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There was a time when you used to be able to get designs from different cultures (such as Ancient Egypt ones) and wildlife from other countries, for example, but I have noticed a recent tendency for everything to be heavily British (or in the case of US mags like Just Cross Stitch, heavily white American based.) That's fine in itself, but it's sad if other influences are lost.

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bright-eyes

3 years ago

Last year, many magazine publishers stopped producing some craft mag titles - among them were some cross stitch magazines. Though it was sad to see those titles go, it isn't entirely a bad thing - one of the mags that I have been getting on and off since 1995 (my mum started getting them that year) had been getting very boring and formulaic in the designs they published in their mag - there were a lot of boring -

bright-eyes 3 years ago

modern designs that covered the same themes constantly and weren't appealing to stitch. Now, a year on, the mag has started to become more interesting again because there are less places for designers to submit their pieces and less pages to fill so better designs are published. It's kind of like TV when satellite and digital came about in the '90s. Channels became crap because lots of boring and mediocre programmes

bright-eyes 3 years ago

were made to fill in the extra time that broadcasting companies suddenly had. Hopefully, cross stitch will be revived and designs I like will be easier to come across again.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

If there is one phrase that I've come to despise recently it is the 'new normal'. It's often used to describe the apocalyptic climate change/pollution/extinction/habitat destruction crisis that we are currently going through, and more recently, the pandemic. Last week a girl was murdered in our town and it's been used to describe how her family should cope with their loss. There is no 'new normal'...

bright-eyes 3 years ago

It isn't adequate to describe what's happening to the planet, or to the pandemic and it certainly isn't adequate to describe the aftermath of loosing someone, regardless of the circumstances of the loss. Life is not 'normal' when there is someone missing from it. It never is, and never will be. That loss will always be there. In retrospect, life can only be considered 'normal' for a child that's yet to experience -

bright-eyes 3 years ago

the loss of someone in their life as their parents and people who are older than them will have at some stage, experienced a loss.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

Wish we could go away on Friday because the neighbours are going to have a football party. Hope it lags it down so we can at least get some peace and quiet.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

I'm going to finish reading Battle Ground (aka, the rest of Peace Talks) and then start one of the Egyptian books I've got recently.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

I have some new housing items in LOTRO that I'm going to place in Lofnheid's hobbit kinship house. I'll put up pics once it's complete.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

Almost finished Peace Talks. It's probably the first Dresden Files book that I have been disappointed in. It's great, when compared to other UF books. (There are some bad ones, out there) But I can't help but feel that it's missing something important. Too much recapping of what has gone on in previous books, too many characters making cameo appearances that seems to have no purpose, and shallow Diversity! in some

bright-eyes 3 years ago

parts of the book that doesn't need to be there. It's also shorter than the last few books so it feels a bit rushed. Just hope that the next one is better.

bright-eyes 3 years ago

In retrospect, Peace Talks and Battlegrounds should be part of the same book, not separate. I've encountered that problem before with Kelley Armstrong's novels (The YA books would have been much better as single books, so that Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising are a single book each, instead of being six. The third series with Elena and Clay's kids in them, I've not bought yet but reviewers have said the same thing

bright-eyes 3 years ago

regarding those. It's a shame and reflects badly on the author, but more on the publisher as they are the ones who decide how the books are published. It's like the time we saw Amon Amarth and had a disappointing time because of the venue - a good band ruined by how it was presented and the same applies here. I hope this doesn't happen again in future.

bright-eyes updated Dead Winter's Night (Formally Bright Eyes)

3 years ago

meanstreets/challenge.html

meanstreets/dresden/battleground.html

meanstreets/dresden/peacetalks.html

meanstreets/dresden/colddays.html

meanstreets/dresden/skingame.html

meanstreets/dresden/graveperil.html

1 like

bright-eyes

3 years ago

Just finished Skin Game from the Dresden Files. When I first read it a number of years ago, I had a lot of brain fog due to an illness and forgot quite a lot of it, so I really needed to read it again before going on to read Peace Talks and Battleground. (It didn't help that there was such a long publication gap between Skin Game and Peace Talks, either.)

bright-eyes

3 years ago

I've got a handful of good books on Egyptology to read this summer. Wish it wasn't so hot, though. Hot weather gives me brain fog.

2 likes

koshka 3 years ago

Sounds like a good time. I know what you mean about hot weather. Heat and humidity are a sensory hell that make it hard to think about anything other than how uncomfortable you are. ):

bright-eyes

3 years ago

Lovely how the delivery driver just put my new clothes in the bin instead of handing it in at the door!

bright-eyes 3 years ago

Considering the amount of complaints that they've got in twitter in the past 20 hours, I doubt I'll get any apology from them. Why is society today so damned rude?

bright-eyes

3 years ago

I am sort of fast tracking him through, too, as I don't have the patience to do every area and every quest more than once.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

Are otters called otters because they are otters, or are they called otters because a dwarf from Norse mythology called Ottr could turn into one?

bright-eyes 3 years ago

I have to wonder. I am currently taking one of my LOTRO characters called Ottr to the gates of Moria to explore there. (There is a quest chain called the Ballad of Bingo Boffin and I need to take him there to do the next few stages.

bright-eyes

3 years ago

Been looking at clothes this evening. One thing I've found is that plus sized clothing (that marketed to women who are over size 18, uk sizes) always have the most awful cuts and patterns on them, and the photography leaves a lot to be desired, too.

2 likes

bright-eyes

3 years ago

This is the first time this week that it's been cool enough to take Max out for his long walk. (He has gone for shorter walks, but not as many as usual due to the heat.) It was better than last week's walk because it was breezy and not as muggy.

bright-eyes 3 years ago

And the leg muscle I've been having problems with is better. Still hurts from time to time, but not constantly. I hope it doesn't get worse again when it gets colder.

bright-eyes updated Dead Winter's Night (Formally Bright Eyes)

3 years ago

dwn/courseracourses.html

bright-eyes

3 years ago

I'm going to do page of links to interesting Coursera courses that folks might find useful. They are university level, and run by good unis and are free to do online. (Some of them are the same material that you would get if you physically attended the classes themselves.) They are useful if you need help with preparing for your university course, or want to fill in gaps in knowledge that you've missed, or just for

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bright-eyes 3 years ago

personal interest.

1 like

bright-eyes

3 years ago

My newest character in LOTRO should reach level 15 today. Excellent. Means that I should be able to open some of the lootboxes with free black keys that you get for the anniversary event. That means that I /may/ be able to get one of the figments of splendour items I've been wanting for ages.

1 like

bright-eyes

3 years ago

I've been wanting to read the Temeraire books. I've read most of them before, but it was only last year when I got the last two in the series because I couldn't find them easily. There seemed to be a problem publishing the 2nd to the last one in the UK. (Happens quite a bit with fantasy and sci-fi books, sadly, especially sci-fi.) Now, I've found them all, so I'll do a re-read after I've finished the Dresden Files.

bright-eyes 3 years ago

Needed to do that as it's been a long time since I read them so I could fully enjoy the last two. Peter Jackson was supposed to have made the first into a film, but the project was cancelled, sadly. Would have loved to have seen it.

bright-eyes updated Dead Winter's Night (Formally Bright Eyes)

3 years ago

meanstreets/challenge.html

3 likes

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