Dreamwidth Stones

Being at the Gathering is helping my mental state for sure. Being around people, being away from my condo (which is both a refuge and a source of stress at the moment), having a tonne of distractions so I don't end up dwelling on money and future and all.

The welcome gift this year was a copy of Dice Realms, a game that involves customizing largeish dice by popping little plates on and off for the sides. Specifically it comes with several hundred of these little plates. I spent a couple hours on ... Saturday? evening playing "sorting my copy of Dice Realms" and that was a nice low-key way to unwind.

I've played (and, startlingly, won) a game of Princes of Florence, one of my longtime favourites, against serious competition, and had a good time with various 18xx games and even more various other games. Two nights ago we played Sextet, a six-handed version of Bridge. The deck has two extra suits, partners sit alternating, there are two dummies. As Eric observed, "In Sextet you can say 'my centre-hand opponent' in a non-derogatory way."[1] It was fairly ridiculous.

[1] 'Centre-hand opponent' in Bridge is generally reserved for when one's partner, who sits across, has made a particularly boneheaded play or bid.

I've seen the falls, I've chatted and gamed with a number of folks. This evening I hit the pool and hot tub and am now decompressing in my room with decaf tea and Cameron Reed's new book.

I don't think I'm doing well, but I'm doing alright.

The last few weeks I've become rather fond of the spaciousness of my condo when it's not losing a foot in all directions to bookshelves. I prefer having all my books and games around, but I enjoy the sense of openness too.

"I would have liked to have a home with a separate library," I said a few nights ago. And a place where I can practice viola without worrying about irritating a neighbour, and floor space and equipment for yoga and rope, and a cat tree, and and and.

It's always difficult to make predictions, especially about the future, but: I do not believe that I will ever again live without roommates once I have to move out of here. The two-legged kind; I also don't expect to find a place to live that I can afford that will accept a cranky cat. This will be increasingly bad for my mental health, but I won't be able to afford counseling either so maybe I won't notice.

I'm still leaving today for the Gathering in Niagara, and Minneapolis for a week afterwards. Perhaps the change of scenery will help. Horse, sing, etc.

( process retrospective )