Skyberries and Voidmelons or Voidberries and Skymelons

I had an awesome time on Friday night at Marioke - karaoke but with the words rewritten to be about games! Danced to and sung along to songs about various games and people, including Sid Meier and Civilization, Peter Molyneux, etc! Stood at the front, before the audience, and sang into the microphone to a version of Nirvana's Lithium that was more about games developers, and generally had an excellent time, dancing and singing along. It was so much fun!

I had a wonderful time at Nine Worlds! I went on holiday to Hammersmith, stayed in a hotel there and listened to talks on classical monsters in popular culture (classical monster Barbies exist, such as Medusa Barbie, Athena Barbie, and Hitchcock's The Birds Barbie!), Mars: the journey of a lifetime (a Mars One candidate talked about their experiences), learning about sex in teen magazines (nostalgia for Just 17, learning about what people thought could prevent pregnancy, such as crisp packets, and the Yellow Pages!) , Security for beginners, Questing Time (an RPG that was played on stage), Dr Magnethands (another storytelling game, which featured a Smurf making excellent dolphin sounds!), Technology for Writers (included a discussion on buying brains in bulk from Ocado in different colours, like post-it notes; bible translated into Lolspeak, the Emoji Moby Dick, writing to defeat monsters, and chat about if things came to life in VR immediately as you wrote them, wouldn't everyone just write porn?), It's research! (Or why it's totally okay to play Dragon Age for 100+ hours when you should be writing), The future of Nine Worlds, Game design principles to reduce player toxicity (such as making cross team chat opt-in in League of Legends increased positivity), Shitting on social norms in tech: organizing events no-one else will (such as Non Binary in Tech conference, and Sex Tech Hack), Freaky fabulous – gender, disability and queer representation in Monster High, Panel Panel. I also went to a copper and bronze clay jewellery making workshop and made pendants in the shape of leaves, alien faces, Tetris blocks, etc, out of copper clay; enjoyed dancing at the disco while wearing glowing shoes; liked seeing everyone's great costumes and outfits; saw lots of people dressed as Lemmings. Thank you organisers! Also, friends who were there and reading this – It was excellent to spend time with you all! And excellent to see panels you were on/ sessions you were running / talks you were giving / etc! Apologies to those who I passed at least a few times in the corridors but didn't find time enough to chat with! Hope to see you all again soon! Let's not wait until next year. :)

I arrived in Kraków on Monday afternoon and decided to do the flaneurs challenge III. (d), take the first left, then the second right, etc. I prefer to use the adaptation of take the first left, then take the first right, etc.

( Write up and photos )

I visited the underground salt cathedral of Poland: the Wieliczka salt mine, and there I saw chandeliers made of salt, statues carved from rock salt, and looked around the chapel. I peered at stalactites and stalagmites, and licked the salt mine, and found it was salty indeed. I also saw pretty rocks glowing under UV.

In central Kraków, I wandered around the grounds of the Wawel castle, the Old Town and Kazimierz. I walked down into the dragon's den, but it was only afterwards that I saw a dragon breathing fire. In the Museum of Municipal Engineering, I stared at old printing presses and trams and learnt about the infrastructure of the city. I played Pinball Dreams on an Amiga and Duck Hunt on a NES.

I ate a lot of ice-cream, including wonderful flavours such as gooseberry, bueno, Smurf, kogel mogel, pesto, sweet burnt charcoal, semolina, rhubarb.

I visited the socialist realist district of Nowa Huta and stared up at the architecture. I visited a bunker in a former cinema and tried on a gas mask. I learnt about how the town was designed with nuclear war in mind and visited the Museum of Poland under the Communist Regime.

I took a trip to Zakopane. I stared out the window of a bus at the countryside on the way there and saw hay bales (grass bales?) that looked a bit like Cousin Itt. I also saw people dressed up in traditional costumes for Corpus Christi. I took a cable car above the trees and up into the mountains and oh, it was stunning. I ate some apple cake and some coffee there, and then went on a hike, moving from rock to rock as if I was a mountain goat. I was in awe of the mountains and the beautiful scenery. Back in Zakopane, I noticed a house that was upside down as I went past it on a bus, and then later found it and went inside. Everything was upside down in there and that delighted me. I also become temporarily upside down (or perhaps the right way up).

I reactivated my OKCupid account and in 24 hours, had 356 likes, which seemed totally absurd.

I saw Cosmic Trigger at the Cockpit theatre, and it was awesome. Robert Anton Wilson, the Illuminatus, Eris, Ken Campbell, 23, nudity, Timothy Leary, "Turn on. Tune in. Find the others", giant golden apples, Aleister Crowley, LSD, magical rituals, aliens. Yes!

I attended a few interviews, and accepted an offer for a new job! I will be working in the St Paul's area. Excited about having new UX problems to solve, pages to design, users to find out about, new colleagues to meet, and a new area to explore during my lunch breaks and after work.

The sea beckoned and so I went to Newquay in Cornwall. I walked along cliff-tops, so springy with rabbit burrows that I wondered if I would fall down a rabbit hole. I wandered across beaches, peered into rock pools at sea anemones and paddled in the sea. I swam a few times and also tried snorkelling for the first time. I went on a boat ride along the coast and saw the tea caverns, a kittiwake colony and seals, which came right up to the boat. I also saw three bees, out at sea. I sat on Towan Beach and watched the sea come in, listened to the roaring waves at Fistral Beach, and walked down to Lusty Glaze beach and found a wedding was happening there. I walked across Porth Beach and onto Porth Island, where I walked out to Trevelgue Head and I also saw Butter. I had a lovely time.

I laid in bed and looked at the sea. (Such views from where I stayed in Newquay!)

I went to OpenTech, which I very much enjoyed. I listened to some interesting talks, caught up with friends, ate sushi with flexo, met some new people, and generally had a good time. I listened to talks on: using machine learning to decide which photographs are scenic; crochet patterns for STEM role models, such as Dr Mae Jemison, Astronaut; music made from data for migratory patterns and ice melting; creating ISPs; ethical technology; taking period leave and listening to your cycles; BBC’s micro:bit; privacy modes on different browsers.

I ate a Copenhagener from Ole & Steen in Richmond, and climbed inside a tree in Richmond Park.

I visited the Marian Goodman Gallery and saw the "Annette Messager: Avec et san raisons" exhibition and stared at gloves with pencils sticking out of the fingers, snails with breasts for shells, a uterus giving the finger and wallpaper of this.

I had lunch with Monika at Farmstand and it was good to catch up with her!

I stared at some amazing photos at Somerset House in the Sony World Photography awards & Martin Parr exhibition.

I walked along the river, on Tube walk 129: Richmond to Kew Gardens, and it was quite leafy, and a pleasant walk. The next tube walk will be in the Roding Valley, which is a lot less familiar to me.

I ate dim sum at Tai Tung in Croydon with nou and friends.

I attended Design History Reading Club at the Barbican, discussed Douglas Engelbart, augmenting human intellect, and how fun copy and pasting must have seemed back then.

I had drinks and pizza with web folk at Pub Standards.

I walked from Crowhurst to Battle, on a walk arranged by Jacqui. We visited Battle Abbey and the 1066 battlefield. We admired the views, saw rabbits and chainsaw sculptures of knights.

I went to talks on User research and VR, at the Research Thing meet up. Interesting talks on subjects such as learning about simulator sickness with VR.

I ate sushi and chocolate mochi with deathboy and it was great to see him!

I visited the Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge, an underground operations room, which was used during the Second World War, and was given an interesting tour which explained how the map was used and what the different displays in the rooms meant.

I stared at pictures of pylons in the Electricity exhibition at the Wellcome Collection with deathboy and then we ate vegetarian Indian food at the Diwana Bhel Poori House.

I walked up to Richmond Hill and a rainbow appeared up there, and then the view was particularly nice as it is very leafy this time of year. I walked underneath the yellow laburnum in the park. I hid under a tree when it started to rain.

I saw The Red Turtle at the cinema with doseybat and ate dessert (matcha ice-cream, aduki beans, aiyu jelly!) at the Shan State.

I stared up at the neon signs in the Lights of Soho, which I visited with my mum, and later that afternoon, ate rose lokum ice-cream.

I made a flower out of old maps.

--
"Don't lick the steering wheel," the health and safety regulations for the Dodgems of the Mind insisted. I signed that I wouldn't and filled in a personality test, in an old fire station. "What's your current personality?" it asked and I ticked, "amazed". I gave my answers to an assistant and then was matched with a dodgem, which spoke to me a bit, telling me to drive onwards, but seemed quite reluctant to move. An assistant told me I could lick the steering wheel if I really wanted. Screens appeared above me, with faces on them, talking sometimes, as I went around the course.

"You're wonderful," one said.

--

I walked through the rain to get to a gallery, and then inside, I stared at a picture that was made up of the digits of Pi, and looked at the patterns, the darkness and the light. I stared at flashing screens with patterns that made me think of how hacking is portrayed in old films.

--

In another exhibition, in another gallery, I watched feathers attached to wheels spin around and around, and met a polar bear with feathers.
--

In June, I am going to attempt flaneurs challenges, such as getting on the first bus that comes along, then getting off after n stops, and then getting on the next bus that comes along.


Ingress:

I got a new badge in Ingress, the Magnus Architect badge, as I deployed at least 3113 resonators to unique resonator slots in the specified time period.

I saw the excellent Berny who was visiting London! Drinks at the Whippet one evening and then another day, we wandered around Croydon and I ate a vegan doner kebab at Boxpark.

I went to Sander's leaving drinks and was temporarily a nice dwarf and a duke and an ambassador and I attacked people with asparagus bum dragons.

I went to a meet, where I wandered around squares in Mayfair, deploying resonators. I went on a roll around Temple. I walked around Gillingham and Chatham while doing the Medway Marathon banner. I attended the Enlightened monthly social.

I completed banners in Wood Green, Kingston, Pimlico and Staines. In Staines, I saw a sculpture commemorating the lino factory. I walked along the river, and the air was full of white fluffy seeds.

I went to a meet, where we completed the Vader banner, and walked from Archway to Angel and then onwards to Old Street. We walked about 10 miles. We also passed the Amwell Fig, one of the great trees of London.

I am getting close to level 15 now, and also close to 10,000 unique portal visits.

Made from old maps.

She wandered inside the head, but at first she did not realise it was a head she was wandering in.

I took my first breath underwater and went scuba diving. I even saw a shark! (Admittedly, a toy plastic one, on the bottom of the swimming pool.)

I went on a tube walk from Regent's Park to Baker Street and we saw alpacas and the Jelling Stone.

My mum and I saw the exhibition on Sussex Modernism: Retreat and Rebellion at Two Temple Place.

I went to a UX Community event on "When did service design stop being UX?"

I ate dessert soup at the Shan State with doseybat and morwen and we saw A Silent Voice at the cinema.

I caught up with friends at Pub Standards.

After 4 weeks, the gas in my flat was finally turned back on!

I celebrated miss_newham's birthday at the Battersea Arts Centre.

I visited the Charterhouse museum.

I saw the exhibition at the Stables Gallery by Martin Davison - Playing the changes.

( Finland and Estonia )

Ingress:

Another fun Enlightened monthly social!

I wandered around Croydon and completed the When Dolphins attack! banner and kept an eye out for suspicious dolphins. I visited the Boxpark in Croydon and ate cronuts and “the hard bowl”, which included yam and plantain and ackee.

I walked around Brick Lane and did the Brick Lane banner, and drank a vegan freakshake at the Canvas and smiled when I saw the sign made of beads that said, “All you need is weird”. I stared at photos in the Whitechapel Gallery, at the Terrains of the body exhibition, and also watched mobile phones spin around.

I walked around South Kensington and did the Evolution of Man banner. I stared at John Latham's skoob art at the Serpentine and marvelled at his creations. I also saw the Speak exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler.

I wandered around Canary Wharf one day and did the Canary Superskyline banner. Another day, I walked around St Pauls and did the The Bridge to St Pauls banner.

I organised a Ministry of Funny Walks banner meet and afterwards, we ended up in the Crobar.