The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

Ho hum, another Saturday knackered...

...or so it seemed. However, one of the first shops I went into - pretty much just passing through - yielded a startling discovery...



YES. I scored me the casing for the long-proposed Omnisensor prop for Mission 101 Task 88 - create three writing-related props. Thank you H&M - again! I have that same chain of stores to thank for several jewellery items acquired earlier in the week that will now allow my Personal Goddess to have music wherever she goes...



Some household requirements were also addressed - eventually - and I will be heading back soon to pick up a vital piece of merchandise. That's okay, as it should allow me to finally catch up with the shopping I had hoped to do today. I hope I can squeeze in a visit to Edinburgh Zoo next week - but we'll see how that works out...

Change of pace - here's a bunch of photos of recent acquisitions and work-in-progress for some of my current Mission Tasks...



Task 88 - Make props of items from my projects... I see the beginnings of an energy whip...




Task 97 - Build a diddley-bow... Guitar innards - now, where do those wires go...?




...here? Hmmm, looks like we may have a problem...




At least the Personal Goddess (Task 91) now has legs - and a shoe size...

It's a bit weird today - I'm still energised by yesterday, but when I sit down, boy am I tired. THOR gets a full big-screen week starting Friday, so I might just go and see it again on my birthday... :)

The Weekend Of Madness may be over, but where to go from here? There are certainly a good crop of blockbusters still to come, but what else can I cram into the summer? Are we looking at a Summer Of Madness?

I have craft things in mind - I made a set of Emotional Spectrum "prayer beads" in preparation for Green Lantern (June 17), and there is still a couple of Mission tasks along those lines...

51 - Create something to sell, and sell it!
52 - Complete some craft projects I've started
84 - Learn to make my own paper...
85 - ...and make my own books!
91 - Create a "personal goddess"
94 - Make a PD-worthy pair of boots from scratch!
97 - Build a diddley bow

Still got Rush in three weeks, remember (Task 90)... oh, and no CLAN to fanny things up!

Development News... There's every chance I might just have TDD-701: After The Fall finished before REIGNFALL even starts posting! There wasn't a great deal of writing done today - I actually managed to do more yesterday - but progress is progress, and the rest of the story is pretty much writing itself on the scaffolding of pre-planned story threads. A bit more work tonight will push things ahead, maybe even reach completion...

I promised this quite a while ago - a peek into my shopping habits...

Every now and again, something in the toy and/or collectable section of Previews grabs my attention, whispering "buy me... buy me..." in my ear, and right now, I'm in a financial position to do just that. Some months ago, the "BUY ME Bug" struck twice in one order, tugging at the heartstrings of my love for the X-Men character Phoenix (the Dark version, in this case see left) and the whole cosmos built around DC Comics's latest property to become a movie, Green Lantern (right)...

The latter aren't just a collection of the recently released "freebies" - these ones light up when you wear them. How cool is that?

I jump at the opportunity to grab these things because of a missed chance when I was in New York in 1998. At Toys R Us, not long before I was due to head back to the UK, I saw a limited edition two-set of 12" Batman and Catwoman dolls - very nice, and only $40 - but I had a stop-over in London on the way back to finance, so I passed on them. In London, I paid Forbidden Planet a visit, and guess what I found on the shelves - the very same set of dolls, priced at... *gulp* £100.

Also, I have an annoying tendancy to see something I want, and tell myself I'll purchase said item "on my way back", but I almost never manage to do that. Breaking that habit really should be one of my Mission 101 Tasks.

I don't buy these items to stash away to sell for a profit. I buy them to enjoy, to put on display - my new "office" will have display opportunities aplenty - dust occasionally. Once everything is in place, I should do a big panorama - and comic-book related merchandise isn't the only thing I plan to have on show...

And I don't just mean

91 - Create a "personal goddess"

More on that soon!