Free Time
I've been thinking. Am I the guy with the most free time in my group of friends?
This description sounds kind of pathetic, like I have nothing to do in my life.
It may be the case. Outside of work, I have very little obligations. There is the occasional movies, weekend gaming and the sports club I go to.
But most of the time, if someone proposes to do something fun, I'll be free, at least free enough to postpone any activities I had planed.
This, of course, does not happen with my friends. Not to the same extension.
So I began to think what is free time? Where does it come from? What causes it?
I came to believe that no one has actually free time. Generalization apart, some people may have obligations that take a lot of time, like 12 to 14 hours a day. Others may have times in their lives that they have no obligations whatsoever. But neither stand sitting on a chair looking at the clock and just plain watching time pass. Which would be the most pure concept of free time.
Instead, what happens is that everyone fills their lives with something that interests them. Even if it is sleep.
So when does free time come into existence? It does not!
There is no free time, free time is a subtle expression of priority.
We all know how I have a strict perception about priorities. How they reflect judgment upon people.
Free time is just a way of saying, "Doing this activity is more worthwhile than that one".
Think about this example. You play poker with friends every tuesday. But your girlfriend that lives in another town, has a week off and comes to visit you on a tuesday. You don't actually have free time, but you'll make time to go out with her. Which is a translation of, "I'd rather go out with my girlfriend that I rarely see, then play poker with the people I play every week.".
It is not a question about right or wrong. The thing is, people don't have free time, they just have things they'd rather do.
Claiming to have free time is just an expression of the amount of time you're willing to give up for an activity with your listener. It is generally the amount of time you have no level of priority assigned, and are therefore free to give any priority, or in the case nothing comes up, assign a default activity with which you fill your spare time.
Anyone has free time. Anyone can make it. People just limit this effort to people that are really important to them.

Dedication

Merriam-Webster: 2: a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose.

Everything we do, we do with a purpose. Hence, everything requires in some degree dedication.
That is fairly obvious, but it leads to observations rarely conscious.
Dedication goes in many forms, be it the time dedicated to head a story, the money spent on a restaurant with a loved one, effort done to find that special object you've always wanted or even the amount of self inflicted suffering to win the championship. But one thing among all forms of dedication is that it ain't "free". It may not cost you money, but will certainly take something from you. That is why dedication is a luxury commodity, and like all commodities it is worth something.
Now this may as well be the revelation. Dedication has a value, for each person, their efforts, time, money, happiness, etc, has a common value, which explains why we do things one way over the other, it may as well be a numeric decision.
People rarely think about this, but why does one go to eat a piece of meat costing 40 "moneys" instead of one costing 10 "moneys"? I mean, if you ask someone the answer is simple, 'because it's better'. This is simple, and everyone understands, but the actual meaning is more on the lines of 'because the time and money I have to dedicate to this meal is worth a tasty and more satisfactory meal.'
This is simple association between value and dedication. Same logic goes when you ask the same person why don't they eat the 40 "moneys" meat everyday, with the exception of rich people, as people's money goes down, it's value rises which means that dedicating a higher amount of money on the best meat isn't worth the satisfaction.
Following through with the implications. Assuming I can treat everything in terms of dedication (like the value of the money you dedicate to something), I dare to say that the amount of dedication expresses directly the worth of something.
So if you go and pay 1000 "moneys" for a ball of ice cream , or you travel 500 miles to eat at a restaurant, those things are really worthy (this of course assuming you aren't just plain crazy =P).
The problem with this, and the source of this trail of thought, is measuring the worth of a person. I'll avoid talking about myself, and my worth, but as I stood watching my cousin's show, I couldn't help but think on this subject.
It was not her first show, just the first one I saw. I got there early, there was another band playing first, but still most of the people in the bar were either friends of hers or family. As the other show progressed, people kept showing up, more and more friends. Maybe 30 people had gone see her show, and I get why... she was awesome. But I think, they would've gone either way, because she is a great person, and her friends must love her and therefore will always be there to support her.
I've known this for a while, but only now I've realized the correlation between dedication and worth. I've always given it to priority. But one's priorities aren't but a quantification of the value of things, the required dedication.
In the end, the old saying was right, time is money, and to do something, you require time, so dedication requires money, how much "money" are you willing to spend on each thing. This is the decision being made every day, by and for, every human.
So think about this the next time.
What is the message you are sending when you choose to do, or not, something?

Daily Life
Wounded foot.
Bad salary.
No time.
Little motivation.
No company.

This is definitely not worth it.

~ The Adventurer Chronicle 33 ~
"... so now that you are all seated I can tell you more about the secret arts."
Deep in this part of the woods, sun crystals grew, giving a bright light all around them, even if the sun could barely penetrate the thick foliage. Ghola sat near a tree lower than the others, on it's protuberant root escaping the earth. The tree was the only thing between him and the river, which made a nice sound, and reflected the light around, turning every leaf to a different color.
The children sat in different places, mostly near trees in front of him, but some decided that is was a good idea to seat on the branches of the tree, but everyone made sure they could listen to the scholar. There was a tree close to his left, where a particular group of five friends sat on the branches, boys on one, girls on the other, all quietly hearing his tale.
"There are many schools of magic." He paused. "As you all should know by now. Mostly they teach you about the ten most fundamental ones. That is because they are the most common, easy to use, day to day handy spells. I've already told you about the secret school, which has spells so rare and powerful, that only a few people ever master a spell. They are hard to perform and learn, and since their power is immense, few people get to practice them without disrupting lifestyles."
Ghola swept the ground in front of him, making a clear and even surface, where he used his staff to draw some symbols. "Basic magic, we use mana and casting to create a breach between this and the mana plane, in order to create a spell. That is how most schools work at least. This particular school has a peculiar difference. It does not create the magic from the mana plane through the ritual, it instead creates many small holes between the planes from where the mana flows, in chaotic patterns, creating a natural spell."
The kids followed with different levels of attention as he drew on the ground and explained. Some seemed confused, others eager to learn more. Considering this wasn't a class, they were greatly focused.
"You may have heard about it, it is known more popularly as cursing, jinxing and hexing." Most didn't seem to recall anything, only a handful gave a positive response, including one of the girls in the tree next to him. "They are different forms of the same school, they all use the same principle, but each work differently. This is how the school of entropy works. It changes the flow of mana, to affect the flow of events"
"Cursing is one of the most ancient magic arts, with records from before the rebirth, but like the whole school, it fell out of use, since it's power is purely destructive. Curses take long to cast, like a ritual, their effect is quite strong, but they activate on certain conditions, it may take years, centuries, or they may never go active."
"If it's not guaranteed to work, why use this kind of magic?" Asked a boy with blond hair sitting the highest on the ground.
"Well, there are many ways to make it work. Mostly curses serve to keep people from doing things you don't want, and so you warn them before the curse is activated. When a curse is used to harm, instead of prevent, then the caster usually uses the person's habits to trigger an eventual curse, using an event that is bound to happen."
"But of course this is not useful in combat" Ghola continued. "So we have hexes and jinxes. Both are extremely fast cast, low consuming, but also unpredictable. Hexes are mostly effects that leave you vulnerable, but contrary to other schools, they don't have a specific way of happening."
"Wait... what?" Interrupted a confused girl near his right. He took a moment to survey everyone's faces, making sure that they could follow his explanation, after all it was a weird information to give to 7 year old children. Then he began to draw again in the ground, this time using a prestidigitation spell to help the drawings move around as animated stick figures.
"Say your opponent is really fast, so you try to cast a hex to slow him down. With a time spell, some force, generated by the casting will reduce his speed for you, but with the hex something in the environment will do the job. It may be the roots of the bushes that stretch out to bind him, or maybe the ground explodes, sending a thick mud all over him, anything the world can do to make it happen. It would seem mostly like bad luck, and that is the whole principle of Entropy magic. It is not cast, leaves no traces, seems natural."
He dismissed the spell and the stick figures remained silent and static.
"Jinx is the most direct way to enact an Entropy spell. Jinxes, like hexes, make things go wrong for your opponent, but instead of applying vulnerabilities, it has short term effects that disrupt your enemy. Going from indirect damage, to fumbles, misses, slips and anything that might mean trouble to your opponent. Just don't expect anything specific, cause bending entropy to your will is much harder than making something happen, though the better you are, the easier it is to make the simple things go the way you want..."
One of the boys in the tree to his left laughed as bit. "Magic should be something you can rely on, it's a complex art that requires precision and timing, so why would anyone waste so much effort in something they are not sure they can count on?"
Ghola just grinned as he looked forward to the other kids. "No spell is 100% reliable, but Entropy
will try to make the effect happen, doesn't matter how, or why, just the outcome. Like this." He said snapping his fingers.
Both boys heard the distinct sound of wood shattering, they looked at each other, only one of them looked surprised as the branch beneath them broke and fell, taking the child down with it. The other, who until now remained silent, floated where the branch once was, ignoring the funny event and reclining once again against the tree.
..."
~ Taken from the Book of Origins ~
~ End of Part 33 ~

Blind Search
People don't believe me when I say that everyone has stats like any RPG in the world. The only difference is that we have a whole lot more special cases that can be considered that are often ignored.
The game treats two characters with the same strength as being able to life a stone with the same ability, regardless of their personal experience in lifting stones.
RPGs usually have two very confusing skills, that may seem to represent the same thing, but if one pays close attention they actually represent something very real.
Search and Spot, are usually mixed, and people often don't get the difference. Quite frankly I agree they seem to represent the same thing, someone trying to find something, but that is the pure definition of search. On the other hand spot is usually meant to represent people suddenly seeing something, without really searching for it.
These skills are associated with different status, intelligence for search, and wisdom for spot. Despite being another discussion whether we do have status like these ones, I agree with this association. When you are intelligent you use search patters to cover a better area more efficiently, of course, it's hard explain a link between wisdom and spot, but I believe wisdom reflects directly how you perceive the world.
Searching is usually going through a Where is Waldo? book and searching areas, rows, columns or any organized way. Spot is wandering your eyes aimlessly around and suddenly seeing Waldo behind the elephant. People are not aware how their lives are ruled buy skills and status they have and train.
It's very often to see people who have no ability whatsoever to search for things and people. The kind that wastes 5 minutes searching for the notebook that is on their lap, or searching for someone who is 5 meters straight in from of them. But these people when not paying attention they know where things are, it's just the difference between a really bad search skill and a good spot skill.
This is when you want someone to perceive something, you can only ask them if they have a good search. Imagine you want to make a joke, and ask for someone to tell you if they see anything wrong with something the see frequently, something you are sure they'll see the problem. But they try to find something they are not sure what is, and just ruin the whole search.
I've seen this happening many times, people each have different perceptions and not everything applies to everyone. The same goes about every status and skill.
I for one have a high spot, but a low search, not as low as my peers, I still can find a notebook one my lap.

Dearly Beloved
Time passed lazily as the sun began to hide behind the mountains.
People occupied the hills nearby, close to the forest, where the leaves displayed a spectacular variety of colors. They danced with the wind, waving goodbye to everyone who left.
Some leaves fell from time to time, only to be carried away through the hills, deftly dodging the small hands of the kids trying to catch them. Laughter filled the air, filling the silent afternoon, occasionally accompanied by the sounds of the whispering wind and rustling leaves.
Near a tree, on the highest hill around, a couple sat on a green silky sheet, far from other sounds. They were there for hours, they hadn't spoken a single word in three hours. They played with a ball she brought, they gave each other food, observed and touched the foliage and even did some tricks with it... all without a word.
He sat with his back to the sun, contemplating her. Admiring every smile, how her lips stretched to a thin pink symmetric shape. The sun reflected off her eyes, changing them to a lighter color which changed within minutes as the sun got closer to the horizon. He lied on his side, one hand holding his head, and the other caressing her left hand.
She leaned against the tree, and stared downhill towards the forest, uninterested in all human activity far from her, noticing every color of the leaves, the constantly changing color of the sun, and the wind in her hair. The wind played with her hair, parting it sideways around the tree, and it felt good on her skin.
For almost an hour they stayed like this, silent, just relaxing, smiling. He felt a muscle shift quickly in her hand, which brought his focus back to reality, his eyes scanned her face, the smile still there, her eyes still fixed on the horizon, but a single solitary tear escaped her right eye. He calmly set up, took the tear from her cheek with the free hand.
He then sat by her side, supported by the tree, and holding her hand, fingers intertwined. All she did was a soft comfortable blink, kept looking to the end of the valley, and tilted her head to rest upon his shoulder.
They waited like that until night fell, and silent filled the absence of others.

Between clouds and lights.
It had been a while since I took a plane. With this recent trip to Las Vegas I think I had enough plane for some time. But the first time as an adult I had some interesting sights while airborne.
Clouds do form the most interesting shapes, but it's not about the shapes... it's interesting when you wake up, the first part of the morning, and the sun light just brightens all the clouds. You peek outside the window, an endless ocean of puff of clouds each one like the next, all pure white. Some time latter the empty sky gave way to the endless ocean. I've seen many cloud formation very pretty while in the sky. Only when coming back home that the clouds just seemed like a continuous stream of smoke.
Most interesting was to travel by night close to the ground. There are just the mos amazing light formations in the cities.
When you notice that block with lights in patterns it is just amazing. There were blocks close to home that I didn't imagine had lights so symmetrical. Funny to see different cities the way their main lights are distributed. Forms like crosses, squares and arcs were pretty common.
Being someone who deals with computers a lot, I couldn't help noticing that far from above the lights reminded me of mother boards. It was funny to enjoy the lights.
I missed traveling a lot. I think I missed more the change of pace. Seeing another country, living a different life style for a few weeks. I'm glad to be back in many ways. And now I know there are some amazing sights right of the takeoff.

Tending to the neglected.
Well, its not the lack of inspiration, but the lack of time that keeps me from posting here.
I'm keeping here for the important events happening, but eventually, after all this commotion passes, I'll resume my normal life, and eventual posting here.
I honestly would love to be able to make my life out of writing here and my book, but I see no income down that road, so I have a normal job, which I like, but isn't as satisfying as it could be.
In the mean time I'll be taking my vacation now. I'm going to Las Vegas for two weeks with a couple of friends.
I hope my english is up to the challenge.
Maybe I'll put up some pictures here.

See ya on the other side.

Tattoo
Just to update here with something.
I made a tattoo this weekend. And with it I wish to set apart the past from the future, leaving behind many memories and griefs, and renew the hopes of a great future.
All in all, for anyone who cares, it does hurt, what would you expect from being pierced 100 times per second?! But it is not that bad, it takes some self control, and of course good company helps, but when you come to it, it will already be over. And it is really nice to a symbol of your own. If any of you wish to make a tattoo, do it, don't take too long, and most importantly do something that means a lot to you and will forever be a part of you.

Book 2
As the story of book 1 requires lots of attention, but my mind has led me to thinking of the story of the second book. I'm proud to present my site and the publishing of the first page of my new book.
Mission Earth
I'll put a link on the side bar for anyone interested in keeping track of the story through here, though I believe it would be easier to use the RSS in the other site.

Maelstron.

~ The Adventurer Chronicle 32 ~
"He was not shy, nor antisocial, but his nature led him to be one with the most individual attitude.
During recess he usually searched for a spot to be alone, but as kids social nature goes, it didn't take long for someone to find him and they go off do something more fun.
It was a sunny day, perhaps too sunny for him, so this time he went to a place where he could rest in a comforting shadow with a cool breeze.
On top of the main building there is a tree, or at least the leaves growing out of the roof. The huge tree cast a shadow in the morning over the training grounds, and in the afternoon at the play area.
At noon the light got very intense. Both areas got hot.
Too bright he thought. But at least in the shade of the tree, up high over the building there was a fresh wind, and all he had to do was to avoid being seen on the way up there. Very easy for him.
And so he sat on one branch, paying little attention to the kids down there.
Down in the play area kids went on their own business, playing, training, talking. Those were peaceful times, so most gossip went about who had a relationship with whom.
Groups gathered based on interests. Groups size varied on the friendliness of it's members.
One group was considerably larger than the rest, containing about 14 kids, 8 girls and 6 boys. They all chatted and laughed. Their topic was mostly the odd things their teachers did last week to teach them. One boy told the story was about Leinil, the water elemental teacher, who in attempt to teach them how to lower the temperature of the water snuck with the class to the pools, and froze it all over, but the interesting part was that Heralti had been sneaking around in the pools, practicing her invisibility spell, and when she entered she hid underwater invisible, so she was completely frozen by the teacher's spell. Took them about 2 minutes of class before they realized there was someone under there when the spell faded.
A girl, apparently one of the most friendly of the group, was just barely paying attention to the story. She heard every word, and commented when fit, but her gaze floated around the courtyard, she felt something carry her attention away, she scanned everyone, looking for something interesting. They all seemed to be having fun. She wanted to talk to them, but they were not what seemed so interesting.
Near the end of the story she noted a strange figure in the distance, under the shade of a tree. Barely perceptible.
Without saying anything she just got up and left running, crossing through the group. They all stared at her, a confused look in their faces. Boy finished the story despite her absence.
She had to get up there, but she could not be seen. Easier thought than done she thought.
Stealth was not her specialty, but she was fast and light enough to run without drawing too much attention. She sprinted quickly through the school, going up the 4 floors up to the roof. There the door was locked. How did he get past this door she wondered.
She didn't like doing this, but hey, it was fun. She charged up a little electricity in the lock of the door, causing tumblers to bound around until after sometime they fell into place and the lock turned. She got to the other side, not bothering to close the door, and walked calmly up to the boy resting in the tree.
She didn't need to ask, she understood why he was her, the place felt nice, and was really beautiful.
He didn't need to open his eyes, he knew she was there, but he opened his eyes to see who she was. Who was this person interested in coming all the way here, breaking some rules, just to talk to him, he imagined.
The girl was about his height, had a red hair, with black eyes. She had a really captivating smile.
- Nice place you got here. - she said.
He smiled.
- Come, have a seat and relax a bit, you could take a time off all that crowd.
She giggled.
- Nice to meet you, the name is..."
~ End of Part 32 ~