I've felt a little stagnant with classical guitar recently, and I think I've figured out why - I'm spending too long practicing easy pieces to warm up for the more difficult pieces I'm learning, so I'm fatigued before I can even get there. I may need to finally learn some warm-up exercises...

A few months ago, I bought a book on Irish music and folk songs concerned with the Sidhe, which came with 2 CDs of songs and stories taken from the National Folklore Collection. It turned out, however, no disc-drive I own can read CDs bar my old PS3, and I only *just* got around to digging it out.

It's finally crypt map season. 👀

I realized a year or two ago that I had been passing ancient menhirs and ringforts every day of my life. I missed so many because they were just out of sight, or because they were so familiar they simply blended into the landscapes before I knew to look for them. Kind of wild to think about.

I was one of those kids who used to think they were never going to use maths after they finished school. Just a few days ago I had to use Pythagoras' theorem, and I occasionally catch myself referring to other bits and pieces half-remembered from trigonometry or algebra. I was a fool.

I've just set all of my games and supplements either to free or PWYW on itch, including the new ones 🖤✨ If you grab anything, please consider leaving a rating and review! gothhoblin.itch.io

Bluesky friends, assemble! 📯 I'm looking for TTRPGs that are: 🌿 By Irish creatives, writers or designers 🌿 Set in Ireland 🌿 Exploring Irish culture, history, language, and/or folklore. If any of the above applies to you or someone you know, please get in touch or comment below! Míle buíochas!

This was a lot of fun to be a part of, and despite our best efforts to the contrary, somehow we survived! 😄

The Doodle of Dorian Gray (Slightly diminish a book.)

I used to practice the guitar before work, but lately I've been practicing several hours after ending my work day. Today I decided to practice in the afternoon, and I'm only now realizing how much the mental (and hand) fatigue I build through the day of work impacts my playing.

Heather's back making witchy maps for autumn. Nature is healing. 👀

The new tariffs are going to hit artists particularly hard if it means losing customers in the US, so I'd ask Irish people to please consider buying local, from Irish makers, where at all possible. Support that means little to a huge business makes a massive difference to small creators. We need ye.

@itsjustwitchmaps.bsky.social got me an eReader for my birthday in a few days, so naturally, I'm downloading so many dusty old books (well, minus the dust I suppose) that I'll be completely overwhelmed by choice when I sit down to read something. 👀 (I'm very excited about this prospect)

My character in Cairn died a couple of nights ago - he got too close to an open ossuary, so he had it coming. 👀 But now I get to play as the character who killed him (he wasn't quite himself at the time), who will likely take up his quest out of some sense of guilt. This should be fun! 😄

For my non-Irish friends, some phrases: I will, yeah = I most certainly will not I will in me hoop = I most certainly will not I will in me hole = I most certainly will not

La Dispute have released songs from their upcoming album as a series of four EPs over the last few months, and while the album they're from still isn't fully released, it's already a favourite of mine. They just announced an EU/UK tour, and naturally, like the last, there are no Irish dates. Boo.

I'm getting really sick of watching video lessons/essays from musicians and discovering they're using AI-generated images. I know some of them probably don't care about AI-generated music either, but a lot of them do, and the fact they can't see how they're feeding the same machine is wild to me.

This is a good list from a good bean. If you don't already know AbyssalBrews, you should correct that.

Kaiya is one of my favorite people in the TTRPG scene, and she makes stellar games - you should check them out! 😄

Happy happy birthday to @mirror-lock.bsky.social who I am so lucky to have crossed paths with!! She is one of the greatest people in this industry!

It's Kaiya's birthday today, and if you don't know her or recognize her work you've gotta check it out. Her games are inspiring and introspective!

Happy birthday, Kaiya!! You, Beyond the Pale is still one of my favourites, it really resonates if you have ever felt like an outsider and if you ever wanted to belong. I want to follow up on the friend I made in this game with a Her Odyssey journey soon. ❤️ mirror-lock.itch.io/you-beyond-t...

🎂 HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a fantastic creator and collaborator, here is Her Odyssey popping out of a Risograph printer

I haven't had as much time to play the guitar as I'd like lately, and in a moment of frustration with the condition of the strings, I started changing them at 1am. Forgetting I wanted to clean it, as well as a step I learned last time to help with string slipping. I'll just finished it tomorrow...

I got to play in a Call of Cthulhu one shot tonight, which was also my first time ever playing it. We didn't die, and that in itself is a victory. 👀 I really enjoyed it, though - it was a fun group, and I just really love eldritch horror vibes. 😄

Earlier today, a fledgling sparrow landed in the open doorway and watched me play the guitar for maybe 15 seconds before it took flight again. I suspect this is the closest I'll ever get to being a fairy-tale princess. (it was pretty neat)

Back in September, after a bad summer for wind farms, Michéal Martin was asked if he could guarantee there would be no power outages come winter, and he said every effort would be made to that end. It is absurd that it was even a question when you consider how much power these data centres use.

I have ADHD, and an MA in Writing. As a result of my ADHD, I struggle with the utter inability to sit down and write, no matter how much I want to, and it's been like this for years. I hate it. I would still rather struggle with this for the rest of my life than use generative AI to 'write'.

Continuing the recent trend of finally listening to Irish bands I've been hearing about for years but failed to look into, I'm currently listening to Fontaines D.C.'s Romance album on repeat. I feel like I blinked and missed like several years of great Irish music. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWsF...

The aforementioned binder that @itsjustwitchmaps.bsky.social got me for our first anniversary - I *finally* got around to printing the music it was meant to hold yesterday, and it has been very nice to practice without staring at a screen. It's also a *really* nice binder - she knows me well. 👀

The printer ink I ordered (that was briefly lost in transit) should arrive today, so I'll actually be able to print my sheet music soon. I'll finally be able to practice away from my PC, where I won't constantly be bombarded with prompts to generate an AI summary of the music I'm using.

We got married (for the second time, technically) a year ago today, and while the year since has thrown a few surprising curveballs our way, I'm very glad you were at my side through all of it. Happy anniversary, Heather. ❤️

Yesterday I applied for a Public Services Card so I can get my learner permit. The application system rejected 20+ photos, but the issue it gave seemed to concern the system rather than the photos. Today they told me they can't accept the photo it eventually accepted, so I have to apply in person.

Whenever people try my glasses, they recoil in nauseous horror. So, it was a tad frustrating that I had to spend an hour and 15 minutes in the waiting room of my local GP today so they could fill out a form that amounts to 'Vincent needs to wear glasses' so I can get my learner permit.

I will be genuinely sad to see Michael D Higgins leave the presidency.

I recently bought a book called The Otherworld: Music & Song from Irish Tradition - which provides the music it discusses in CD form. I'd hoped to listen to the music before reading the book, but I've discovered I have fewer devices capable of reading a CD than I thought, bar those in the attic...

@itsjustwitchmaps.bsky.social got me a really lovely binder for the ever-growing pile of music I've been meaning to print for the last seven months, so I finally tried to actually print some of it today. I discovered with the very first piece that the printer is out of ink. 😔

This is a pretty cool visual representation of the distortion of scale in Mercator projection, for those interested in such things! thetruesize.com

My guitar fell off its stand today, and its headstock is now sporting a lovely wee dent. It's fine, of course, but I am displeased. 👀

Today is the last day of Pride, and tomorrow is the first day of Disability Pride Month, so if you like fantasy fiction and music (and, apparently, tarot readings): Follow my Patreon & encourage a disabled queer trying to put joy and more art out into the world! It’s free! (fuck disability limits)

Today I finally decided to start learning how to read music. I'm honestly kind of annoyed I built it up so much in my head - after like twenty minutes I was already (very, very) slowly piecing together one of Sagreras' guitar lessons. Now all I have to do is keep doing it, I guess!

Hearing our contractor, who's been taking advantage of our patience for the best part of a year now, try to talk over @itsjustwitchmaps.bsky.social only to be met with a "Hush" that didn't interrupt her flow whatsoever (but rendered him meekly silent) has been a highlight of my month. 👀

The day after saying this, a book I ordered last week arrived, one I've seen recommended to beginner classical guitarists multiple times recently. I can't read music, and the book doesn't teach you how to read music, but all of its exercises require you to, you guessed it, read music. 👀

We've moved Hidden Folk of the Feywild to BackerKit! Come discover 70+ authentic European fey creatures for your campaigns. Real folklore, ready for your table! #dnd #ttrpg #fantasyart www.backerkit.com/c/...

Well, this is pretty dang cool. 👀

"I asked ChatGPT" "I asked Grok" ok well I asked Gandalf and he said he has not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm

I'm attempting to gather information for a very difficult conversation on the current state of the US with a family member, and I'm getting real sick of finding articles that are locked behind paywalls. The people who need to be convinced of what's happening aren't going to pay to read this.

The first time I restrung my classical guitar, it was actually faster than restringing my steel string guitars (thank you, string-winder). Every time since, however, I've done *something* wrong and had to re-do several strings. I have no idea how, but dang, it's no wonder I procrastinate. 👀

I've been getting an ad on Youtube lately that delivers its message through a rather Billie Eilish-esque female vocalist whose pronunciation of certain words made me realize it was probably AI-generated. You really can't escape it anymore, can you? I really hate this crap.