A few good things

aeliel, fetnas and I are off to see the circus tonight :-) Next, I might run off to join one.

Last night, we headed out to the Clyde for mistresscarlett's farewell... she's off to Oxford to find their academics and eat their brains. Or something like that. Had good (although all too brief) conversations with huge numbers of people I don't see often enough any more, and then I headed home in search of more plague-banishing drugs. I figured it was better to bail early, than to infect everyone with an extra dose of the 'flu.

I bumped into some Wushu people on the way home - the training trip to China left early this morning, so I saw them just before they went home to finish packing. I still want to go back (there's a mountain next to Shaolin that I wasn't allowed to freeclimb to the summit of...), but I need to get a bit healthier first. I have a three-week break from training, which I can use to consolidate what I've learned. The China crew will be in better shape when they get back to Melbourne, but they'll be a little bewildered from the vast amount of new material they learn over there - this is my best chance to build on the style we've been learning over the last few months.

Bethany called me on my birthday, just before leaving Edinburgh. She's off for another month in Europe, back to find work in Scotland, and then spending the rest of the year in North America... hopefully home in time for Christmas. She sounds well, although converting her remaining savings into British Pounds has made her bank account look a little sad. Apparently she might spend longer working in the Highlands, to make enough to get by in the US.

I have more graphics software to learn and models to paint in the event of my impending joblessness. Painting can pay my bills for a while, and I really need some time to get to grips with Photoshop. After that I have to brave Illustrator... hopefully, the toolbars and palettes will be more intuitive by then as they crop up in InDesign and Photoshop as well.

Lots to do, lots of options. While I may take nineteen different roads to wherever I'm going, it's the journey that matters most. I won't get there first or fastest, but I'll see more of my surroundings on the way...