Mostly Not Gaming Thoughts

Sorry to have been relatively quiet the last few weeks, but I've been in the last stages of radiation, and I've been a little less focused as a result. That said...

I finished radiation treatments on Friday! Huzzah. I have been cleared to return to work in two weeks, which I am happy about. This weekend the final treatments hit me, and I'm more tired and achy than I've been this whole time, and the radiation burns on my neck are pretty painful. It is about ten times worse than the worst sunburn I've ever had, so... yeah.

As I said I wanted to, I started a poetry blog on April 1. This has already been more personal than I expected it to be, and I've shared some things I didn't think I would. Okay then. You are free to follow along, or free to not follow along. Because 'Merica! I'm posting a new poem every day for a year. I keep saying that instead of "I want to..." or "I plan to..." because that gives me a way out. "I will", darn it.

I downloaded Krita, a drawing App, because I realized that if I want my art to be taken seriously, I probably have to upgrade out of Microsoft Paint at some point. Seriously, if Paint had vector graphics and the ability to do at least two layers, I would probably never leave. I LOVE the simplicity of Paint, and opening an app that has hundreds of tools is a bit much. I figure that I can tinker with it over the next few weeks and get up to speed. The reviews seem really positive (talking about how intuitive it is), it was free, and I want to start challenging myself more as an artist anyway, so here we are. My long-term idea is a 'Official Handbook of the Stalwart Age' that has revised stat blocks for the characters I've released, a few dozen more, and the 'official' game mechanics for things like the Gloaming Lands and the Null Zone. I'd like this book to be pretty, where the art is more than just functional and supportive but is equally up to the text, but that's going to be a bit of a learning curve for me. Hey, not like I have a lot else to do at the moment...