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For a journal that's supposed to warn people when I'm out of contact, this isn't working too well...
Let's see, what have I been doing? Job-hunting, and trying to get this job finished earlier than predicted if I possibly can, mostly, which didn't leave much time/energy for other things even before I got a cold.
There was an alumnae weekend at my old college - I'd never been to one before, but thought "networking!" and booked a last-minute place. In fact while the socialising was fun, and probably good practice, the most significant event was the creative writing workshop I went to. It was about poetry. Free-form poetry, the sort I've never understood, liked, or attempted. We had a very good teacher, though, who explained things, asked good leading questions, and had some great tools for inducing inspiration: there's some tricks there I'll be applying to all sorts of writing. And, it seems, when properly inspired, I'm quite good at this freeform poetry lark. Or at least, someone is, and I can take dictation from them. She's going to publish a collection of poems from that workshop and others, and I'll have two poems in the collection. This is not what I expected, not when the introductions around the table started off with the lady whose book analysing Shakespearean sonnets was on sale in the lobby, and continued with various people with degrees in English and languages.
Then there was Furnace. I'd pulled out of running one game (it would have meant finishing writing the scenario), but took the Great Duck Point Boat Race up with me - it now has its own carrying bag, and a GM's Tshirt, due to me going a bit overboard with Vistaprint. That in fact didn't get played, but I had a good weekend up in Sheffield, staying at the Travelodge and rather enjoying the 5 mile drive to and from the venue. Sheffield in the early morning, pre-traffic, is an attractive place. Played in some good games, met some new gaming systems, didn't spend much, honest. Then back on Sunday in time to go over to Papworth for my niece's 17th birthday.
Last weekend, dropped into a "Bazaar" (craft fair) at the RAF base at Molesworth (now run by the US air force) and tasted some interesting American foods, prompting an investigation into Frito Pie, and then on to Pete & Shirleys in Oundle for the afternoon, evening, and Sunday morning. Again, a good time was had.
Oh, and I've had a cold. Three days off work, which didn't do my plans to accelerate getting through this last project any good at all.
Next Sunday, going down to London to see a performance of Beowulf at the British Library. I just hope I've stopped coughing by then.
In other news, Andre has been in touch about the story I'd half-promised him for Tradetalk, at just the same time as I'd pulled the file out of storage and taken another look at it. It's a follow-up/cross-over to Penelope Love's "The Widow's Tale" - I'd helped produce a conversion of the characters from the book into HQ stats an issue or two ago, and got all inspired while doing it. Writing in her rather distinctive style rather than my own took a bit of getting used to, but by the time my own characters have joined hers, I can relax a bit. I'll just go back to her style for the end, I think.
Let's see, what have I been doing? Job-hunting, and trying to get this job finished earlier than predicted if I possibly can, mostly, which didn't leave much time/energy for other things even before I got a cold.
There was an alumnae weekend at my old college - I'd never been to one before, but thought "networking!" and booked a last-minute place. In fact while the socialising was fun, and probably good practice, the most significant event was the creative writing workshop I went to. It was about poetry. Free-form poetry, the sort I've never understood, liked, or attempted. We had a very good teacher, though, who explained things, asked good leading questions, and had some great tools for inducing inspiration: there's some tricks there I'll be applying to all sorts of writing. And, it seems, when properly inspired, I'm quite good at this freeform poetry lark. Or at least, someone is, and I can take dictation from them. She's going to publish a collection of poems from that workshop and others, and I'll have two poems in the collection. This is not what I expected, not when the introductions around the table started off with the lady whose book analysing Shakespearean sonnets was on sale in the lobby, and continued with various people with degrees in English and languages.
Then there was Furnace. I'd pulled out of running one game (it would have meant finishing writing the scenario), but took the Great Duck Point Boat Race up with me - it now has its own carrying bag, and a GM's Tshirt, due to me going a bit overboard with Vistaprint. That in fact didn't get played, but I had a good weekend up in Sheffield, staying at the Travelodge and rather enjoying the 5 mile drive to and from the venue. Sheffield in the early morning, pre-traffic, is an attractive place. Played in some good games, met some new gaming systems, didn't spend much, honest. Then back on Sunday in time to go over to Papworth for my niece's 17th birthday.
Last weekend, dropped into a "Bazaar" (craft fair) at the RAF base at Molesworth (now run by the US air force) and tasted some interesting American foods, prompting an investigation into Frito Pie, and then on to Pete & Shirleys in Oundle for the afternoon, evening, and Sunday morning. Again, a good time was had.
Oh, and I've had a cold. Three days off work, which didn't do my plans to accelerate getting through this last project any good at all.
Next Sunday, going down to London to see a performance of Beowulf at the British Library. I just hope I've stopped coughing by then.
In other news, Andre has been in touch about the story I'd half-promised him for Tradetalk, at just the same time as I'd pulled the file out of storage and taken another look at it. It's a follow-up/cross-over to Penelope Love's "The Widow's Tale" - I'd helped produce a conversion of the characters from the book into HQ stats an issue or two ago, and got all inspired while doing it. Writing in her rather distinctive style rather than my own took a bit of getting used to, but by the time my own characters have joined hers, I can relax a bit. I'll just go back to her style for the end, I think.