Really enjoyed both Memory and Desolation. I recommend them whenever I can, it never seems to crop up in peoples lists.

Strangely, I don't think I ever saw this response when you first posted it. Apologies for that.

Everything you've said makes sense!

Fuck I love chopping wood. It's so cathartic just hammering at some logs. The smell, the gritty feel, the sweat of solid hard work and knowing I've got heating sorted for the remainder of the winter.

Sometimes the log is a knotty bastard and I get to wail on it. Excellent workout, and super harsh on my core so I think it's highlighting an area I need to work on.

I got out to mow the backyard for the first time since April. It's been so wet, and with our bathroom renovation taking place in the early stages of winter I wasn't keen to get out and cut grass without a proper way to clean up after. My poor mower. She did the job though, and I'm keeping the clippings to use in my next soil build up for planting season. Hoping I've got my veggies dialed in this year. 2x tomato plants, 2x cucumber, 2x chilis in the greenhouse, then potatoes, carrots and peas in the raised beds.

I had wondered if you'd be able to snap any photos at Uluru. Pity you couldn't, but understandable - I'm glad you got to visit though!!

I'm gonna need to check out that new sci-fi trilogy. Didn't know they had one underway.

Been reading a bit more lately.

- Started The Poppy War Trilogy, by R.F Kuang, but stopped after finishing the second book, didn't feel compelled to read further.

- Finished This is how you lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladston. Had a good time with that. Very short.

- Finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Had a blast with that.

- Finished The Will of the Many by James Islington. Had my gripes all throughout, but the end did leave me wanting to know more. So I'll get the sequel when it emerges.

- Finished The Book that Wouldn't Burn and The Book that Broke the World both by Mark Lawrence. I had initially sworn off Mark Lawrence's stuff after struggling through one of his early, edgy books. But these were fun. They didn't go in the direction I was expecting, at points, but good fun. Will be keen to read the final one when it's ready.

- Finished The Fisherman by John Langan. Was in need of a horror, and I think that fit the bill.

- Finished The Three Body Problem but haven't gotten to the rest of the series.

- Finished The Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne. It was cool, I can get invested pretty easily into things but it definitely had some issues. I think it was clear that was his debut series, he's gotten noticeably tighter with his stories since.

- Finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, as a part of the book club I'm in. Was cool. Historical Fiction isn't usually my jam but that's the joy of the book club! Throwing stuff my way I'd not normally delve into.

- Re-read Downunder by Bill Bryson. It's just really funny and entertaining, felt like dipping back into it.

Currently reading The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman. I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm 80 pages in and I've laughed out loud, but also felt compelled to skip entire sections because they're just aggressive lore-dumps, jammed into an already set scene. I'll see if this continues, if it does, I might stop while I'm ahead.

My friend got me onto the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, so might give those a hoon at some point.

The burdened tree reminded me..

In NZ we have this wood-pigeon, the kererū.

They're hefty lil guys. And they love to roost in the kōwhai tree.

We had a kōwhai in our backyard, prior to buying our current house. One spring, I watched as one bird sat on a thin branch, extending from the otherwise sturdy trunk. Then another bird sat on it. The branch began to dip. Then a third bird joined in, and it dipped further. I didn't move away from my spot as it was in clear view of the tree and I was worried I'd chase them away, so I stayed very still and didn't try to find my phone.

A fourth bird hopped on the branch, and at this point it was inching towards a 45 degree adjustement downwards, then, I moved to scratch my nose. Two of the birds took flight, and the change in weight flung the branch up, dislodging the other two in a flurry of feathers.

Laughed so damn hard. They're delightful birds who sometimes eat fermented berries, get drunk and topple out of trees, but these guys didn't need any booze for this.

Trudging back through things I've saved/shared, this still resonates. I'm not saying I'll get "Worldbuilding is the quintessential "writing about writing" masturbatory fling" tattooed on my forehead, but... It sings to me nonetheless. Epsecially when I'm putting off a chapter in favour of just fleshing things out. Things that don't need fleshing. At all.

Uluru is somewhere I absolutely want to visit at some point. I hope you have a blast.

Partner finally caught covid (or, first time she's had symptoms and tested positive). Been playing nurse for the last week as it hit her pretty hard, but I seem to have avoided it. Plonk her by the fire, ply her with soup and meds. She's back at the office tomorrow, we think.

I'll have been in my 'new' job for a year come August. Quite surreal to think about, and I'm still reaping the benefits of the minimised stress. Amazing what you'll adapt to without realising, and I absolutely adapted to a shitty environment at the time. The new job has afforded me so much more time to put towards hobbies. I write a lot more, I maintain the garden better, I'm more sociable. I'm just way happier.

Very grateful towards the people who nudged me in the new direction.

We got snow yesterday and everything froze over today, so I'm WFH this morning and getting the fire going. Cat is purring, partner is stirring. All's well.

It felt such a delightful mix of comically petty but also keeping the spirit of the record alive. It's anyone's game to take it if they wanted to, and I hope the next record is won with 202 drones just for a giggle.

Tis the heart of winter in NZ, and even more wintry in dreary Dunedin. Icy footpaths, fire crackling at night, rugging up everywhere you go and my glasses steam up whenever I enter a cafe.

Went to a 'drone light show' last week, and I swear most of the fuckin' town turned up. The organisers learned a lesson in event infrastructure at least. Four toilets, four, for thousands of people. The food trucks were all arranged next to each other, so every line for one truck became the line for another. They'll know for next time.

The show was cool though. Perfect night for it, and there were exactly 201 drones operating the show. This number was chosen, apparently, because the previous NZ record for such a show was 200 drones. So uhh, suck it, those guys.

They floated in towards us in a swarm, then organised themselves into gently rotating shapes of native birds/animals. Many "oohs" and "aahs". One kid screamed "It's a Kiwi!" when, in fact, it was an eel.

Got tickets to go see Hozier this November. Big fan of him. Not a big fan of concerts, but I'll brave it for my partner.

Hope you're all well.

Maybe Andy Weir is the ultimate litmus test, to sort out cheerful idiots like myself, who can't analyse a thing particularly deeply?

Huh. I haven't encountered people who didn't like it.

I mean I know they're out there, but I'd only heard good things in my circles.

I really enjoyed The Martian, I loooved Project Hail Mary but Artemis was lower down the rung for me. I think just because of Jazz. I couldn't gel with her, and maybe I'm being cynical but her character felt very 'male author struggles to write a woman'.

Still, I love what he does with his books. The nerd stuff is the action and it's a delight to follow along.

The moon jellyfish one is fucking amazing too.

Ooooh thank you for the recommendation. Going through the album now and enjoying it.

Inspired a whole ass chapter in a writing project, just by listening to it last week.