Weekly Update: Long Time No Update
I got back last week from a week in Orlando (no, I wasn’t at the pen show, I was on the Galactic Starcruiser — of which I will write a post later on) and am starting to get back to my routine, sort of. In any case, I haven’t posted a weekly update in a while, so I figured that it’s about time.
Health
- I got my CPET (Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Test) results back. I have less lung capacity to work with, which is likely the result of the chemo I underwent. There’s nothing to do about it but keep on running and hoping that my lungs will recover in time. It does mean that I won’t be able to break any more speed PRs anytime soon, but I can live with that. It’s better to be alive than to break running PRs.
- I’ve been on an enforced break from running due to plantar fasciitis caused by my not getting my insoles replaced in time. As I have two races next month I’m really hoping to get back to running soon.
- For the first time in my life I had perfect bloodwork results, which was very nice indeed and made me and my oncologist very happy.
Reading
- I finished reading M Train, and found it both delightful and slightly disappointing.
- I finished reading “Well of Ascension”, Brandon Sanderson’s second Mistborn novel. I really didn’t like this one, and I’m not really sure that I’ll bother with the third book in the trilogy.
- I read “Winter’s Gifts”, a Rivers of London novella by Ben Aaronovich. I love the Rivers of London series, but this novella wasn’t the best, and you can feel free to skip it and not miss much. It was an OK plane read.
- I’m reading “Deep Work” by Cal Newport right now, and so far it’s been pretty insightful. As someone who gets constantly interrupted while working I was interested in seeing if there was a way that I could carve out bigger chunks of time for more meaningful work, and I hope this book will help.
Sketching
- I did a tremendous amount of repetitive sketching as giveaways on the Galactic Starcruiser, to the point where my carpal tunnel lifted its head and said hi. I’m giving myself a bit of a break from regular sketching and starting to plan out Inktober. Anything in particular that you’d like to see?
Pens and Ink
I’ve replaced almost my entire rotation. As this is starting to get a little too lengthy of a post, I’ll post a separate blog post about what I’m currently using.
D&D, tabletop roleplaying and LARPs
- I ran a convention game, a new one I wrote just for the convention, and it turned out pretty well. Something that I can tweak and rerun in a different convention next year.
- My adventure got accepted to the biggest convention in Israel, I-Con, and for the first time ever I’ll be running a game in the “big league”. My game was one of the first to be sold out, with all the tickets going in the first 24 hours, which was super nice and big boost to my confidence.
- I’m nearing the end of another adventure in my current D&D campaign, and it’s been going well so far. I took a risk of creating a no combat adventure, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so far.
- LARPs – I got to participate in the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser before it shuts down at the end of the month and it was beyond amazing, and is going to get its own dedicated post. Locally, next week marks a turning point in the space themed LARP that we’re participating in and I can’t wait to see where the story takes us next.
General Stuff
- I watched season 1 and 2 of “Slow Horses” on Apple TV and I loved it. Phenomenal actors, excellent writing, and my beloved London at its best. I purchased the first book in the series because I loved it so much.
- I spent about two hours today clearing out all of my plant pots, adding new earth, sowing seeds. I haven’t planted anything since I got sick in 2021 because I didn’t want to burden anyone with taking care of my plants for me. It took more time and courage than I thought I would need to get out there and sow some seeds, but hopefully I’ll get to see them germinate, grow and bloom. All the seeds I have are from 2021, so I’m not sure they’ll germinate at all, but as I planted basically only nasturtiums and they’re hardy little plants, I’m hoping for the best. In any case progress is marked in the little things, and this little step is something too, I guess.
I hope you have a great week!