Maelstrom at last! I may only have been able to make half an event this year but I have at least done some LRP in 2009. It was so lovely to see folks I hadn't seen for ages and to get back into my (now rather baggy) kit and lovely tent. I didn't really feel connected to the event though, probably because I wasn't there at all on Saturday and thus had only two half-days to do stuff. All the same, I'm very glad I went. The Odyssey trading cards were an inspired idea and there was, allegedly, quite a thriving market in them. I think we should release an album for them at the first event.

The reason for missing half of the event was attending Marktoy's wedding to Mary (who is, I think, sans LJ). The day was perfect, many lovely guests, scrummy food, a rather splendid cigar, moving speeches, probably the best rendition of "Us Two" I've ever heard (not empty praise, I assure you ... and I've heard it a few times), a huge amount of silliness, laughter and many good things. The bride and groom were, of course, radiant and I wish them both every happiness in the years to come.

Of course, nothing comes without cost and, given the "tenderness" I've been experiencing, I suspect that it may have been a little early to be setting up and taking down a tent, with all the lugging (even the non-obvious activities) that entails. Still, it was worth it for such a great weekend.

Surgery appears to have been successful (at least insofar as I seem to be breathing and conscious) and I am at home. Recovery is proceeding quite a bit faster than I was anticipating, though I'm still in quite a bit of pain and walking is even slower than normal right now. About the only thing that isn't going better than I expected is the lack of support forthcoming from my mother who, despite solemn pronouncements before the op, has given not a word of sympathy or support and, yes you guessed it, has already begun complaining that I'm avoiding doing stuff for her.

Truly, the woman is a blight on my life.

So I had quite a vivid dream this morning. I shall relate this dream here, not so much because I think it will be of any interest to anyone but rather because if something dreadful really does happen, I shall be in the perfect position of being able to say "I just knew this was going to happen."

I stepped out of the car, leaving my mother in the passenger seat, and looked out over what looked like the South Downs. We were by no means alone in this elevated field, cars, caravans and families on foot covered the green hillside, enjoying the afternoon sun. Looking to my left, I became aware of a ribbon of dark cloud some distance off; the cloud wasn't just dark, mind you, it was black. Gradually the wall of cloud came closer and it was certain that we would be in for a thunderstorm of spectacular (if brief) proportions. As it grew nearer, the crowd downslope from me began to make noises of distress, tiny figures pointing at the looming thunderheads about to pass over us. And pass over us it did and, for the minute or so that it was above us, the world was plunged into absolute blackness. When the cloud had passed, the distress and turmoil below was of a greater magnitude than it had been previously. I recall someone (possibly myself) shouting "look, there's a caravan on fire" though, for the most part, there seemed to be very little in the way of damage. It was at this very moment that I saw a vast plume of what I took to be smoke on the horizon ahead of me. For all the world this looked like a volcano erupting in the distance but, realising that I was in England and that we haven't had any volcanoes for a while, I peered harder to discern what it was that could create such a display. I didn't have to wait long before it became apparent; for in the distance, resolving out of the mist, appeared a gigantic wave the dimensions of which would be measured in fractions of a mile easier than in metres or feet. Just before I woke up I remember noting that if one were to face such a wave anywhere, probably the top of the Downs was the best place and that if I didn't survive it, then at least my final thoughts wouldn't have been "if only I'd been somewhere else."

Now I'm sure that this has absolutely nothing to do with going into hospital tomorrow ... ah who am I kidding, of course it's the expression of subconscious pre-operative anxiety ... but it was very vivid (and quite biblical) so it seemed only proper to record it somewhere, regardless of whether it's utter tosh or not.

They should be releasing the rabid wolves at some point between 8am and noon tomorrow so any positive thoughts to help me through the blackness would be greatly appreciated.

Haven't been able to bestir myself to do any writing for what seems forever. This is driving me nuts as it's not as if there isn't writing that I both want and am committed to do. Writer's block then but of quite an unusual breed for me, ah well perhaps my mind will settle once the operation finally gets done. Speaking of which, I received a telephone call this morning informing me that my operation date has been changed again (this is the fourth or fifth time I think), this time to 23 August. I am feeling quite fretful about the whole thing, even though I'm aware that it's quite a straightforward procedure with excellent recovery prospects ... still, someone will be sticking a knife (however small) into me and taking out an organ! Ok so it's a largely redundant organ but still, it's my.largely redundant organ. My surgery-related worries are also causing more sullenness and snappiness than is normal, which mum is bearing the brunt of. I'm also feeling rather under-the-weather in general health wise, though it's difficult to tell if it's ME or diet-related or a combination of the two (the latter is most likely I think) and this isn't improving my mood any ... all the more so when I think of people who's health is in a far worse state than mine, and feel guilty about moping over something that isn't (very) painful or (at all) life-threatening.

In World of Warcraft news I am probably going to give Alliance raiding a break, at least for a bit. Monday nights have become a duty rather than a pleasure of late and last night's raid was the most miserable few hours I remember spending on-line (for any purpose). Although it's ridiculous that one person can make me feel so unhappy and unwelcome when they're not even physically present is somewhat ludicrous, still I can live without being made to feel like shit every Monday night thanks all the same. So looks like the Bad Eggs have 100% of my WoW time now ... poor souls.

So anyone that knows me might want to avoid the question "how are you?" for the next few weeks at least.

Is anyone planning on going to both Maelstrom and Marktoy's wedding? If so may I (potentially) cadge a lift?

Mind you, with this year's record of Maelstroms attended, perhaps I should just bow to the inevitable and just go to the wedding.

I made it! Huzzah!

The event was, of course, excellent. the venue looked fabulous, the guests looked fabulous, the music was fabulous, the hosts were (of course) fabulous. There were inevitable low-notes but they were mercifully few and far between. My major complaint was not spending enough time on the main music floor. I level this complaint at myself, of course, but cocktails and chatting and other loveliness drew me away.

The usual apologies follow with regard to any potential misbehaviour on my part as a result of excessive booze consumption. I don't think I did or said anything wildly out of order, but if for some inexplicable reason I did, you have my heartfelt apologies. Apparently, for those in the know, I was at about 0.8 Macy Gray's ... so really qute pissed! Apologies also to whoever got my hangover the following day, it should have been a doozy given the astonishing amount of mixing I was guilty of throughout the evening.

For some weeks now I have been enjoying a Graze box every Wednesday as my main meal. Surprisingly (to me anyway) it's actually a good meal substitute ... and certainly very tasty. If, for some inexplicable reason you haven't tried grazing yet, please allow me (well, them actually) to treat you to a free (yes, completely free, no obligation, etc. etc.) lunch. Just visit www.graze.com and quote the following code: RLQK9MP. Give it a go, I think you'll be glad you did.

Firstly, a very happy birthday to the fertile Ephraim. I guess you've already had a pretty awesome early present but I hope that today will be just that little bit cooler for it being the first birthday you can share with three of you.

Secondly, a huge "thank you" to the inestimable Liz_Lowlife for introducing me to Spoon Theory. This is it, this is it exctly. Anyone who's ever wondered what it's like to have M.E. need look no further than this.

If Foamy is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Just pimping this out in case some of you dear people haven't seen the straight-talking squirrel yet.

By the way, unless your workplace is quite liberal in terms of what words you have blasting across the office, use a headset or wait till you get home.

Courtesy of the amazing shrinking Caddyman:



From Gizmodo

Disclaimer: The makers of The iSnort accept no responsibility if you end up in the iClink, getting iBummed in the iShowers when you bend down for the iSoap.

The exquisite Liz_Lowlife prompted me to a fit of nostalgia by asking what music my parents used to listen to when I was young. Well generally their taste in music was shocking but I do remember this gem ... thought I'd share.



In other news, the beloved Jeremy Clarkson has introduced me to the term "Saga-lout" ... the man's a genius.

With grateful thanks to Greatbigshowoff I have just tucked into my first Graze box. Dropped through my letterbox this morning it was a neat little luncheon of fresh (really fresh) pineapple sliced (with a nifty little wooden fork so my fingers diddn't get sticky), a selection of spicy nuts (wasabi coated peanuts fuhtuhwuh) and some dried cranberries (which were a lot yummier than I expected them to be). All in all, delicious! I suspect that I may have snarfed the lot a bit quicker than the designers intended but it was so yummy!

If you fancy a free box just go to Graze.com and enter the following promotional code: RLQK9MPE

Full-price boxes are cheap enough that they will certainly become a regular feature of my culinary week.

Well for a moment there it looked like I might actually be able to attend this weekend's Maelstrom.

It is not to be.

We got closer than we have done since mum's stay in hospital though, so maybe next time.

I'm sure that many of you will know that I've been lucky enough to work on the new Odyssey LRP game for a while now.

Well, the teaser website is now up: www.odysseylrp.co.uk.

So thanks to the invaluable help of Niggle (who is, I believe, sans LJ) I have finally exchanged the Fisher Price interface on my netbook for the more adult (and much better looking) Ubuntu. It's so nice to have an OS that doesn't need to be hacked in order to install new software (no, really, Linpus has most of its administrative controls locked away completely out of sight unless one knows the key combinations to unlock them). I am now a very happy Bin with regard to my, as yet un-named, netbook.

Less satisfaction was derived from the Be Good To Yourself cauliflower cheese I have just endured. My advice to you is to be good to yourself and avoid this sour travesty of food like the plague. Next week I shall be going back to the full-fat version, even if I do have to scrape most of the nummy sauce off.

The thought of an Easter without an Easter Egg is rapidly becoming an insupportable concept. Easter is a very important festival to me for some reason and I refuse to let a diet come between me and my traditional celebrations. Well ok, the diet will interfere a bit (a lot) but I'm determined to get myself a smallish hollow chocolate egg. This is unlikely to kill me or cause my weight to suddenly balloon so the hell with it. I suspect that this year may be even better than normal in some ways, as I shall almost certainly savour the egg more than ever before.

Given it seems unlikely that mum will make a miraculous recovery in the next two days, I have made the decision that I won't be going to Maelstrom this Easter. I was very much looking forward to this event but the health of my family must come first and Ifeel certain that you will understand this.

If you're going to the event then please have a little extra bit of fun on my behalf.

I'm off to see a consultant in May (unless a cancellation opens up) as, apparently, I need to have my gallbladder removed entirely. Whilst I understand that these things involve only very small incisions these days, I'm still not entirely comfortable with the notion. Doubtless I'll come round to it. My main concerns are about how to manage the post-operative recovery period. The blurb says that one will be off work for about two weeks but gives no indication of what exactly that means. Obviously my concerns are revolving around how I'm going to manage looking after mum and, indeed, how I'm going to look after myself ... at least for the first few days after the op. Hopefully the consultant will be able to give me some reassurance on that count, otherwise I may have to see about getting mum booked into somewhere during the recovery period.

My my, it does seem like a while since I've dipped my toes into the Livejournal surf, however it seemed only fair to give an update, more excuses, a bit of emo and, y'know, stuff.

First off, mum came out of hospital a while ago having been treated for a urinary (she accidentally called it a "urinal" ... there was some mirth when she realised what she'd done) infection and a lung infection, both of which I hope we've seen the back of. Unfortunately, on her last day in hospital, two women on her ward died and she's been badly traumatised by that experience. In fact, it would be fair to say that mum is currently suffering from a pretty severe bout of depression. She's very anxious when left on her own, I popped out to see Watchmen the other week, and came out to find four voicemail messages with mum in tears begging me to come home. Now we'd spoken about me going to see the film and she seemed alright with it before I left, clearly she had an 'episode' while I was away and that triggered the whole thing off again. Her memory is also pretty bad at the moment, which is a little worrying given my particualr deficiencies in that regard. Anyway, the consequence of this to you is that I shan't be able to spend any significant time out of the house until she feels secure enough for that to happen. So the forthcoming Maelstrom is in some doubt at the moment, as are any overnight visits to friends. This also means that the now-annual trip to the British Museum in honour of my birthday will have to be put on hold indefinately. Needless to say, I am chafing somewhat at this but you only get one mum and there will, I trust, be other years in which I can do stuff again.

In better news, the people at Chichester University have asked me to write a short piece for them on a well-known novel, short story or poem (I've chosen Ted Hughes' Hawk Roosting) which is a very promising move. They've obviously decided that the portfolio I submitted has promise and so are checking to see how deep my academic approach to literature is. Given that I have no academic experience to support my application, this move seems only reasonable and suggests that I may have cleared the first hurdle.

<emo>I find that I'm missing the presence of the (surprisingly aptly named if you're a fan of The Little Prince) Fox through all this. Not for his physical presence, though I miss that too, but for having someone with whom to share these triumphs, woes and events. There is a quality of sharing that, I realise, one may have with a partner that one does not with a friend, however close that friend may be. Still, no use crying over spilt dairy products, I'll just have to play the cards I have, not the ones I wish I had.</emo>

WoW-wise, I've given up, for the moment, on my Undead Mage, Flosoris, who I'm failing to play competently. Despite many generous donations of gear and time boosting him through instances, I just can't seem to get him over the hurdle of 59. Well, doubtless I could but I'm just not having any fun doing it ... and fun is the point of the game neh? So I've gone back to Invidius the Blood Elf Paladin who is currently steaming through the fifties and is well on the way to Outland. It seems that mail and plate are my comfort zones, leather and cloth not so much. The recent(ish) changes to the Paladin class have completely changed the game play; for the most part this is an improvement but the seal/judgement mechanic has lost some of its flexibility for me, although it is now much easier to manage. I know the Bad Eggs don't need another tank but I'm happy to level as Protection and then work up either Retribution or Holy as secondary trees once the dual-spec mechanic is introduced. On the Alliance side, Melqart (my Night Elf Death Knight) has hit 80 and is now geared sufficiently to be able to tank pretty competently in heroic instances ... I'm not sure he's quite up to being a raid tank just yet, but he's on the way. Typical of me to pick the least obvious spec (Blood) to try to tank in, but it seems to work well enough for the moment ... I'm eager to see how it will scale. Tarranis is pretty much on hold at the moment, mostly as I wait for dual-spec to reach us so I can heal in instances without shooting myself in the foot solo-wise. The Shattered Ravens seem more in need of healers rather than DPS at the moment, so hopefully Tarranis can help meet that need. Try as I might I just can't seem to get his DPS higher than 1650, which is really too low for the level he's shooting at. Certainly gear upgrades could improve his situation but I think he's already pretty well geared for where he's at, and I have his general rotations down pretty well so I suspect it's just a case of gameplay (or my lack of competence therein) that's letting him down ... we shall doubtless see in the future.

Also refereeing a tabletop RPG at the moment, in which the players have discovered the medieval zombies and are, I suspect, about to stumble onto the apocalypse bit; they really shouldn't have let two of them get away ... not with a nice, tasty village so close by. I think they've pretty much cracked the plot, which is good; I just don't think they've considered some of the implications of it yet. Things could get messy.

In closing I shall return to WoW and share this short film with you. Even if you hate/don't know the game I urge you to watch, it's a very well-crafted piece in my opinion.


The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo.

Some of you may be aware that in recent months I've been experiencing occasional bouts of extreme pain, the first episode saw me carted off in an ambulance, subsequent attacks have had me driving myself to the local Urgent Treatment Unit. Well today I had an ultrasound and it seems that I have gallstones, several of 'em. This does not fill me with joy. In a weird bit of synchronicity, it seems that mum also has gallstones ... though hers haven't been causing any pain at all! There are various treatment options (very few of which sound like fun) but at least now I know what it is, which is a relief. I shall be seeing the GP about mine next week, mum's is being seen to a lot sooner .. one of the benefits of being in hospital when they discover the things.

As some of you may know already, mum's been in hospital twice in the past month as a result of some quite scary bouts of illness. Well, they were scary for me, she was off with the fairies both times and doesn't remember a thing! Apparently she had both a lung and a urinary infection both of which seem to be cleared up now; at least, I hope they are. She's still in hospital but there is hope that she may return home tomorrow.

All this has, I'm afraid left me somewhat incommunicado and also impossibly unreliable in terms of keeping appointments and the like. So my apologies to those of my friends who have been put out by all this and hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly.