rosa_heartlily: (Default)
I belong to the 'women's network' at work. I don't normally go for that sort of thing - I actively resisted the 'women's book group' at church, for example - but... I don't know... maybe it's working in a male-dominated department...? I definitely want to see women building each other up and to be part of that positivity. Anyway, one of the things the network does is 'coffee roulette'. You volunteer your name and get randomly paired with someone, meet for coffee and a chat and see if you click. If not, well it was only coffee; if you do, you have a new friend. I joined in the first round, and met someone online but thinking back, I think I was in the office but she was at home. Anyway, we didn't spark and I can't even remember her name (so much for building up my sistas!); we managed about half-an-hour's conversation but after that it was a struggle and needless to say we haven't met since.

Today was a much more positive experience. I met up with someone I know by sight because she organises a lot of the network events but haven't actually spoken to before. But we had a good chat about some of our interests and how interests overlap in ways you might not expect. At one point I thought I'd uncovered another FF fan, but it turned out it's her partner who's the fan. Oh, well - can't have everything!

One of my immediate colleagues asked to meet up for coffee a couple of weeks ago, but Life and Work keep getting in the way and we have to keep reorganising it. I joked today that it's starting to feel personal, which they assured me it isn't. Feels like they have a lot bottled up and need to let it out. I suggested trying the Leafyard thing, but I don't expect they did.

I watched the latest video from Leafyard yesterday. If you don't respond to the email prompt within a few days, you get a reminder saying something like, 'we know you're putting this off but it'll really help'. Well, I'm not putting it off, I'm just busy! And if I was feeling all the anxiety you assume I'm feeling, guilting me into watching your video isn't really going to help. I've said before that I really appreciate the university paying for us to have access to this service and I'd feel churlish not using it - but it expects you're using it because you're having issues of some description.

Yesterday's session wanted me to fill in the built-in journal, assuring me it was completely confidential. It's structured around 5 questions that ask you to reflect on a specific event - but the video said, 'don't think about it too much, just start writing'. But I don't have an event I want to unpack in that way AND the structure feels artificial to me. AND, I have a journal. It did offer some helpful information on the value of journalling and writing in general, though - again, nothing particularly new but a good reminder. So that's something.

I've stuck with it because I keep hoping I'll learn something new, and keep being disappointed :D It does make me realise how much 'work' I've done on myself over the years, though.

I also had a frustrating time trying to transfer the Virgin DD to the joint account. The site says you have to clear your bill first, then you'll be taken to a link to change your bank details. The first frustrating thing was the new app my bank has made. The old one I had on my phone since I opened my own current account with them and had no problem with. The new one - I think today was about the 5th or 6th time I've reinstalled it. Every so often it just freezes, or gets stuck on the loading screen with the purple spinning circle of death. Anyway, I get the app reinstalled and pay the bill, then click on the link to change my bank details - which takes me back to the start where I have to pay off the bill... (The bill is paid, btw, but it still shows the same amount being due.) I'm WFH on Friday, so I'll try ringing Virgin because this is the second time I've gone through the process with the same result.

And tomorrow is Rising Tide Day!!! *bounces excitedly* The boys can watch Liverpool (hopefully) overcome a 3-0 deficit at Atalanta, whilst I go looking for sea monsters. I know who'll have most fun :D
rosa_heartlily: (Default)
So, the puzzle I was stuck on last night in IFR... I was thinking to myself, 'what I really need to happen is...' but that thing wasn't happening. Or, rather, my tired brain didn't NOTICE it happening *heavy sigh* Got through all the puzzles (including realising I'd missed something on one of the ones I thought I'd finished last night), which created a LOVELY (do you sense the sarcasm? it's not just dripping, it's fucking POURING) platformy staircase in four sections. I spent about 90 minutes playing IFR this afternoon, a full 30 of which, I swear, were spent climbing up the platforms and falling off when I tried to cross to the next section. When it all clicks and you're climbing or jumping or flying from correct point A to correct point B, yes, it's fun. But hesitate for a millisecond, or long hold X instead of double pressing, or launch a centimetre to either side of correct point A, or any one of a thousand other things, and you have to start the whole thing again.

*deep, deep breath*

Anyway, long story short, I finished the game and I enjoyed the ending. I think it's a 7/10...? I didn't fall in love enough with the puzzles to do very many of them, and the platforming elements put me off the Tartarus Vaults. Plus, playing on Story Mode meant I didn't need all the upgrades to complete the game, anyway. The story is linear but there's nothing wrong with that; it held the game together very well with some very nice development arcs for all the characters. The graphics are just gorgeous and the VAs are all excellent. Music... I didn't really notice it; when I did, it was OK. If I didn't have other things to play, I think I would have been tempted to do more of the puzzles, maybe even try for the plat, which is why it's a 7 not a 6.

I've moved on to 'The Gardens Between', another puzzle-based, non-combat game. Two friends are reliving their childhood memories. There's a time rewind/fast forward mechanic, and each character has their own contribution to make to the puzzles. The actions get quite repetitive - wind time backwards and forwards with the L stick, interact with objects with X - but working out how to use those controls to solve the puzzles is very engaging. I played 90 minutes and got more than half-way through, I'd say. Definitely want to finish it. I think I prefer 'Unpacking' for telling a story without dialogue, though. 

Bumped into an old friend on the way to church. They've apparently fallen out with another friend for unspecified reasons (I've only heard about it from the second friend, and I don't want to pry), but I haven't fallen out with either of them, so see no reason not to continue to be friends with both. It's unlikely the three of us will be in company again, anyway. Church was made very lively by the vicar's 3 children (aged 4, 6 and 8? something like that), and the 2yo child of another couple :D

Spent some time in the garden finally planting out my primroses and beginning the job of clearing the central patch so I can plant my meadow flower seeds. A very friendly robin kept me company; presumably I was unearthing tasty things for it to eat <3 I also refilled one of the bird feeders, and discovered a nest in one of the others :O It's shaped like a bee hive, so the idea is the birds can eat without getting rained on. But, apparently, it's also the perfect spot for a nest. I'm guessing it was built last spring, when my attention was as far from the garden as it was possible to get. I didn't touch it in case the owners want to reuse it this year :D

And next week is the final of Dancing on Ice 2024. I'm very much looking forward to it!

Hoping for a better night's sleep than I got last night, which was made even worse by me thinking it was Monday when I woke up >D

Good night, DW!
rosa_heartlily: (Default)
Had a horrible day on Thursday.  I was supposed to meet up with a friend for coffee but they could only do after 3pm and I pushed it back to 3.30pm because a meeting landed.  So, I went on a coffee fast for the whole day - only for them to not turn up AND forget to tell me because they were exhausted from trying to do too much.  The coffee shop on the ground floor of our building closes at 3.30pm, so I went on a hike across town to one of their other shops - then remembered they have ANOTHER shop much nearer to us.  Doh!  Although I have no idea what time THAT shop closes, so I might still have needed to do the longer walk.  But I don't know if the forgetfulness was caused more by menopause-brain or caffeine-deprivation :D

We also have a contractor working with us who has an extremely monotone voice and talks for hours at a time (it feels like hours) about I don't know what because I can't quite catch the actual words.  I have no idea if they're talking about work but if he's not, we're paying them to inflict anguish on my brain!

Wednesday was a good day, though.  I met up with my favourite colleague for coffee and a total geek-out about Doctor Who <3  We're both suspending our scepticism about the new Doctor.  We don't know Ncuti Gatwa at all but we're worried he might be a bit young.  I found I took a little while to warm to Matt Smith and always put it down to his age.  But then I watched a '7 facts about Ncuti Gatwa' video and he has had quite a life already, so he has that to bring to the role.  So, watch this space because I will have Opinions :D  I am quite reassured by RTD coming back to the show.  I feel so sorry for Jodie Whittaker because she has just had really poor material to work with.  The only thing I really remember about the Easter episode is the cringey scene between her and Yas, which was totally unnecessary.

OK, DW rant over :D

Today is the Champion's League Final between LFC and Real Madrid.  Expectations are high in our house - just hope the Reds live up to them!  Whatever the outcome, we have the homecoming parade tomorrow.  The bus is expected to reach our end of the route at about 8pm - the boys want to be out of the house at about 10am :D :D  The grandson is coming down today for the final and will stay overnight.  Daughter might join us tomorrow.

And I've decided that if I ever do a PhD it will be on the 'theology of place'.  So much to unpack in that - holy places, being 'called' to a place, thresholds, buildings, etc, etc.  It's kind of grown out of my preparations for a service I'm doing in a couple of weeks on being called to stay in a single place.  Of course, a PhD is supposed to be about something quite narrow and, at the moment, my ideas are VERY broad.  But it's closer to a thing I feel I could research than I've had before!

OK, time to get going.  This morning's plan is exercise, bath, shopping for tomorrow's picnic :D
rosa_heartlily: (Default)
A couple of quick updates. I've applied for a new job! It's still at the University but it's a grade higher and I would get closer to actual students. I'm not entirely convinced I want to do the job but it's given me a confidence boost just to realise that it was possible for me to apply for it. And it would fulfil my ambition of having a job where you would see the actual difference you're making to someone's life. Actually, I think I do want it!

The other thing is that my artist made a blog post acknowledging that they over-promised with my pic. As well as their anxiety/depression issues, they've also been doing a lot of travelling for work, which has reduced energy levels. I accept all that - I'd like to have been told personally and not just in a blog post but, hey... I asked if, realistically, we were going to get the pic done and they said yes - setting a new deadline for end of March. So, we carry on waiting. I want to stick with them because a) their a friend and they've gone through some shit recently and b) they're free! But if it isn't going to happen, I'd rather acknowledge that and find an alternative. Somewhere... Anyway, end of March - watch this space...

And now my review of Dragon Quest XI. There may be spoilers, so read at your own risk.

I expected to love this game because JRPG! *excited fan girl squealing* I didn't and there are a few reasons why. Firstly, the voice acting for some of the characters was quite a lot less than perfect. Serena in particular made my teeth itch, especially with her 'Did I do alright?' post-battle comments - not only does it undervalue her contribution to the battle, but it was delivered in a tone of 'please like me even if I didn't'. Some of her in-battle delivery - 'take thiii-iii-iiis' - wasn't much better. Jade's sassiness - 'well THAT was easy' rofl - was much better, even if some of her abilities were questionable.

So, three female characters out of eight was a poor ratio to begin with, and only Veronica left me unirritated. The lack of good female characters in a game from 2018 is disappointing. And some of their outfits... Don't get me started on the outfits.

Another thing was that the MC didn't speak. At all. Except for a few grunts when casting spells. I just... Why?!

Sylvando's over-the-top campness worked, however. But the game lacked ethnic diversity to a painful degree.

However, I play RPG's (whether J or W) for the story and I have to say I enjoyed this aspect of the game a lot. Being a JRPG, there are no real story choices, you don't 'create your own game', and there was absolutely no 'relationship system'. You begin the game at the beginning and everyone will arrive at the same place at the end. There's some optional stuff in terms of sidequests and trophy hunting, of course but the story is the story.

There is the inevitable 'twist' in the middle but this actually made me feel I was playing a whole new game, with new enemies and new objectives.

I found the final boss challenging but not ridiculously hard, which is another plus. I don't like final bosses that can be killed in one hit - *looks at FFXII* (although, to be fair, that was because I was over levelled in order to deal with the hunts) - and I don't like ones that just don't know when to die - *looks at KH1 & 2*. And the post-game stuff means that you effectively get a THIRD game out of it.

Overall, I'm very glad I played it and I will get round to finishing it properly - but first Dragon Age Inquisition!
rosa_heartlily: (Default)
 Tonight, I had planned to do the last bit of the final, final, FINAL edit of Mannerley so that would be one less thing to worry about. For some reason, work's off-campus desktop is loading but has no icons. I have Mannerley saved on my personal drive at work because that gets backed up so it's nice and safe. If my laptop took a nose-dive, my novel would survive. But I can't edit it if I can't get to it!

We have been trialling a new off-campus service, which was much faster, but the pilot ended today. I'm guessing that, in taking the new one down something has happened to the old one. I can't even log the job because the Helpdesk icon isn't appearing on the desktop.

I've commissioned a picture for the cover from one of my oldest on-line friends. He was the first person I connected with 'live' via AIM. I'd emailed people and chatted on on-line fora, but never in real time. Being completely ignorant about IMing, I joined a chat room. Nothing much seemed to be happening, so I left again. Then I got a message from someone who had been 'in' the chat room, too. Like, he followed me out. We got talking that night and every night for ages. He introduced me to Digital Webbing and I learned more about comics than I knew I needed to know. And I even had a go at a comic script, which I really enjoyed. I have a bit of a knack for describing a picture in the kind of detail an artist needs in order to draw it.

We're both on fb, now, and haven't really connected in a while. He posted something a few days ago about some struggles he'd had with his mental health, so I reached out. We caught up on life since we last spoke, then I asked what he'd charge for a commission for my cover art. I told him what I wanted it to look like (in comic script style :D ) and he offered to do it for free! He doesn't make a living from art, at the moment, and is looking to build up his portfolio again. I've offered him 10 signed copies of the book (they'll be worth something one day!) when I decide which POD service to use. And we've agreed that when a major publisher picks it up and/or Hollywood comes calling, we'll take another look at the terms.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to use Draft2Digiral to get it out there as an e-book, as it seems pretty risk-free. Then I can take a bit of time to find the right POD service. We've agreed a deadline of end of November for the cover art, so I'm not worrying about POD or marketing during Nano. And we hit the Christmas market!

As for this year's Nano, I have an idea that really could do with some fleshing out. When(!) I finally give Mannerley its final polish, I will begin proper planning.

Profile

rosa_heartlily: (Default)
rosa_heartlily

July 2025

S M T W T F S
   1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios