Bloganuary 27th: The dreaded reading backlog

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Bloganuary writing prompt
What books do you want to read?
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So many books to read, so little time! I have a decent list of books to read that I’ve picked up in the last couple of years, and I actually put that list into a personal OneNote so I could track purchases. Below is the list of most recent books that I’ve purchased and added to my backlog. There are 33 books in the list, and I’ve grouped some based on series. Are any of them on your list?

  • Mistborn Era 1
    • The Final Empire (Read)
    • The Well of Ascension
    • The Hero of Ages
  • Mistborn Era 2
    • The Alloy of Law
    • Shadows of Self
    • The Bands of Mourning
    • The Lost Metal
  • Elantris
  • Warbreaker
  • The Stormlight Archive
    • The Way of Kings
    • Words of Radiance
    • Oathbringer
    • Rhythm of War
    • Wind and Truth
  • Brandon Sanderson Secret Projects
    • Tress of the Emerald Sea
    • The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
    • Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
    • The Sunlit Man
  • J.W. Wells & Co.
    • The Portable Door
    • In Your Dreams
    • Earth, Air, Fire, and Custard
    • You Don’t Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps
    • The Better Mousetrap
    • May Contain Traces of Magic
    • Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages
    • The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse
  • Defenders of Lore
    • God of Neverland
    • Queens of Wonderland
  • The Flanders Panel
  • Death by Cliché
  • Obsidian
  • The Beholden
  • Starter Villain (Reading)

Bloganuary 26th: Family traditions, new and old

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Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

The parents get older, the kids become adults and go off to start their own lives. Parents and other older adults pass away. The younger adults start families, have kids of their own, and the cycle repeats itself. And within that cycle are traditions that get handed down through the generations.

That’s how it is supposed to work, anyways. My family has had traditions change because of all the things mentioned above.

We still get together for most holidays, except the family has grown and we celebrate at my brother’s house instead of at our parents. Thanksgiving is still turkey and sides, Christmas is a little different every year but we have a couple of different meal plans that we juggle depending on what everyone is feeling.

After the passing of my stepmom a couple of years ago we started a new tradition of getting together on Sunday’s for lunch or dinner, depending on the time of year and weather. Winter is hit and miss because of travel conditions.

Nothing special or exciting, we just want to spend time together.

Bloganuary 25th: my leisure time

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What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

I’ll probably have to rank my activities/hobbies of choice for this prompt because although I currently have one in particular that dominates the top of the list, I have others that would take its place under different circumstances.

First and foremost is video games. I spend a lot of time playing a variety of games both with and without my family and friends. Puzzle and Room Escape games by myself help me stretch my brain a bit, and Survival Crafting games with friends to learn, problem solve, and manage things while exploring strange new environments. These days the family games are typically Fortnite, but occasionally we dabble in other games as we find common interests in the many different genres.

After that, if I had the time and capacity to, I would play Magic: The Gathering with friends for more than just a few hours every couple of weeks or so. If we could play a couple of times a week then I would definitely be playing video games less. Also, since I’ve recently managed to get my two brothers and a nephew into Magic, I’d hopefully play with them more frequently as well. Especially considering my nephew is still very new to the game and there is so much to learn.

I would most likely then spend a lot of time reading if I didn’t feel so drawn to spending time with friends near and far for the above activities. Sadly, my back log of books keeps growing. I’ll probably have to commit to reading through a few soon just so I can keep adding to it and not feel too guilty.

I’ll stop at the top three there for how I would prefer to spend my leisure time, otherwise I could just keep going on and on.

Bloganuary 24th: Fun close to home

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Bloganuary writing prompt
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
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I’ve now lived in South Dakota for about 19 years, and there are still so many things I haven’t done. Maybe it’s because of my lifestyle or just lack of interest in general, I’m not entirely sure, but there are some that I really should go do and visit.

If you’re familiar with South Dakota, then you probably know that it is the Mount Rushmore State. I still haven’t visited Mount Rushmore. I’ve been nearby in that part of the state but was either working or passing through, and it isn’t an “attraction” that is top of my list. I’ll also include in the list some non-South Dakota places that are popular around my area.

Among the list of attractions or towns that I have NOT visited:

  • The Black Hills
  • Wall Drug
  • Des Moines, Iowa
  • Le Mars, Iowa (The Ice Cream Capital of the World – home to Blue Bunny Ice Cream)
  • Valleyfair (amusement park just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota)

If I wanted to get REALLY specific, I could do some that are actually close to home, but I’d rather not. If I didn’t visit them, they weren’t that popular to me or my lifestyle so they aren’t worth remembering or mentioning, but I’m sure there are more that people would get mad at me for not including. Oh well, such is life!

Bloganuary 23rd: Doing things for fun

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Bloganuary writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.
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Personally, everyone should have a hobby, and preferably a creative one if possible.

Unfortunately, while I do have a handful of things I do on a regular basis for fun, I also have a penchant for dabbling in new things. Maybe it’s just because I’m looking for something else to add to my skill sets or list of substitute hobbies.

Anyways, the five things I like to do for fun.

On the creative side of things I like to paint miniatures for tabletop games, although I’m slowly running out of mini’s because I’ve forbidden myself from buying more games that we haven’t played. So I’m also working on 3D printing things to paint. I also enjoy putting together those 3D wooden objects, like the ones made and sold by UGEARS. They’re kind of like adult LEGO’s at this point, except permanent and not transformable.

On the non-creative side, I like to read and play video games for fun, especially sci-fi and fantasy stuff. I would separate out puzzles but most of the time those are part of the video games category because of the medium I choose to do puzzles in, such as the game Escape Simulator which is designed around the category of Room Escape games. Not to sound I actually started playing them probably sixteen years or so ago when they were still Flash-based and were a big thing coming up in Japan.

There is kind of a middle ground between the two, creative and non-creative, is Magic: The Gathering. The reason being is that on the non-creative side I get to consume media. Lots of reading of the cards and the backstories. On the creative side I get to flex my brain a bit and try to figure out how to play with new cards and new mechanics of the game. Creating a cohesive deck with lots of synergy between the cards to try to find win conditions is a lot of fun and often takes up a lot of time when I get the itch to build a new Commander Deck.

That’s all I’ve got for major hobbies that I do for fun. I have some other things I probably could add to the list but I don’t do them as frequently so they’re not as important. Still, it helps to make sure I’m never without something to do with my free time.

Bloganuary 22nd: Breaking through the pet language barrier

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Bloganuary writing prompt
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
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This would be an amazing prompt if I had any pets of my own. I do, however, live with roommates that have pets and I visit family regularly who have several pets. Between the two groups there are five cats and five dogs.

One of my brother’s cats, named Paul, has picked me out as one of his favorite humans. I don’t typically have a problem with him, except when he finds it necessary to jump from the floor onto my shoulders.

He’s not the real focus of this post, but I wanted to share anyway.

No, the real focus would be on the dogs. My roommates two dogs are generally very chill, they sleep most of the day, play some, run around the yard, doing dog things. Including bark like maniacs when they see someone walking up to the door, even us, or if they here a vehicle door slam closed from one of the neighbors. In most cases, it’s alright because it makes for a good alarm system of sorts. They protect the house! If there is just ONE thing I could communicate to them it would definitely be something along the lines of “all clear” so they will stop barking their heads off after I’ve come to confirm that nothing is wrong.

Fairly simple thing, to me anyways.

Bloganuary 21st: Origin of a name – Taylor

Taylor BurianLeave a comment
Bloganuary writing prompt
Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.
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My first name is fairly common, or at least very commonly known courtesy of Taylor Swift, but the etymological background might be lost on the current generations.

Per the website Find My Past:

What does the name Taylor mean?

“An Anglo-French occupational surname, Taylor is thought to have arrived through the Norman occupation, derived from the Old French ‘tailleur’ (cutter of cloth) or English ‘tailor’. The surname Taylor is common across the British Isles (fourth most common in the UK overall – fifth most common in England) and other countries traditionally colonised by the British, though far less common in Ireland (where it mostly exists only in Northern Ireland – potentially brought over by English and Scottish settlers). Taylor can sometimes be found as an anglicised version of the German word ‘Schneider’, a direct translation of the same term.”An Anglo-French occupational surname, Taylor is thought to have arrived through the Norman occupation, derived from the Old French ‘tailleur’ (cutter of cloth) or English ‘tailor’. The surname Taylor is common across the British Isles (fourth most common in the UK overall – fifth most common in England) and other countries traditionally colonised by the British, though far less common in Ireland (where it mostly exists only in Northern Ireland – potentially brought over by English and Scottish settlers). Taylor can sometimes be found as an anglicised version of the German word ‘Schneider’, a direct translation of the same term.”
– Findmypast.co.uk

All I was ever concerned with is that it was from the English occupation, but the fact that it has ties to the similar spelled/pronounced French occupation makes sense.

Unfortunately, I am not very ambitious with cloth, thread, and needle, so I don’t actually concern myself with the occupation. That doesn’t mean I’m averse to sewing, though, because as an adult I have very much needed to fix up some clothes when I didn’t have the money to buy new.

So there you have it, a quick and dirty post with little extra exposition from me because the information already exists elsewhere on the Internet for any and everyone to read if they were so curious.

Bloganuary 20th: Dreams of going pro as an author

Taylor Burian1 Comment
Bloganuary writing prompt
What’s your dream job?
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Super simple question for me today! I can get behind that when I’m getting sucked into playing the hottest new early access game.

My dream job has changed a couple of times between childhood and adulthood. Today, it is becoming a professional author and being able to support myself on that kind of income.

I’m working on bettering my daily habits to write consistently, like answering these daily prompts. I’m over 100 days in a row of writing every day, and I’m getting used to the idea that it is okay to put less important things aside to focus on writing if I hope to improve my habits and reach that goal. Hopefully, someday, I can publish something and be successful enough to quit my job and keep writing. Then my days would be wildly different! I’d have MORE time to do the things I want to do in tandem with writing, because I would end up substituting time spent working in an office with time spent writing.

I know I can do it if I stick with it, and I know I can keep up with writing demands if I look at the results of my NaNoWriMo 2023 daily word tracking. It is completely possible for me to write 300k+ words per year. I just have to dig in and go for it.

Bloganuary 19th: Good Leaders

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Bloganuary writing prompt
What makes a good leader?
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Leading isn’t for everyone. If it was, we would constantly run into the issue of “too many cooks in the kitchen”. What makes a good leader can also be a bit subjective, but I’m sure if I did some digging (beyond my fuzzy memory of professional symposiums and conventions) I would be able to point out specific traits that have been identified through extensive study.

Additionally, there is a BIG difference between being a manager and a leader.

Being a leader, in my opinion, requires empathy. Lots of it. Without it you can’t understand the needs of the people following you. Being a GOOD leader requires self-control with that empathy, because otherwise it’s possible to be swept up in the emotion and problems of everyone else. Leaders need to look out for the good of the group, and not allow themselves to be consumed by the needs of one person.

Leaders also participate in the work being done. They work alongside everyone, not lording above them, to accomplish their goals. Understanding the work and the needs of the people doing it is a necessity.

The final thing I’ll say about what I think makes a good leader is centered around accountability. Accountability for themselves AND their people. They know when to own a mistake and not just shift blame. They understand that sometimes there are consequences and they’re responsible for making sure things are taken care for the good of the group, such as if someone else were to make a mistake they would provide some measure of corrective action and guidance for improvement. It’s not all bad, though. A good leader, when thinking about accountability, also knows how to celebrate the successes of others and raise them up for due recognition because that provides a positive example to others of what it means to be accountable for the work being done.

I mentioned before about there being a difference between being a manager and a leader. Take all of the examples above and reverse them. Managers simply tell people what to do but they don’t always understand the work being done. They can lack empathy and simply see people as means to an end. They punish others by shifting blame away from themselves when they make a mistake, and they don’t often celebrate the successes of others unless it celebrates themselves.

Granted, there are exceptions to what I’ve stated above about managers, but if you find someone with the title of “Manager” and they’re doing all the right things that make a good leader then they’re not a manager. They are a leader who may be unduly recognized for their skills. If that sounds like your own “Manager” and you have a good team around you then I’d wager that not only are they a good leader, but also the reason people stick around.

Bloganuary 18th: the power of (un)invention

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If you could un-invent something, what would it be?

This has me thinking “what an odd prompt” and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because the past few months of prompts have been dominated by lots of introspective questions around who we are at our core. This just gives me silly ideas.

What could a person choose to un-invent and not totally mess up the world? I could choose smartphones, probably, because then it would change the social media landscape and how information is passed along, but I’m sure something else would eventually replace them. Maybe I should choose a food item.

Let’s un-invent high fructose corn syrup. In the US the food companies love to put that shit in everything. Maybe we’d be healthier without it, but again I bet someone would figure out a reasonable substitute or the manipulative corporate big wigs would find other ways to get people addicted to unhealthy foods.

Wait, is there high fructose corn syrup in some brands of ice cream? I wonder how that would mess things up…