Merry Christmas and Happy Holliday

I wish there was more I could say that I haven't said fifty times previously. I miss this place and wish I could be back to work on here. I hope you're all well.

Comments

[LyraAlluse]

I hope you will have a very good holiday season. :)

[the dobermans]

Happy Holidays! We'll be here if/when you return in full force.

[themetavoorhes]

Merry Christmas

[Eskerata]

I'm glad you are doing okay. I do miss you being around here. Take care, old boy.

[TheDizzyDan]

5421580
Thank you! It certainly has been a fulfilling one so far this year. How are you?

5421706
Thank you, Dobermans. I swear up and down to myself that I will return in time. I'm really finding what I needed in playing D&D, but I still get the itch to do voice work from time to time. Additionally, I've been picking up a couple instruments, which I have intention, once I've built some proficiency and improve my rhythm with the, to use for video projects of another nature.

5421786
Merry Christmas, Themeta. How was your Christmas?

5421820
I hope you've been doing okay yourself, Eskerata. It's been a while, certainly, since we've really talked. I miss all of you here. I just don't feel my absence would be vindicated if I were to return with nothing in hand, so I've mostly abstained. Hopefully I'll be able to make more progress in the year to come.

[themetavoorhes]

5421786
Not the worst. Not the best. Average

[TheDizzyDan]

5423688
I don't recall: do you do something special for the holiday? Mine was a bit underwhelming, but I felt I used the time off well.

[the dobermans]

5423675

Wonderful! Looking forward to seeing/hearing new content.

[TheDizzyDan]

5423753
How have things been on your end, Dobermans?

[LyraAlluse]

5423675 You are very welcome. I'm glad to hear that your year has been going well. My year has been pretty busy. I've been working on a bunch of creative projects and helping my mom with some businesses we are developing together.

[themetavoorhes]

5423712
No not really. As I said average. Thanks for asking

[the dobermans]

5423765

Oh, very busy. Not much time for writing, though I did manage to eke one out. Working down a list of house items that never seems to end. Eyeing lapidary equipment. Pondering a problem involving a catenary (to keep the mind sharp). Going for winter hikes. Sounds like things are stable on your end?

[TheDizzyDan]

5423831

My year has been pretty busy.

It's fortunate that, in a year of restricted activity, so many of us have been able to delve into fruitful activity. What type of businesses are you venturing into, if I may ask?

5423901

house items that never seems to end

I recall you previously had a water problem? What else might the dobermans be addressing?

a catenary

Problems of physics are often deep enough that I keep away from them for the sake of not letting my curiosity seize me. Is your interest purely academic?

Sounds like things are stable on your end?

Quite stable, and upon reflection, to my astonishment. Work has been good, and my hours have not been cut, and my grandparents are still safe. No progress on the actuarial front, and I've honestly been reconsidering whether I'd be happier excelling at work that is not at all beyond me than waxing anxious in a field that's been so disinterested in what I have to offer -- in which I know I compete against people potentially much greater than I, if not more persistent.

This stability comes with a boredom that has impelled me to take up things like attempting to dungeon master and picking up the instruments. I strongly doubt I will regret these things.

[LyraAlluse]

5425954 My mom and I started a business selling antiques, collectibles, vintage items, household items, handmade items, ect online but also in a local store space. :)

[the dobermans]

5425954

I recall you previously had a water problem? What else might the dobermans be addressing?

Ah yes, the water issue appears to have been fully resolved. The full list of current needs would probably bore you, so shortening it to the most exciting: I'm looking to sound-proof my basement for recording purposes. Not that I have time to record anything, but having the potential is pleasant to think of.

Is your interest purely academic?

In this case yes - I'm convinced that one must tackle such problems to maintain lateral and creative thinking faculties. Sudoku is nice, but seems limited to spatial pattern recognition. The basic physics problems are typically not of practical use as they neglect friction, air resistance, etc., but do help support realistic expectations of one's environment. The catenary problem was supposedly an amazon interview question. The question as originally posed was straightforward (find the distance between the poles from which an 80 unit length catenary is suspended, with height of center 10 units above the ground and 50 unit high poles), but extending it to a general distance vs height function is far more subtle. A full treatment involving tension and gravity would be quite satisfying to carry through.

Work has been good, and my hours have not been cut, and my grandparents are still safe.

I'm very happy to hear you're navigating these difficult times. Dungeon Mastering itself requires a fair amount of imagination and lateral thinking, and I imagine is at least as challenging as determining catenary heights!

[TheDizzyDan]

5425964
That sounds neat! Have you always had an interest in antique items? What sorts of things do you make?

5427073

having the potential is pleasant to think of

That, and it won't be a throttle for you in the event that you find time. I just today had the battery in my phone replaced as the maximum possible charge was depleted to 83% of that of a new one. It helps to not even have to worry about that. Soundproofing also is of interest to me, although I don't expect to do any for quite some time, having no real estate of my own.

I'm convinced that one must tackle such problems to maintain lateral and creative thinking faculties

I believe neurology supports that conviction.

Your caternary problem made me stop and reflect on whether I've really been challenging myself in this stagnant time. Initially, I thought I hadn't. However, I've been tackling some problems with much less mathematical natures. The first autoharp I got is nice but not intuitive for things like melody playing. I eventually resolved to color some of the strings with fingernail polish like keys on a keyboard are distinguished by ivory and ebony. This is not done on autoharps and a little blasphemous since I used hot pink, but it is my instrument, and one that I paid fewer than $42 for. But it was not only an exercise in how fighting my own inhibitions can yield something useful but also a novel approach to an immediate learning hurdle. And I actually developed the idea from the fact that people who play true harps have color-coded strings.

Dungeon Mastering itself requires a fair amount of imagination and lateral thinking

Indeed. So much so that I've only gotten in one session. Not quite the only reason, in fact. Marcus, my buddy who is the player for my campaign, some time ago persuaded me and several friends to start playing a game called Escape from Tarkov.

It's a kind of military simulation (MilSim) game, but it's unforgiving for an fledgling online multiplayer FPS player such as I. After a couple weeks of bashing my head against the wall trying to develop for it, I decided to drop it. I'll probably play when they can all get together to play it, but gatherings've not been nearly as often as I'd expected when I got it. Marcus, on the other hand, is very experienced at FPS games and his impatience with me compelled me to improve. I spent time I would've worked on our campaign. However, I wasn't getting very far (sucking out a lot of my self-confidence in fact), so I resolved to at least work on the thing we could both enjoy and am switching gears.

[LyraAlluse]

5432956 Yeah I've always like antiques, collectibles, and am a big history nerd in general. I make all sorts of stuff. Basically whatever I feel like. :p