I'm back from Tannenberg, which was lovely and sunny and a lot of fun - we ended up one evening hanging out with our friends, who had their tents right next to ours, reminiscing and singing old and silly songs from our childhood.

Now there's a stack of things to take care of before I rush off to London to the Collingwood conference - among these trying to get the online shop back onto track. There seems to be a bug related to the shipping-cost calculation, and I have not been able to exterminate it yet. So should you have tried to reach the online shop and had no luck - sorry, I'm working on it!

I like games. I like board games (especially cooperative ones), and I also like computer games. Most of the ones I play (or we play together) are not very deep - more like light entertainment to pass some time, such as hidden objects or lightweight adventures.

Recently, though, I stumbled across two very different games. Both are online, both are free to play, and neither of them can be called lightweight.

The first one is called "Depression Quest", and it lets you explore the life of a person with depression. Depression is a nasty illness, and the game captures very nicely how it takes away perfectly sensible choices that seem obvious, easy and attainable - unless, that is, you are too depressed to be able to make them. DQ is a pay-what-you-want game, and it might be a good help in explaining to someone else how depression works.

The second one is called "Buried" and you play an archaeologist, newly returned from fieldwork, grappling with burial and death in both personal and professional circumstances. ("Buried" is not intended for the archaeologist, but more for the lay person. Plus, according to the game, it's possible to write a short paper in one evening even when starting out tired. Talk about game superheroes!) 

Both are not recommended if you are currently struggling with depression or grief, or if you have problems with death and burial as game items; but if you are not, and willing to explore these topics - I do hope you have a memorable experience doing it, and I'd love to hear what you thought of the games in the comments!

It's the time of year when everyone is on summer holiday, or travelling, or caught up in stuff that needs to be done, urgently, before or after holidays or travels or whatever. And I am, of course, no exception...

The next few weeks, for me, will be a wild mix of preparation for LonCon with a smattering of vacation thrown in. Which means it's time for a summer blog hiatus here.

Though I might post an update before LonCon, regular blogging will be taking its summer vacation until August 21. Go read the rest of the internet during that time - and I hope you will be back here in August!

Today's a public holiday here in good ol'Germany, so you are not getting a proper blog post... instead, have this link.

(Hint: it's how you mouse-proof your cheese. Yum. Not.)

This has been going through facebook, where I stumbed across it - a textile mill that closed in 1980 was abandoned with all its machinery still standing, and has recently been photographed. Go see the pictures - it's stunningly beautiful and sad at the same time.

Also: How Football sounds to people who don't care about it. (Hint: The article replaces football with archaeology.)

And that's it for today, since I am taking a day off, in preparation of work this coming weekend (I will be in Bietigheim-Bissingen on Sunday, demonstrating spinning) and the NESAT conference soon after. I want my batteries full for that!

The season has started, and I am off to Freienfels. If you are in the area, drop by - I'm somewhere on the lower meadow.

If you'd rather read science fiction stories, you can go here and enjoy the links to finalists for the Hugo and Retro Hugo Award. (A friend sent me that link. I am not sure yet whether to thank her for it or not... so much to do, so little time. Having interesting stuff to read does not make it better.)

Regular blogging will resume on May 6 - so you will have some more time to read while I am off to sleep in a tent and have coffee boiled over a fire. (Yes, I know coffee is not medieval. I will enjoy it anyway.)

April is one of the special months for me - a few people that I really like have their birthday in April (three of them on one day, actually), it's peak hayfever time for me, the garden needs some attention, and preparation for the start of the season gets done (more or less, like you do).

The taxes also start to feel more urgent in getting done, and it's lovely to sit outside in the warm sun, and my craving for ice cream becomes much stronger again. This year's April has a few additional deadline sprinkles to its name, and I think it will be a while before I am back to normal levels of stuff to be done.

What April also brings, though... is the funny stuff. When I opened my HabitRPG yesterday, I found that my avatar now looks like this:

Very springtimey!


If you want more of the kind, look at the April calendar page on the Medieval Manuscripts blog, or have fun with the list of pranks put together at Archaeologik (partly German, partly English).
Another list is here - have fun!

Meanwhile, I will try to tackle my task list without making the tasks cry too much. These oniony charms, you see...