Map improvements, slow time

I've been working on remaking the map for Ancia, and have come up with a new prototype which I hope makes the world look more vast and exciting. As you can see, it's not quite done yet. Donjon has an excellent fantasy map maker that you can use for free, which I highly recommend. I am quite likely to redo the map once again as the 'Dragon Lands' (placement name 'til I think of something much less cheesy) should be further away, and I can't quite explain how Elledi - a friendly and agriculture-based settlement is squished between three of the most dangerous and dodgiest places in the world. But then again, it is fantasy.

Unfortunately I've not been doing too much as I am currently unwell. I will be moving house soon which might be a slightly extra struggle. We shall see.

Wheel

Sometimes when you are unwell, you learn a bit more about your home. When you are unwell you learn where comfort is and isn't. You learn about the nooks and cranny's of the house where, someone who is well may take for granted. Even today I can close my eyes and visualize patterns in the old cork paneling that my parent's bathroom used to have. I remember making stories about these patterns early in the morning as the sun rose. You also don't really care about certain parts of the home as much as you would otherwise. The kitchen? Forget it. You could struggle forward and end up losing even more spoons in the process, or you can hide away upstairs and just forget it. And it's okay. Because when you're better, you'll be able to do all the washing up.

When you're better.

When I'm better I will hopefully be able to celebrate my birthday that's coming in 6 days. I will have moved house by then too. When I'm better I'll be able to run again, and to work on my business plans. When I'm better I'll be able to go on holiday, to see a little more about the world and to enjoy learning about new things.

When I'm better.

Sometimes when you are unwell, it is hard to imagine feeling better. Sometimes, it is hard to forgive that endless cycle that goes on and on and on. When you're better you might even forget about the cycle for a while. But then it comes back, and you wonder 'How do I break the wheel?'

Maritime Archaeology

Do you like my quick sketch?

Not only have I been lurking on duolingo, but during my spare time I've also taking a liking to Future Learn, a place to enrol in fascinating courses for free. Maritime Archaeology is one such course I have enrolled in, but unfortunately had begun long before I joined and has recently finished. As this is the case I am rushing through the course as quickly as I can, as I worry it may disappear over time.

I've always been curious about Archaeology and could not help but discover what Maritime Archaeology was all about. It turns out that it can encompass quite a lot of things, from examining sunken vessels to investigating evidence of past human activities and way of life  underwater, by river beds, or how people interacted with the sea/water. Some evidence can be found on river banks, and dug up from the ground, mud and marshes too.

There is a lot to take in, but I am aiming for just a broad overview and perhaps a few interesting case studies over there which I am certain the course can provide.

No quotation marks!

As mentioned in previous posts, I've been learning French. According to Duolingo, in French you don't use quotation marks.

• Incorrect: "Ça va?"
• Correct: « Ça va ? »

Something new I have learnt today :)

Terribly racist Daily Express

I thought the Daily Mail was bad.

Once again, the British tabloid pull a minor event completely out of proportion. As reported in the Huffington Post, the event is a one off event. The park also has various other events including a naturalists event, a men's only event, and a singles event.

Suddenly police have been notified that the English Defence League is launching a protest over the event. What concerns me is that a completely false report from a well-read tabloid has yet again stirred up unnecessary racial hatred in the UK. The problem with seeing the twitter comments retweeting the Daily Express is that many people believe the tabloid, and it will only increase Islamaphobia.

Further information can be found through the HuffingtonPost.

Suffolk Punch

One of my 'dailies' on Habitrpg is to learn something new. Learning is important to me, but it is something I haven't been doing so much lately, which in turn has made my mind feel very empty and hollow. (Aka, a cabbage.)

Therefore, I thought about making a blog post about one of my favourite breeds of horses, The Suffolk Punch. Not only is the horse local to my hometown, it is one of the strongest breeds of horse, once used for farm work and pulling heavy carriages. Despite the fact that they're huge, they're generally a friendly breed too.

Unfortunately the Suffolk Punch is also a dying breed. According to one source there are only 80 breeding mares left.

Organisations such as the Suffolk Punch Trust promise a great day out in return for a small entry fee which goes towards conserving the breed. I am not sure how I feel about conserving horse breeds that are no longer in demand. On the one side, the Suffolk Punch is a pretty cool horse, and it would be an awful shame for them to disappear. On the other side, as they are so big, they are unlikely to be kept as domestic horses and have a small gene pool which if not handed properly, could lead to some defects in the future. Luckily most of the time, stud books with horses are taken very seriously, and as along as there are enough volunteers to care for them I don't see it as too much of a problem.

This information is all fair, but it isn't exactly fresh for me. From a little bit of research I've stumbled upon a stallion named 'Oppenheim LXII' a very likely Suffolk Punch, who was sent to Denmark probably for breeding in 1860. Some sources say that it is partly responsible for various Danish and German breeds including the Jutland and the Schleswig. One such horse, Oldrup Munkedal is said to be a direct ancestor of Oppenheim LXII. All three of these horse breeds are large working horses.

So there you have it. Now you know that someone out there in the big wide world named their horse Oppenheim LXII.

Updating Projects

I've been updating some past projects which has been fun, including a little rpg project by making the map above. When I was younger I used to make maps all the time using a lot of my Grandad's scrap paper. The map above is kind of messy, so I might remake it again, now I know more about what it is supposed to look like.

Some great resources for map making include using textures distributed from artists such as Coyote Max and some handy brushes, including those made by Star Raven. (Whose name reminds me of the scholar Starhawk, but I imagine there's no connection.)

Oops I made a blog

I have a terrible habit of making new blogs and never sticking to them. Do I learn? No! So introducing Doodle in French. Please enjoy my morbid attempts to Tumblr.

Practicing French

Learning languages has always been cool but never easy for a Tülin. I imagine that's partly because of inconsistency, which seems to be a key component to success in a lot of things. Do I regularly practice a language? No. Then how can I expect to be good at it? I suppose in order to be fluent you need some kind of strategy. That said, my current goal is to be able to read French more easily and increase my vocabulary. To achieve it, I've been using Duolingo. I'm not too serious in becoming good in French just yet, but I expect if I was I'd be using a couple of other sources as well. My grammar in particular would need heavy improvement. But if I want to retain even small bits of what I learn from Duolingo I still need to be consistent in my practice. It's just how the brain works :)

I've been focusing on the more interesting bits of easy-French. That is, food and animals. (Of course.) In the program I've only covered the colours black (noir) and rouge (red) which means le canard et le papillon are all punks and rockers. Probably sporting some kind of mohawk and chain garment.

Unfortunately le papillion could not attend today's blog due to an accident while wearing chain mail.

I have been thinking about making some kind of flash cards to help me remember some of these phrases. Because a problem I'm having is that there is a lot of food and different kinds of animals in the French vocabulary. (Surprise, surprise.) It's a lot to remember. Maybe I'll make some kind of Tumblr acc. for the 'Lols'. I don't know. I have been finding that I have a lot of extra time on my hands. Some of the phrases I've been learning are a bit tricky to draw...

Well then, until tomorrow.

A short summer's walk

There's been a lot of nice weather recently, so how can I resist going out for a walk? In my town there is a river and I'll be straight up and honest with you - it's not the cleanest. Not like Bath for instance. But it's not so micromanaged like Bath either. This town river reflects a purer honesty with wild bushes, tons of nature and a stylish imperfection to ensure you're actually still on planet Earth.

This would have been a great photo if the robin had stayed still.

Hey hey Meowcat, wanna pose for some photos today?

What are you looking at?

Really?

Nope.

Ok, maybe tomorrow then cat?