Blaugust 2022 Day 12
Today my goal is to break out of my funk and post an actual thought-out ramble rather than the fodder and stopgaps that I have been publishing lately just to ensure I have a post for each day of Blaugust 2022. With that in mind, I am gonna try to revisit my most recent Daily Ramble post format.
The Rundown
- Field of Dreams
Today there were no games for either of my teams – Angels or Padres – but instead, there was the Field of Dreams game which was a nice diversion. I have no dog in the Cubs vs. Reds game, but the setting and the flavor were enjoyable to watch – even if I only watched the highlights.
- Meeting Beorn
Today as I read through The Hobbit, I finally reached the meeting between the troop and Beorn before the Dwarves parted ways with Gandalf. It was good to reread the meeting since I have only known RambleClaw and the few Beorning in LOTRO for the past few months. Now, I got to meet one of the ancestors of my character and can understand why he may not always like Dwarves.
- Raised by Wolves Canceled?!?!?!
I am so saddened by the news I heard earlier this week that Raised by Wolves has been canceled. Warner Brothers is really taking a hatchet to HBOMax, DC, and Discovery. I’ve heard of cancelations of the Batgirl movie, which they already spent $90 million on, Made for Love another show I enjoy on HBOMax, and there are some serious questions about if they are going to continue Doom Patrol and Titans. I’m not pleased with the direction they are going and will be assessing my subscription renewal based on these developments.
The Goods
So I’ve been reading The Hobbit lately and enjoying all the memories. I think this may actually be the first time I’ve been reading through the story since I started playing my Beorning in LOTRO, and today I got to the part where the Dwarves and Bilbo meet up with Beorn. It’s pretty cool to see the actual descriptions of the forefather of my RambleClaw character, but that’s another story…
Instead, I wanted to take a look at where the story started and how I feel a kinship with Bilbo at the moment. I mean, there he was, living a nice peaceful life in his Hobbit hole, minding his own business and letting the world go on around him. While it couldn’t be said that he had no cares in the world, he was pretty happy and content to be taking care of things around his home and keeping his own company.
Then Gandalf shows up, and things start getting complicated.
So as I was reading that the other day, I started to think about what I’ve been doing with blogging and Blaugust.
Before Blaugust started, I was pretty much just going along throwing out a post every once in a while, usually to comment on how bad my Angels were doing or how I was trying to start up a new game or something. I put together the start of my Rambling Redshirt’s Gaming Madness tournament, and I would mention the books I was reading. I was pretty much just letting things idle in neutral without making much headway in any direction or taking the initiative to push forward with any blogging projects. I was pretty much in a holding pattern where I would drop a post periodically but where nothing was really going anywhere.
Then Belghast announced Blaugust.
Just like Gandalf showing up at Bilbo’s doorstep, I was confronted with a grand adventure. An opportunity to jump on board and get back into the swing of things. I was given my call to action to get off my behind to start getting this blog moving again.
And I dithered.
And I procrastinated.
And before I knew it, Blaugust was here, and I had nothing prepared. It was as if a bunch of Dwarves showed up at my door, and I had no cakes or muffins to share with them.
I floundered and scraped by, publishing a few scraps of content that I’m not proud of – though I am happy that I was reading and commenting on the various blogs participating in Blaugust. Those participant posts started building my motivation, but I was still stuck in the inertia and malaise of inaction. What would break me out of it?
I tried writing some week 2 posts introducing various aspects of myself – Star Trek Fan… Gamer… Procrastinator… but my rushing around trying to create content at the last minute only drew energy away from posts I knew I could be making but was not giving myself time to compose.
So here I am, nearly halfway through the Blaugust 2022 event, and I still feel like I haven’t accepted the call.
I mean, sure, I’ve been publishing every day and putting my fingers on the keyboard, but I haven’t agreed to go with the Dwarves and Gandalf on their grand adventure.
So what will tip the scales and get me moving in the right direction? What will make my publishing posts every day reflect the enjoyment I once had? The fun I had when this blog began 10 years ago? I’m not sure. Every year Belghast comes around with Blaugust, and I am ready to follow, but it seems this year, more than most, I need to find that spark. I want to rekindle the fire that made me a gamer, that made me love Star Trek, that made me love books and my Angels, and maybe that’s part of it.
I have seriously taken a significant loss in motivation and joy with the fall of my Angels. Maybe that’s what I need to let go of – that terrible sense that they are so bad and have no hope of making the playoffs this season. Maybe it’s the sadness that comes from the idea that they have 4 of the last 6 MVPs in the American League and have not made the playoffs for quite a long time. But see…there I go again; it’s always too easy for me to fall into a rant about them.
I’m trying to push their mediocrity out of my consciousness and trying to move on to a baseball team that seems to want to win – The Padres – but I think I just need to push through and find the cakes and muffins and tea that the Dwarves are gonna eat and drink and deal with the fact that I’ll have to make more for tomorrow.
My mundane, ordinary blog has received a call to action, and I dithered, and I procrastinated, and I am now deciding that I don’t want that. I want to accept that call. I want to take the steps I can to make the journey to the Lonely Mountain a success. I know it won’t be easy, and there will be plenty of obstacles in the path, but I feel like I’m on the right path now and will try to stay the course.
It’s a Wrap
I think I feel pretty good about the direction I am headed after working through things in this post. I am looking forward to the adventure and continuing Blaugust 2022 and am feeling positive that I can produce content more to my enjoyment level.
That said, I need stuff to write about, and with cancelations on HBOMax and the dismal Angels, I’m gonna have to expand my base of topics and maybe get in more gaming and reading to fill some of the vacancies. I’m looking forward to getting my tournament going again too.
In any case, I’m looking forward to making the rest of today a good one, and I hope you all have a great day.
Ramble 198 | Falcon 6 | 2022.144 | Blaugust 2022 Day 12