The Clockwork Coroner

According to James Clear’s Atomic Habits, lasting behavior change starts with environment.

If you want a habit to stick, give it a designated space — a room, a desk, a corner of the world that exists for one repeated purpose.

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The LEGO Room

Before I even moved up from Arizona, Jen told me she wanted to turn her daughter’s now-empty room into my LEGO room.

WHAT?!

I actually protested. “You need an office for principal duties,” I said — and that wasn’t sarcasm. She’s an elementary school principal. A real-deal, paperwork-mountain, meeting-marathon principal.

Jen didn’t even blink. “I already have an office,” she said. “And that room doubles as a guest room when needed.”

Oh. Well then. Every ounce of resistance sailed right out of me.

She asked what color I wanted for the accent wall, and we landed on the perfect choice of blue.

Then, in April 2025, I moved in as planned. While rebuilding Bricktopia — my LEGO city — I also set up my iMac desktop.

(Literally using it right now to write this.)

Burning The Midnight Oil

I love a good candle. Apple Cinnamon especially — the aroma alone gives me a dopamine hit worthy of a motivational poster. And since I work Monday through Friday until 23:00 (11:00 p.m.), by the time I get home and shift from work mode to wind-down mode… I write.

Tonight, under candlelight and the soft glow of my 27-inch monitor, I finally put ink into the Plot and Character workbooks by T.M. Holladay.

Junius, Archibald, and Coroner-7 all gained new layers because of that “midnight oil.”

And with writing tenet #3 always in mind — keep the pen moving — that’s exactly what I’m headed back to do.