Hi it's been a while, which is whatever! I don't feel bad about it because this is a hobby and I'm not trying to grow a following because this is a hobby! I've been pretty burnt out and have just been kind of conserving my energy, pursuing other things that interest me. That being said, I can talk about hobby things a bit.
I've been house sitting for a bit over a week. Usually when I house sit, the break from normal routine puts me in a different mindset and lends itself to creativity, or at least the pursuit of some interest that I hadn't really delved into before. Two years ago it's what made me write the first rulesets I've attempted, those being Pigs28 and Dogwalk28 which lead to friendships with other noncombat tabletop enthusiasts (I still hold that Dogwalk was only beaten to being one of the first after Applepicking because Tara is a lot more driven than me). I'm not sure what I did house sitting here last year, I think I mostly played survival Minecraft on the Mario themed world on my nintendo switch.
So, this year I wanted to set myself up for some success. I gathered some hobby things, I brought my sketchbook, a swedish fiddle book, dice and a deck of playing cards as well as tarot cards. I brought unpainted minis and three colors of paint plus black and white and an acrylic medium. Hoping for inspiration. I took the week off work (just because I had a week to use, so why not?). Did inspiration strike? In some ways yes, I painted a mini for the first time in a while at least (that mini being gifted to me by the wonderful creator of THRENODYSSEY). Spent a lot of time thinking in between walking the dog and feeding the horses and chickens. And I played a lot of solitaire tarot games. I played a lot of swedish fiddle songs using my dad's old violin too, which is a much nicer instrument than my own I might add. If you've never listened to any, I highly recommend taking the time to. Näckenspolska is one of my favorites to play (I know that video is on nyckelharp, but that's the right version of the song at least!)
The Fool's Journey
I thought I might try to make a game utilizing tarot cards, but there already quite a few out there which are very very good. I was content with playing the ones I did play (click those links dammit). Actually, that's not entirely true. I wrote up a quick little system to write ditties using tarot cards because I had both music and cards on my mind. It kind of works, but probably could use some fine tuning.
I do feel a bit renewed from this, though it wasn't overall fruitful in making new pieces, what I did make and the ideas that being here inspired I hope will stick with me for a bit and act as inspiration going forward.
NECRO DOPE a model gifted to me by the wonderful SUPERCLAYMATION
I hope wherever you are you can pursue your interests with joy, and stay warm through the remainder of winter! Take care of yourselves.
