Current Projects

I’ve got a few things cooking. What are they you ask?

I’m writing a ttrpg for children. It will be foss, under a creative commons license. The fact that it’s for fun and wont be sold really frees me up to just have fun with it. I am trying to do it well though.

I’m working on learning Django. I want to build a secret santa site for my family. We will all sign up, get assigned a family member and then we will each be able to create a list of the things we would like.

It’s so silly to get nostalgic or maudlin. I fight it but sometimes it gets me a bit. Music does it the most, sometimes pictures or a smell.

I need to post more. I’ve said this countless times over countless years. :) We’ll see what happens.

This is just another placeholder. See you again soon. Maybe.

I was listening to Glory Days and thinking about it. I’m hitting the age now where it’s starting to become more relatable than ever.

But I also know, that back in the “Glory Days” I didn’t feel like they were that great. I mean it was pretty much like life now. So how do they get rosy looking back.

I thought maybe we forget the bad, and just remember the good. But I don’t think that’s it. In fact there is some really awful stuff back in those “Glory Days” and I have no desire to relive any of that. And the theory I’m going with right now, is that back then, just like now, most stuff works out. We don’t know it will right now - but if we are around to think back to then, well probably most of that stuff we were so worried about, all worked out.

I was born in the northern cold and raised in the Sonoran heat. I’ve tread the Peralta, swum in the Supai falls, walked Tito’s halls. I’ve launched fire and death in the ice of the Bering and scorching heat of the Persian. I’ve been initiated into the mysteries of the deep, walked the lands of my forefathers and forged the bonds of brotherhood from Budapest to Tirana. I’ve seen the sun go down over Addis and rise over Pretoria, seen the lightning flash over the Tanganyika. Known the joy of a woman unparalleled in mind and spirit and the love of my God who carried me through it all. And He is not done with me yet.

I flew from Budapest to Orlando yesterday. Couple small observations. First off - the 6 hour time change is a lot easier to manage than when we do 9 going straight to AZ.

The second is more complicated. I constantly catch myself thinking about the trip back to Hungary. Then I remember there isn’t one.

Last night I was cooking a big dinner for 14 people. It was pretty simple and I had some help. I cooked potatoes (with onion and bacon. I cook the bacon and onion then add cubed boiled potatoes to the frying pan and cook it all up), green beans (whole with bacon and onion - one batch without bacon), plates of fresh vegetables ( radishes, celery, carrots and little tomatoes), grilled peppers, grilled onion and a bunch of grilled meat.

Ing and I took a walk on the rakpart today. It’s usually a road that is full of fast moving traffic (or sometimes due to volume not fast - but then it’s lots and lots of cars). Right now it’s closed to cars and so it’s full of people walking, biking, rollerblading, etc.

It’s strange to be in Budapest on a cool April Sunday and for their to be very few people around. Ingrid noted the lack of boat traffic as well - I hadn’t even noticed but she was right. Without the Danube cruise ships and the tour boats it was so quiet out there. We parked near Elizabeth bridge and walked all over on the Pest side. We saw the George Bush statue for the first time and spent a good while just taking in the parliament building. It really is so incredible that even after all these years I can’t look at it without it just pausing my thoughts. It’s beautiful.

As a nerd in the 80’s I got to watch a lot of cool things happen and participate in a small way. When I say nerd I’m not kidding. Like a lot of kids I had quite a few posters up in my room - including a couple of developers from Electronic Arts. I spent a lot of time on my Vic-20 at home and the Apple IIe’s at school. As a teen I remember seeing my first CD and I was reading better and better books that gave me glimpses of what was coming. I was fully on board.

Friday was All Saints day and that meant a 3 day weekend. I was reasonably productive in terms of some projects around the house. But some of the best parts were spent with the new Jimmy Eat World album and the Foreigner Saga by C.J. Cherryh.

I really enjoy the new album. The books I had started back in the 90s when the series was new. I had dropped off after the second book I think. I don’t remember for sure. But I started over a while back and I’ve been enjoying it very much. I just started “Conspirator” the 10th book. I’ve always enjoyed Cherryh’s writing. I don’t remember what I read of his first. I want to say it was the Chanur books. But it could been Union Alliance or some other work of hers.