I guess I should update on things here. I have now moved back in with my parents on a very temporary basis. Currently living out of rucksacks, with most of my stuff in boxes in the garage. Perhaps it says a lot about my real priorities when the computer stayed in the garage but the stuffed toys I insisted upon being brought into the house. That said, I have my laptop so it's not like I'm cut off. All I'm really missing is power and a second screen. And my laptop is proving to be surprisingly powerful for its specs.

Though I say this is temporary but I have yet to make any attempt at looking for somewhere else to move to or for a job. That would require effort! There is a prospective job with my father relating to programming, but I'm dubious about the other side of it which involves 'customer care'. I am NOT a people person!

So right now I am toying with the idea of programming relating to gaming, mostly inspired by my dad and brother. I'm dubious about that as I know my obsessions come and go. Gaming just happens to be my current one, but a few years down the line I probably won't be nearly so interested, just as my anime obsession waned previously. I'd obviously need training and qualifications to actually get a job (currently all I have is Standard Grade Computing plus a certificate in Administrative Skills), but other than how much that would cost, I'm not concerned about that. I don't believe it would take long to learn.

As I toy with this idea, I'm playing around with the toolset for Dragon Age, trying to make my own mod, trying to see if there is anything there I could see me spending my life doing. Followed a video tutorial and got the basics of the toolset down. Now I'm just adding in stuff that I think are important, which are inevitably some of the hardest stuff to do judging by forum posts. Last night I got a map to show on a separate module with working area transitions, and today I have managed to get an NPC to join my party. Not really sure what I'm aiming for as a final product. Right now I just want to get comfortable with what the toolset is capable of. Even with less than a week playing with it, I'm already getting the hang of it, even scripts. It's just a matter of knowing what options are available and keeping track of tags and such.

So as I do all this, I obviously am not doing art or writing. I do technically have my graphics tablet at hand but the driver CD is in the garage... in an easy to reach location but that's still outside. No Photoshop on here though (not sure where the install CD is), and I've never been overly fond of Gimp. As to writing... I did attempt something based on Minecraft, but it was... bad (to put it mildly) so it's best to pretend that never happened. I blame all that writing for Uni killing my ability to write imaginatively.

In other news: I completed Abe's Oddysee for the first time ever! YAY! Toyed with drawing something just to commemorate this moment but as I said before, that would require going outside. How long have I had that game for? Least I managed it eventually. Only saved 70 out of 99 mudokons but at least I got the good ending!

Also: I saw a black squirrel! Well, to be fair, it was a black blur, chasing a grey squirrel/blur at high speed through the trees. Adorable! This was while I was staying over at my brother's place just outside London before driving north. Yes, I know, new invader to this country, bad news for the ecosystem and all that, but so cute!

Yup, that's all my news. Computer games and rodents, the focusses of my life! I'm sure something else must have happened, but it clearly wasn't important enough to remember.