Ideas for Winter
Wednesday, November 30th, 2022 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioSo, a while back I was talking about an idea for a card deck based on the mind... back when I was listening to audio books about dreams and the mind and stuff while at work?
Well... that original dream book had mentioned that day dreaming... or letting your mind wander during the day... is kind of important, because if you don't, then you suffer from insomnia once your head hits the pillow at night... because your conscious mind is trying to catch up on that before it lets you go to sleep.
So, I started just working my shifts without any headphones, to let my brain wander for four hours as I did my routines and... I found that I quite enjoyed it!
I really haven't done that kind of thing since before I owned my first smart phone!
At any rate, many weeks went by, where I was just focused on problems of the moment, and then I had my Thanksgiving break, and wrote the Flat Earther's Guide... and then it finally came to me that... DUH!.. I should base a card deck on the calendar!
Wasn't I going on about how the card deck could be used as a calendar? I'm sure I was.
Like... that's a concept I already have a good grasp of, and an astronomical calendar type deck would stand an actual chance of being interesting to people.
Below is an extremely rough draft of an Ace card, for such a deck, that I threw together after work tonight...
This deck would keep the same suits as the playing cards, but each suit would be a season.
Each card in the deck represents a seven-day week. So the idea is that one would track the year, beginning with the Ace of Spades, on the Winter Solstice. So that card would cover December 21st, through December 27th.
The two of spades would be the second week of winter, DEC 27 ~ JAN 01.
Three of spades, JAN 02 ~ JAN 08... etcetera.
--<>--
Doing it this way, the equinoxes and the other solstice will fall during the week of their respective Ace cards!
In fact, I think they might exactly fall on the first day of their respective Ace cards... but I haven't checked that for sure, yet.
Either way, the black Aces; Spades & Clubs, are solstices, and the red Aces; Hearts & Diamonds, are the equinoxes. And each ace is the starting point of their respective seasons... each being thirteen weeks long.
--<>--
In our test draft for Ace of Clubs... and I'll embed it again here...
We have our four main horizontal lines on the graph paper... the lower red line is the actual horizon. The three blue lines, from lower to higher, represent; the lowest arc the sun rides in the winter... the celestial equator, where it rides on the equinox... and the highest arc it rides in the summer.
In the example, the sun is on the high line, because this is the summer solstice... and it's stamped with the symbol for Cancer, because... that's the day it enters Cancer!
The moon is on the low line to show that the moon is riding lowest when the sun rides highest, here at the summer solstice.
--<>--
Ace of Spades would be the inverse of this, and the sun would be stamped with the symbol for Capricorn.
For the other two aces, the sun would be on the center line. And a half moon would also be on the center line. For Ace of Hearts, it would be a right handed half moon on the left side of the card. For Ace of Diamonds, a left handed half moon on the right side.
And I can mock those up and show you tomorrow.
--<>--
I had been imagining that the other spot cards would not be so simplistic, or have the graph paper, but... I dunno... maybe the graph paper becomes a global theme?
It's too soon to say.
But I know I CAN nail down the other eight cards where the sun enters the other eight signs of the zodiac. And knowing I need to include those symbols may effect the way it all looks.
--<>--
There's also those midpoints to think about... Easter, May Day, Lughnasadh, and Halloween... to be pinpointed and depicted!
--<>--
Since the Jacks, Kings, and Queens of each suit, have to fall sequentially, taking up the final three weeks of each suit season... I figured I'd have the jacks be androgynous youngsters recalling the early days of their seasons.
The Queens would be adult women celebrating the height of their seasons.
And the Kings, old men, in real time, representing the end of their seasons.
--<>--
The Joker will be a card for only ONE DAY... December 20th, I think. Again, have to check this, but I think the King of Diamonds should end on December 19th.
The EXTRA Joker, will stand in for February 29th, on leap years!
I gotta nail this all down, because in theory it should all work.
--<>--
Like with any project of this scale, I'll just start with a super rough draft skeleton and then flesh it out.
Then the second draft will be a little slicker... and the third draft will be even better.
And the whole damn thing should take me about three years!
------------{=0=}------------
The other idea I've been turning around in my head lately, has to do with work.
I keep noticing broken shit around the building that I'd like to fix, because I know how, but it's not my job!
Inoperable paper towel dispensers that need to be replaced, doors that don't hold open like they should, droopy door handles that need springs replaced, sticky door latches, light bulbs out... all the stuff I used to fix on the daily as a maintenance guy.
And none of it's getting fixed either. I dunno if Miguel just isn't making work order, or if the maintenance guys... whoever the hell they are... just don't give a crap, and never show up?.. or a combination of both things.
But my idea is to pitch to Tony, my lead, the idea of giving me a hybrid status for my job description... a custodian/ maintenance tech for Grape.
So... I'd do my normal four hours of custodial work. But then, as needed, stay later to knock out whatever work orders there are for the building.
It wouldn't be full time... probably just an extra few hours a week.
But the idea here would be to maybe get a slight pay bump, because of the change in job description.
Instead of $14.50, maybe... $15.00, or $15.50.
And I'm sure after I did it a while, Tony'd be asking me to run over to this and that other nearby school he oversees to just... knock out a few quick things, once in a while.
--<>--
It feels like a good way to move up a little and expand my range... on my own terms, at my own speed!
But it might be a non-starter, because this is a union job, and the whole concept of a hybrid, custiodian maintenance position might violate the rules and ruffle all the feathers.
--<>--
For now, I'm just making a list of stuff I'd like to fix. And I do have my own tools. So, when the time seems right, I'll just pitch the idea to Tony and see what comes of it.
Can't hurt to try.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Well... that original dream book had mentioned that day dreaming... or letting your mind wander during the day... is kind of important, because if you don't, then you suffer from insomnia once your head hits the pillow at night... because your conscious mind is trying to catch up on that before it lets you go to sleep.
So, I started just working my shifts without any headphones, to let my brain wander for four hours as I did my routines and... I found that I quite enjoyed it!
I really haven't done that kind of thing since before I owned my first smart phone!
At any rate, many weeks went by, where I was just focused on problems of the moment, and then I had my Thanksgiving break, and wrote the Flat Earther's Guide... and then it finally came to me that... DUH!.. I should base a card deck on the calendar!
Wasn't I going on about how the card deck could be used as a calendar? I'm sure I was.
Like... that's a concept I already have a good grasp of, and an astronomical calendar type deck would stand an actual chance of being interesting to people.
Below is an extremely rough draft of an Ace card, for such a deck, that I threw together after work tonight...
This deck would keep the same suits as the playing cards, but each suit would be a season.
- SPADES = WINTER
- HEARTS = SPRING
- CLUBS = SUMMER
- DIAMONDS = FALL
Each card in the deck represents a seven-day week. So the idea is that one would track the year, beginning with the Ace of Spades, on the Winter Solstice. So that card would cover December 21st, through December 27th.
The two of spades would be the second week of winter, DEC 27 ~ JAN 01.
Three of spades, JAN 02 ~ JAN 08... etcetera.
Doing it this way, the equinoxes and the other solstice will fall during the week of their respective Ace cards!
In fact, I think they might exactly fall on the first day of their respective Ace cards... but I haven't checked that for sure, yet.
Either way, the black Aces; Spades & Clubs, are solstices, and the red Aces; Hearts & Diamonds, are the equinoxes. And each ace is the starting point of their respective seasons... each being thirteen weeks long.
In our test draft for Ace of Clubs... and I'll embed it again here...
We have our four main horizontal lines on the graph paper... the lower red line is the actual horizon. The three blue lines, from lower to higher, represent; the lowest arc the sun rides in the winter... the celestial equator, where it rides on the equinox... and the highest arc it rides in the summer.
In the example, the sun is on the high line, because this is the summer solstice... and it's stamped with the symbol for Cancer, because... that's the day it enters Cancer!
The moon is on the low line to show that the moon is riding lowest when the sun rides highest, here at the summer solstice.
Ace of Spades would be the inverse of this, and the sun would be stamped with the symbol for Capricorn.
For the other two aces, the sun would be on the center line. And a half moon would also be on the center line. For Ace of Hearts, it would be a right handed half moon on the left side of the card. For Ace of Diamonds, a left handed half moon on the right side.
And I can mock those up and show you tomorrow.
I had been imagining that the other spot cards would not be so simplistic, or have the graph paper, but... I dunno... maybe the graph paper becomes a global theme?
It's too soon to say.
But I know I CAN nail down the other eight cards where the sun enters the other eight signs of the zodiac. And knowing I need to include those symbols may effect the way it all looks.
There's also those midpoints to think about... Easter, May Day, Lughnasadh, and Halloween... to be pinpointed and depicted!
Since the Jacks, Kings, and Queens of each suit, have to fall sequentially, taking up the final three weeks of each suit season... I figured I'd have the jacks be androgynous youngsters recalling the early days of their seasons.
The Queens would be adult women celebrating the height of their seasons.
And the Kings, old men, in real time, representing the end of their seasons.
The Joker will be a card for only ONE DAY... December 20th, I think. Again, have to check this, but I think the King of Diamonds should end on December 19th.
The EXTRA Joker, will stand in for February 29th, on leap years!
I gotta nail this all down, because in theory it should all work.
Like with any project of this scale, I'll just start with a super rough draft skeleton and then flesh it out.
Then the second draft will be a little slicker... and the third draft will be even better.
And the whole damn thing should take me about three years!
The other idea I've been turning around in my head lately, has to do with work.
I keep noticing broken shit around the building that I'd like to fix, because I know how, but it's not my job!
Inoperable paper towel dispensers that need to be replaced, doors that don't hold open like they should, droopy door handles that need springs replaced, sticky door latches, light bulbs out... all the stuff I used to fix on the daily as a maintenance guy.
And none of it's getting fixed either. I dunno if Miguel just isn't making work order, or if the maintenance guys... whoever the hell they are... just don't give a crap, and never show up?.. or a combination of both things.
But my idea is to pitch to Tony, my lead, the idea of giving me a hybrid status for my job description... a custodian/ maintenance tech for Grape.
So... I'd do my normal four hours of custodial work. But then, as needed, stay later to knock out whatever work orders there are for the building.
It wouldn't be full time... probably just an extra few hours a week.
But the idea here would be to maybe get a slight pay bump, because of the change in job description.
Instead of $14.50, maybe... $15.00, or $15.50.
And I'm sure after I did it a while, Tony'd be asking me to run over to this and that other nearby school he oversees to just... knock out a few quick things, once in a while.
It feels like a good way to move up a little and expand my range... on my own terms, at my own speed!
But it might be a non-starter, because this is a union job, and the whole concept of a hybrid, custiodian maintenance position might violate the rules and ruffle all the feathers.
For now, I'm just making a list of stuff I'd like to fix. And I do have my own tools. So, when the time seems right, I'll just pitch the idea to Tony and see what comes of it.
Can't hurt to try.
°¦}
