Last night I attended a writers group (courtesy of meetup.com - someone’s going to start thinking I’m a paid sponsor for them …).  It was a small group of perhaps a dozen people, and three had been selected to read pieces of writing they had prepared.

It was a good group of people, and I think they all appreciated the feedback they received.  What was challenging for me was not the listening or the feedback, but the variety of pieces.  The first piece was a “chick-lit” erotic romance piece; enjoyable, but not quite my cup of tea.  The second piece was a historically-based screenplay.  I *should* be interested in this sort of thing, but screenplays are not meant to be read by one person, and I found it difficult to follow.

The third piece was the prologue to a fantasy novel.  Nothing against fantasy, but it’s a genre that does nothing for me.  I was one of the few who only made it about five pages into “The Hobbit” before giving up completely.

The organizer of the group asked me to bring a piece of poetry to the next meeting (first-timers *never* read at the first meeting they attend, and I completely agree with this), and I’m really debating what to bring.  A lot of my private (non-blogged) creative writing of late has been poetry, but it’s an entirely different ordeal to expose that writing to other people.

Vulnerability.  You make yourself vulnerable in a group like this, and you have to trust the people around you.

It’s a good thing, though, and I’m looking forward to opening up to this group and sharing some of my own scribblings.

• Microsoft released the new Zune music players yesterday. Nobody noticed, and I’m not sure that anyone cares. They are now poised to sell dozens of the oddly-coloured things to unsuspecting buyers who will be teased mercilessly because their brand-new Zunes look remarkably like the last generation iPods.
• The temperature here in North Cackalacky has warmed up a bit. I had the sunroof open on the drive into work this morning, and it felt nice. I really like this time of year when I can open the windows in my car and feel comfortable in a sweatshirt.
• I bought a new camcorder this weekend past, but I’m not sure what to do with it. And yes - I know how to *use* it - I just don’t know if people want to see me video-blogging. Always the attention whore - please leave gratuitous comments showering me with praise, and telling me about how you want to see me on the silver screen.
• Some of you were kind enough to notice in yesterday’s photoblog posts that I have lost weight. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! While I would never recommend the separate-from-your-spouse diet plan, it *does* work, and it’s nice to know that some self-betterment is coming out of this. On that note, the official numbers are: I have lost 25 pounds in the last 2 months. That takes my body mass index from its prior-to-separation level of 29.4 (at the high end of the “overweight” category) to 26.1 (almost at the bottom of the “overweight” category). True - I could still lose a few pounds - but I’m also replacing a lot of body fat with muscle right now, and that may be skewing the numbers a little bit. The bottom line is - I can look in the mirror right now and feel very good about the person looking back. My clothes fit a *lot* better, I feel healthier, and I’m living a much more sustainable lifestyle.
• meetup.com is addictive. This is how I found my indoor climbing group, and I have also been a casual participant in a guitar jamming group, a creative writing group and a hiking group. I’m trying really hard not to over commit myself (and doing fairly well at it), but it is refreshing to get out and meet new people with common interests.

That’s all the blogging love I have to share for today.

OK, so the title sounds a bit lofty … but I found a group on meetup.com that does regular rock climbing events, and I’m going out tonight to do my first climb in over 6 years!

I did a few climbing courses at the University of Calgary when we were living in those parts, and it was a lot of fun.

I figure an added bonus is my recent weight loss.  Ducking in a few pounds shy of 190, I’m hoping that some physical exercise will help replace my lost body fat with muscle.