it good??? UH, that depends on what you might enjoy. Animation was decent, the pacing was poor, and the story was predictable. And I really found the natives, small dwarf-like creatures, very annoying. However there was comedy gold, for us at least. A gift to the new judge was an ancient weapon… it was a gavel. Samantha and I referred to it as a war gavel. She’d hit things, or throw it out and just destroy everything. Very much like Mjolnir. Another highlight for me was the undertaker constantly taking everyone’s measurements. It was never stated who he was, but you’d know when you saw him. He never spoke, and was always there somewhere in the background. But on the whole I would say it wasn’t great. But I’m glad I watched it, just for the weirdness.

Otherwise another weekend of VRchat. Had some fun conversations, and an enjoyable time. However my social energy seems to just suddenly disappear at the end of my time. I feel fine, then all of a sudden I get grumpy and everything annoys me. I plan to take steps to mitigate this, but it bothers me that it happens at all. I suppose my introverted nature eventually will take over. But this is why I’m spending so much time trying to socialize. I wish to remedy my lack of energy by forcing myself to use it. Like a muscle I’m hoping to build it back up to previous levels when I hadn’t been alone for days on end. We’ll see how that works out, heh.

Speaking of muscles… and weight loss I suppose. My exercise and diet continues to show improvement. My body is just about back to where it was a decade ago… if not better in some ways. Pants fit, as do other clothes that I had shoved away deep in my closet. And it only took five months or so. Restrictive diet, and continuous exercise seems to have done the trick. I’m glad my body can do such things, and equally thankful for my willpower/mind going along with my desire. I feel my mood has mostly improved, so that’s a great bonus. All in all I’m proud and happy with the direction I’ve taken my life on this little fitness journey.

As for the book… well it’s getting there. Probably around a third left to edit, and it’ll be done. Nothing major has needed to be changed, and I don’t expect to do so either. Just another run through to make sure it’s in order as it’s going to get.

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

TTFN

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.