god of thunder

I was given a Mjolnir pendant recently. Mjolnir is the hammer of Thor, the Nordic god of thunder and rain. I started wearing it last Wednesday morning or so, and went out to enjoy good weather for the rest of that week, and the weekend just gone, despite it having rained for weeks beforehand. Today has also been warm and sunny. Just now, I went for a shower, and unlike previous times these last few days, this time I took it off. And when I got back to my room, I see the skies outside have darkened, and hear a distant rumble of thunder. Minutes later, the heavens open, and we're back to the heavy rain of July.

Should I put it back on?

jack of all trades

For quite some time, when attempting to describe myself, I keep coming back to my three main interests that have stuck with me for almost 15 years now: writing music, designing games, and 'normal' writing (eg. fiction, journalism, etc). I now get to half-do one of those as part of my job, but generally speaking my other creative output has been pathetic. However, I find myself now with a little more free time for the forseeable future, no lack of resources, and a little more motivation. So, I'm setting myself some concrete goals, to be completed before the end of the calendar year.

• Writing - I will get something written and put out into the public domain. I am unlikely to be able to write the novel I have in mind within 5 months, so this will probably be a game development article of some sort, probably for Gamedev.net. I have 3 or 4 ideas waiting, some partly planned out, so this shouldn't be too difficult a task.


• Music - Before the end of December, I will get a finished 'work' available for all to hear. Ideally this will be the 3 track demo for my Twilight's Embrace metal project, but that will depend on how well the search for a vocalist goes over the next 2 months. Alternatively I could go back to doing some orchestral-style soundtrack stuff, perhaps for a computer game. I have enough software and equipment now to make this practical without being limited by technology.


• Game design - I've been designing various games - computer, board, card, roleplaying, you name it - for almost 20 years. And I don't think I've finished a single one yet! This is going to change in the next five months. This is the hardest one to choose, as although it will almost certainly be a computer game I develop, I have existing large game projects that 'just' need finishing off, and several small projects yet to be started but which might require a similar amount of work. I'd not be aiming at the AAA blockbuster market, but at a niche area, such as text-based games, or something web-based, or a very simple but innovative idea like Armadillo Run, innovation permitting. Suggestions welcomed.

I expect my friends to support and encourage me during this process, maybe even assist if you have skills to offer. And I expect my acquaintances to point and laugh if I fail. ;)