July is a Wrap

 A lot happened in July.

Writing

I can now share Loose Ends, my entry in the NYC Midnight flash-fiction challenge round 1. Enjoy!  My prompt was "Science Fiction, a Dormitory, an Eye-patch." The judges' feedback once again was spot on. Re-reading the story six weeks after writing it, I have fresh eyes, and with the feedback in hand, I am inspired to make it way better!  So look out for a new version of the story in the next few weeks.  This gets me thinking about the creative process in general. I have heard people promote the idea of a compressed initial creation process, then set it aside for a month, and then come back to it. Based on my experience above, I can totally respect this approach.

And, I penned my NYC Midnight flash-fiction round 2.  My prompt was "Romance, Mountain Stream, Thorn."  I already have ideas on how to make that story way better.  Anyway, you will have to wait until it is judged to read that gem. (grin). 

I have a few other stories in the very early stages of creation. Hopefully, they will escape my brain soon.

Coding

Nothing in July. :(

Reading

Finished reading Roadside Picnic. Highly Recommended.  It's a quick read and thought-provoking.  I also really enjoyed the afterward, where the author talked about what it was like publishing a novel in Russia and that editorial nightmare.

My Twitter friend Kate Machon published her first novel The Shadow Deception, and I got a chance to read an advanced copy.  It's a fun romp, full of Pixie mischief, probably best suited for teenage girls. It's now available to the general public. So if you are or have a teenage girl you know, get a copy and support Kate. Having been working on stories for this summer, I am so impressed she managed to bring this all together and into the world.  Great work, Kate!

Next up on the SciFi reading front is Consider Phlebas.  If you want to read along with me, I'd love the company.  I'll schedule a video call end of the month for discussion and random chatter.

Travel

July was a big travel month.

Portugal

Amazing trip to Portugal.  My good friend and former colleague Danilo gave us some pointers on what to do in and about Lisbon, and he was spot on.  

My first afternoon included a visit to the Jeronimos Monastery, but unfortunately, I got there as it was closing, so I could only see the outside. Pretty spectacular building, though:

I was able to go into the maritime museum next door, however. There were some really amazing boats on display, as well as good information about Vasco DG.

I then went over to Torre de Belem, and then walked back along the water (15K steps!) to the hotel.

The following day, we hired a tour guide to take us out to Cascais, a lovely seaside town where apparently some famous soccer player lives when he is home. 

And then we went to the westernmost point in continental Europe:

and then visited two very cool castles, the National Palace of Pena: (it was a bit foggy, unfortunately)

and, the Quinta de Regaleira:

which in addition to having interesting buildings, had an amazing well you can walk down:

Back in Lisbon the next day we walked through the old town, and up to the iconic castle overlooking the city:

My fav picture from the castle reminds me of a certain Monty Python movie:

We wrapped up Portugal, falling in love with their "Green Wine".  Which, apparently, is not about the color of the grapes but their age. Green = young.  Delicious.

Spain

After Portugal, we went to Spain, where we met up with my daughter's club soccer team.  First stop, Madrid:

Then, Burgos, and the Catedral de Santa Maria, or as I like to call it, the cathedral that KEPT ON GOING. So many rooms:

(you can not imagine the amount of work sculptors did. absolutely incredible).

and then finally, we ended up in San Sebastion where my daughter played in an incredible soccer tournament (The Donosti Cup, with over 900 teams!).

Unfortunately, I came down with a stomach bug right when we got to San Sebastion. So I spent the last four days of the trip in the hotel room, and don't have pictures. My family did go to an old time amusement park overlooking the harbour and did a day trip to france. Maybe talk to them to learn more about those adventures.  :(

Phillipston Mass

Back in America, I was still fighting the bug, but did manage to make it up to our camp in western Mass. Really great escape and a chance to meet up with some old friends:

Toronto

I spent the last week of July in Toronto at the biggest bridge tournament of the year.  I met up with a college friend and we formed a team to compete in the 0-2500 Mini Spingold.  This is not a "top flight" event, but it is still very competitive.  The format of the event is such that you play head-to-head against another team ALL DAY (like 10 hours), and the winner advances to the next day, the loser is out. Our team survived to day four, which was pretty amazing. We finished tied for 3rd/4th, losing to the team that ended up winning. This is way above my initial expectations, given I have not played competitive bridge in a very long time. 

On day 5, instead of playing bridge, we went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a Blue Jays game.

Well that's all folks

I hope to finish August with more writing and get back to some coding. 

peace, greg