Snooker
After years spent hitting balls about in games of pool (billiards) in pubs and bars, I thought Snooker might be a natural and relaxing pass time. Wrong.
Without having stood next to a Snooker table to actually appreciate the size of a 12ft x 6ft table, I didn't realize just how much more annoyingly accurate you have to be with those angles.
But I'm getting there.
Gaming
A more accurate title at this point would probably be "Fondly remembering gaming". As unfortunately I don't think there is a way of re-living that feeling of first experiencing Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Oblivion, Pokemon Silver, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Halo, or Fable.
However I do try and keep up to date, with my painfully slow progress through Jedi: Survivor and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will attest to.
Running
With a sedentary job with commitments to business deadlines and also my teams well-being, actually caring for yourself can easily go out of the window.
So I'm forcing myself to get back into running, which would be made much easier if the activity wasn't such a loathsome and detestable chore. But step by wheezy step I'm dragging myself into the routine.
Reading
Whether they are physical books or audio-books, I've always been a massive fan of high fantasy (as all good nerds are).
Some contemporary highlights from me are:
- Terry Mancour's ongoing "Spellmonger" series is a lot of fun, and still being added to
- Michael J Sullivan's "Riyira Revelations" series is a masterclass, including the prequel "Riyira Chronicles"
- John Gwynne's "The Faithful and the Fallen" is a criminally under-read series. My good friend Valdis and I will always end up talking about this series on the occasion we meet up for drinks
- Brandon Sanderson's "Stormlight Archive" series does a really nice job of exploring the underlying battle of mental health with the backdrop of some kick-ass fantasy (Though anything in Sanderson's Comsere is well worth a read)
- Scott Lynch's "Gentleman Bastards" series is a fun swashbuckling series with a hint of "The Three Musketeers" about it.
- Duncan M Hamilton's "Society of the Sword" builds an interesting world, which the "Wolf of the North" series set prior it builds on