Yearly Update
Yes folks, time for a very rare update...
Work (or lack thereof)
I was working on a contract for about 9 or 10 months and was temping before that. I got let go at the end of January as they weren't renewing any contracts. Something to do with a recession? I still haven't managed to get any work. Finding it very tough to keep up the motivation looking for jobs when I know that there are hundreds of people applying. I don't have enough experience to make my CV stand out. I've also developed a severe aversion to filling out application forms. The questions they ask are ridiculous. I'm building up a supply of 'good words' for these situations - organisation, adaptability, team work, integrity, responsibility, leadership blah blah blah. I feel like a walking HR dictionary.
Writing (or lack thereof)
Strangely, I seemed to do more work in the writing department when I had a job. Unemployment really cripples motivation - having all the time in the world just leads to you getting nothing done. Nevertheless, I am slowly working away on a couple of projects. I'm working on a short story with working title 'The Walker', basically my sci-fi extreme-o take on rising unemployment and homelessness. It's become a little heavier than I had anticipated though. It's definitely one of those stories that I just find myself grappling with for the entire process but I'm determined to get it finished at some point. I'm also in the planning stages of a kiddie book with the working title 'The Bone Tree'. This may yet end up being for an older age group than first envisioned. At some stage I will probably sit down and try editing the last NaNovel I completed as I think it has potential but it will have to be chopped to bits first and my patience for this is limited.
The Gaming Explosion!
I enjoy gaming but I've never been hardcore. Unsurprisingly, I think I was always too busy organising things to have time for proper gaming and once I finished college I was way too burned out to even think about it. So it's been a couple of years since I did anything more than some semi-regular boardgaming. Last Gaelcon, some plotting and planning with unnamed individuals led to myself and my_name_is_fiki ultimately rejoining the Camarilla. It's been about four years since I did Cam stuff and it's been a lot of fun so far (despite some XP changes coming in a mere few months after I rejoined! Ah well). The Mage game in Cork has around 30 players which is enormous for any game and probably the largest game in Ireland. I expect some of those will drop out as the game is in the first few months but hopefully not many. Vampire is a way smaller, there are around ten players now, but still hoping my Carthian can make some mischief. We're also playing in a Traveller game being run by mytholder which is pretty madcap. All our characters are a bit crap but we seem to have a knack for making money, not having much in the way of morals and being reasonably skillful at avoiding plot.
Currently Reading
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (almost finished - highly recommended)
The Illuminatus Trilogy (A revisit - well, when my brain is in the state to deal with it - only through book 1 so far)
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (two chapters in so will reserve judgement for now)
Ringworld by Larry Niven (have been halfway through this book for a month - eh - I don't have any love for hard sci-fi and I found the first third of the book to be a bit of a chore to read through - it has improved but I feel no real urge to pick it up)
Work (or lack thereof)
I was working on a contract for about 9 or 10 months and was temping before that. I got let go at the end of January as they weren't renewing any contracts. Something to do with a recession? I still haven't managed to get any work. Finding it very tough to keep up the motivation looking for jobs when I know that there are hundreds of people applying. I don't have enough experience to make my CV stand out. I've also developed a severe aversion to filling out application forms. The questions they ask are ridiculous. I'm building up a supply of 'good words' for these situations - organisation, adaptability, team work, integrity, responsibility, leadership blah blah blah. I feel like a walking HR dictionary.
Writing (or lack thereof)
Strangely, I seemed to do more work in the writing department when I had a job. Unemployment really cripples motivation - having all the time in the world just leads to you getting nothing done. Nevertheless, I am slowly working away on a couple of projects. I'm working on a short story with working title 'The Walker', basically my sci-fi extreme-o take on rising unemployment and homelessness. It's become a little heavier than I had anticipated though. It's definitely one of those stories that I just find myself grappling with for the entire process but I'm determined to get it finished at some point. I'm also in the planning stages of a kiddie book with the working title 'The Bone Tree'. This may yet end up being for an older age group than first envisioned. At some stage I will probably sit down and try editing the last NaNovel I completed as I think it has potential but it will have to be chopped to bits first and my patience for this is limited.
The Gaming Explosion!
I enjoy gaming but I've never been hardcore. Unsurprisingly, I think I was always too busy organising things to have time for proper gaming and once I finished college I was way too burned out to even think about it. So it's been a couple of years since I did anything more than some semi-regular boardgaming. Last Gaelcon, some plotting and planning with unnamed individuals led to myself and my_name_is_fiki ultimately rejoining the Camarilla. It's been about four years since I did Cam stuff and it's been a lot of fun so far (despite some XP changes coming in a mere few months after I rejoined! Ah well). The Mage game in Cork has around 30 players which is enormous for any game and probably the largest game in Ireland. I expect some of those will drop out as the game is in the first few months but hopefully not many. Vampire is a way smaller, there are around ten players now, but still hoping my Carthian can make some mischief. We're also playing in a Traveller game being run by mytholder which is pretty madcap. All our characters are a bit crap but we seem to have a knack for making money, not having much in the way of morals and being reasonably skillful at avoiding plot.
Currently Reading
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (almost finished - highly recommended)
The Illuminatus Trilogy (A revisit - well, when my brain is in the state to deal with it - only through book 1 so far)
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (two chapters in so will reserve judgement for now)
Ringworld by Larry Niven (have been halfway through this book for a month - eh - I don't have any love for hard sci-fi and I found the first third of the book to be a bit of a chore to read through - it has improved but I feel no real urge to pick it up)