Hey thank you everyone for the lovely words :) I am carrying my laptop today and unfortunately my back is aching so I probably will need to rest it more before doing so again but it's great to have a little time to download 2000+ (!) posts and catch up a little on what I have missed.

It's a very interesting experience not having the distractions of a computer in my idle moments. I've been reading a lot and also spending time simply thinking.

I'd love to say my reading list has been non-technical but that would be a lie!

Over the last month I've read the following and would heartily recommend to (most of) you:

• Masters of Doom by David Kushner: the story of id software shows how uniquely productive and also how precarious a creative partnership can be and it's also a nostalgic look at an era when it was necessary to get really close to the metal to write code that seemed like magic and a few people with a cool idea and some hardcore skills could create something brand new and genre defining.
• Game Engine Black Book: Wolfenstein 3D 1 by Fabien Sanglard: probably one for developers only. A close look at some of the really clever parts of the source for Wolfenstein 3D. I read this before Masters of Doom: it made me curious to learn more about id software.
• You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier: a book that will resonate with many on SSB with its call not to reduce your humanity to fit into a simplified template offered by social media (plus some more contentious but provocative ideas on open source, piracy, the nature of consciousness, VR and cephalopods)
• Playing at the World by Jon Peterson: a comprehensive history of wargames, roleplaying games and fandom up to D&D. The book is very - sometimes tediously - detailed. It is hard to imagine a more comprehensive survey of the domain. What I took from it above all was a reminder of the importance of following your passion - however pointless it may seem to others especially if the time in which you live is not quite ready for it - and for finding people with whom to share it so that the ideas can evolve through a dialogue with others.

I don't anticipate having a lot of free time in the next few months and I'm not going to be carrying my laptop on a regular basis but I am going to dip back into the scuttleverse more often as and when I can.

Much love to all of you!