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Deep in the word mines...
Sep. 29th, 2020 09:22 amThis will be the last time that I begin a post with an apology for the time since I have last posted. Sorry it's been a little while, Dreamwidth. But from now on, I'm going to try to stop worrying about it. There should be no obligation to post, no schedule that I have to hit, and no feeling of inadequacy held in the blanks spaces between casual updates.
The past few weeks have held me in thrall to my keyboard.
Work demands 10+ hour days right now, as we prepare a bid response with too little time and not enough supporting information. My work writing style is concise, and plain, as I have been taught on numerous technical writing courses. But I have written too few words, apparently. I must write more, lest brevity make it seem that we have not enough to offer.
Meanwhile my hobbyist writing is frustrating. Given no guidance for a particular piece of writing, I passed it to my assigned editors, who seem to see little value in the parts of it in which I see most value. The edits that have been requested eviscerate the meaning, neuter my interest and reduce the whole process to a chore. I'm sure that this is commonplace amongst professionals (although my professional editors of the past have had more tact, more empathy and seem to have actually liked my writing), but in a hobby field I find it annoying. I am probably being unfair, and overly grumpy.
I've got a bunch of writing to do for a Meeting of Monarchs, and consequently have booked myself some time away to do so. I'm expecting that my long, crazy days of frantic work will be done by the end of the week, and so the weekend afterwards I am going to go to a cabin in the Forest of Dean for a few days. The couple who own it are a Sound Therapist and a Writer and they seem like muchly Hippies. I'm hoping to get some peaceful days with my own head and 16th century France.
I've got two other writing projects that I want to get into, but I'm determined to keep them from bubbling over onto the page until my other obligations are done.
The past few weeks have held me in thrall to my keyboard.
Work demands 10+ hour days right now, as we prepare a bid response with too little time and not enough supporting information. My work writing style is concise, and plain, as I have been taught on numerous technical writing courses. But I have written too few words, apparently. I must write more, lest brevity make it seem that we have not enough to offer.
Meanwhile my hobbyist writing is frustrating. Given no guidance for a particular piece of writing, I passed it to my assigned editors, who seem to see little value in the parts of it in which I see most value. The edits that have been requested eviscerate the meaning, neuter my interest and reduce the whole process to a chore. I'm sure that this is commonplace amongst professionals (although my professional editors of the past have had more tact, more empathy and seem to have actually liked my writing), but in a hobby field I find it annoying. I am probably being unfair, and overly grumpy.
I've got a bunch of writing to do for a Meeting of Monarchs, and consequently have booked myself some time away to do so. I'm expecting that my long, crazy days of frantic work will be done by the end of the week, and so the weekend afterwards I am going to go to a cabin in the Forest of Dean for a few days. The couple who own it are a Sound Therapist and a Writer and they seem like muchly Hippies. I'm hoping to get some peaceful days with my own head and 16th century France.
I've got two other writing projects that I want to get into, but I'm determined to keep them from bubbling over onto the page until my other obligations are done.
Empty spaces
Sep. 8th, 2020 07:55 amIt's another post about social media! Content will get more varied once I have exhausted my thoughts on this, I hope.
So, I'm still off FB. I'm not missing it at all, in truth, and I do very occasionally pop on to check the groups of which I am a member. I have recently signed up to NPC Qualia for Mia and Adrian and have a feeling that this will require my presence on Facebook a little for coordination. I'll be interested to see how that makes me feel. Generally, however, my break from it is helping. I am more chilled, I think, and it feels overall like a positive.
It's not all great, though. I miss hearing about my friends. FB was often like seeing one's friends in the distance at a party. It's not a "real" engagement, but I could see if they were happy and smiling, or sad and downcast. If it was the latter then I could seek them out for a more meaningful interaction. I miss that passing check, even when it was as moderated as heavily as Zuckerberg's platform.
I'm also finding myself bored occasionally. There was an easy busyness to checking and responding on facebook. I find myself picking up my phone to check something, and finding that the stories on BBC news are the same as they were an hour ago; that my email has only received marketing mail and that the #NFFC twitter feed is full of the same moaning that it was previously. I have become accustomed to a rolling feed of changing news and given that it is now gone, I am left a little adrift. I'm also noticing the gaps in my life that it has left empty. If I'm not feeling like gaming, or I don't want to watch TV, I used to faff on FB. But now, I find myself wondering what to do instead. Often the answer is to go to bed, which is probably in itself quite healthy, but I want to try to parlay it into read a book or go for a run. That's going to take some work, I think.
The other thing that seems to either have coincided with this, or be driven by it, is that I have returned to trying online dating. It's traditionally not been very successful for me, I don't really think that I have got the hang of it ever, but I am trying again. I shall probably share some observations soon.
So, I'm still off FB. I'm not missing it at all, in truth, and I do very occasionally pop on to check the groups of which I am a member. I have recently signed up to NPC Qualia for Mia and Adrian and have a feeling that this will require my presence on Facebook a little for coordination. I'll be interested to see how that makes me feel. Generally, however, my break from it is helping. I am more chilled, I think, and it feels overall like a positive.
It's not all great, though. I miss hearing about my friends. FB was often like seeing one's friends in the distance at a party. It's not a "real" engagement, but I could see if they were happy and smiling, or sad and downcast. If it was the latter then I could seek them out for a more meaningful interaction. I miss that passing check, even when it was as moderated as heavily as Zuckerberg's platform.
I'm also finding myself bored occasionally. There was an easy busyness to checking and responding on facebook. I find myself picking up my phone to check something, and finding that the stories on BBC news are the same as they were an hour ago; that my email has only received marketing mail and that the #NFFC twitter feed is full of the same moaning that it was previously. I have become accustomed to a rolling feed of changing news and given that it is now gone, I am left a little adrift. I'm also noticing the gaps in my life that it has left empty. If I'm not feeling like gaming, or I don't want to watch TV, I used to faff on FB. But now, I find myself wondering what to do instead. Often the answer is to go to bed, which is probably in itself quite healthy, but I want to try to parlay it into read a book or go for a run. That's going to take some work, I think.
The other thing that seems to either have coincided with this, or be driven by it, is that I have returned to trying online dating. It's traditionally not been very successful for me, I don't really think that I have got the hang of it ever, but I am trying again. I shall probably share some observations soon.
A busy week
Sep. 4th, 2020 09:21 amI'm still here. The lack of posts has had nothing to do with a lack of desire to write, but everything to do with my being deep in the process of writing my article for the Knutepunkt book. The first draft is done, and although it is clearly a first draft and needs some tweaking, it is shaping up ok.
The rest of the week has been spent working and trying to enjoy as much time with my little girl before she heads off into the unknown - a new school. She's there today for a pre-term induction with the rest of year 7, and then Monday everything kicks off in earnest. It's a fresh start for her, at a school where she knows no one, and I am both excited and nervous for her. Hoping that there aren't too many tears.
The rest of the week has been spent working and trying to enjoy as much time with my little girl before she heads off into the unknown - a new school. She's there today for a pre-term induction with the rest of year 7, and then Monday everything kicks off in earnest. It's a fresh start for her, at a school where she knows no one, and I am both excited and nervous for her. Hoping that there aren't too many tears.
On moves and algorithms...
Aug. 25th, 2020 08:05 amI made public my intention to move away from FB yesterday, and some of you have connected with me here. Hello! And thanks! I don't expect that this signals any mass movement. FB is ingrained in people's lives, and has a certain way of seeming necessary. Indeed, I've found myself engaging with it still, partially to see the reaction to my last post and partly to see other's sharing their DW details. But still, there's a force of habit for me to break.
Intriguingly a friend highlighted a thing, yesterday, that I was always aware of, but that seems ever more crude in its implementation. She had posted a link to an article on the heartbreaking investigation into links between Covid and deaths in the BAME community in the West Midlands, and it had received very few reactions or comments. She'd also posted a crappy meme about olives. This had many more reactions. Indeed, my news feed ad shown me olives, but not the serious article. Before I did my charity thing earlier in the year, I posted several times to try to generate donations for it. Always the reactions were slow to come and low in numbers, where my trivial posts get a lot of fast reactions and in high numbers.
So something feels off here.
Either my friends don't care to react to serious stuff, in which case it feels like FB is good for only trivial dialogue. Now I get that articles that require actual reading and take an emotional toll aren't going to be as popular; but are we so worn down by the world that people do not react at all? Are people so put off by the idea of my doing a small thing for charity that they move past with no reaction?
Or, the other option is a little more tin-foil-hat-like (in my defence, I spent the weekend larping a lonely conspiracy theorist), and that's that FB's algorithm demotes these posts. We know that it is making constant decisions on what to place into people's feeds. As anyone who has tried to convince it to show "most recent" posts knows, it does what it wants, often at odds with the desires of the user.
Perhaps it's a combination of the two? As people see a constant stream of content, some will be trivial and some will be significant. If engagement is down on the valuable content, and up on the trivial, then perhaps the algorithm will decide that memes and quizzes are what its users really want and prioritise them. Either way, it is an issue that seems to be getting worse, and I'd like to find a way to opt out. Hopefully, DW proves to be a little more straightforward.
Intriguingly a friend highlighted a thing, yesterday, that I was always aware of, but that seems ever more crude in its implementation. She had posted a link to an article on the heartbreaking investigation into links between Covid and deaths in the BAME community in the West Midlands, and it had received very few reactions or comments. She'd also posted a crappy meme about olives. This had many more reactions. Indeed, my news feed ad shown me olives, but not the serious article. Before I did my charity thing earlier in the year, I posted several times to try to generate donations for it. Always the reactions were slow to come and low in numbers, where my trivial posts get a lot of fast reactions and in high numbers.
So something feels off here.
Either my friends don't care to react to serious stuff, in which case it feels like FB is good for only trivial dialogue. Now I get that articles that require actual reading and take an emotional toll aren't going to be as popular; but are we so worn down by the world that people do not react at all? Are people so put off by the idea of my doing a small thing for charity that they move past with no reaction?
Or, the other option is a little more tin-foil-hat-like (in my defence, I spent the weekend larping a lonely conspiracy theorist), and that's that FB's algorithm demotes these posts. We know that it is making constant decisions on what to place into people's feeds. As anyone who has tried to convince it to show "most recent" posts knows, it does what it wants, often at odds with the desires of the user.
Perhaps it's a combination of the two? As people see a constant stream of content, some will be trivial and some will be significant. If engagement is down on the valuable content, and up on the trivial, then perhaps the algorithm will decide that memes and quizzes are what its users really want and prioritise them. Either way, it is an issue that seems to be getting worse, and I'd like to find a way to opt out. Hopefully, DW proves to be a little more straightforward.
Reviving Dreamwidth
Aug. 24th, 2020 12:24 pmI have been reviewing my social media use and realising that more and more Facebook is causing me misery. It's always been bad for long form writing, and with the upcoming changes to the FB interface and the utter inability of people to remain civil with one another on that platform; I want to use it less.
Consequently, I plan to reactivate this account, and post more here and less there.
If you are reading this and want to share your DW username with me, please comment!
Consequently, I plan to reactivate this account, and post more here and less there.
If you are reading this and want to share your DW username with me, please comment!
Solomon Skala - a CoW10 story
Dec. 5th, 2016 06:57 pmI am writing this, aware that it will be long, and probably of limited interest to most. It is here as much for my records as for anything else. But, if you decide to read it and persist, I hope that it is of some interest.
( The story of Solomon Skala )
This is a companion piece to a review that I have written for larp.guide. In that article I look at the mechanics of my time at Fairweather Manor, the Nordic LARP game that I attended in Poland in November 2015. Here I look at the personal and emotional game that I experienced. There are spoilers about the character that I played, but given that all players were allowed to read all character sheets if they wished, I'm not sure how much this is giving away. I'm sure that my interpretation of what I was given will be very different to that of whomever plays my character next.
( Beyond here lie character spoilers... )
Navel gazing aside, I had a fantastic time. I met some wonderful people, some of whom I hope will turn out to be friends. And I’ve got some amazing memories of the physical and the emotional time that I shared with Clayton. Plus, I got to spend 3 nights in a beautiful Polish castle. There aren’t many ways that it could have been better.
A re-run has already been announced. I'd heartily recommend it. Details are at http://www.fmlarp.com
( Beyond here lie character spoilers... )
Navel gazing aside, I had a fantastic time. I met some wonderful people, some of whom I hope will turn out to be friends. And I’ve got some amazing memories of the physical and the emotional time that I shared with Clayton. Plus, I got to spend 3 nights in a beautiful Polish castle. There aren’t many ways that it could have been better.
A re-run has already been announced. I'd heartily recommend it. Details are at http://www.fmlarp.com
I’m used to using this as a place for my LRP thoughts and musings, for event reports and the like. Not today, today I want to talk about my mate Rich.
I met Rich soon after Anita and I got together. She’d talked quite a lot about him, and so I was interested to meet him. I’d love to say that we were best of friends straight off, but that’s not how these things work, and doubly so with Rich. He was never the noisiest voice in the room (at least not when sober), nor was he often the centre of attention. But he was smart and kind, and it was clear that he cared very much for his friends.
Over time, as we got to know one another, he and I found common interests. Gaming, football, cars, politics, travel, food - we could talk for hours agreeing and disagreeing without getting bored. He had an opinion on most things, but I can never remember him trying to force it on others. He wasn’t like that. I can be, and when I was, I’d see him sit back with a little smile and wait for me to notice I was doing it. Sometimes he had to be very patient.
Over the years I’ve had a long fight with mild depression, and one of the ways it manifests is that I can struggle to maintain enthusiasm for social contact. I’ll be full of excitement for a trip or a night out, but if it’s not shared, then I can easily find myself not wanting to go out. Rich was always up for everything, and that was so valuable to me. I’d suggest a night out, and get non-committal replies, until it was suggested to Rich, and then he’d just say “sure” and then I’d be committed. I have lost count of the great times that I had, that I’d have missed out on without him. His quiet enthusiasm took us so many places, made so many memories.
When Anita and I had difficulties in our relationship, his was a supportive ear, even when he was getting both sides of the argument. He was just the right kind of judgemental, whilst still being mindful of each of us. He challenged me with new ideas and suggested new experiences, and it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that he helped me become a better person. He was the best sort of matey uncle to my little girl, who loved her “Uncle Rich” dearly.
Rich died last Friday at the stupidly young age of 42. He’s left a hole in many hearts, and the one in mine is very large. I am going to miss him so very much.
There’s not much left to say, except that I cherish all the memories that he helped create. Of shared 40th birthday parties; holidays to the football in Milan, and the F1 in Spa; of “genfes” and ridiculous online gaming; and yes, even of his hats. I will try to honour his memory with these stories and more from time to time. And I’ll try to be a bit more “Rich” such was the measure of the man.
Goodbye matey. I’ll not forget you.
I met Rich soon after Anita and I got together. She’d talked quite a lot about him, and so I was interested to meet him. I’d love to say that we were best of friends straight off, but that’s not how these things work, and doubly so with Rich. He was never the noisiest voice in the room (at least not when sober), nor was he often the centre of attention. But he was smart and kind, and it was clear that he cared very much for his friends.
Over time, as we got to know one another, he and I found common interests. Gaming, football, cars, politics, travel, food - we could talk for hours agreeing and disagreeing without getting bored. He had an opinion on most things, but I can never remember him trying to force it on others. He wasn’t like that. I can be, and when I was, I’d see him sit back with a little smile and wait for me to notice I was doing it. Sometimes he had to be very patient.
Over the years I’ve had a long fight with mild depression, and one of the ways it manifests is that I can struggle to maintain enthusiasm for social contact. I’ll be full of excitement for a trip or a night out, but if it’s not shared, then I can easily find myself not wanting to go out. Rich was always up for everything, and that was so valuable to me. I’d suggest a night out, and get non-committal replies, until it was suggested to Rich, and then he’d just say “sure” and then I’d be committed. I have lost count of the great times that I had, that I’d have missed out on without him. His quiet enthusiasm took us so many places, made so many memories.
When Anita and I had difficulties in our relationship, his was a supportive ear, even when he was getting both sides of the argument. He was just the right kind of judgemental, whilst still being mindful of each of us. He challenged me with new ideas and suggested new experiences, and it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that he helped me become a better person. He was the best sort of matey uncle to my little girl, who loved her “Uncle Rich” dearly.
Rich died last Friday at the stupidly young age of 42. He’s left a hole in many hearts, and the one in mine is very large. I am going to miss him so very much.
There’s not much left to say, except that I cherish all the memories that he helped create. Of shared 40th birthday parties; holidays to the football in Milan, and the F1 in Spa; of “genfes” and ridiculous online gaming; and yes, even of his hats. I will try to honour his memory with these stories and more from time to time. And I’ll try to be a bit more “Rich” such was the measure of the man.
Goodbye matey. I’ll not forget you.
Empire E1 2015
Apr. 10th, 2015 01:21 pmThe build up to the first Empire event of this year was a bit of a strange one. After the Honeybourne horrors that saw Matt find a permanent site, only to have it lost once more due to FUD amongst local residents; the decision to move the site some 15 miles north left the proposed site right on my doorstep. According to google maps, Upper Spernal Farm is 2.6 miles exactly from my doorstep. Almost walking distance, if you are enthusiastic and fit (I’m neither).
( Read more... )
The feedback I got from Purity was that they had really enjoyed having us there, helped no doubt by the financial bonus that we represented. The whole move and associated stress has no doubt given Matt many more grey hairs. There are lessons to be learned by the crew about the way that the fields actually work during an event. But for me this ranks as one of the best Fest events I’ve ever attended, and I can’t wait for the next.
( Read more... )
The feedback I got from Purity was that they had really enjoyed having us there, helped no doubt by the financial bonus that we represented. The whole move and associated stress has no doubt given Matt many more grey hairs. There are lessons to be learned by the crew about the way that the fields actually work during an event. But for me this ranks as one of the best Fest events I’ve ever attended, and I can’t wait for the next.
Carpe Plottum
Mar. 25th, 2015 02:31 pmSeems like this livejournal is starting to turn into a LRP blog. Oh well.
One of the most contentious topics in LRP seems to be that of plot and its fair distribution. The internet is littered with complaints that there’s not enough, it’s the wrong sort or that all of it has been stolen by evil plot hoovers who aren’t sharing. As someone who has at times been a plot writer, felt left out in the cold plot wise, and is now likely widely viewed as an awful plot hoarder, I’ve been musing about this for a while, so thought I’d share my thoughts.
Please note that almost all of these observations are for fest games and most specifically the large fest events. They are the ones that I hear most people moaning about.
( On with the stuff... )
One of the most contentious topics in LRP seems to be that of plot and its fair distribution. The internet is littered with complaints that there’s not enough, it’s the wrong sort or that all of it has been stolen by evil plot hoovers who aren’t sharing. As someone who has at times been a plot writer, felt left out in the cold plot wise, and is now likely widely viewed as an awful plot hoarder, I’ve been musing about this for a while, so thought I’d share my thoughts.
Please note that almost all of these observations are for fest games and most specifically the large fest events. They are the ones that I hear most people moaning about.
( On with the stuff... )
L.A.P.R. (Live Action Public Relations)
Mar. 10th, 2015 09:40 pmRecent events have set me to thinking about the perception of LARP1 outside of the hobby, with particular reference to securing new sites
( Long... as usual )
( Long... as usual )
God Rest Ye Merry
Feb. 3rd, 2015 12:43 pmSo, over this last weekend I attended the Crooked House game, God Rest Ye Merry. A ghost story set in the 50s, the game took place in a beautiful victorian house on the edge of Exmoor, and was run with very high production values. For those of you who prefer the TL:DR version, it was magnificent. For anyone else, read on( , but this could get long... )
So, another weekend's LRP and another LJ post.
First things first, let's get the obvious bit out of the way. As is pretty much compulsory at Empire events, the weather was awful. Despite the previous weekends having been glorious, the rain came and kept coming. Tournament stud is a terrible site for churning up, given the ground is mostly clay and the drainage pretty much non-existent. Couple that with one main route onto the IC field and torrential rain, and you end up with mud. Over the course of the weekend it went from gloopy, to flowing, to sticky and back to flowing again. It was at its worst during the sticky phase on Sunday at dusk, as you walked around the site it accumulated around your footwear turning your feet to giant heavy clay boots. Really not very nice, and it severely curtailed my mobility as everything took twice as long to get to and was three times as tiring. Further to that, I'd purchased a lovely pair of new LRP boots, which I then did not dare to wear for fear of falling in the mud or completely trashing them. I shall have to save them for a drier event, I guess.
Still, it's a pleasure to say that the appalling conditions did not spoil the event. Without wanting to sound like a stuck record, I really do have the best group to play alongside. Even when stuck in our camp by the mud and rain, there was more than enough to be doing and plenty of awesome IC chat with members of the Forest. But mostly we just shrugged and stomped off into the swamp. The personal RP on Friday night was great for me, and I hope that it didn't get too much in the way of anyone else's game. Many background buttons got pressed that evening and sent the character into something of a meltdown. I tried not to over play it, but am still not sure if I got that right. Sunday and Monday were also pretty internally intense, and hopefully everyone came out of it OK OOC, and we can make sure that what needs to be done IC is done.
Back at E4, I'd submitted a research request. It took 'til Saturday to arrive, but boy was it worth the wait and the IC cash. Having harangued poor Dan Williams (you'll not often see that written down) as Angelo and then having been cut dead by him, I had resigned myself to more waiting. But it arrived quicker than I had imagined, and the contents were awesome. Much concern and hilarity and fear and conclusion jumping and the group was in a state of some excitement. Brilliant stuff. Thanks to all involved in getting that put together, it was epic in both length and content.
Speaking of Dan, he provided another highlight with the Arcane mark ritual. Despite having sworn off them, I managed to wangle one, and he was most excellent. I was struggling not to corpse. Cheers Dan!
The Hall of worlds is much better. No longer the Eternal's laundry room, it's a much better space. Thanks PD. Conclave is also better. Still not perfect, but way better than before. Saturday evening's meeting gave me an excuse to be IC grumpy, but was secretly much fun and provided a ton of game. I was a little sad to miss Sunday night's Eternal schtupping debate (© Asenath) and the melon-cabbage-babies (also © Asenath) due to other commitments, and if I'm sad to miss a conclave meeting then it must be doing something right. Fun games with the other Celestial Arch too, when I got to argue with them.
My characterisation is gaining coherence as I gain confidence too. Juha is a pretty complicated individual, but some help came from hearing other's opinions of him (thanks Sarah especially). I've been dabbling in the religious game and thoroughly enjoying it, and just generally having a great time developing him. New associations with people outside the nation also have made it even more fun (yes,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pax_draconis even you) and its starting to feel more like a world of interconnected people than one of individuals. I just wish that I could nail the accent or not. At the moment it sort of comes and goes depending on how Varushkan Juha is feeling, and how strong his connection to the hearth magic is, but it likely just comes across as inconsistent (which would be a fair appraisal). I struggle to get the accent going until someone starts talking to me in it, and then I can't help it. P'raps I just need to get Tansy to talk at me at the start of every event. I was also heartened by compliments received on my costume this weekend. I always worry that I am letting the side down, there are so many brilliant costumes out there (Yes Ms Lyon Dixon, I'm looking at you!) that I worry I'm not authenticool enough. Compliments mitigate the worry some.
The nation is starting to feel a little more real too. I find it difficult to participate much in the general shoutiness/singiness of the nation, but I do love the folk tradition thing and it is fun watching the rest of the nation come together. Our egregore is brilliant (and not post-traumatic), and hopefully enjoys being spooky with the Circle as much as we enjoy being spooky at him. Zoria *cough* was awesome, and the parade felt proper and right. And the lesson we gave to the Academy on Varushka hearth magic and rules was much fun.
My only real complaint was with the catering. Tykes were utterly brilliant again, and Mhorish were decent quality at reasonable prices, but other than that it was a bit poor. The noodle man seems to have suffered a nosedive in quality and quantity. My noodles were a tiny portion in the bottom of a large box with a nasty vinegary sauce purporting to be chow mein. Others I spoke to had similar experiences. Feast was pretty unappetising as usual, I'm afraid and I hope I imagined that there was an OOC caterer on the IC field. I steered well clear of the offending place just in case my peripheral vision had been telling me the truth. Still, Tykes and Mhorish served for the weekend, and saw me right, so it's a pretty minor thing.
There were plenty of other highlights that included Mikhail's meltdown on Sunday night; getting to pursue the virtue game and all the conversations that came with it; playing politics by proxy; more magical theory exposition; inventing more rituals; getting hallowed, rp effected, and aura-ed all at once; compliments from the refs for our rituals; participating in new and exciting realms' rituals (and one night ritual); and metric craptons of awesome roleplaying.
I'm now trying to work out whether there's any way to balance spending my birthday with my family on the Friday and flying to Spain at 8:30am on the Sunday with getting to some of the next event. Either way, I am made of keen.
First things first, let's get the obvious bit out of the way. As is pretty much compulsory at Empire events, the weather was awful. Despite the previous weekends having been glorious, the rain came and kept coming. Tournament stud is a terrible site for churning up, given the ground is mostly clay and the drainage pretty much non-existent. Couple that with one main route onto the IC field and torrential rain, and you end up with mud. Over the course of the weekend it went from gloopy, to flowing, to sticky and back to flowing again. It was at its worst during the sticky phase on Sunday at dusk, as you walked around the site it accumulated around your footwear turning your feet to giant heavy clay boots. Really not very nice, and it severely curtailed my mobility as everything took twice as long to get to and was three times as tiring. Further to that, I'd purchased a lovely pair of new LRP boots, which I then did not dare to wear for fear of falling in the mud or completely trashing them. I shall have to save them for a drier event, I guess.
Still, it's a pleasure to say that the appalling conditions did not spoil the event. Without wanting to sound like a stuck record, I really do have the best group to play alongside. Even when stuck in our camp by the mud and rain, there was more than enough to be doing and plenty of awesome IC chat with members of the Forest. But mostly we just shrugged and stomped off into the swamp. The personal RP on Friday night was great for me, and I hope that it didn't get too much in the way of anyone else's game. Many background buttons got pressed that evening and sent the character into something of a meltdown. I tried not to over play it, but am still not sure if I got that right. Sunday and Monday were also pretty internally intense, and hopefully everyone came out of it OK OOC, and we can make sure that what needs to be done IC is done.
Back at E4, I'd submitted a research request. It took 'til Saturday to arrive, but boy was it worth the wait and the IC cash. Having harangued poor Dan Williams (you'll not often see that written down) as Angelo and then having been cut dead by him, I had resigned myself to more waiting. But it arrived quicker than I had imagined, and the contents were awesome. Much concern and hilarity and fear and conclusion jumping and the group was in a state of some excitement. Brilliant stuff. Thanks to all involved in getting that put together, it was epic in both length and content.
Speaking of Dan, he provided another highlight with the Arcane mark ritual. Despite having sworn off them, I managed to wangle one, and he was most excellent. I was struggling not to corpse. Cheers Dan!
The Hall of worlds is much better. No longer the Eternal's laundry room, it's a much better space. Thanks PD. Conclave is also better. Still not perfect, but way better than before. Saturday evening's meeting gave me an excuse to be IC grumpy, but was secretly much fun and provided a ton of game. I was a little sad to miss Sunday night's Eternal schtupping debate (© Asenath) and the melon-cabbage-babies (also © Asenath) due to other commitments, and if I'm sad to miss a conclave meeting then it must be doing something right. Fun games with the other Celestial Arch too, when I got to argue with them.
My characterisation is gaining coherence as I gain confidence too. Juha is a pretty complicated individual, but some help came from hearing other's opinions of him (thanks Sarah especially). I've been dabbling in the religious game and thoroughly enjoying it, and just generally having a great time developing him. New associations with people outside the nation also have made it even more fun (yes,
pax_draconis even you) and its starting to feel more like a world of interconnected people than one of individuals. I just wish that I could nail the accent or not. At the moment it sort of comes and goes depending on how Varushkan Juha is feeling, and how strong his connection to the hearth magic is, but it likely just comes across as inconsistent (which would be a fair appraisal). I struggle to get the accent going until someone starts talking to me in it, and then I can't help it. P'raps I just need to get Tansy to talk at me at the start of every event. I was also heartened by compliments received on my costume this weekend. I always worry that I am letting the side down, there are so many brilliant costumes out there (Yes Ms Lyon Dixon, I'm looking at you!) that I worry I'm not authenticool enough. Compliments mitigate the worry some.The nation is starting to feel a little more real too. I find it difficult to participate much in the general shoutiness/singiness of the nation, but I do love the folk tradition thing and it is fun watching the rest of the nation come together. Our egregore is brilliant (and not post-traumatic), and hopefully enjoys being spooky with the Circle as much as we enjoy being spooky at him. Zoria *cough* was awesome, and the parade felt proper and right. And the lesson we gave to the Academy on Varushka hearth magic and rules was much fun.
My only real complaint was with the catering. Tykes were utterly brilliant again, and Mhorish were decent quality at reasonable prices, but other than that it was a bit poor. The noodle man seems to have suffered a nosedive in quality and quantity. My noodles were a tiny portion in the bottom of a large box with a nasty vinegary sauce purporting to be chow mein. Others I spoke to had similar experiences. Feast was pretty unappetising as usual, I'm afraid and I hope I imagined that there was an OOC caterer on the IC field. I steered well clear of the offending place just in case my peripheral vision had been telling me the truth. Still, Tykes and Mhorish served for the weekend, and saw me right, so it's a pretty minor thing.
There were plenty of other highlights that included Mikhail's meltdown on Sunday night; getting to pursue the virtue game and all the conversations that came with it; playing politics by proxy; more magical theory exposition; inventing more rituals; getting hallowed, rp effected, and aura-ed all at once; compliments from the refs for our rituals; participating in new and exciting realms' rituals (and one night ritual); and metric craptons of awesome roleplaying.
I'm now trying to work out whether there's any way to balance spending my birthday with my family on the Friday and flying to Spain at 8:30am on the Sunday with getting to some of the next event. Either way, I am made of keen.
A landmark
Jul. 29th, 2013 12:01 amLast thursday, I turned 40. It's quite a big thing, not because I feel any different, but because I am told it's quite a big thing. Weight of public opinion is that 40 is a big thing, and who am I to disagree with the weight of public opinion?
Anyway, the nature of big things is that they are marked in big ways, and this birthday was marked in the biggest and best of ways. (Warning: this post contains overly pretentious descriptions, at least in part as an aide memoir for future times)
( Read more... )
We returned home on Friday, and I can safely say that this was one of the best birthdays ever.
Anyway, the nature of big things is that they are marked in big ways, and this birthday was marked in the biggest and best of ways. (Warning: this post contains overly pretentious descriptions, at least in part as an aide memoir for future times)
( Read more... )
We returned home on Friday, and I can safely say that this was one of the best birthdays ever.
Empire 2 - The Spring Solstice
May. 29th, 2013 11:20 amOnce again, LJ proves to feel a better venue for this sort of rambling collection of thoughts than Facebook, and so I’m back. I had hoped to use LJ a bit more since the last event, but it’s just not happened. Still, I’m again hopeful that this might become more than simply my LRP blog.
Empire 2 seems to have rolled around pretty quickly after Empire 1. I managed to do a rescue job on the robes of disintegration, and even got enough enthusiasm to manufacture a new sleeveless long robe just in case the weather allowed for shirtsleeves. Despite this (or perhaps because of this), my keen was on a downward swing as we approached the event, and I was concerned that the first event would prove to have been anomalously enjoyable. I’d poured more time and effort into this than the first, and so there was a niggling concern that this might have been wasted effort.
I’m pleased to say that it was not and that the Spring Solstice event proved to be even more enjoyable than the Winter one.
I am fortunate in the extreme to have been invited to join a group of such high quality, and it tells. Every single one of the group is excellent, and they make my game so much better. They are considerate, clever and hilarious. I truly believe that you could put me in a field with just them for a weekend, and I’d still be scared, challenged and amused without relent. The nation of Varushka is also incredible. It’s almost as if someone has laid an idiot trap somewhere, leaving the idiots stranded and the nation devoid of them. Obviously, I’ve not met everyone, but none of the Varushkan’s that I’ve met have made me want to gouge my brain out with a spoon; and I account that a near miracle in a game of this size. The feel of the nation is consistent and well realised, and will only get more so as traditions and inter-group dynamics develop. A large part of the credit for this must go to Mr Brind, whose Egregore has shown the way, and encouraged us to follow. Well played, sir.
The downside to this, is that I am still left with internal doubts about my capability to keep up. Juha is a character that is still developing and consistency is a bit ropey. My characterisation is wobbly at best, and I occasionally worry that I’m letting those interacting with me down. It’s been a long time since the beginning of the break from LRP and 3 events is not yet enough to get back to being comfortable. Keeping pace with my group is a massive challenge, given that they are so good. And I keep picking up annoying bits of accent from the other Varushkans, which means a wobbly wandering accent. Still, given time and some more events it’ll come back, I’m sure.
The movers and shakers with the Empire are starting to emerge. It’s interesting and intriguing to see a dynamic begin to develop, and I’m looking forward to keeping an eye on it as it goes.
So, on the event itself, it was almost universally good. The site certainly benefitted from not being knee deep in mud, or frozen. The wind and rain on Thursday was sub-optimal, and meant some really hard work to keep the IC tents from blowing away as we were getting them up. But elements conquered, it was into character, and from there exploration of the site. I was sceptical at first about our new location, and especially when we discovered that Wintermark had annexed the portion of camp across the path from us, but once everyone had squeezed in, the camp felt brilliant. A decent number of paths through the tents, a really cool communal area, and a good balance of public and private IC areas.
The catering was much improved in terms of choice. It was a shame that there was no Caterporium, as they had been a highlight of event 1 (in part for seeing Pete, but also for Meg’s excellent cooking). But a wider range of caterers was good, and the food that I had was all tasty. The satay chicken noodles from the Noodle man were very tasty, but the queue was too big, mainly due to the girl serving seeming to want to chat more than serve. I like friendly catering staff, but when there’s a queue of a dozen waiting, please don’t keep stopping what you are doing in favour of talking. When Noodle Guy himself took over, the queue shrank at a rate of knots, and he still offered good service. Appleby’s coffee was very tasty, and there was no 90 minute queue this time. The chap working there looked as if he’d had more than 30 minutes sleep, too. But the winner of the John award for favourite caterer of the weekend has to go to Tykes. I love sitting down in an IC area to eat IC food and talk tosh. And Tykes looked brilliant, and served tasty food. Only once was I disappointed, and that was when I opted for the onions with my morning sausage baguette and it came with gravy. Onion gravy with a sausage is nice, but not for my breakfast, thanks. Still, 1st world problems… and any caterer that offers a cheeseboard at an event gets a big thumbs up. Honourable mention should go to Curry Knights. I didn’t eat there at all, but every other person I spoke to was exceptionally complimentary.
The look and feel of the central market area is a real highlight of this game. The OOC traders have made a real effort to look great, and for them to have IC goods to trade too, is inspired. The working forge was awesome and really added to the ambience. The tavern is a work of art; the more that you explore it the more that you find interesting and clever little details. I could happily spend almost my entire event in there, enjoying the music and the tasty beer. The senate is cool, and I like the way that you can see the senate towers from pretty much anywhere on site.
Unfortunately, the awesome central area throws sharp relief onto the somewhat less awesome Hall of Worlds. I appreciate that there is limited time and finance. It was definitely better than last event. But… it still felt, to me, as if rather than walk into the strange and eldritch nexus of magical power at an intersection of the realms, that I’d wandered into a slightly strange commercial laundry. The washing line dividers do not work, imo. The whole thing feels thrown together and a bit lazy. A garden rose arch with some plastic skulls hanging from it felt a little too similar to budget LRP games from the 80s. It is a testament to the brilliance of PD, of course, that this falls short of expectations, and I don’t doubt that they will get to it when they can. And it did provide many many giggles around the fire late Sunday night with Harry and Tansy.
The feel of the game is what makes Empire special for me. The activity in camps, whether it be weaving or smithing, drinking or singing, really makes it feel like a living breathing place. And a major part of that is the children. I was a little bemused when I heard that there would be a part for kids to play in the game, but they were a real highlight. Whether it was in the tavern trying to sell me jewellery, collecting for musicians or in the Academy learning their lessons, the kids were universally brilliant. Helping (in a very small way) with the Wintermark “sorcery” lesson was a highlight of my weekend. The children are an absolute credit to their parents and I salute the hard work of the academy staff who look after and entertain them. Brilliant work. If no one has given them a lesson in Autumn magic before E4, then I may well look to do so.
The magic game is developing nicely. The conclave are annoying enough to be able to moan about them, but interesting enough to want to go to the meetings. Ritual research and invention has started properly and creating my own ritual was enormous fun. I’m really proud of the reaction that it got, and hope that it might make the cut to be codified. I have, however, come away from the event with a real desire to up my ritual game. Whilst my rituals are adequate, I’d like to put more effort into them ahead of time, and try to make them more enjoyable. Dramaturgy is really cool (OOC – IC we’ve started to refer to it as Turdgy), but not really nation appropriate; however I have some ideas to make my rituals a bit less formulaic and a bit more iconic. I have one idea that I am so enthused by that I am disappointed that I’m not going to be at E3 to enact it, even though it will be more seasonally appropriate for E4. Still, a lot of work to be done.
I don’t take the battlefield, so am not in a position to comment on the quality of the battles, but the overwhelming feedback that I’ve heard has been positive. I understand that there is some confusion about the nature of gates, and that it led to a bit of a bad time on one occasion, but hopefully PD can fix that. I love that the field is safe. I mean I really love it. It makes the game so much better that people feel happy to wander around from place to place without fear of the Dunny Assassins. Please let that never change.
The national identities carry over into the differing hospitality. Varushka is clearly the most hospitable camp, with a place at the fire for everyone and anyone (just don’t break guest role); and I found Highguard came a close second. All the other camps did well, except Navarr (who were hilariously rude) and Urizen (who were cooly disinterested) and both of those are nation appropriate.
It’s a testament to the crew that I am struggling to come up with any real criticisms. The refs are just amazing. Taking the time to sit and chat about ideas around my ritual, to understand exactly what I was looking to achieve, and making the whole experience a pleasure. It constantly felt as if they wanted to help me, rather than to prevent me. The civil service were more communicative, and the tent that they had at this event was a great improvement on the small antechamber in the Senate building. The bar staff were friendly and efficient. GOD staff were so helpful too! Customer service at this event was amongst the best that I have encountered in any situation, including Conde Nast Gold List hotels! I really have no higher praise to offer.
Some personal highlights include magical theory conversations with many people; being helpful Juha, even when it wasn’t wanted; religious theory discussions (full marks (OOC) to the gatekeeper of vigilance and his thoughts on the lineaged, you made much game for me!); Varushka (yeah, all of it); receiving nice words about my kit and costume; and getting to catch up, both IC and OOC, with a bunch of old friends.
I’m regretting that I will miss the next event, but am really looking forward to September. Brilliant stuff.
Empire 2 seems to have rolled around pretty quickly after Empire 1. I managed to do a rescue job on the robes of disintegration, and even got enough enthusiasm to manufacture a new sleeveless long robe just in case the weather allowed for shirtsleeves. Despite this (or perhaps because of this), my keen was on a downward swing as we approached the event, and I was concerned that the first event would prove to have been anomalously enjoyable. I’d poured more time and effort into this than the first, and so there was a niggling concern that this might have been wasted effort.
I’m pleased to say that it was not and that the Spring Solstice event proved to be even more enjoyable than the Winter one.
I am fortunate in the extreme to have been invited to join a group of such high quality, and it tells. Every single one of the group is excellent, and they make my game so much better. They are considerate, clever and hilarious. I truly believe that you could put me in a field with just them for a weekend, and I’d still be scared, challenged and amused without relent. The nation of Varushka is also incredible. It’s almost as if someone has laid an idiot trap somewhere, leaving the idiots stranded and the nation devoid of them. Obviously, I’ve not met everyone, but none of the Varushkan’s that I’ve met have made me want to gouge my brain out with a spoon; and I account that a near miracle in a game of this size. The feel of the nation is consistent and well realised, and will only get more so as traditions and inter-group dynamics develop. A large part of the credit for this must go to Mr Brind, whose Egregore has shown the way, and encouraged us to follow. Well played, sir.
The downside to this, is that I am still left with internal doubts about my capability to keep up. Juha is a character that is still developing and consistency is a bit ropey. My characterisation is wobbly at best, and I occasionally worry that I’m letting those interacting with me down. It’s been a long time since the beginning of the break from LRP and 3 events is not yet enough to get back to being comfortable. Keeping pace with my group is a massive challenge, given that they are so good. And I keep picking up annoying bits of accent from the other Varushkans, which means a wobbly wandering accent. Still, given time and some more events it’ll come back, I’m sure.
The movers and shakers with the Empire are starting to emerge. It’s interesting and intriguing to see a dynamic begin to develop, and I’m looking forward to keeping an eye on it as it goes.
So, on the event itself, it was almost universally good. The site certainly benefitted from not being knee deep in mud, or frozen. The wind and rain on Thursday was sub-optimal, and meant some really hard work to keep the IC tents from blowing away as we were getting them up. But elements conquered, it was into character, and from there exploration of the site. I was sceptical at first about our new location, and especially when we discovered that Wintermark had annexed the portion of camp across the path from us, but once everyone had squeezed in, the camp felt brilliant. A decent number of paths through the tents, a really cool communal area, and a good balance of public and private IC areas.
The catering was much improved in terms of choice. It was a shame that there was no Caterporium, as they had been a highlight of event 1 (in part for seeing Pete, but also for Meg’s excellent cooking). But a wider range of caterers was good, and the food that I had was all tasty. The satay chicken noodles from the Noodle man were very tasty, but the queue was too big, mainly due to the girl serving seeming to want to chat more than serve. I like friendly catering staff, but when there’s a queue of a dozen waiting, please don’t keep stopping what you are doing in favour of talking. When Noodle Guy himself took over, the queue shrank at a rate of knots, and he still offered good service. Appleby’s coffee was very tasty, and there was no 90 minute queue this time. The chap working there looked as if he’d had more than 30 minutes sleep, too. But the winner of the John award for favourite caterer of the weekend has to go to Tykes. I love sitting down in an IC area to eat IC food and talk tosh. And Tykes looked brilliant, and served tasty food. Only once was I disappointed, and that was when I opted for the onions with my morning sausage baguette and it came with gravy. Onion gravy with a sausage is nice, but not for my breakfast, thanks. Still, 1st world problems… and any caterer that offers a cheeseboard at an event gets a big thumbs up. Honourable mention should go to Curry Knights. I didn’t eat there at all, but every other person I spoke to was exceptionally complimentary.
The look and feel of the central market area is a real highlight of this game. The OOC traders have made a real effort to look great, and for them to have IC goods to trade too, is inspired. The working forge was awesome and really added to the ambience. The tavern is a work of art; the more that you explore it the more that you find interesting and clever little details. I could happily spend almost my entire event in there, enjoying the music and the tasty beer. The senate is cool, and I like the way that you can see the senate towers from pretty much anywhere on site.
Unfortunately, the awesome central area throws sharp relief onto the somewhat less awesome Hall of Worlds. I appreciate that there is limited time and finance. It was definitely better than last event. But… it still felt, to me, as if rather than walk into the strange and eldritch nexus of magical power at an intersection of the realms, that I’d wandered into a slightly strange commercial laundry. The washing line dividers do not work, imo. The whole thing feels thrown together and a bit lazy. A garden rose arch with some plastic skulls hanging from it felt a little too similar to budget LRP games from the 80s. It is a testament to the brilliance of PD, of course, that this falls short of expectations, and I don’t doubt that they will get to it when they can. And it did provide many many giggles around the fire late Sunday night with Harry and Tansy.
The feel of the game is what makes Empire special for me. The activity in camps, whether it be weaving or smithing, drinking or singing, really makes it feel like a living breathing place. And a major part of that is the children. I was a little bemused when I heard that there would be a part for kids to play in the game, but they were a real highlight. Whether it was in the tavern trying to sell me jewellery, collecting for musicians or in the Academy learning their lessons, the kids were universally brilliant. Helping (in a very small way) with the Wintermark “sorcery” lesson was a highlight of my weekend. The children are an absolute credit to their parents and I salute the hard work of the academy staff who look after and entertain them. Brilliant work. If no one has given them a lesson in Autumn magic before E4, then I may well look to do so.
The magic game is developing nicely. The conclave are annoying enough to be able to moan about them, but interesting enough to want to go to the meetings. Ritual research and invention has started properly and creating my own ritual was enormous fun. I’m really proud of the reaction that it got, and hope that it might make the cut to be codified. I have, however, come away from the event with a real desire to up my ritual game. Whilst my rituals are adequate, I’d like to put more effort into them ahead of time, and try to make them more enjoyable. Dramaturgy is really cool (OOC – IC we’ve started to refer to it as Turdgy), but not really nation appropriate; however I have some ideas to make my rituals a bit less formulaic and a bit more iconic. I have one idea that I am so enthused by that I am disappointed that I’m not going to be at E3 to enact it, even though it will be more seasonally appropriate for E4. Still, a lot of work to be done.
I don’t take the battlefield, so am not in a position to comment on the quality of the battles, but the overwhelming feedback that I’ve heard has been positive. I understand that there is some confusion about the nature of gates, and that it led to a bit of a bad time on one occasion, but hopefully PD can fix that. I love that the field is safe. I mean I really love it. It makes the game so much better that people feel happy to wander around from place to place without fear of the Dunny Assassins. Please let that never change.
The national identities carry over into the differing hospitality. Varushka is clearly the most hospitable camp, with a place at the fire for everyone and anyone (just don’t break guest role); and I found Highguard came a close second. All the other camps did well, except Navarr (who were hilariously rude) and Urizen (who were cooly disinterested) and both of those are nation appropriate.
It’s a testament to the crew that I am struggling to come up with any real criticisms. The refs are just amazing. Taking the time to sit and chat about ideas around my ritual, to understand exactly what I was looking to achieve, and making the whole experience a pleasure. It constantly felt as if they wanted to help me, rather than to prevent me. The civil service were more communicative, and the tent that they had at this event was a great improvement on the small antechamber in the Senate building. The bar staff were friendly and efficient. GOD staff were so helpful too! Customer service at this event was amongst the best that I have encountered in any situation, including Conde Nast Gold List hotels! I really have no higher praise to offer.
Some personal highlights include magical theory conversations with many people; being helpful Juha, even when it wasn’t wanted; religious theory discussions (full marks (OOC) to the gatekeeper of vigilance and his thoughts on the lineaged, you made much game for me!); Varushka (yeah, all of it); receiving nice words about my kit and costume; and getting to catch up, both IC and OOC, with a bunch of old friends.
I’m regretting that I will miss the next event, but am really looking forward to September. Brilliant stuff.
Empire Event 1
Apr. 1st, 2013 11:58 pmOoh, look! A livejournal entry! After two years off, spirited away by Facebook and its devious wiles, I'm back with a post. I wanted to put down some thoughts about Empire and the weekend just gone, and Facebook doesn't really seem to cut it for that type of narrative, so it's time to dust off the old LJ. It seems somewhat appropriate, given that this was my first fest LRP in 7 years or so, that I go back to the medium I used to use to report on them. Anyway, on with the post...
Writing an LRP game is hard. Not just trying to do mental arithmetic whilst people shout random numbers hard, and not even trying to juggle whilst riding a skateboard hard (which I can confirm from experience is very hard). But really, truly, properly hard. You can make it a bit easier by getting a lot of talented people together to help. You can try to compartmentalise and break down the tasks. But whilst it makes it easier, it remains a hard endeavour. With that in mind, I can only imagine how many extra degrees of hard Empire was to create. I can imagine Matt announcing "We're going to have a senate-based political game; a mage based "ARS magica tribunal" game; a believable living religion game; a mercantile trading game; a crafting game; massive battles; 9(+1) nations; 6 lineages; real IC buildings; IC streetlighting and we're going to do it for over 1500 players". I can also imagine the combination of hilarity, disbelief and terror that it would have engendered in his co-conspirators.
So, the real question is... did it work? Well... mostly.
( Read more... )
If PD can build on this, learn the lessons from this event, and catch a break from the weather gods, then they are onto a winner, I reckon. Pacing will improve; players will come to understand the IC institutions and brilliant kit will become sublime as we all aspire to be better.
Writing an LRP game is hard. Not just trying to do mental arithmetic whilst people shout random numbers hard, and not even trying to juggle whilst riding a skateboard hard (which I can confirm from experience is very hard). But really, truly, properly hard. You can make it a bit easier by getting a lot of talented people together to help. You can try to compartmentalise and break down the tasks. But whilst it makes it easier, it remains a hard endeavour. With that in mind, I can only imagine how many extra degrees of hard Empire was to create. I can imagine Matt announcing "We're going to have a senate-based political game; a mage based "ARS magica tribunal" game; a believable living religion game; a mercantile trading game; a crafting game; massive battles; 9(+1) nations; 6 lineages; real IC buildings; IC streetlighting and we're going to do it for over 1500 players". I can also imagine the combination of hilarity, disbelief and terror that it would have engendered in his co-conspirators.
So, the real question is... did it work? Well... mostly.
( Read more... )
If PD can build on this, learn the lessons from this event, and catch a break from the weather gods, then they are onto a winner, I reckon. Pacing will improve; players will come to understand the IC institutions and brilliant kit will become sublime as we all aspire to be better.
Give me a job?
Nov. 26th, 2010 08:45 pmSo, come the new year I am to be one of the first of the coalitions efficiencies. I'm not technically being made redundant, for in the brave new world there shall be no redundancies. I am going voluntarily, ably assisted by a wodge of cash. Of course, it's much the same as being made redundant; and were I to decline to play their game of figure massaging, I'd be able to walk away with a pot of money only slightly less full than by taking the voluntary settlement. Still, family to feed and all that, so I'm taking the money and going.
This does mean that I am on the hunt for a new opportunity. I've been looking around for a while, and have some irons in some fires (some that have been in there so long that they probably qualify as molten by now). But I have no gainful employment yet lined up. They say that many percentages of jobs are filled via word of mouth and so I turn to you, my dear friends and vague acquaintances, for assistance.
I am a business/technical analyst, with project management and service management experience and a firm grasp of IT infrastructure theory and practice. I've spent the last 6 years in the education sector and prior to that have worked in fields as varied as banking, alternative energy and theatres. I'm looking for something within commuting distance of Warwickshire, and am happy to travel further a few times a week, if I'm home based for some of the time. I can, of course, provide a CV and some references if needed.
Anyway, I thought it worth a mention, just in case. Ta muchly.
This does mean that I am on the hunt for a new opportunity. I've been looking around for a while, and have some irons in some fires (some that have been in there so long that they probably qualify as molten by now). But I have no gainful employment yet lined up. They say that many percentages of jobs are filled via word of mouth and so I turn to you, my dear friends and vague acquaintances, for assistance.
I am a business/technical analyst, with project management and service management experience and a firm grasp of IT infrastructure theory and practice. I've spent the last 6 years in the education sector and prior to that have worked in fields as varied as banking, alternative energy and theatres. I'm looking for something within commuting distance of Warwickshire, and am happy to travel further a few times a week, if I'm home based for some of the time. I can, of course, provide a CV and some references if needed.
Anyway, I thought it worth a mention, just in case. Ta muchly.
