The Clan of the Cave Bague

Another year draws to a close and this one’s been a little odd. I guess if it was a Victorian children’s novel, chapter 2009 would be subtitled “In which many things long since dead were laid to rest and a surprising new door opens.”

So, I’m forty next year. Not yet, but nearly. One thing that has provided me with much amusement over the last year has been watching the ridiculous mid-life crises of people who should know better. As a lot of my friends are of a comparable age, there’s a great deal of panic and flapping taking place about the impending arrival (and, in some cases, passing) of the big Four-Oh. It really is hilarious.

The ravages of time notwithstanding, I appear to be faring well in this regard. I still don’t feel like I’m almost forty but also have no desire to go rushing about pretending I’m twenty-five. The best aspect of the whole thing is that a lot of people – especially work mates – are beginning to accept my curmudgeonly behaviour on the grounds that ‘I’m getting on a bit’ and that’s fine by me

Got a fair few things in my life nailed down now and managed to cultivate a certain ’stillness’ within me. It’s nice to feel anchored these days, rather than constantly feeling cast about by the whims of time and tide.

I still need more bookshelves. That appears to be the plus ca meme chose in my life. Everything else ebbs and flows, but the need for bookshelves remains constant.

Also this year, I’ve witnessed the blossoming of my eldest child into a Team Fortress player of awe-inspiring ability. His mastery of sniping-on-the-hoof is breathtaking and a little annoying. One day I’ll get him on Q3A, then we’ll see who the boss is.

Of course, my attention span seems to be decreasing in indirect proportion to my age – I’m fed up of typing now. I’ll muse a bit more as the year dies its hideous lingering death.

Just because. No particular reason.

It’s back again – my favourite theme for this site. I’ve tried a few others in the past but, really, nelefa.org just looks wrong without the marbled effect and the little relief-bague on it.

The change of theme also serves as an excuse to actually post something too – ever since being sucked into the evils of Facebook, nelefa.org has been sadly neglected. I need to try and make more of an effort, really.

OH!

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha!

*maniacal cackles*

*snort* *snort* *snort* *snort* *snort* *snort* *snort* *snort* *snort* *snort*

Oh my poor aching sides!

…another wordpress version upgrade. Seems like the only time I’m on here is to upgrade the software. Sigh.

Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve done any kind of game diary post but that’s largely because I haven’t been playing anything except Left4Dead and Counterstrike and I don’t think any of you really want to read a post that just says ‘BOOM! Headshot!’.

Then Dragon Age came along and, well, it’s a bit good. It’s been tagged as the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate and I can see where they got that idea. It’s party-based, full of things to gank, and heaving with numerous side-quests. It’s kinda like WoW but without the tedious grinding, irritating social aspects, and monthly subscription.

It is also brimming with truly epic events that make you feel like you’re involved in a much greater storyline. Oh, and it has zombies. Who ganked me last night. Girr!

So you know me, you’ve seen my game diary posts. You’ve also noticed that they’ve largely stopped. This is mainly because I really haven’t been playing games. I dunno – just too many other demands on my time. I guess when you’re working full time, looking after children for half of the week, studying for a degree in literature, writing a book and attempting to keep in touch with friends, some things fall by the wayside. Gaming has been one of them.

In an attempt to keep it alive, however, I have been playing a little bit of Warhammer Online recently, as well as a bit of Counter Strike and Left4Dead with my boys. Warhammer really has come a long way, particularly in the last patch, but it still threatens to be a hideously large time-sink, so is probably best avoided if possible. And I’ve run out of things to say. So I’ll shut up.

There comes a time, with some people, when you have to decide whether their seeming inability to understand the simplest of things is because they WON’T LISTEN or because they are actually just thick.

Arrogance and stupidity are sometimes difficult to tell apart.

Further to the last post on this subject, I have a new smart playlist. It’s everything with a rating of one or less despite having five or more plays.

It’s called “Stuff I really don’t like.”

I reckon by the time it has enough material in it to fill a DVD-R, I’m going to start archiving off stuff I just don’t listen to any more, in an attempt to keep my library manageable.

did you ever hear what I told you?

did you ever read what I wrote you?

did you ever listen to what we played?

did you ever let in what the world said?

did we get this far just to feel your hate?

did we play to become only pawns in the game?

bye bye beautiful

bye bye beautiful

nightwish, 2007