Desert of Zin

Aurora has some childcare (whoo!) which gave myself and Ruthy a rare afternoon off.  Bliss.

Non-child related activity included a trip to China Buffet King (classy!), The Works (cheap!) and Beanscene (tea!) for a welcome rest.

Truth be told I’ve been really stressed recently and trying to keep a relaxed face on it is getting a bit more difficult, so it’s welcome to get some time and just ponder for a while.

Still, hitting The Works means I have a new copy of ‘The Right Hand Of Doom & Other Tales of Solomon Kane’ by Robert E. Howard!  Win!

Slowly he rose, mechanically wiping his hands upon his cloak.  A dark scowl had settled on his sombre brow.  Yet he made no wild, reckless vow, swore no oath by saints or devils.

‘Men shall die for this,’ he said coldly.

When I grow up I want to be Solomon Kane…  *sigh*

- Alistair

Ruthy and I were discussing this morning the anti-Christ-like ways of the ever watch-able Jeremy Kyle, and the celebrity scandal episode with the wonderfully crazy Brigitte Nielsen.  We thought that she’s a good match for the prince of darkness but another name was invoked who we thought would be a perfect match.

Grace Jones.

According to Ruthy, Grace Jones is “the screaming chaos that awaits us all at the end of time”.

Perfect.  Couldn’t have said it better myself.

- Alistair

I have until the end of the week to get a story finished.  Talk about leaving it to the last minute.

The added challenge is Ruth had to head up north for family reasons and I have the little Aurora goblin all to myself until she gets back.  Not exactly conducive to a peaceful writing environment but maybe I should get aurora to help me finish it?

Perhaps her critical eye is exactly what is needed…

- Alistair

It has been a while (as usual) so I thought the blog required a bit of a update.

• Work is going well.  Care work seems to suit me.  Some weeks are busier than others but that’s the nature of the game I suppose.  Best job so far though.
• I’m doing an SVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care.  Only just started it and there’s plenty of work to do.  Confidence is high though.
• With that in mind (heh, heh), the ol’ noggin is clearer.  Mental Health is good at the moment after coming out of a low spell.  Have to make the most of being on dry land, psychologically speaking.
• Aurora and Ruth continue to bloom.  Aurora will be 6 months in a week and a bit and the time has flown by.  Wow.

I’m sure there’s more.  There always is. 

- Alistair

(Or ups and downs and the inevitable return of the Crisis of Confidence.)

I have a habit of becoming hermit-like every so often, even more than normal, and recently has been one of those periods.  It’s annoying (a bloody pain to be honest) but it’s just something that has happened for years, easily since I hit my 20′s.

Now, I know this recent one is not a relapse of the poor mental health that plagued me last year.  Generally I’ve been quite chipper.  Work trundles on, they throw me some shifts if they’re feeling benevolent (joke, joke), Aurora is blossoming and Ruthy is as lovely as ever.  A good and erstwhile chum is back from down south, it’s always good to have him around, and I have no reason to feel like this.

Yet I do.

Of course, the usual reason my mood suffers is due to the pressure I put myself under with my writing.  Same old, same old.  Perhaps I’m just going through the same mood I hit when I had my last whinge.

Ah, bugger.  Prog beckons, I think.  That should break me out of it.

- Alistair