Monday 9 September 2019

A tentative return...

Hi all (if anyone of my old readership is still out there)

Looking back, it's been over 5 months since my last post. With my fingers poised over the keyboard now, for the 54th (maybe) time of trying to bring myself to dive back into the world of blogging, I'm finding the process difficult to say the least. My last post, way back in April was meant to be a triumphant post celebrating the excellence of Uncon 5.0 - a board game convention, that I thoroughly love, but instead became a post about the sudden passing of my father. Tbh enthusiasm for most things ended... On top of all of that, work announced that I would have to complete another university module at level 6 in order to mentor students (a condition of my employment apparently) which would pile on pressure and to make matters worse the founder of Uncon announced that he would no longer be putting the event on as it was causing too much financial pressure...

So what has changed? well time passes and people heal(ish), things get easier and enthusiasms return. For one thing I have completed the uni module and that particular pressure is in the rearview mirror. Work, while still challenging, is starting to relax it's demands on my focus.  While I miss my dad (and my mum, who passed 2 years ago) every day, I have moved through the intense grief phase and have moved to a more acceptance phase (it is still bizarre to think I'm technically an orphan now at 45...).

In the last few months I have been gaming, although tabletop wargames have become a lot less frequent for a number of reasons.  I've played mostly board games which have a quicker setup and turn around time, although my favourites are still mostly based around miniatures like Rising Sun, Blood Rage and Zombicide. I have also been painting a lot of miniatures - commissions for board games, my own games like Zombicide and for Warhammer Fantast Roleplay 4ed.  These projects will be spoken more about as and when (and if) I blog over the next few months.  I was also commissioned to build a dice tower for a client as far away as Mexico City, again I will showcase this later on.  I've also been working hard to streamline the rules and polish my own BG design "Blood, Sweat & Horses" and some major developments have happened around that which I will also post about at a later time.

So lots to talk about, I have been reading my favourite blogs and hope to start commenting on them again soon. Thank you to all of you lovely people who offered your condolences, I read them all and appreciated them greatly at the time and still do, what a wonderful community we have built here.  Thank you especially to my buddy (who, over the last few months, I have been a very neglectful friend to) Rich Gates - who has encouraged me to get back behind the keyboard and bang out these few words.  My apologies for the content free post, hopefully some regular(ish) posts to follow shortly but 

Welcome back to Da Grotto...

dGG aka Andy

20 comments:

  1. Great to see you back blogging Andy, have missed your posts, even though I've kept up with what your up to on Facebook ( cool but not as insightful as your blogging !)
    Great to hear real life is settling down for you, and your enjoying painting modelling and gaming in whatever form makes you happy.
    A huge loss never goes away, but with time the memories those people made with you is the things you most remember.

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    1. thanks Dave, I'm finding that out one day at a time buddy

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  2. Welcome back Andy it's nice to see you re-emerge from the shadows. Just in time for Zomtober as well !!!

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    1. I guess I'd better leave the Zombicide stuff until then Phil? cheers mate

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  3. Any post, long or short, is a good post to ease you back into the habit of regular blogging - even if once every three months !
    It's good to see you making steps, however tentatively, to getting back into the community and I'll be looking forward to wahtever you contribute once you're of a mind to do so.
    Real-life always has to come first and we'll all appreciate the difficulties you face and have face.

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  4. Seeing this post really made my day, Andy, It's great to see you blogging again. I have sorely missed your posts and comments on my two blogs. As someone who has also lost both parents in recent years I can say that time is a great healer but that time will differ from person to person. If I can help you in any way please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. All the best, mate!

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    1. thanks Bryan, its hard isn't? I don't think people truly appreciate others until they're gone.

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  5. Terrific to see you blogging again Andy, no matter what the content, and I'm very pleased to hear life is on the mend for you. All my very best :-)

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  6. 'Welcome back Andy....again......lol!

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    1. I know, back and forth like nobody's business... cheers Fran

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  7. Really good to see that you haven't given up blogging! I know exactly what that's like, as my own output has been very limited this year, though not for quite the same reasons.

    It's tough losing someone you love, especially if it's sudden (I know, my son died unexpectedly in 2005). But time lessens the rawness and "normality" returns, at least somewhat.

    Glad to hear that some of the other pressures in your like are receding a bit also. Think positively (trite, I know...)!

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    1. thanks Hugh, I'm so dreadfully sorry to hear about your son. I'm definitely trying with the positivity - not trite at all.

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  8. It's nice to hear from you again after quite a while Andy, most people know how it feels to lose parents, children, friends and family and there are no easy fixes. Time does heal the pain but sometime the loss remains forever, not always in a bad way either, memories and hopes are what make us who we are and the memories of loved ones is never a bad thing, even if sometimes it's a hard thing.

    Gaming is something you do and it's not a bad thing to enjoy yourself either, your Dad would want you to carry on as before, I'm sure of that.

    Take care.

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    1. thanks Jon for your kind comment. I'd said to my dad years ago that I was going to get a game published one day and he was always asking how I was getting along. With Blood, Sweat & Horses I might actually achieve that and have been galvanised to do more with the game now, I think in part to fulfil that promise.

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  9. Nice to see you back, Andy. Losing a parent is never easy and does take is toll, impacting your life in ways you wouldn't expect, but it does get easier with time. We'll be waiting for whenever you feel ready to resume blogging, so don't worry that you've lost your readers... I mean, I'm still waiting to see your Kung Fu Psndas!

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    1. haha I cleaned up my painting area recently and there they were just begging for some paint! I feel like they may just jump the queue a bit Jez

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