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Wed May 10 06:00:01 EDT 2023 ======================================== Slept from ten-thirty to seven. Woke briefly around two. Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. West winds up to 10 mph. # Work * 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Cloud draft review * 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Incident procurement trigger for bots * 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM ELMS planning * 05:30 PM - 06:00 PM (TENTATIVE) Incident Procurement licensing discussion with Lauren Hilsabeck Matt's not in the office, so I'm working from home. # Home * [ ] AWS study * [ ] schedule AWS cert exam * [ ] play with text-based (Gemini?) D&D hex thing * [ ] work on CC 0e D&D reference rules * [ ] spell list (old to new) * [ ] monster list (old to new) * [ ] magic item list (old to new) * [ ] schedule dentist appointment * [ ] PenFed * [ ] transfer funds from old savings account (http://www.citizensbank.com/HSBC) * [ ] get backup credit card * [ ] money market? * [ ] schedule optometrist appointment * [ ] play with Go web base Read more of How to Sell a Haunted House. Maintenance came today to fix my dripping tub faucet. Unpacked/trashed another box that had been sitting around since my move. Ten-minute walk in the afternoon. Sunny and warm. Robins, woodpeckers, and dandelions. Nearly done watching the Netflix adaptation of Sandwich (which isn't terrible). I love Stephen Fry, but I'm not sure I like him as G.K. Chesterton. Tone for the sort of story I want (to write?): high magic and low stakes, a kind of iyashikei. Like Witch Hat Atelier, but more so. Also, thinking about writing, a character needs not only a thing they want but also a reason they don't have it yet. https://www.tokyoweekender.com/art_and_culture/entertainment-art_and_culture/movies-tv/iyashikei-anime/ > Iyashikei means “healing,” “refreshing” or “therapeutic,” with “iyashi” often appearing in descriptions of hot springs. And that’s what these stories are meant to feel like: a long, relaxing bath for the soul. As such, iyashikei manga and anime often feature vast nature landscapes and deal with simple or mundane aspects of life without throwing any villains or life-or-death situations for their protagonists to overcome. Interestingly, though, the goal of iyashikei isn’t for audiences to close their eyes and pretend the real world and its problems don’t exist. > > Take, for example, one of the most popular iyashikei anime out there: Laid-Back Camp, a story about high school girls who enjoy camping in scenic locations that show off Japan’s natural beauty. That’s it. > > That being said, the heroines do face challenges, like finding themselves in an unfamiliar place after dark with no way of contacting home. However, any obstacles in iyashikei anime are almost always instantly resolved or mitigated so that the story can get to the heart of the genre: finding happiness in the little things, like how amazing a hot drink or a steaming cup of ramen can feel on a cold night, or the simple joy of successfully putting up a tent and building a fire. > Iyashikei does something remarkable from a storytelling point of view, in that it breaks away from the classic three-act structure. Nearly every fictional story today follows this formula. You start with exposition and an inciting incident in the first act, then the action rises until the midpoint when it drops before suddenly shooting up towards the climax in the third act. Iyashikei doesn’t really do that. The genre can spend an entire episode on people just hanging out, talking about everything and nothing and enjoying life. It’s the kind of story we almost never see in mainstream media, which is another thing that draws people to iyashikei. > Kiki’s Delivery Service, though instrumental to the development of iyashikei, still follows a three-act structure, with Kiki experiencing a moment of second-act self-doubt where she loses her ability to fly before getting it back in time to save someone from an airship incident. Nothing that exciting ever happens in Flying Witch. So, it’s probably best to conclude that some Ghibli films are like the godparents of iyashikei stories. Servings: grains 3/6, fruit 1/4, vegetables 3/4, dairy 1/2, meat 2/3, nuts 0/0.5 Breakfast: steak sandwich, coffee Lunch: banana, cucumber Afternoon snack: ramen with vegetables and egg, green tea Dinner:

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