Yesterday was a very productive day. It was one of those days where the writing happens slowly but keeps building some speed throughout the day.
8.30-09, 0.5h - Meditation
09-10, 1h - Food + Wizard Knight
10-10.30, 0.5h - Emails
10.30-11.30, 1h -Lands Of Mist + Royal Mail Claim Form
11.30-120.5h - Guitar playing
12-12.30, 0.5h - Lands Of Mist + Short story
12.30-15, 2.5h - Lands Of Mist
15-16.30, 1.5h - Shopping + Washing
16.30-18, 1.5h - Lands Of Mist
18-19, 1h -Book buying + chat
19-20, 1h - The Hate Bearers Plot + Story + Food
20-23, 3h - The Hate Bearers + Food
23-01.30, 2.5h - FILM - The Blind Side
01.30-02.30, 1h - The Hate Bearers
I wrote quite a bit on both stories and still managed to watch what is now my favourite Sandra Bullock film. The Blind Side. I never thought much of her as an actress but she really comes through on this one. The fact that it's based on a true story helps but, in any case, it's not just her, it's the rest of the cast and it's the script, quite clever, well paced and packing more punches than I'd ever expected.
It felt very good to write some more of The Hate Bearers. My initial intention was to type up most of the stuff I still have scattered around, longhand, in sheets of paper but, as soon as I began typing it, the ideas started flowing and I put the sheets aside and let the story lead me.
In a way I'm trying to have a very different approach to these two stories. In fact something which I think is crucial when writing two books at the same time. Personally I think it's easier if they are different rather than similar. If they're similar one easily tends to repeat things - or at least feel that way. It's easier for things to blur into one another. But, if you're writing a fantastical drama and a sci-fi comedy then you're pretty much safe...
Besides I wanted to have some sense of direction in Lands Of Mist, particularly because I know where it's supposed to end. Whilst in The Hate Bearers, even though I know where it's going to end, I wanted the free floating feeling one has whilst reading much of Kurt Vonnegut's prose and, to a certain extent, Ray Bradbury's. I really want the story to lead this one as much as I am able. And, so far, it's been good fun. A couple of crazy characters have showed up so far and it looks like that most of what I had planned to do may not be necessary at all...
We'll see...
I also read some more of The Wizard Knight which is simply a beautiful book.
And THIS IS what I'm talking about...
Peace!
Friday, 5 November 2010
Weird Writs
My Wednesday was a strange day.
Here's the schedule:
02-03, 1h - Lands Of Mist
03-07, 4h - Sleep
07-19, 12h - WORK
19-22, 3h - Food + The Hate Bearers + Lands Of Mist
22-01.30 - FILM - Dumplings + chat
01.30-02 - Meditation
Somehow I managed to wake up at 1.30 in the morning. I couldn't go to sleep. So I decided to write. So I worked on Lands Of Mist for a while - until I felt tired, really and went back to sleep.
Somehow I woke up - only later realising that I'd forgotten to set the alarm. I was supposed to be at work at nine so I rushed out believing myself late...
Somehow I got to work at 8am, not 9 as I'd intended...
Somehow I managed to have a longer day at work than I'd expected...
Finally I got home and ate and typed some more for The Hate Bearers and some more on Lands Of Mist.
Then I watched Fruit Chan's Dumplings. A really good film. It was labelled Horror but it isn't really. It deals with some scary stuff but the blood and guts is minimal and really done in a way to impress more psychologically than visually. He implies much more than he shows. I found it a very poignant film, a great social critique/parable of our times. As in the previous film I'd seen of his Made In Hong-Kong, he subtly deals with social conditions, the gap between the rich and the poor.
Throughout the film I was also chatting with a friend on skype - that's how these things go...
I still managed to meditate for a bit before going to sleep.
I'm a bit behind my personal schedule but starts do tend to be a bit slow - and it takes a bit of time to build enough momentum...
peace.
Here's the schedule:
02-03, 1h - Lands Of Mist
03-07, 4h - Sleep
07-19, 12h - WORK
19-22, 3h - Food + The Hate Bearers + Lands Of Mist
22-01.30 - FILM - Dumplings + chat
01.30-02 - Meditation
Somehow I managed to wake up at 1.30 in the morning. I couldn't go to sleep. So I decided to write. So I worked on Lands Of Mist for a while - until I felt tired, really and went back to sleep.
Somehow I woke up - only later realising that I'd forgotten to set the alarm. I was supposed to be at work at nine so I rushed out believing myself late...
Somehow I got to work at 8am, not 9 as I'd intended...
Somehow I managed to have a longer day at work than I'd expected...
Finally I got home and ate and typed some more for The Hate Bearers and some more on Lands Of Mist.
Then I watched Fruit Chan's Dumplings. A really good film. It was labelled Horror but it isn't really. It deals with some scary stuff but the blood and guts is minimal and really done in a way to impress more psychologically than visually. He implies much more than he shows. I found it a very poignant film, a great social critique/parable of our times. As in the previous film I'd seen of his Made In Hong-Kong, he subtly deals with social conditions, the gap between the rich and the poor.
Throughout the film I was also chatting with a friend on skype - that's how these things go...
I still managed to meditate for a bit before going to sleep.
I'm a bit behind my personal schedule but starts do tend to be a bit slow - and it takes a bit of time to build enough momentum...
peace.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
NaNoWriMonthing
Yep. Two days have gone and what do I have to show for it?!
Well, my schedule for one:
07.30-08, 0.5h - Meditation
08-09, 1h - Food + Wizard Knight
09-10.30, 1.5h - Lands Of Mist
10.30-11, 0.5h - Chat
11-12, 1h - Lands Of Mist + Emails
12-13, 1h - Lands Of Mist + The Hate Bearers
13-22, 9h - WORK
22-23, 1h - Food + Lands Of Mist
I was really with a good momentum on tuesday. I think it was one of those days that I would've just kept on writing. Not one of those where words just seem to pour and you write 5000 words practically non-stop, but one of those where you pause in between paragraphs and lines, just for a few seconds or a couple of minutes to try and envision where the story was gonna go next and it felt I could just keep on doing it. These days can be a bit frustrating initially, when you just want to write everything in one go, in a powerful torrent of words. But these days in fact enable to write more carefully, with more attention to what you are doing. we become conscious of the passing of time and all the little decisions and moments of awareness that add up to where the story is going.
I did chat quite a bit throughout part of the day with a couple of friends: life, contrary to what you might think, is not NaNoWriMo based. In fact, it seems to continue pretty well without it.
On my way to work I had a couple of ideas for last year's NaNoWriMo. What can I say, that's how the mind works... I also had an idea for the Hate Bearers. So, after the usual initial chaos of information after getting to work, I did manage to jot all I could remember down. It wasn't as clear and sharp and smooth as when you're cycling and everything just flows out in your mind so naturally (beware of traffic!) but it was good enough. At least the ideas and some of the twists in the dialogue were noted. It can all be refined and worked out at a later stage - revision!
I got home feeling really knackered. After some initial moments of questions and chitchat with my flatmates I was able to reach the relative safety of my room and engage with the age old process of eating spring rolls.
(yes, I know you thought I was going to say writing... I still have a few tricks up my sleeve - even if usually I wear t-shirts: just shows you how really skilled I am...)
After my belly was full (and full is the word) I began typing away at Lands Of Mists.
Soon after I was asleep.
Lights on.
As usual.
Music on.
Not as usual.
Peace!
Well, my schedule for one:
07.30-08, 0.5h - Meditation
08-09, 1h - Food + Wizard Knight
09-10.30, 1.5h - Lands Of Mist
10.30-11, 0.5h - Chat
11-12, 1h - Lands Of Mist + Emails
12-13, 1h - Lands Of Mist + The Hate Bearers
13-22, 9h - WORK
22-23, 1h - Food + Lands Of Mist
I was really with a good momentum on tuesday. I think it was one of those days that I would've just kept on writing. Not one of those where words just seem to pour and you write 5000 words practically non-stop, but one of those where you pause in between paragraphs and lines, just for a few seconds or a couple of minutes to try and envision where the story was gonna go next and it felt I could just keep on doing it. These days can be a bit frustrating initially, when you just want to write everything in one go, in a powerful torrent of words. But these days in fact enable to write more carefully, with more attention to what you are doing. we become conscious of the passing of time and all the little decisions and moments of awareness that add up to where the story is going.
I did chat quite a bit throughout part of the day with a couple of friends: life, contrary to what you might think, is not NaNoWriMo based. In fact, it seems to continue pretty well without it.
On my way to work I had a couple of ideas for last year's NaNoWriMo. What can I say, that's how the mind works... I also had an idea for the Hate Bearers. So, after the usual initial chaos of information after getting to work, I did manage to jot all I could remember down. It wasn't as clear and sharp and smooth as when you're cycling and everything just flows out in your mind so naturally (beware of traffic!) but it was good enough. At least the ideas and some of the twists in the dialogue were noted. It can all be refined and worked out at a later stage - revision!
I got home feeling really knackered. After some initial moments of questions and chitchat with my flatmates I was able to reach the relative safety of my room and engage with the age old process of eating spring rolls.
(yes, I know you thought I was going to say writing... I still have a few tricks up my sleeve - even if usually I wear t-shirts: just shows you how really skilled I am...)
After my belly was full (and full is the word) I began typing away at Lands Of Mists.
Soon after I was asleep.
Lights on.
As usual.
Music on.
Not as usual.
Peace!
Lands Of Mist Plotting...
Monday was a good day for writing. I did manage to do (with some ease - which was great to see happening) something that I'd wanted to try for a while now: if I could map out a whole book in one go (ie, under a day).
And I did! It took me only a few hours!
Here's the schedule:
8.30-9.30, 1h - Meditation
9.30-10.30, 1h - Emails + Food
10.30-11.30, 1h - tracks recording
11.30-12, 0.5h - Emails
12-15, 3h - NaNoWriM: Lands Of Mist prep + Food
15-19, 4h - Lands Of Mist Plotting
19-20.30, 1.5h - Food + Plotting part 2
20.30-21.30, 1h - Lands Of Mist writing
21.30-00, 2.5h - FILM Land Of The Lost
00-01, 1h - Lands Of Mist + The Hate Bearers
What can I say? Monday was also a good day! I spent a good part of the day typing up the stuff I'd found the previous night (for Lands Of Mist) and then I used up most of the afternoon to type up a semi-detailed chronology of events for the whole book. Some 34 chapters so far - which I aim to keep relatively short.
I am still amazed at how smooth the whole plotting process went. Of course it helped that I already had 9 pages of notes of things I'd like to see on that book - even if most of that was already bits of chapters/dialogue. But I managed to map it all out and insert some new scenes, chapters whenever needed. And, along the way, a couple of nice ideas for the story (to round things more) came through.
That was some 7 pages long so, roughly 3500 words. Then I think I wrote some 2000 afterwards. Still a bit low word count for what I'd like but I think it was a good start - and I can see that the first chapter is already going to be broken up in several others... oh well...
The first chapter deals with Anne-Marie and Thomas going to visit a guy that lives in a swamp on the north pole (don't ask... it works in the book though...), in an area called the Permanent Darkness.
If I recall correctly, this title came about because of Radiohead's track Permanent Daylight. Which, for a period, I was trying to learn how to play and singalong. So, there is also another chapter towards the end of the book (but not really the end) called Permanent Daylight - but that's a whole other journey.
What I didn't know was how those two chapters (in which something is given to the people living there - and yes, I won't tell you what it is...) related to the rest of the book. Now I do a bit more. But I suspect that will become clearer still after I get to that second part of the story.
It's all about building layers and layers and making things reflect one another like in a hall of mirrors (and there's gonna be quite a few things about mirrors on this one as well...) and create so much creative momentum that, hopefully, the reader will take a leap of faith and trust his/hers intuition and see the story for what it is on the big themes: be inspired and feel a sense of wonder, of the cosmic universe looming at each moment all around us.
That's pretty much the main objective of the series. In fact, the whole plot can be seen as simply a device to create this experience (hopefully - I'm still not there yet!). A series of devices created to help the mind transcend the four walls of our rooms and simultaneously perceive ourselves as in our own human space but also as a part of the Big-Bang.
Land Of The Lost was a great comedy - for those of us that love Will Ferrell.
I know, I know, lots of people don't - but the guy's expressions just crack me up. He's so pointlessly obnoxious you gotta yield... The script was probably one of the worst ever but he and Danny McBride amply made up for that. Some really good comedy moments - who cares about continuity?!
Afterwards I wrote a little more but managed to fall asleep lights on and so forth without meditating at all.
The NaNoChaos begins...
Peace!
And I did! It took me only a few hours!
Here's the schedule:
8.30-9.30, 1h - Meditation
9.30-10.30, 1h - Emails + Food
10.30-11.30, 1h - tracks recording
11.30-12, 0.5h - Emails
12-15, 3h - NaNoWriM: Lands Of Mist prep + Food
15-19, 4h - Lands Of Mist Plotting
19-20.30, 1.5h - Food + Plotting part 2
20.30-21.30, 1h - Lands Of Mist writing
21.30-00, 2.5h - FILM Land Of The Lost
00-01, 1h - Lands Of Mist + The Hate Bearers
What can I say? Monday was also a good day! I spent a good part of the day typing up the stuff I'd found the previous night (for Lands Of Mist) and then I used up most of the afternoon to type up a semi-detailed chronology of events for the whole book. Some 34 chapters so far - which I aim to keep relatively short.
I am still amazed at how smooth the whole plotting process went. Of course it helped that I already had 9 pages of notes of things I'd like to see on that book - even if most of that was already bits of chapters/dialogue. But I managed to map it all out and insert some new scenes, chapters whenever needed. And, along the way, a couple of nice ideas for the story (to round things more) came through.
That was some 7 pages long so, roughly 3500 words. Then I think I wrote some 2000 afterwards. Still a bit low word count for what I'd like but I think it was a good start - and I can see that the first chapter is already going to be broken up in several others... oh well...
The first chapter deals with Anne-Marie and Thomas going to visit a guy that lives in a swamp on the north pole (don't ask... it works in the book though...), in an area called the Permanent Darkness.
If I recall correctly, this title came about because of Radiohead's track Permanent Daylight. Which, for a period, I was trying to learn how to play and singalong. So, there is also another chapter towards the end of the book (but not really the end) called Permanent Daylight - but that's a whole other journey.
What I didn't know was how those two chapters (in which something is given to the people living there - and yes, I won't tell you what it is...) related to the rest of the book. Now I do a bit more. But I suspect that will become clearer still after I get to that second part of the story.
It's all about building layers and layers and making things reflect one another like in a hall of mirrors (and there's gonna be quite a few things about mirrors on this one as well...) and create so much creative momentum that, hopefully, the reader will take a leap of faith and trust his/hers intuition and see the story for what it is on the big themes: be inspired and feel a sense of wonder, of the cosmic universe looming at each moment all around us.
That's pretty much the main objective of the series. In fact, the whole plot can be seen as simply a device to create this experience (hopefully - I'm still not there yet!). A series of devices created to help the mind transcend the four walls of our rooms and simultaneously perceive ourselves as in our own human space but also as a part of the Big-Bang.
Land Of The Lost was a great comedy - for those of us that love Will Ferrell.
I know, I know, lots of people don't - but the guy's expressions just crack me up. He's so pointlessly obnoxious you gotta yield... The script was probably one of the worst ever but he and Danny McBride amply made up for that. Some really good comedy moments - who cares about continuity?!
Afterwards I wrote a little more but managed to fall asleep lights on and so forth without meditating at all.
The NaNoChaos begins...
Peace!
Big Days Coming
The last few days have been quite busy with the whole NaNoWriMo thingamajig and my planned schedules have more or less been thrown out the window - even though I'm still keeping track of what I'm doing...
Sunday 31st
09-10, 1h - Meditation
10-11, 1h - Food
11-12, 1h - Blog posts
12-14, 2h - Guitar
14-16, 2h - The Great Temple
16-19, 3h - Tracks recording
19-20, 1h - Food
20-21, 1h - The Great Temple
21-00, 3h - FILM You Can't Take It With You
00-01, 1h - NaNoWriMo Hate Bearers
01-2.30, 1.5h - NaNoWriMo tidying up
2.30-3, 0.5h - Meditation
Sunday was pretty much a full day and I did spend a lot of time playing guitar and recording a few tracks - it was one of those days...
But I did finish the idea I'd had for a story for the Great Temple. The funny thing was that the firts tale in that story was supposed to be the short one and the second one the longest one. Turns out it was the other way around... They still need work but I think that they're an enjoyable read.
After midnight I started writing some things for my sci-fi spoof, The Hate Bearers. Two intergalactic mercenaries come to planet Earth to settle an old score. And even before they arrive they're already making trouble for the rest of us...
This one is going to be a patchwork of crazy, often impossible, situations. I don't really know where I'm going with it for the most part. I only know how it ends... the bits in the middle, and even the beginning - I keep writing a new beginnings with different scenes... - is a bit hazy...
After I'd writen a mighty 300 words... I spent quite a bit of time going through old paperwork and notes for ideas trying to scrounge up all the notes about the three projects I'd like to resolve this month...
And then I meditated. Of course my head was pretty much in the clouds but, there you have it...
One last thing, Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You is an incredible film! I think it's from 1938 and it's so true to the American spirit that I don't think it could be made today...
I'll leave you with that one!
Peace!
Sunday 31st
09-10, 1h - Meditation
10-11, 1h - Food
11-12, 1h - Blog posts
12-14, 2h - Guitar
14-16, 2h - The Great Temple
16-19, 3h - Tracks recording
19-20, 1h - Food
20-21, 1h - The Great Temple
21-00, 3h - FILM You Can't Take It With You
00-01, 1h - NaNoWriMo Hate Bearers
01-2.30, 1.5h - NaNoWriMo tidying up
2.30-3, 0.5h - Meditation
Sunday was pretty much a full day and I did spend a lot of time playing guitar and recording a few tracks - it was one of those days...
But I did finish the idea I'd had for a story for the Great Temple. The funny thing was that the firts tale in that story was supposed to be the short one and the second one the longest one. Turns out it was the other way around... They still need work but I think that they're an enjoyable read.
After midnight I started writing some things for my sci-fi spoof, The Hate Bearers. Two intergalactic mercenaries come to planet Earth to settle an old score. And even before they arrive they're already making trouble for the rest of us...
This one is going to be a patchwork of crazy, often impossible, situations. I don't really know where I'm going with it for the most part. I only know how it ends... the bits in the middle, and even the beginning - I keep writing a new beginnings with different scenes... - is a bit hazy...
After I'd writen a mighty 300 words... I spent quite a bit of time going through old paperwork and notes for ideas trying to scrounge up all the notes about the three projects I'd like to resolve this month...
And then I meditated. Of course my head was pretty much in the clouds but, there you have it...
One last thing, Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You is an incredible film! I think it's from 1938 and it's so true to the American spirit that I don't think it could be made today...
I'll leave you with that one!
Peace!
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Saturday Sun and Rain
Yesterday was a good day albeit I didn't get as much writing done as I'd liked... guess what? You're right - work!
8.30-9.30, 1h Meditation
9.30-11.30, 2h Wandering Mind Meditation Post, Short Story Submission
11.30-23.30, 12h Demo and Work
23.30-00.30, 1h Food!
A straighforward schedule isn't it?!
Meditation has been floaty at best even though there have been some really good moments of concentration. But, like a friend said yesterday, the important thing is simply to sit and be there. Well, at least that I'm doing...
;)
Afterwards I managed to revise the Is Meditation Difficult post and publish it online. Because I still had some time before I left the house I submitted The Running Man one more time. I also received my very first "not interested" reply.
Guess that accounts for some sort of triumph... it's getting out there!
I went to a small demo in Brixton about the ongoing public service job cuts situation before going to work...
Work was good. We showed The Dhamma Brothers today. A film about the introduction of Vipassana Meditation in a maximum security prison in the USA (Alabama of all places...). It's a powerfully moving account of the human ability for personal transformation. Even though it was the second time I saw it, it was as at least as moving as the first time. If you can, watch it. It's the real thing.
After work I had a couple of ideas whilst biking on the way home. (in fact I think I remembered a couple of ideas I had whilst going to the demo and had another one).
Of these I only remember one now. One which I will endeavour to write straight after this post.
But I'm hoping I'll remember the others - they were related to the stuff I want to do this year for NaNoWriMo (which I want to start typing coming midnight tonight...)
I was really knackered when I got home and so it was simply time for some food, for a few pages of Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight (I didn't even manage to finish the chapter!) and sleep - lights on and everything - not all my lying posture meditations worked exactly the way I'd like...
But, today, is another day!
Writing rules!
Peace!
8.30-9.30, 1h Meditation
9.30-11.30, 2h Wandering Mind Meditation Post, Short Story Submission
11.30-23.30, 12h Demo and Work
23.30-00.30, 1h Food!
A straighforward schedule isn't it?!
Meditation has been floaty at best even though there have been some really good moments of concentration. But, like a friend said yesterday, the important thing is simply to sit and be there. Well, at least that I'm doing...
;)
Afterwards I managed to revise the Is Meditation Difficult post and publish it online. Because I still had some time before I left the house I submitted The Running Man one more time. I also received my very first "not interested" reply.
Guess that accounts for some sort of triumph... it's getting out there!
I went to a small demo in Brixton about the ongoing public service job cuts situation before going to work...
Work was good. We showed The Dhamma Brothers today. A film about the introduction of Vipassana Meditation in a maximum security prison in the USA (Alabama of all places...). It's a powerfully moving account of the human ability for personal transformation. Even though it was the second time I saw it, it was as at least as moving as the first time. If you can, watch it. It's the real thing.
After work I had a couple of ideas whilst biking on the way home. (in fact I think I remembered a couple of ideas I had whilst going to the demo and had another one).
Of these I only remember one now. One which I will endeavour to write straight after this post.
But I'm hoping I'll remember the others - they were related to the stuff I want to do this year for NaNoWriMo (which I want to start typing coming midnight tonight...)
I was really knackered when I got home and so it was simply time for some food, for a few pages of Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight (I didn't even manage to finish the chapter!) and sleep - lights on and everything - not all my lying posture meditations worked exactly the way I'd like...
But, today, is another day!
Writing rules!
Peace!
Integral Replies and the Difficulties of Meditation
Friday was a more compressed day than I'd wished... sometimes you're just carrying a good momentum and... well, you just wanna keep at it, ain't it?!
Here's the schedule:
9-10, 1h Meditation
10-11, 1h Food + Emails
11-12, 1h Blog posts
12-14, 2h Reply to Ken Wilber's
The Meaning Of Enlightenment Part I: Past, Present and Future
14-00, 10h Work
00-01, 1h Wandering Mind blog post. Is Meditation Difficult?
This a good day even if I didn't have that much time for writing as much as I wished. Particularly I did manage to write out most of the stuff I wanted to say about Ken Wilber's video. The stuff he has to say is quite interesting but, from my perspective, also substantially incorrect.
And I think the reason for that stems simply from a fact he himself mentions, that he is a Pandit, a theoretical teacher rather than a guru, one who practices. This is why he gets so caught up in the ideas, the reasons, the logic, the reasoning, the intellectual debate. It is very refreshing to hear him but I fear people might take it as being the truth, which it isn't, not by a long shot, on a practical way. My attempt is to correct that as best I can - albeit it being from a theoretical point of view also...
Because it concerns so directly with meditation I will post this on the Wandering Mind, Wondering Soul blog.
On my way from work I had this idea for another post for this blog and so that's what I did when I arrived home...
And then it was time for sleep...
Peace!
Here's the schedule:
9-10, 1h Meditation
10-11, 1h Food + Emails
11-12, 1h Blog posts
12-14, 2h Reply to Ken Wilber's
The Meaning Of Enlightenment Part I: Past, Present and Future14-00, 10h Work
00-01, 1h Wandering Mind blog post. Is Meditation Difficult?
This a good day even if I didn't have that much time for writing as much as I wished. Particularly I did manage to write out most of the stuff I wanted to say about Ken Wilber's video. The stuff he has to say is quite interesting but, from my perspective, also substantially incorrect.
And I think the reason for that stems simply from a fact he himself mentions, that he is a Pandit, a theoretical teacher rather than a guru, one who practices. This is why he gets so caught up in the ideas, the reasons, the logic, the reasoning, the intellectual debate. It is very refreshing to hear him but I fear people might take it as being the truth, which it isn't, not by a long shot, on a practical way. My attempt is to correct that as best I can - albeit it being from a theoretical point of view also...
Because it concerns so directly with meditation I will post this on the Wandering Mind, Wondering Soul blog.
On my way from work I had this idea for another post for this blog and so that's what I did when I arrived home...
And then it was time for sleep...
Peace!
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