Calissa

Macro of a prostrate grevillea 'Bronze Rambler' in flower.

What are you doing/thinking/wondering/making/reading/etc. that you don't normally post about?

Doing: I actually managed to get out yesterday and take some photos, as you can see from above. I've been stricter with myself about not working on weekends, making it a little easier to find time for these sorts of things.

Watching: My sweetheart and I have been juggling a few different shows. He was inspired to start rewatching Supernatural. I'm not quite sure why. We only made it to the 5th or 6th season the first time around, so it will be interesting to see how we do this time around. So far, we're a few episodes into the second season.

We're also rewatching an anime called Yakitate Japan. It's a shounen anime about making bread, is light-hearted and filled with puns.

On the roleplaying end, we continue to stalk Adam Koebel. He's got a Burning Wheel campaign going for Roll20. One of the things I disliked about the games on the RollPlay channel is that some of the players had a propensity towards murder and chaos, perhaps to make things more entertaining or to stir things up. It had the opposite effect for me, making me bored and irritated. I find the players on the Roll20 channel to be much more interesting. They make things difficult for their characters without wanton destruction.

Finally, we're watching a Russian drama called Night Swallows which is, unsurprisingly, based on the very same piece of history as our Night Witches RPG. We're finding some great inspiration and have already learned that we've been pronouncing one of the names incorrectly.

Thinking: There's something about September that triggers my "holy crap, the year is almost over" button. I've been looking over the goals I had for this year to see whether I can realistically achieve them or whether they need to be revised. I've also been thinking a little bit about what I might like to achieve in 2016.

Reading: I'm between books at the moment and I'm not quite sure what I'll pick up next. It will depend a bit on how quickly I get to writing a review of Equilibrium because I don't like to try keeping two review books of similar genres or styles in my head at the same time. So if I want to get started on reading something today, it will be Stormbringer by Alis Franklin because it will be fun and I won't be reviewing it. However, if I don't get any reading time until tomorrow afternoon, I'll read my next review book, which will be Aurora: Eden by Amanda Bridgeman.

Writing: I'm still struggling with making time for my own writing. I'm doing a bit better than I was, but that may simply be because work is quieter at the moment. Anyway, I'm back to plugging holes in Siren Songs.

Wondering: Related to the above, I've been wondering a bit whether writing is something I want to continue with. Editing and reviewing keeps me pretty busy and I've been enjoying it a lot. Whereas I really struggle to convince myself to sit down and so some more writing. And if I do want to continue with writing, what do I want to be working on? Do I want to focus on short stories or novels? Do I want to give fanfic a go?

Drinking: A mix of different teas, but mostly alternating between Earl Grey and Chocolate chai.

( Aged Loose Pu-er )


( Chocolate Oolong )


( Lapacho )


( Chamomile )

All in all, not the strongest batch I've tried.

Just one more batch after this one and I will be all caught up. Until the next one arrives (which should be in the next week or two)!

( Green rooibos )

( Nilgiri )

( Hibiscus )

( Mango and Chili Black Tea )

Back in October, Sahaquiel was kind enough to give me a subscription to Monstrositea for my birthday. Every month the company sends me samples of four different teas to try, some sourced from other tea companies and some sourced directly from the producers. I've been having almost as much fun photographing the samples as drinking them.

( Turkish apple tea )

( Gin Shan Creme (White Dragon) Oolong )

( Chuan Hong (River Red) Black tea )

( Black Tea Blue Fire )