The King's Paws (with one holding a bottle of Peri Peri sauce.)

[xiagan]

Why is it winter again?

It's too hot to sleep under a blanket over here...

[ScarletBea]

Why is it winter again?

It's too hot to sleep under a blanket over here...

Let's average our temperatures, then

[Eli_Freysson]

So how has everyone's day been?

The weather here has been wonderful, and so in the afternoon I bicycled to the nearby man-made forest for a stroll. At the back of it is a row of cliffs. I walked up on them for a view over the fjord, then opened my backpack and took out my Kindle and some refreshments I'd brought, including a soda I'd put in the freezer before setting off so it was still nice and cold.

It was a lovely way to start with a new book.

[Bender]

Haven't seen my dog for 10 days I was on vacation. Eager to get back to him today. Pets are family!

[J.R. Darewood]

So how has everyone's day been?

The weather here has been wonderful, and so in the afternoon I bicycled to the nearby man-made forest for a stroll. At the back of it is a row of cliffs. I walked up on them for a view over the fjord, then opened my backpack and took out my Kindle and some refreshments I'd brought, including a soda I'd put in the freezer before setting off so it was still nice and cold.

It was a lovely way to start with a new book.

By comparison

Got back from a 8hr canoe trip to an indigenous village in the Amazon where I had to shoo out giant beetles and tarantulas from the student's rooms at night (I thought one was helping with a flash light but actually he was just filming me swat at a taranatula with his phone), and one of my students got chewed on by carnivirous fish living in the river where we needed to go to bathe (she got a way pretty fast with a series of bites, but appearantly if you're not fast enough the adults will clamp down on your leg and you have to crush their brains in order to get them to release their jaws). Another student was demonstrating how to set up a hammock ("Isn't that a bit high?" I asked. She jumped in it, it broke, and she slammed in to the wooden stool she was using to climb into it, breaking it to pieces). When I arrived back to the city from the Amazon, the WFP (world food program) emailed me saying they liked my video interview and that they want to conduct a phone language exam, but its at the same time that we'll be going to yet another community in the amazon (Waroni, notorious warriors that have been affected by oil activity) which is turning out to be logistially very difficult (never mind the complexities with working with a group of people who have only had contact for less than a generation and have the history of murdering people from competing tribes and stealing their babies to increase their population).

RN I'm stuffing my face with chicken so that I can review proofs of a book chapter about conservation in the context of civil war in Indonesia coming out in a publication very shortly.  I need to read the book I assigned to the students but it's going to be a frantic skim later tonight.

[Eli_Freysson]

By comparison

Got back from a 8hr canoe trip to an indigenous village in the Amazon where I had to shoo out giant beetles and tarantulas from the student's rooms at night

... why?

[ScarletBea]

So how has everyone's day been?

The weather here has been wonderful, and so in the afternoon I bicycled to the nearby man-made forest for a stroll. At the back of it is a row of cliffs. I walked up on them for a view over the fjord, then opened my backpack and took out my Kindle and some refreshments I'd brought, including a soda I'd put in the freezer before setting off so it was still nice and cold.

It was a lovely way to start with a new book.

By comparison

Got back from a 8hr canoe trip to an indigenous village in the Amazon where I had to shoo out giant beetles and tarantulas from the student's rooms at night (I thought one was helping with a flash light but actually he was just filming me swat at a taranatula with his phone), and one of my students got chewed on by carnivirous fish living in the river where we needed to go to bathe (she got a way pretty fast with a series of bites, but appearantly if you're not fast enough the adults will clamp down on your leg and you have to crush their brains in order to get them to release their jaws). Another student was demonstrating how to set up a hammock ("Isn't that a bit high?" I asked. She jumped in it, it broke, and she slammed in to the wooden stool she was using to climb into it, breaking it to pieces). When I arrived back to the city from the Amazon, the WFP (world food program) emailed me saying they liked my video interview and that they want to conduct a phone language exam, but its at the same time that we'll be going to yet another community in the amazon (Waroni, notorious warriors that have been affected by oil activity) which is turning out to be logistially very difficult (never mind the complexities with working with a group of people who have only had contact for less than a generation and have the history of murdering people from competing tribes and stealing their babies to increase their population).

RN I'm stuffing my face with chicken so that I can review proofs of a book chapter about conservation in the context of civil war in Indonesia coming out in a publication very shortly.  I need to read the book I assigned to the students but it's going to be a frantic skim later tonight.

Another book/film

By the way, I finally read your article on democracy: quite enlightning but a bit depressing at the same time...

[S. K. Inkslinger]

So how has everyone's day been?

The weather here has been wonderful, and so in the afternoon I bicycled to the nearby man-made forest for a stroll. At the back of it is a row of cliffs. I walked up on them for a view over the fjord, then opened my backpack and took out my Kindle and some refreshments I'd brought, including a soda I'd put in the freezer before setting off so it was still nice and cold.

It was a lovely way to start with a new book.

By comparison

Got back from a 8hr canoe trip to an indigenous village in the Amazon where I had to shoo out giant beetles and tarantulas from the student's rooms at night (I thought one was helping with a flash light but actually he was just filming me swat at a taranatula with his phone), and one of my students got chewed on by carnivirous fish living in the river where we needed to go to bathe (she got a way pretty fast with a series of bites, but appearantly if you're not fast enough the adults will clamp down on your leg and you have to crush their brains in order to get them to release their jaws). Another student was demonstrating how to set up a hammock ("Isn't that a bit high?" I asked. She jumped in it, it broke, and she slammed in to the wooden stool she was using to climb into it, breaking it to pieces). When I arrived back to the city from the Amazon, the WFP (world food program) emailed me saying they liked my video interview and that they want to conduct a phone language exam, but its at the same time that we'll be going to yet another community in the amazon (Waroni, notorious warriors that have been affected by oil activity) which is turning out to be logistially very difficult (never mind the complexities with working with a group of people who have only had contact for less than a generation and have the history of murdering people from competing tribes and stealing their babies to increase their population).

RN I'm stuffing my face with chicken so that I can review proofs of a book chapter about conservation in the context of civil war in Indonesia coming out in a publication very shortly.  I need to read the book I assigned to the students but it's going to be a frantic skim later tonight.

Another book/film

By the way, I finally read your article on democracy: quite enlightning but a bit depressing at the same time...

Oh wow, but I just stumbled across these journal entries from Mr. Darewood and they're hella fun to read.    I was totally thinking of them as parts of a book, something, "The Mishaps and Escapades of J. R. THE Darewoodson", which would make a good jungle adventure movie as well.

[ScarletBea]

Trust me to have found the largest secondhand book shop in the Midlands, near-ish to where I'm staying
After visiting a castle + gardens, I know where I'm going before driving home

Edit: didn't buy anything....

[Rostum]

where were you Bea?

[ScarletBea]

where were you Bea?

Coombe Abbey, near Coventry.

[Eli_Freysson]

... okay.

Do you folks remember my Roumania situation? That I got a chapter published in a magazine there through a weird quirk of fate, and that guy was looking into introducing my books to publishers in his country?

Well, it's been months since I heard a peep and I'd sort of given up on the whole thing.

Now about half an hour ago he contacts me on Facebook and says he is going to talk to a publisher tomorrow, about my Golden Throne quartet.

This is certainly a development. And the thing about having a good thing MAYBE coming about is that I get nervous as all Hell.
Also, I got asked about special conditions and price, and it dawned on me that I have absolutely no idea what to say on the subject. I suck at every aspect of writing except the actual writing itself.

[J.R. Darewood]

Hey guys, I'm still hoping to jump back on the forum, but not quite 100% yet.

I just saw off the students and it was wonderful!  They bought me liquor, duck taped a happy father's day sign with monkeys to it, and gave me the sweetest note on our farewell dinner.

I'm super exhausted but:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I've only got a few days before I really need to leave for Peru, and:
* the government has confiscated my USB-C adaptor to be assessed and charged a tax.  It was supposed to arrive in 10 days and I still don't have it 2 months later. I need to go to the post office and raise hell
* my friend who is in jail for murder but is actually a political prisoner is in a city 7 hours away.  His wife called me to tell me that he only gets visiting days randomly throughout the month and that I should leave at 3am to catch a bust to go to see him.
* if I do that, I won't have time to finish the Executive Director applications for 2 nonprofits that a friend of mine with ties to their board of directors suggested I apply for.  They are both amazing organizations, and it's a HUGE long shot, but I've been desperately trying to find time to get the applications out b/c it would be a dream come true.  One of the orgs is Cultural Survival which I love.
* Randomly chatting with a refugee from Venezuela today, talking about how the president, in an effort to hide the extent of the crisis, is blocking aid from coming in to people who are starving and dying from medical shortages, also blockaded the border to Colombia for fear of a US-motivated invasion.  Somehow I got these two videos dropped in my lap.  One is Venzuelan state petroleum tankers crossing a river yesterday, indicating that the government is secretly sending petroleum out of the country despite widespread gas shortages.   The other is the personal escort of the governor of the province getting his head sawed off while he's still alive by Colombian rebels.  Supposedly they sent him the head wiith a note including the addresses of his family living in Caracas, demanding that the border with Colombia be re-opened.  These videos need to be verified, they could totally be false, but doing that also takes time.  If they are in fact legit, HRW and Amnesty need to see them, and maybe I need to put something together for the press.  But again that will keep me from doing my job applications.  Grrrrrrrrrr

Anyway I hope to be on the forum again in full force but life keeps conspiring against me. Give me another month or two!

[ScarletBea]

@J.R. Darewood, please stay safe!
As I write this I know it's silly, you seem to be doing the kind of dangerous things that a small % of the population does to allow the large % to be safe and live properly, but I do worry...
Thanks for everything you do x

[Henry Dale]

For all the people who missed me. It's not as interesting as some other folks here but eh :p

Personal life:
Working on my house. Aka, acquiring furniture, maintenance and renovation. Gardening. (looking forward to a bountiful harvest)

I got a promotion at work as well. So there's that.

Writing:
I've been working on my lorebook/rpg book combo.
DMed several small campaigns within the setting and system. Got positive feedback so yay for that.
Improved my painting skills as well.