Happy Light

Not only am I bipolar, but I also suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD); a rather appropriate acronym. This is where one gets depressed in the winter, probably due to the lack of sunshine (shorter days, more clouds, wear more clothes). This has also been called "the winter blues." All I knew what that in the winter I would suffer from depression a lot. This on top of bipolar depression. Not fun. And like all things with mental illness, it got worse as I got older.

Nine years ago, on the advice of my mother, I bought a full-spectrum light from a company called Verilux and put it by my desk when I spend most of my work days. It's not technically a "happy light" (which is a specific type of full-spectrum light that is designed for maximum light output) but a lamp that shines on my hands and arms as I type. But it seems to be enough because either because of it, or a psychosomatic effect, I feel better. I haven't suffered from SAD since I got it.

When I needed a light for reading, I also got a full-spectrum light. I figured it couldn't hurt to have more full-spectrum light.

So if you have the "winter blues," I strongly suggest that you get a full-spectrum light and put it where are are the most.

Do you have a full-spectrum light? What are your experiences with it? Let me know in the comments below.

Virtual Reading

I and a group of authors will be doing a virtual reading on ALTSpaceVR and anyone can attend. It will be Friday the 25th at 6pm PST. The link to get there is here. It would be fun to see you there!

RadCon 8B

Starting tomorrow and through Sunday, I will be at RadCon 8B in Tri-Cities, Washington. It will be held, as usual, at the Red Lion Inn in Pasco.

Here's my schedule of panels:

Friday 7:00PM: Pantsing or Outlining. In the Executive Room

Saturday at 11:00 AM: Defeating the Blank Page. In the Sage Room

Saturday at 2:00 PM: Point of View. Also in the Sage Room

Sunday at 11:00 AM: Creating a Low Barrier of Entry for your Readers. In the Harvest Room.

I hope to see you there. I'll have some swag and would love to meet you.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

DVD.com deigned to send me Ghostbusters: Afterlife as soon as they released it. I guess I'm not being throttled right now. (Although this week they sent me the #11 and #12 movies in my queue.)

I was a little cautious approaching this movie. I don't like horror and the ads and trailers I saw indicated it was more horror than comedy, unlike the original Ghostbusters. 

And there is more serious content than the original movie, but it does have funny moments, too. It's much less serious than the ads and trailers I saw indicated. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it.

The story involves a family with an older kid played by Finn Wolfhard (of Stranger Things fame)(and where the hell is Stanger Things season four?) and a precocious twelve-year-old girl, Phoebe. They get kicked out of their house for not paying rent but, luckily, inherit the mother's father's farm in Oklahoma. That's where things get interesting. Phoebe, being the curious type, starts discovering things, clue that lead to her and her mother learning about their heritage and a threat to all of humanity. I'm trying to avoid spoilers  here.

It was well do. Using kids instead of adults made it more fun. Paul Rudd plays a bored science teacher who, at summer school, shows the kids horror movies (I would have been traumatized). I recommend Ghostbusters: Afterlife, especially if you liked the original movie (and who didn't?). 

Did you watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments below.

The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.

I Remember Email

Back in 1994, someone introduced me to email on the computers at the University of Washington campus. I remember asking if it went "campus wide." I was told it went world-wide and I was impressed. So I set up an email account. I think it was stownsend@washington.edu.

Now, 28 years later, email is falling out of favor for texting. Although I don't know if I foresee businesses using texting rather than email. Maybe between employees casually, but not for official communications. Although I saw and ad for "Business Texting" for communicating with clients/customers. And I get texts all the time from people I do business with such as doctors, dentists, and car detailers. 

Email was such a revelation. I've been using it long enough to remember when people apologized for "wasting bandwidth" with long emails. I also remember when the size limit on attachments was so small you couldn't send two Word documents in the same email. Now I send 5 MB email attachments all the time.

I've never had a big problem with spam and I don't know why. I'm still hoping some genius will fix that problem. That and having to have a complicated password for everything, and none of them the same. I'm thinking biometric logins. 

But I'm off course. I still use email and I text and I Facebook message. What ever is most convenient at the time. But email might just become a business/government tool in the future. Especially if it comes that you can send files through text.

What do you think the fate of email will be? Do you use it less than you used to? Let me know in the comments below.