General Update

I’ve been thinking about the structure of this blog over the past couple of days and I’ve decided to make a few changes before I get too far into the process to do so. My initial plan was to post every day, with a set topic for each day of the week. I’ve realised now that this is unrealistic. Some days I simply don’t have time to post, or don’t have the inspiration to write about the topic I’ve set for myself.

So, what next? I’m still going to be mainly sticking to the seven original topics, with perhaps one or two other interests thrown in every now and then. I’ll still be trying to blog every day. The main difference is that I won’t be confining myself to a topic a day. Instead, I’ll be writing about whatever takes my fancy at the time. In other words, you won’t know what to expect on any given day until you get here. I think that’s a good thing.

History: The Death of a Vestal Virgin

Well here we are, at the final section introduction, with what I feel is an appropriately attention-grabbing title. The week is about to come full circle and we’ve arrived at history and archaeology.

So, the introductory bit – I’ll keep this short. The reason I’ve chosen to include this as one of my topics is the simple fact that my degree subject is Ancient History and Archaeology. I’m particularly interested in the ancient Romans (Roman religion will be my dissertation topic next year, focusing on either the imperial cult or Mithraism) but am also quite partial to a bit of British prehistory.

Incidentally, it’s these two subjects which I’ve been revising today, as exams loom closer: the status of the Vestal Virgins in ancient Rome and the settlement patterns of Iron Age Britain. The latter doesn’t have much in the way of juicy details, but did you know that the punishment for a Vestal Virgin losing their virginity was to be buried alive? Not only that, but the authorities buried the offending Vestal in a furnished room, complete with small quantities of food, to maintain the illusion that they weren’t really executing the woman.

There you go – my historical nugget for the day. When I’ve got the energy, I’ll try to make these historical pieces a bit longer and more detailed, but for now, that’s your lot.

Photography: Let’s Start With A Photo

I don’t have as much time tonight as I’d like to write this entry properly, so rather than talk about photography, I’ve decided to start off with a photo. It seems an appropriate way to begin this section.

So here we are – St Catherine’s Castle, Fowey, Cornwall. This is a fairly recent one, taken in March of this year. I appreciate that it’s not a huge file and that it might be difficult to see some of the details, but I didn’t want to overload anyone’s internet connection.

And that’s all for today.

Writing: Background

I’ve been debating all day what to put in this post. There are a lot of other blogs out there about writing, many by writers with far more experience than myself. I could still give you my musings on the craft/art of writing, but that seems a bit pretentious for my first post on the subject. Instead, here’s some background info.

I started writing back when I was about 6, inspired by my first attempt to read The Lord of the Rings (I got halfway through). At that age, I had no concept of genre, which isn’t really surprising. For years, I tried my hand at anything and everything, from hard SF to what I suppose would be classed as teen romance. Things changed when, at the age of 13, I read the Shannara books of Terry Brooks. Suddenly I realised that my real interest lay in fantasy and it’s in that direction that my writing has veered ever since.

So far, I’ve written four novels, with the first being completed when I was 16. Whilst a couple have been read by people other than myself, I’ve only considered trying to get one of them published. The others are probably better left forgotten by the world, although I have to admit that, personally, I remember them fondly. They weren’t great, but I certainly don’t cringe when I think of them.

As far as publication goes, only one story so far has made it into ‘print’ (well, an online magazine anyway). Mind you, it’s the only short story I’ve ever sent out, so that’s not bad going. It’s still available and you can read it here. It’s down at the bottom of the page.

So, what’s next in my writing life? Well, I’m currently working on a fifth novel, with the working title of ‘Clockwork’, the word count of which stands at this:

I’ve got a long way to go.

I’ve also got a few more short story ideas floating around in my head and a few written ones which I need to go back to. You never know, they might actually make it into print one day.

Gaming: Guild Wars

When I think of games, there is always one that first springs to mind. As a consequence, it makes sense for me to start this section with that particular game, which has long been my favourite: Guild Wars.

Allow me to introduce you to my four leading ladies. Here we have Venom, Auline, Mere and Ebony Liberati. Respectively, they are a Ranger, Elementalist, Mesmer and Necromancer. If you know the game at all, you’ve probably guessed that I have a fondness for casters and ranged combat. Warriors just aren’t my thing.

I started playing Guild Wars a few years ago, I think in 2005 and have dutifully kept up with all the add-ons since. To begin with, I had a character on my brother’s account, but when he moved onto pastures new (namely World of Warcraft), I stuck with Guild Wars and not just because it’s cheaper.

I’m not going to go too far into the detail of why I play GW, but I will mention a few of my favourite things about the game. I’ve played numerous MMORPGs in the past, including (but not limited to) Rappelz, Perfect World, Flyff and, not surprisingly, World of Warcraft. All of them had their plus points, but ultimately I always come back to Guild Wars. Somewhere, between the fabulous landscapes, challenging skill system and engaging storylines, GW consistently comes out as my favourite RPG. Then there’s the instanced gameplay (which I desperately hope will remain in Guild Wars 2) – no ridiculous allegations of ‘kill stealing’ or constant demands for buffs by illiterate nine year olds. Whilst many of the other online games I have played managed to stress me out, either due to irritating fellow players or badly thought out gameplay, I actually find Guild Wars relaxing. And really, when I have so many other things I could be doing with my time, I can see no reason to play a game that isn’t relaxing.

Rats: Introductions

In some corners of the internet, Saturday is known as Caturday and is for the posting of cat pictures. Much as I love cats, on this particular blog, Saturday is instead going to be known as Raturday. So, to start off Raturday, I’m going to introduce you to my two boys, Billy and James. Apologies for the slightly blurry photos – these two have an aversion to sitting still when there’s anything as exciting as a camera to attempt to steal/chew.

Here’s Billy:

And here’s James:

They’re both boys, fairly obviously, somewhere between 6 months and a year old. Their hobbies include climbing, jumping incredibly large distances, chewing stuff, stealing paper and sitting on shoulders. Their favourite food is breadsticks.

I could spam this blog with a whole load of other rat pictures, but I’ll refrain. After all, I’ve got to have something to post every week. Beware though – lolrats may ensure. You have been warned.

Music: First Things First

So, to get this blog a little further off the ground, I’m going to dive straight into my weekly ’schedule’, as it were. It’s Friday, so that means talking about music. As I’ve already made one post today (despite what the date on that intro says, it was actually made today), I’m going to keep it short and simple. Rather than list every single band I like or musical style I listen to, here’s a link to my Last.fm account, which pretty much sums up my current listening habits. Look, you can even see what song I’m listening to right now! Excited yet? No? Well, never mind. I’m going to finish by saying that Last.fm as a whole is pretty cool, so go play!