Big Lunch Street Party.

The world is going street party mad, as a way for communities to bond and try to gain/regain a sense of unity - similar to the way things used to be, "in the good old days".

One of the people where I live decided to organise a street party, taking advantage of the national Big Lunch event being organised for 18jul2010, and have the neighbours round to share drinks and have a chat.

Overall, for a 1st gathering of this nature, it went well - lots of people,, lots of talking, lots of food.

I did my usual of hovering at the fringes and taking photos, and everyone rated the day as a good one, and definitely something to be repeated.

Until next time,

Peter

Old Friends

What a strange few days...

...Off walking around London at the weekend, I hear a call of my name from behind and it's Andy Fillery, a friend I haven't seen for 6+ years, who's recognised me from a block away.

We had a brief chat, a quick catch up and now we have contact details so can stay in touch.

And then more amazingly...

...Garry Vanderhorne, Someone I lost touch with over 15 years ago and have spent the last few years trying to locate and get in contact with, has just got in touch with me...

...And now I have his contact details, so can renew another old acquaintance.

But, should I ??

Obviously time has moved on and we're different people...

...So is it better to have the memories where things were great and any problems are conveniently forgotten/ignored...

...Or ir it better to renew old friendships and realise we've nothing in common anymore, and the memory is forever tarnished by the reality of strangers forcing behaviour because they want to be "polite" ??

Ahhhh, bollox...

...I'm renewing old friendships and let the dice fall where they may.

Until next time,

Peter

Strange Days & Lost Girls

Today was a strange day...

I went into work early, to be part of a meeting about changing the way part of my job is done.

I've been trying for years to get interest from management to allow me to change things, and been blocked at almost every turn...

...And now they've hired someone who's sole purpose is to do this thing - aaarrrrgggghhh

It did make me realise that that higher level work, looking and changing the how the work is done is something I'd like to pursue more than I am at the moment.

I left work, tired and hungry, crossed the road and saw a girl sitting on the pavement, looking at her phone.

As I approached I saw that she was crying, and I walked on by.

Well, nearly.

I stopped and made conversation, asking what was wrong and sitting next to her.

She cried and cried, telling me about herself and what was wrong.

I gave her a hug and listened as she talked and unburdened herself

When she asked why I was helping her, I just shrugged and said it was the right thing to do - walk on by, or stop and help, there's really no choice.

I got her standing and we walked about a little and I walked her to a pub, so she could have a wee.

As I left her there, I realised I've grown and come a long way from the Lost Boy that I was just a short few years ago.

She reminded me of several of the girls I used to know, of roughly the same age, and the troubles they had.

There's more to the tale, but it's private and stays between me and her.

So, if you know a 20 year old care worker, who lives in Kilburn, by the name of Cassie, who was helped by a stranger on this evening...

...Say hello from me, and ask her to get in touch - just so I know she's ok.

Well, that's my good deed for the day

H-H-H-Holiday !!

Packing like a mad thing, so I can go on holiday tomorrow.

It's all exciting and I'm looking forward to taking photos [with my new 18-200mm lens], trying new foods and doing lots of walking.

This is usually the time when I realise I have lots of clothes that I want to take, but they all need washing !!

It's amazing how much of what I take on holiday is tech orientated - camera, laptop, phone, chargers, adapters, cases, memory cards, etc...

...But it's all worth it in the end.

It's sad to say, I guess, that my holiday would be poorer without my Apple MacBook, which I use for so many things - writing, photographs, listening to music, playing a few games, watching movies...

...It really is the most useful piece of gear I have.

And an iPad would probably be a good relacement - especially in terms of weight saved !!

Until next time,

Me

Buried Treasure.

I've been going through boxes of stuff, to throw things away, and I've found lots of RPG stuff that I'd done from 10-15 years ago.

Some of it is the Shadowrun stuff from the sessions I ran - SR 2 rules, parts and pieces from lots of other places such as Call of Cthulhu and Cyberpunk 2020.

It's quite strange to see it again, handwritten scrawls from different players and me, ideas for scenarios, location maps photocopies of pages. The memories flood back and I can almost relive the rush I used to get, the excitement, the feelings of camaradrie.

Quite amazing, actually.

Also, I can see the moving away from SR 2 towards my own setting and rules, as I use more and more of my own ideas and FASA shut up shop and stopped producing material.

Almost all of the other RPG material I've found is the early writing for my own, homebrew RPG [The Twilight World, since you ask] - rules, notes, random scribblings, rough sketches of gear [and I do mean rough !!], attempts at layout in Word, ideas, setting notes, ideas that no longer make any sense to me.

But it is interesting to see the evolution of the RPG.

Now that I'm putting pixel-to-screen with recent material from the last few years worth of ideas, rules and setting - for people to read, critique and/or enjoy using for themselves - there's material to be mined and possibly re-used.

All in all, interesting times ahead,

Peter