Christmas, and all that

Full of cold, but just about compos mentis enough to blog last few days.

We had a hurriedly arranged trip up to Durham on Christmas Eve to meet friends and exchange gifts. We prepared for the worst, and after a nice lunch and chat, set off home again early in case the roads iced over. Turned out to be a hassle free trip, and we probably could have popped in to see my parents after all, but never mind. We'll be off to see them in a couple of days or so.

Christmas Day itself got off to an early(ish) but relaxed start - the Terror was the most laid-back six year old ever and initially quite happy to just empty stocking and unwrap two presents before saving the rest for when we were at Nana's. As morning went on, he became more and more excited though, culminating in a tantrum once we got there as we didn't drop everything to open all the presents there and then. He calmed down enough to be allowed to open a few more, and while he was pleased enough with the presents from Santa which were mostly exactly what he asked for, it was the look on his face when he opened the Ben 10 Alien Force annual that really made the day for his daddy and me.

Lunch was fantastic, as always (Nana does really good roast dinners) and the boy even discovered he liked Brussels sprouts. Wine, food, more presents - yeah. All good fun. Then came the inevitable building of his Lego Power Miner Mine Mech and Clone Trooper Walker, while I mostly dozed under dual effect of wine and cold. My presents included Moon, Unseen Academicals and hydrophobic sand from my beloved, and the wonderous Grandville by Bryan Talbot, as well as too many other cool stuff to mention. And some chocolate, of course.

Then we all settled down to watch TV. Well, us adults did, the Terror kept playing with his Lego. The much-awaited animated adaption of The Gruffalo as as delightful as it ought to be - beautiful, sedate with flurries of action and simply impeccable voice casting. That was definitely a winner. The much-awaited Christmas special of Doctor Who was, by contrast.....odd. It lacked the bang of the usual specials, which may be no bad thing, but I felt it fell a bit short of the epic build-up it was presumably aiming for. This is not to say there weren't parts that had me squee-ing in delight - Wilf was magnificent as ever, John Simm sold the Master's insanity wonderfully and, well, Timothy Friggin' Dalton, people! The ending was certainly jaw-droppingly over-the-top if nothing else. But as a whole, it just seemed a bit...messy. The pacing felt wrong, the Doctor was too subdued and didn't really do anything, too many questions were asked with not many answers - which might all be attributed to being only the first of a two-parter, but it fills me with dread that next week's finale might also be too rushed and fail to satisfy. I suspect if this had been the penultimate episode of a series, I'd have been quite happy with it, but it actually felt overly long for the story that it did tell. A rewatch might also be in order. As is usual with new Who (and Russell T. Davies' specials in particular) opinion online seems to be heavily divided over whether it was any good or not. Usually, my opinion is "sure, flawed, but it was fun", and I think that was the problem - Wilf and Time Lords aside, it didn't feel fun. Of course that might have been the cold, and maybe if I rewatch it when I'm feeling better I might enjoy it more. Or maybe it just wasn't that good. Now I'm just rambling...

After heading home yesterday, and finally getting boy to bed, I gave parents a quick ring and then huddled down to watch Poirot. Beautiful, and wonderful acting again, but by heck, that was a convoluted plot. I never tire of watching David Suchet as Poirot though - he really is excellent - and John Hannah of course. Even though that, and the desert archaeology, did lead to me thinking of it as "Poirot in The Mummy".

This morning we all slept in, nearly nine o'clock before boy managed to wake me up. Lazed around all day, watching cartoons and reading Grandville - steampunk noir with anthropomorphic animals. "Awesome" doesn't quite do it justice. Plotwise it might be nothing exceptional (detective investigated murder and uncovers high-level conspiracy), but the War on Terror allegories add a nice topical layer that ties in beautifully to the Franco-Anglo antipathy in this alt-history where we lost the Napoleonic wars. Actually, does it count as alt-history if all the characters are animals? Bah - who cares! This book is just bursting with imagination and truly gorgeous visuals. And The Adventures of Tintin as the opium-dreams of washout druggie Snowy? I nearly wept with pleasure.

Built and played another of the Terror's haul from Nana: the Lego game Lava Dragon. The boy was a bit disappointed the dragon didn't really play a part, but it's a neat little game with the wonderful mechanic that you build the dice as you play. Main criticism is that it's a bit too short, and if someone gets ahead then they're likely to win. Both these could be dealt with by building a bigger mountain to play on though....the true joy of these Lego games is the easy customisation!

So that's been my festive season so far. Sorry for the rambly post, trying to work on getting better at reviewing stuff. Hoping to watch Hamlet, not sure if boy will keep quiet for it though. Maybe I'll post a rambling review of that too....

Work, schmerk

So working on the assumption that writing something is better than writing nothing I've....still failed all afternoon to actually write a single thing re birdtrackery and lie algebras. So I'll write this instead.

So lots of fans were disappointed with Journey's End - well, what were they expecting? RTD was never going to kill a companion, although death would have been a blessing compared to what he did to Donna, science and, for that matter, common sense, have always played second fiddle to plot and spectacle in Doctor Who and come on! With an asset like David Tennant you just don't kill him off like that. He doesn't want to leave - not yet - and I doubt we'll see a new doctor until he does. Which might be many years away. The Rose thing - a bit sad actually but I can see why the Doctor did what he did. Although maybe I just have a hard time feeling sorry for someone who gets offered a doctor-clone and complains about it!

Rest of weekend was mostly just wet. Although we did watch Bender's Big Score which just made me realised how much I miss Futurama. And I doubt wishing I had those dvds will result in them appearing through the post like Coupling did. Even internet pixies have limited funds. Besides, still working my way through season two. ("I am the Snake of Truth and I will not be denied!") But yeah, we went to Whitby and got rained on. Stayed in Sunday playing Mario Kart which J brought round but the Terror still wanted to go to J's house. I don't understand that kid sometimes.

Still feeling tired all the time, and teary, and depressed and just wishing everything would collapse into a black hole so I didn't have to deal with it all. Bah. Tried to motivate myself to take up writing again, but even trying to make a Doctor Who comic failed so I doubt I'll ever get any use out of celtx which I downloaded yesterday. And now it's time to go home and try and be Mummy again and try harder tomorrow. I'm obviously just not trying hard enough yet.

Molto bene!

Wow....Midnight was a bit good wasn't it? Moffat level of goodness in fact. And people say RTD can't write, huh? Best episode of the series so far - I foresee a Hugo nomination in the future.

Ok, rest of weekend. Well, Daddy was off "in Derby fighting monsters" so various friends helped out in keeping the Terror and me occupied. There were some tantrums of course, but mostly I was good. He missed his Daddy terribly and picked out his own card and present for Father's Day. We survived. Next weekend is Moot 2, so we have to do it all over again - only without T who will also be going for his first taste of larping. All this of course is just making me look forward even more to the Gathering in August. Can. Not. Wait.

Before then though we have to continue trying to get the Terror ready for school (manage toilet on own, get used to cutting up own food, get dressed on own, get up in time etc) and we're about to start a Weapons of the Gods game - with Daddy GMing not me! So less stress for me, more for him. We've just finished making our characters - in an unusual move we only have one fighter...and two cooks. Should be interesting....

Mostly of course, I am writing this in order to avoid work. And the consequential depression. Sooner or later I suppose I'll have to have another go. Or I could take up writing short stories again....

"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"

Introduced the Terror to the joys that is Monty Python and the Holy Grail - bit too much swearing maybe, but he hasn't picked up that yet. Just played at being "knights of Camelot" all weekend. And we now have to watch it at every available opportunity - well shucks.

Still going "Squee!" over Doctor Who returning. Episode on Saturday was good fun - the Adipose were cute and Donna had changed believably and David was as gorgeous as ever and the miming bit was genius and laugh-out-loud fun! So today has been catching up on other stuff - forums I usually try and avoid, podcast of interview with DT, Doctor Who Confidential and of course the episode itself again with commentary thanks to iPLayer.

Other than that - trying to struggle on with being Mummy when I really don't want to. And not letting it show too much or Daddy starts getting down and stressed and I can't cope with that.

[censored]

This week we've been mostly busy with stuff I can't talk about. NDAs are wonderful like that.

Otherwise....not too bad, depression wise, although the GP was a bit reluctant to over-rule the psychiatrist and give me more drugs so I'm weaning myself off 'em and seeing how I cope without. Visited the Terror's future school, which is terrific and any doubts we might have had about it not being our first choice have been dispelled. They have a wonderful staff-student ratio with a full-time TA for each class as well as a teacher and the children all looked happy and engaged. Their policy of water freely available in the classroom makes wonderful sense and contrasts delightfully with my (long ago now) experience at school where wanting a drink was a nuisance to be discouraged. Avoiding dehydration makes children work better - who'd have thunk?

We've been without internet access at home for a week or so now thanks to dismal mismanagement by TalkTalk who tried to "upgrade" us to a package which included free broadband provision despite being told we weren't interested. The pathetic response to emails sent to them doesn't do much to make us change our mind and I'm tempted to start looking for a new telephone provider.

So back to looking at things I can't mention and getting ready for our first playtest session tomorrow. Woot!

Is it Friday already?

It's been both a long and a short week. Weird. Saw family on Sunday and the Terror got the last of his Christmas presents - including a pirate ship and castle playset from my parents that is now dominating his bedroom and is the current favourite must-play game.

Saw in the New Year quietly with just the two of us and Jools Holland. Managed to stay up to half past twelve anyway.

Mood picked up around Wednesday after some very teary cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat days. Still getting very bored very quickly. The internet appears to be broken - it doesn't entertain me anymore. But then nothing else does so I end up playing Wii Sports or reading. Or checking Facebook every two minutes.

Terror started back at nursery yesterday and Daddy started back at preparing for his lecture course this term. I started back at the calculation I left off before Christmas although I really need to get dug in to smoe PStricks so I can start TeXing up my results so far if I really want to have a chance at finishing this year. I can now think about finishing my thesis without panicking (probably because I haven't actually got to the hard bit - writing) but as soon as I start thinking about what to do after that....might have to go add some vodka to this fruit juice I'm drinking or I'll never get to sleep now.

Also started wondering about applying to playtest Cubicle 7's Doctor Who RPG. I think most of my current gaming group would be interested in a short stab at it. And just when I've started looking forward to wrapping up my mage campaign and playing for a while instead of GMing....

..and what have you done?

Sunday: Despite my best efforts to remian calm and not panic about packing to go away for a measly five days I broke down and Daddy had to do it all again. Good start. Drive was as dull as expected and the Terror behaved reasonably well. Of course he was up late all through the week with the excitement as much as anything else.

Monday: Christmas Eve and um, yeah. Got up late, had brunch at the Ferry Cafe and dozed most of afternoon I think. It was a very lazy week really. Went to Great Grannie's in the evening just to say merry Christmas and exchange presents with her and G'dad. She gave us stollen, so that was a highlight of the week (if not month!).

Christmas Day: Much happy present unwrapping. Santa and everyone else got beaten to Best Present by a friend of Nana's who'd found a fantastic ten-pin bowling game - it's got a snack mechanism to load the pins and little figure with spring-loaded bowling action and it rocks! Daddy was pleased to punch with his presents from me thankfully, and the wonderful man not only got me The Goonies and Hot Fuzz on DVD, but a roleplaying book on sale I'd been meaning to get for a while (The Book of Eldritch Might) and V for Vendetta! He is simply amazing and far too good for me.
Afternoon was spent playing with the Terror's toys and watching all the good stuff on TV. And M*A*S*H* while Eastenders was on. Doctor Who was pretty good as always, and kept the whole family quiet and entertained. So all in all, not a bad day.

Boxing Day: Apparently there was a morning. Daddy and the Terror had big long walk and much fun playing on the beach throwing stones into the sea. I got woken up at 1pm, just in time for lunch and then we went to the Panto (Aladdin). Wasn't sure how the little one would take it but he was very good and sat watching for lots of it. He talked about it quite a bit afterwards so it must have made an impression.

Thursday: We actually made it into town and bought a new game for the Wii (which we had taken down to show Nana but neglected to bring any games for - oops!) - Mario Party 8. S'ok, not that I had much chance to have a go. Another ok and very lazy day, with much cider and more Christmas pudding and brandy butter. So that was ok.

Friday: Somehow managed to pack and exhausting drive back for Daddy. Probably should have been helping settle the Terror instead of writing this but thought I'd get it down before I forgot even more.

I've been oversleeping and while the drugs are possibly slightly to blame it's also been sheer laziness on my part. Must try much harder. Down to the 20mg dosage now so not too suprised that the depressed feelings have been getting worse. Missing ACL already, which is just plain daft. Finally got myself out of bed this morning by repeating over and over to myself "Suffering is caused by our selfish desire for happiness". Maybe if I can get that mantra going every time I think of him or anything else that distracts me from my duty that might help. It gives me something to focus on that doesn't have a soppy fairy tale happy ending anyway.

At some point this weekend we need to visit Durham to see the over half of the family and friends. Just seems to be non-stop at this time of year.