Turns out I needed a much bigger break than I expected. Summer is always a time to get outside more often, travel, explore, and finally get some of those long-gestating projects finished. But more than that, I was just a little burned out on writing in these pages and posting on social media. To be honest the continuing issues with Twitter and the launch of the new Threads app really depressed me. Unlike some people I really enjoyed Twitter, especially our vibrant and engaged Tweetfleet hashtag group. It was often a great place to stay in touch with the community, exchange ideas, have fun, organize meet-ups, and help support each other's projects. Over the past few years the entire thing has just started falling apart and while it remains something I try to keep alive, it just isn't the same anymore.
Then last week I sat down to start writing again and I got a DM over on Discord. And that's when I first learned about the unfolding drama involving Ashy and Foxholers. And I freely admit that entire thing just put me into a bad state of mind. It took forever to figure out what was happening and why it was happening, and even now I probably don't know the truth of anything. So I remain entirely without an opinion or anything to say about it. As so much of seems to be internal to the organization I think it is best to not speculate based on rumors. I was sorry to see another blog go dark. And Ashy and Ted and all of Foxholers have always been supporters of Stay Frosty and ABA, and of this blog writer. So yeah, yet another reason why I wasn't motivated to write words.
Out here in the real world I'm also facing some challenges. When my last consulting contract ended last year I didn't expect it to be a year later without having picked up another one. That has hurt all of us here in the Pirate Lord HQ and while things are always busy and we are staying positive - it has taken its toll on me. I've had to step away from some recent opportunities simply because they couldn't pay me, even though long-term it meant coming in on the ground floor for some exciting opportunities. But you can't pay bills on hopes and dreams. So I remain aggressively looking for more opportunities and I'm hoping something comes along shortly.
On a positive note another big project is finally rounding the corner and will be going public here in the beginning of August into September. I'm incredibly excited about this one and can't wait to share more with all of you in the coming months. So be patient.
It's always interesting that when I have a lot of stress in real life, my game play inside of Eve (which is supposed to be relaxing) also suffers. And while I continue to have fun and enjoy the game, it suddenly starts to become harder to focus on being good at what I do and suddenly becomes more about having fun and just getting into fights. It's a subtle change that is often hard for me to notice. It usually takes a few days before I start to understand what is happening and take steps to self-correct it. Eve is such a complex and ever-changing experience, even day-to-day. Incredible.
So hopefully this means the spell is broken and I'll be back to regular updates and writing strange, long-form rambles that Rushlock can turn into strange, long-form narrative videos. I hope.
Until then, stay frosty my friends.