Current Mood: confused
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Arkessian
I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up...
15 May 2013 @ 03:34 pm
29 March 2013 @ 11:00 am
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oursin gave me 35. Comment if you would like an age (the convention is, leave your current age, but if you want to risk futurology, feel free).
Then:
I lived in: my own house in a small North Wiltshire town.
I drove: A new white Astra, a company car. I learned to drive in London, but it never made sense to own a car there; when I moved out to the sticks it was (and is) a different matter, especially as the company expected me to travel to far-flung parts of England and Wales regularly.
I was in a relationship with: a cat (of course). Plus I assume the lodger counts? He started staying with me during the week when I bought the house, and is still around on and off 22 years later...
I feared: I can't remember. Not much, I suspect...
I worked at: the IT department of a large recently privatised electricity generator. Lots of money being thrown at making (one of ) Maggie Thatcher's spectacularly bad ideas seem like a success. Lots of technical innovation. Melting pot of employees and consultants and contractors, all having the time of their life. It was great fun, even if we were working 7 days a week and 12 hours a day...
I wanted to be: What I was. Except there wasn't any time to write as well...
Now:
I live in: my own house in a small village on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border.
I drive: A 10 year old Audi.
I'm in a relationship: A cat. Plus the aforementioned lodger.
I fear: the consequences of the bad decisions being made by Thatcher's successors.
I work at: being retired, writing software, getting back to writing books.
I want to be: Right where I am, except with a cat who doesn't need daily medical attention, so I can get about a bit more.
Current Mood: ruminative
27 November 2012 @ 02:16 pm
Not dead yet, and trying to get back into the habit of posting semi-irregularly...
Seen all over the place;
Tell me about a story I haven’t written, and I’ll give you one sentence from that story.
Seen all over the place;
Tell me about a story I haven’t written, and I’ll give you one sentence from that story.
09 April 2012 @ 12:44 pm
I've given my website at www.arkessian.com a minor makeover (and a behind-the-scenes technology update). I'd be grateful if people could go visit and confirm that it's working for them...
Current Mood: calm
19 February 2012 @ 02:58 pm
Imagine my amusement when a genealogy blog that I follow pointed me to a post on another blog by a dear friend (in her professional capacity) who also regularly blogs here at dreamwidth. I do hope she's ready for the hordes of family historians who will be beating a path to her institution's door!
Current Mood: amused
04 November 2011 @ 03:57 pm
The garden has been disastrous this summer: very poor tomato, pepper, aubergine and even courgette crops. I shan't bother with aubergines and peppers next year -- I think the micro-climate is too marginal here for them to be reliable -- and I'll pick my tomato varieties more carefully. The courgettes clearly need to be grown on the more sheltered side of the patio, so I'll try something else on the windy side... I don't know what, yet.
In compensation, a neighbour has had a bumper crop of cooking apples, so I've spent the last few weeks making: apple pies, apple cakes and apple chutney. I just cored, peeled and sliced 3 lbs (6 kilos) to put in the freezer for future use and there's another 2lbs still to deal with. Luckily, I like apples.
In compensation, a neighbour has had a bumper crop of cooking apples, so I've spent the last few weeks making: apple pies, apple cakes and apple chutney. I just cored, peeled and sliced 3 lbs (6 kilos) to put in the freezer for future use and there's another 2lbs still to deal with. Luckily, I like apples.
Current Mood: accomplished
31 October 2011 @ 06:13 pm
... it doesn't mean that I want to take over the world.
But lately, people (plural and in two different contexts) have assumed that -- because I'm willing to help with a particular task or organisation -- I'll be willing to take over carrying out or running the whole thing.
Wrong.
I already have more than enough on my plate, and am not doing things I would really like to do. Why would I want to increase my workload of things I don't enjoy, or don't care for as much as other things? I'm willing (in both cases) to take on a little more, but not the whole thing.
But lately, people (plural and in two different contexts) have assumed that -- because I'm willing to help with a particular task or organisation -- I'll be willing to take over carrying out or running the whole thing.
Wrong.
I already have more than enough on my plate, and am not doing things I would really like to do. Why would I want to increase my workload of things I don't enjoy, or don't care for as much as other things? I'm willing (in both cases) to take on a little more, but not the whole thing.
Current Mood: annoyed
30 September 2011 @ 05:42 pm
Have I really not done one of these this year?
( Ratio of female to male authors: 15 to 6 (by author) or 29 to 6 (by book, counting a female joint author as wholly female)Collapse )
The astute among you will recognise that I had fun reading/re-reading some generation starship books. Also, owning an ereader has increased the rate at which I'm reading.
( Ratio of female to male authors: 15 to 6 (by author) or 29 to 6 (by book, counting a female joint author as wholly female)Collapse )
The astute among you will recognise that I had fun reading/re-reading some generation starship books. Also, owning an ereader has increased the rate at which I'm reading.
29 September 2011 @ 05:31 pm
FarthingParty was great fun, and Montreal is a comfortable city -- sensible public transport and a plenitude of restaurants, and my aged O-level French allowed me to at least show willing...
Current Mood: happy
13 August 2011 @ 11:29 am
( Bolded if I read it, underlined if I read part of it:Collapse )
By which I conclude that (a) I'm reasonably widely read in the field (68 out of 100) but not exhaustively so; and (b) my tastes differ widely from the other people who voted. No LeGuin? No Cherryh? to mention two glaring names missing off this list...
By which I conclude that (a) I'm reasonably widely read in the field (68 out of 100) but not exhaustively so; and (b) my tastes differ widely from the other people who voted. No LeGuin? No Cherryh? to mention two glaring names missing off this list...
