I've come down with a nasty cold. I'm on the mend now, should be better with another night of sleep I think.

One of the quirks of my body is that I get a fairly sudden and sharp depression when I'm getting sick before I get other symptoms. My nervous system is extremely sensitive, it's probably linked to how sensitive I can be to substances.

So that put a bit of a damper on things. But I'm still doing alright. Been talking to some lovely new people, introduced myself to someone lovely at a dance night over the weekend outside my normal circles. This is before I realized I was sick, fyi.

The second half of my Warhammer Fantasy Khorne Army is almost finished, but I am waiting on some bases that I would have expected by now so there might be a delay in getting pics. I've got everything I need to start on the Vampire Counts army afterward, that's an army that's been waiting on me for a very long time.

But I decided to try my hand at a new hobby. I used to do some rudimentary steampunk cosplay ten years ago, I have a pretty cool Eastern European themed steampunk general outfit that used to turn heads, but I haven't worn it in a while. I've met a lot of folks deep in the cosplay scene around Columbus and I've decided I want in.

So I've picked a project for my first DIY cosplay, ordered all the materials and tools I need, and set aside a space in my house to do the work yesterday. Printed out some templates today, so when I get home all I've got to do is start.

That's the tricky part to everything in my life, just starting. And starting is all about preparing. If I feel like I'm missing something, my projects get stalled and fall into the danger of being dropped. I hate having to wait for parts.

I'm getting deeper into the guitar now. My teacher is teaching me a couple ways to improvise and be able to just jam. Maybe I'll find myself some burnouts and make some noise. Once I learn a couple more songs and feel good playing them in front of people I'll move on to the electric guitar I have upstairs and begin my metal journey.

Starting is always the hardest thing. Well, that's not true, I've started a lot that I haven't finished. But then again, it's usually 'cause there is no plan.

For this cosplay, having a simple template I can use, along with a list of things needed for it makes it easy to get motivated. I've done a lot of hobby work with my miniatures and a bit with my suit of armor (oh I haven't shown that off yet, have I?) so hopefully some of that translates and it isn't a total disaster. I'm only making one piece, and the anime con isn't until the very end of summer so I've got a little time.

Having all the miniatures for an army sitting around makes it easier to motivate myself to finish it. All I need to do is catalog what I have, make a list based on that, order whatever is missing, then they arrive and I'm a happy little crafter.

I ordered some rollerblades a bit ago. Along with safety stuff, natch. There's a group near Anna's house that meets once a week to skate and give beginner lessons. I'm a bit too sick for them this week, but next week I'm excited for it.

My brother tried to get me into rollerblading when I was a kid, but I was too afraid of falling. Got really into biking but biking doesn't really entice me anymore. About fifteen years ago I said to myself that I wanted to learn to rollerblade and would do so after college.

I've spent so much of my life waiting for the time my life can start. Making Warhammer armies, learning to play music, learning how to skate. This is just what I need right now, a thousand tiny adventures I couldn't prepare for and now I can do after work.

I was telling a friend that I'm pretty lucky over the weekend. My life is one of adventure, and I only have one real problem that I think is hindering me and I've been able to overcome it before.

Eh, more on that another day.

I spent the last couple days sick playing old games. I spent it playing Blood & Magic actually, along with a really old dungeon crawler called Moraff's World (1991) that third grade me became obsessed with.

I've had these games sitting around for ages and haven't played them. Probably should start on them, too.

I guess this summer isn't everything I hoped it would be, but it's still been a time of growth, of contemplation, of spending time with my true companions and maybe work on finding a couple more. I don't know.

Well, that's all for now I suppose. I'll check in when there's something interesting on my mind.