The Cough of Doom, Shinies and WiPpet Wednesday

The Cough is still here.  I am a terrible patient—arguably an impatient patient—and I hate being ill.  Worse, I like my sleep and the damn thing keeps waking me up so I'm coughing and crabby.  Work has calmed down slightly so I've had more free time, but there's nothing like trying to bring up a lung to put you off writing smut.

However, it does mean I've had enough free time to do another pin-up for Sunday.  And how did I manage that?  Well, it turns out that I seem to forget to breathe while I'm doing postwork so I don't cough so much.  Who knew there was an advantage to a bad, albeit involuntary, habit?

Still, something arrived to cheer me up today: this little guy, also known as Nanase Haruka from the anime Free! (also known as "that swimming anime I made my friends watch the first episode of and they enjoyed it, and therefore are now slightly frightened").  He was supposed to be my NaNoWriMo reward but his release date was put back twice and he eventually shipped seven days ago.

Plus, he can always lend a hand or eight.

Aside from being a fan of both seasons of the anime, you can probably see why I bought him...

It's expensive to buy models like this in the UK (most Nendoroids will set you back £45-£60, for example), but it's significantly less expensive to preorder them from America, even factoring in shipping.  This is why I've only just started buying things without needing a trip to the US in the first place.

Thinking about it, I probably ought to break out my Love Hina Mutsumi Otohime figure at some point.  I've had her ever since I first went to Otakon, but she's never left her box...

WiPpet Wednesday

WiPpet Wednesday is K. L. Schwengel's genius work-in-progress blog-hop.  You can check out other people's and join in yourself right here.  (Go on, do it, you know you want to.)

Although I've written some of chapter 6 of The Reconstruction of Kirill since last week, it's still a pathetic amount and I still feel guilty about it.  Soooo you're getting another section of The Rose Queen instead.

Since today is the 28th January 2015, You're going to get 11 paragraphs from the second chapter because 2+8+1 is 11 and the 2 from the year is the chapter.  And just for spite's sake I'm going to post this at quarter past the hour, so not only will the 015 part not go to waste, it'll also be posted at 20:15.  \o/

When we'd left our dashing hero, he'd just discovered that his pretty quarry wasn't quite so very... female as he'd been expecting and, worse, there seems to have been more to that previous excitement than meets the eye...

(Again, unedited.)

This, if Fayth was brutally honest, was not how he’d expected their meeting to go.  For a start he thought he’d be a chick.  A lady.  A pretty and biddable girl he could happily spend the return journey with because he’d have no interest in her whatsoever.  Not—not—

“Well?”  The Rose Queen repeated irritably, shifting from one filthy bare foot to the other.  “You’ve come to stare too, have you?  You know, I really don’t care so long as you don’t get in my way, so...”  He dropped to his knees beside the small balls of root, pressing his fingers back into the soil and smoothing over the patch he’d been working on before he’d been interrupted.

Fayth had prepared a speech he’d intended to use on the girl of his imagination; it went straight out the window.  Stepping the few steps forward to close the distance between them, he leaned down and caught the Rose Queen’s elbow, pulling him to his feet again.  “Listen to me,” he muttered, ignoring the way the Rose Queen glared at the hand that kept a firm hold on his arm.  “You need to come with me.”

The black-haired man drew himself up to his full height, only a little shorter than Fayth.  “Did you miss that discussion I just had?  I’m not some—some whore who’ll go with the first person who asks—”

“How many cameras are there in here?”

“What?”  For one instant Fayth was sure he saw a flash of fear in those stunning eyes.

“Cameras,” he hissed, squeezing a little harder.  “How many, and where?”

It took a moment for the Rose Queen to answer.  When he did, it was with perfect, cold composure, his face a stony mask.  “Enough, and plenty are pointed right at this tree.  If you try anything, you’ll be caught.”

“Because they came running not five minutes ago when someone tried to assault you, didn’t they?”  He thought it was a perfectly reasonable comment, but the Rose Queen stiffened beneath his touch.  “Don’t worry, beautiful, I’m not going to touch you, but you need to leave with me right now.”

“You missed the part where I can’t leave?”  The Rose Queen asked bitterly.  “Are you new here?”

“You could say that,” Fayth grinned, enjoying the way the Rose Queen’s eyes widened.  It was a big risk, but the man’s apparent exhaustion made him think it might be worth it.  More than the lies he’d had lined up would be, at any rate.  “I’ve been sent by Kaeder Pynes to bring you home.”

Ooooh, mysterious there, Fayth.  *wiggles fingers*

Pinup Boy Sunday - Milos

Finally found time for another picture that took wholly more time than it looks like it did!

Today's pin-up is Milos from my occasionally ongoing project Unravel.

Milos has not had the best start in life, but through several incredible twists of fate he has ended up in a significantly better situation than he could have hoped: he's employed by the government, has been given an apartment of his own and best of all, a place to keep his beloved motorbike--the only thing of his own he was able to take from his old life.

The only downside is the colleague he's now forced to work with--the man who kidnapped him in the first place, with the paperwork to prove that it was all perfectly legal--who, despite Milos's best efforts, has become more like a partner to him, in every sense of the word.

Oh, and the genetic mutation he was forced to undergo that turns his fingers into polymetal claws.  That too.  Only that he can use as an advantage.  He's yet to find any advantage to Alex at all.

...Well, except that if Alex is in bed with him, it's another night he can put off buying a radiator for his apartment.

Procrastination Station: Melody's Escape

Shocking!  I finally managed to find some time to sit, re-familiarise myself with the game and record some footage!

What's the game?

Today's Procrastination Station timesink is Melody's Escape a music-based indie platformer.  It's currently listed as an "Early Access Game" but in the developer's words it's "almost feature-complete and is in a very stable state."  There's no demo available.

When it came up on my recommended list on Steam I was intrigued by the gameplay videos, particularly as at the time Sixteen was my sole computer and there was no demo available for me to try and see if it'd work.  It was cheap enough (£6.99), however, that I felt inclined to take a punt on it nonetheless.

I then had to turn most of the settings off.  It ran, yes, but it was slow and jerky until almost all the settings were off or lowered (such as the background affected by the music, the rain in the walking sections etc.), then it ran nicely.  With the exception of the hair dynamics.  That didn't go so well; it actually slowed the game down more with it off, but on didn't seem to make a difference.  The irony is, once you play the game you don't miss the fancy effects you've turned off, because your attention is solely focused on hitting the next button.  Since I've been playing it on Echo with all the fancy effects on again, I've still not noticed them.

Honestly, watching the video I recorded above is the first time I've actually paid attention to anything in the game beyond hitting the next key.  I didn't realise, watching it back, just how fast it seems--it doesn't feel as fast when you're playing as it looks when you're watching.

There are several different difficulty settings, from Relaxing, through Medium and Intense (which is what I'm playing) to Overload.  Relaxing has everything tied to one button per section whether they're slides, jumps or the floating rings; Medium has both rings and directions in matching colours, so up is both a jump and an up on the ring.  Intense has everything split into two sections, so WASD keys control movement and the arrows keys control the rings, or vice versa, depending on your preference--mine is set for my faulty brain.  Overload is...  huh.  I personally can't keep up with Overload.

There's also a custom setting to design your own style of level and an autoplay if you just want to watch.  (Wish I'd remembered that was there before I sat and played the song myself.)

Note, though: it's possibly not best to start out with Relaxing and move through the difficulties.  Each step up has a learning curve that can be frustrating if you don't persevere with it, and persevering can feel more like work than play to start with.

And what have I actually learned about my characters by procrastinating with this game?

A surprisingly large amount actually.  For me, this kind of game is best played without engaging the brain, because if I think about the oncoming colours and directions I'm guaranteed to press the wrong button entirely.  Accordingly, that makes it perfect for rooting out plot problems while listening to songs that inspire the stories, or in some cases realising which songs make perfect character themes (and then playing them to death).

I managed to work out some of the early kinks of Corliss's appearance in The Rose Queen by playing a lot of Machinae Supremacy as well as giving myself a boost to get a move on with a scene between RQ and Fayth by playing Celldweller's Heart On.  (Yes, it is likely pretty much what you're thinking.  Yes it suits them perfectly.)  It's also helped somewhat with Dust & Ash through a zen-like playthrough of two albums by The Pierces--though it's not helped with actually plotting the bloody thing--and it let me scrape my brain clean during the early stages of The Reconstruction of Kirill.  (What do you mean I'm still in the early stages now?  Shush.)

Will it help for anyone else?  I have no idea, but if you're one of those people who can only play rhythm and dance games by not thinking about what you're doing rather than focusing on the upcoming moves, then it's a nice way to relax and think about other things at the same time.  Choose a setting, pick your song or set your playlist, and off you go.  Just... try not to get too engrossed so you forget to write.  Or competitive.  Just because there's no centralised scoreboard doesn't stop you from wanting to get a Perfect rating or two or three or four...

Rambley Encounters of the Writing Kind and WiPpet Wednesday

I'm atrocious at titles, but in my defense I'm not very well...

Work still has a pretty firm hold over both my brain and my time, but it turned out to be quite a relief to finish chapter 5 of The Reconstruction of Kirill.  I was starting to think it'd never happen...  Of course, now I'm on chapter 6 and there are all the others stretching out into my future so it was quite a short-lived relief.

Thank gods I actually planned this story out properly.  If I'd got a half-plan or decided to wing it I'd be struggling in the motivation department right now--although in my case, planning carries with it its own set of problems, like actually feeling like writing it when it already exists as outlined chapters.  There are so few surprises waiting in store when it's planned out, though it has actually managed two so far so there's still hope!  And chapter 6 brings with it the promise of smut so there's that to look forward to, though that brings its own issues: mostly that if there's anything The Destruction of Kirill and last year's NaNo taught me, it's that I can get very wordy when it comes to sex.  (Not a problem I had with the year before's NaNo; that was frequency instead.  I could barely prise them apart.)

And just to add insult to injury, I've picked up a ridiculous cough from somewhere.  Joy.  I prescribe myself lots of Johnny Flynn music, which is both the aural equivalent of wrapping myself in a warm blanket and is horribly inspiring while I'm at it.  One of his songs inspired The Reconstruction of Kirill in its entirety, another has given me a plot bunny for a short story that I'm desperately trying to ignore, and I'm pretty sure the others are just laying in wait for me at this point.

Music is a dangerous, dangerous thing when it comes to inspiration...

WiPpet Wednesday

WiPpet Wednesday is K. L. Schwengel's genius idea, a work-in-progress blog hop.  If you fancy looking at everyone else's or signing up for it yourself, you can do so here.

My WiPpet maths is still not up to muster (as any and all of my maths teachers will attest) so it's still all kinds of simple.  It's the 21st January 2015 - 21/1/2015 - so it's 8 lines from page 3 of the first chapter of The Reconstruction of Kirill (yes, you get pseudo-steampunk again today).  Because--wait for it--2+1=3, 1=1, 2+0+1+5=8.

It makes sense in some world.  Honest.

When we left our heroes, Niko was teaching Kirill to swordfight and now the inevitable has happened: Kirill picked up a nick.  And Niko has his own ways of curing minor wounds...  (And again, first draft so... yeah, messy.)

“Nonsense.”  Niko’s head dipped, and the press of his lips to the scratch sent another spark of electricity the length of Kirill’s spine.  “Does that feel better?”

Kirill nodded, light headed, and Niko grinned wickedly up at him before kissing his chest again, this time much nearer the nipple than the wound.  He should object, this wasn’t going to teach him any faster, but how could he when it felt so good?  Then Niko’s tongue grazed over the tender pink nub and any thought of protestation dried up.

It didn’t take long for both their shirts to hit the floor and for Niko’s hungry mouth to cover his own, hands resting on his narrow hips and sliding now and again beneath the waistband.  A shiver ran across his shoulders that had nothing to do with the warm air; a year ago he’d never thought this could feel so nice and yet here he was, sensitive beyond belief beneath Niko’s touch.

Niko is very, very easily distracted, it would appear...

Work, Writing and WiPpet Wednesday

Work has exploded.  Brains over the wall, blood pooling in awkward puddles you'll never get out of the carpet, exploded.

Okay, well, maybe not quite so literally but we've had a lot of new hours scheduled, which means that it's time I'm spending not writing.  'Even more time I'm spending not writing' would probably be more accurate.  Yes, excuses excuses.  It's also time I spend thinking longingly about writing, but never seem to get any done when I do have the time (for various reasons).

So while I'm getting next to nothing done, I am getting the story fixed in my head, which is an improvement of sorts.  There are scenes I'm looking forwards to writing--including the return of a character I became unexpectedly fond of in the first story, despite their very little 'screen time'--and one in particular I'm really not, for the same reason the first story hitched and stuttered while I was writing.

I did, however, manage to render a picture of Kirill with a very awkward smile.  It's for my Goodreads profile, working on the theory that since you're getting a picture of me the day hell freezes over (or heats up, depending on your beliefs), you might as well have one of a character of mine instead.  My previous one was a sullen and glare-y Milos flashing his chest, but pretty much no one reads my Unravel stuff and it's a bit awkward to turn into any sort of an eBook.  Not least because I've not actually finished Milos's introduction to HEL, the first arc is all over the place, there's a NaNo in the middle of it and the second arc is occasionally ongoing, not to mention the section about Alex's schooldays or the disturbing stuff when Milos was a teenager...  so I doubt anyone actually knows who Milos even is.  Poor sod.  These days I'm not sure even he knows any more.

I might work on it some more in what free time I have.  This doesn't actually eat much writing time because while fiddling with things does take up some of it, most of any kind of 3D work is spent waiting for it to render.  Might go quicker on Echo than it ever did on Sixteen, but hair is still a massive timesink.

Fun fact: I re-read The Destruction of Kirill the other day, just to double-check some things and remind myself of events I'd semi-forgotten.  It took me a lot longer than it took my lovely beta @SplitShilo and just made me appreciate her all the more.

With that in mind...

WiPpet Wednesday

WiPpet Wednesday is K. L. Schwengel's genius idea: a blog-hop with excerpts from works-in-progress.  You can find other blogs and add yours here.

My brain is still refusing to compute any WiPpet maths (I brained too hard at work and I cannae brain nae more, Cap'n) and I'm slightly embarrassed by the sheer lack of progress on The Reconstruction of Kirill, so today you're getting something slightly further along: The Rose Queen.

Since it's the 14th January, 14/1, you're getting 14 lines from the first chapter, which I coincidentally wrote while not wholly well.  Turns out, catching 'flu does a lot to kickstart projects you thought you'd long abandoned but doesn't do so much for your coherency.  One of my friends had to point out that I'd forgotten to write half a sentence; the missing half was in the middle.  It's been patched up since, but... yep.  First draft ickiness, as ever.

Here the hero, Fayth, has infiltrated a kidnapper's ship to return his target--who he knows only as 'The Rose Queen', and has very little information on...

He'd hesitated to stare at a flower the size of his head hanging from halfway up a tall pillar when he realised that the curve didn't exactly follow the walls: he was a bare ten meters from the rich brown trunk of the central tree and the only thing hiding him from view was the dense viney growth that wrapped thickly around the dull grey metal.  Worse--or better, depending on his point of view--was the kneeling figure at the base of the tree.

His breath caught in his throat.

The Rose Queen.  Her straight black hair fell in front of her face, obscuring it from view.  Fayth waited for her to brush it back, tuck it behind an ear and reveal her features, but instead it cast them more deeply into shadow as she began work on a second hole, less than a foot from the first.  She was completely unaware of his presence, blissfully unaware of everything except for her work.

Including the man who stepped from the path that ringed the tree.  Fayth opened his mouth to shout, then clamped it closed again.  Idiot; announcing his presence now would be suicide.  He could only watch, heart climbing into his throat, as the crewman grabbed the Rose Queen's shoulder and shoved her onto her back.  She let out a surprisingly deep grunt, squirming as the crewman forced her brown trouser-clad legs apart, and snapped, "get the hell off me."

She.

He. 

Just in case, y'know, you thought the 'Rose Queen' was a title that actually meant a damn thing.

Procrastination Station: Beat Hazard

A confession that'll come as absolutely no surprise to anyone ever: I procrastinate.  A lot.  If there's something I'm supposed to be doing (like writing), it's guaranteed I'll be doing anything else instead while thinking about it, because thinking about what I'm not doing is almost the same as doing it, right?

Well, not exactly...  Though not exactly not, either.  Doesn't sound like it makes sense, doesn't it?  Bear with me, here.

I have a deep love for rhythm-based video games.  Not ones that use pre-recorded tracks (though those aren't too bad either), but ones that generate gameplay from the user's own music collection.  My favourite method of procrastination is to set up songs I usually write to in these games and indulge in something that allows me to not think about what I'm doing while letting my subconscious wander around in the music and fix whichever issue is bothering me at the time.

It sounds ridiculous, but it's remarkably helpful.  Except for the keeping me from writing bit, but you can't have everything.

What's the game?

Today's Procrastination Station example is Beat Hazard, a music-based indie shoot-em-up that handily (or dangerously) also has a demo available.

Apologies for 4:3 screen resolution.  It mildly horrified a guy from my ISP too when he saw it.

I'm not actually a fan of shmups at all.  I grew up playing them, sure: it was the 80s/90s, there was a plethora of them available.  But the gameplay never caught my attention.  They were just timekillers and, when playing, there was always that inevitable moment you picked up something that was supposed to be an upgrade only to find the "upgrade" downgraded your hard-fought-for weaponry into something that was supposed to be more powerful but functionally useless for the stage you were on--

--Yes, as you can see, I harbour grudges against ancient gameplay mechanics.

Luckily, Beat Hazard doesn't do that.  You have two sets of powerups: volume and power.  You gain them by killing enemies or destroying asteroids and they increase the breadth and power of your attacks (big surprise).  If you die you lose them all, but your carcass also contains the remains of some of your former glory so the only time you're likely to feel powerless is at the very start--and after you've played the game for a while and unlocked some perks with the cash that also appears when you wreak your gloriously retina-burning destruction, you can even start out fairly powerfully.

The default game is enjoyable, addictive even, but gets a little boring after a few hours.  Luckily (or unluckily?) there are two DLC packs available, which expand the game so much with new enemies, bosses and modes it feels almost totally new.  I bought both after maybe a couple of hours' play.

And what have I actually learned about my characters by procrastinating with this game?

Sod all on existing projects, actually, other than a vague relief that slipspace is brightly coloured in The Rose Queen, and the realisation that gunfire is probably the same sorts of colours--though it's hit and miss whether we'll see that, what with Fayth being pretty pacifistic for a thief...

I did, however, accidentally spawn two new characters, Aneirin and Rheon, who wandered into my head while I was playing and pretty much said, "new sci-fi characters reporting for duty, sir".  So I got something out of it alright: the realisation I have more people I need to do something with.

Oh joy.

WiPpet Wednesday: The Reconstruction of Kirill

I will freely admit that I have a problem with knuckling down and finishing things.  I've somehow ended up with several projects on the go at once, some of which should really be a lot further on than they are, and I'm one of those downright useless people who freezes when they realise this.

Panicking gets me absolutely nothing, of course, except a headache.  So instead I decided to give myself another challenge, and hopefully one that I do a lot more frequently than my Pinup Boy Sundays: WiPpet Wednesdays, created by K. L. Schwengel.  I've seen Nicole Nally do some in the past and thought they looked both fun and interesting (or at least, she makes them look that way!), so after a little deliberation I've signed up.

This handily dovetails with the fact that, having hit a small impasse at the end of the chapter of the Rose Queen I'm working on and done no planning on Dust & Ash, I'm going to resume working on The Reconstruction of Kirill.

Since it's the 7th January, and WiPpet Wednesday excerpts should be related to the day and month--and I don't feel the equal to even basic maths lately--I'm going to share the first seven paragraphs from the first chapter of TRoK:

The clash of blades rang out as sunlight streamed through the massive arched windows.  Kirill stumbled back from a jab that almost perforated his gut, flicking his rapier down in a clumsy attempt to deflect the sword darting towards him.  He succeeded but he was on the back foot, his muscles burning; one misstep, one false move, and—

The tip of the blade pressed against his chest, dangerously close to his heart.  “I win.”

“That’s the third time now,” he murmured with a smile, batting the needle-sharp point away and ignoring the flare of pain in his wrist.  “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll ever be as good at it as you are.”

“If you’re going to finish that sentence by insisting I stop teaching you,” Niko said, sliding the rapier into its sheath and smoothing down his rumpled shirt, “then you already know what the answer is.”

Kirill stretched his arms above his head and arched his back, basking in the way the afternoon sun inscribed distorted, criss-crossed arcs over the polished wooden floor and heated it beneath his bare feet.  What had once been Niko’s kitchen and a bunch of makeshift storerooms had been transformed into a massive dining room, huge windows dominating the back wall and leading onto the patio.  There was really only one thing missing.  “When are you going to put tables and chairs in here?”

“Why would I do that?”  Niko grinned.  “Waste a perfectly good room like this on waiting for the few occasions a year I can bring myself to put up with company?  I thought you knew me better than that.”

Kirill returned the grin, only to fumble his sword down as Niko’s weapon flashed out from the sheath again.  “Wait, I’m not ready!”

 You can find other WiPets from other authors in the directory and sign up there too.

Assessing the Resolutions, and New Ones for the New Year

Happy new year, everyone!  I hope you kicked it off in style, whether that style is staying up and drinking or sleeping the event away (which honestly seems like the better plan--it's a lot warmer, for a start).

It's time for the obligatory retrospective and wild delusion that characterises... you guessed it: new year's resolutions!  Well, it's more a case of looking back at last year's pitifully short list, seeing what I missed by miles and making much the same list that I'll again probably fail miserably at.

So, in short, a standard list of resolutions!

This is last year's list (if you want to read them in their rambley entirety, this is the post):

1. Read at least 20 books this year.
2. Write one story a week.
3. Finish some of the story arcs I've left hanging.
4. Finish five computer/console games.
5. Try not to be such a whiny and self-pitying shite.

How did I do?

1. Well, according to my Goodreads page, I managed a fairly respectable 82 books last year, though that does include graphic novels.  It does however knock the spots off the year before, where I pledged to read 10 and managed 22.  Ebooks and having ereaders on basically every device and computer I own certainly helped there.  Overall conclusion: success.

2. This did not go so well.  I wrote about 13 or so, if you include my flash fiction pieces, but very few longer pieces.  Whether you count them or not, it's still a long way off a supposed attempt at 52.  To be honest, I'd entirely forgotten I'd made the resolution in the first place.  Overall conclusion: dismal failure.

3. The story arcs I specifically mentioned in my previous post were Spectrum, the Unravel AUs and the last chapter of The Destruction of Kirill.  To date, I've not finished Spectrum or either of the Unravel AUs, but writing later scenes about Niko and Kirill did get my arse into gear over the last chapter, which finally got edited and released mid-year, so there is at least a partial success.  Overall conclusion: slightly better than expected.

4. I've honestly lost count on this.  Ever since I got Echo I've been getting more PC games, because all those memes that went over my head about the Steam sales because I couldn't get and play any games on it?  I understand now just how dangerous Steam sales actually are...  Add to that 3DS, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games and it's a losing battle.  What doesn't actually help are the games I play that don't have defined finish lines, like Melody's Escape, Audiosurf 2 and Minecraft and I'm a little doomed.
I have finished: Octodad: Dadliest Catch; Transistor (twice); Analogue: A Hate Story (three times), Kentucky Route Zero (up to the newest release); Halo 1 (a week ago); Castle Crashers (yet again); and I'm totally claiming Melody's Escape despite it being a rhythm game because I've maxed out all the achievements.  So... Overall conclusion: success.

5. Overall success: crashing failure.

So with what seems like a 50/50 success/failure rate, we move into the new year and new resolutions which... for the most part look remarkably like the old ones.

1.  Read at least 30 books this year.  Yes, it keeps going up incrementally but I always live in fear that I suddenly won't get the time to read (like the year before last).

2.  Write one story a week, or at least 20 stories for the year.  I've been talking about actually doing this one now, so hopefully this time I'll actually remember I'm supposed to be doing it, but if I don't I'll shamelessly borrow from one of my NaNoers, FrankieDWrites', resolution to write 20 short stories in a year.

3.  Finish outstanding projects.  This year those include The Palace, The Reconstruction of Kirill (which I have no excuse on, I will freely admit), The Rose Queen and Dust & Ash.  And who knows, maybe even Spectrum and the unfinished Unravel AUs...

4.  Finish 5 computer games.  Eh, I've had it as a resolution for years.  It's the only one I can remember off the top of my head any more.  Maybe this year I'll even finally finish Borderlands 2 and Virtue's Last Reward...

5.  Handwrite more and practice calligraphy.  Pretty self-explanatory, but I began to learn to write with dips pens this December and I'd like to not be so terrible at it.  I'd also like to get more use out of my gorgeous fountain pens and inks beyond making notes.

6.  Make more jewellery.  I started doing this around the launch of TDoK and I've learned a whole lot, like various chainmail techniques, making jump rings, wire wrapping.  I'd like to expand my skillset a little.  Who knows, maybe I'll even invest in a soldering iron.  Maybe, unlike my childhood, I'll realise prodding metal that refuses to melt with my little finger is not the best way to find out why.  (It was a paperclip fragment, for the record; the scar finally vanished from my fingerprint in my very late 20s.)

7.  Try to be better at advertising myself.  I need to figure this one out though, which may take some work.  Ultimately, I think 3. might help as much as anything else here, so maybe tying them together will help.

8.  Stop being a whiny self-pitying shite.  Self-explanatory really.

So, have you guys managed to keep your resolutions?  Are you making any this year?  I'd love to know, particularly if it's been a struggle for you too.  What can I say?  I'd just like to know I'm not alone.