Hm, I haven't been very active as of late. Thought I'd just post and say 'hi!' and tell you lot what I've been up to lately. That would amount to:

Work,
Sleep,
Eating,
Reading,
and Writing.
Also Visiting Annoying Relatives and Painting Models, in lesser amounts.

So yeah, not a huge amount to write about, really. :) So I thought I'd post up my latest reading list, in order to make me look more busy, and add High Literary... um... Standards?... to my journal. That last is highly doubtful, given the caliber of my most recent reading, but, well, y'know, at least I've been doing something, right?

Anyhoo, the list.

David Weber - Honor Harrington: The Short Victorious War
I don't know if I've said this before, but the Honor Harrington series is nothing short of awesome, on numeous levels. The characters are well fleshed out - both 'good guys', 'bad guys', and those undecided - and are easily connected to. Honor (the title's heroine, of course) is both accessible and interesting - with failings and foibles to prevent possible Mary-Sue-ishness. Weber's characteristic attention to detail is sufficient to flesh out the world to a level that makes it realistic, and yet it doesn't overwhelm. Sweeping space opera with human drama, this is the best of both worlds, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi, especially war sci-fi. On Basilisk Station is the first in the series.

Timothy Zahn - Star Wars, The Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command
Okay, so I've read this before, but I still love it. Five years on from the Battle of Endor, the Empire is fighting for its survival and the New Republic is fighting to retain coherency. Zahn does excellent character work on both the old favourites and new characters that are rapidly becoming favourites: Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade are introduced in this trilogy. It's a trilogy that continues the story of Star Wars perfectly, and well worth reading for any fan or 'just-interested'.

Shelly Mazzanoble - Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to Dungeons And Dragons
Well, the title's pretty self-explanatory. And it's well worth a read for those girls who're either already dungeon-crawlers, or those interested in it. I'm quite happy to lend out the copy to show to friends so you can persuade them to join you in a good dungeon-bash. :) Mazzanoble deals with the (often-touchy/geeky/misunderstood) subject of D&D with humour and interest, giving information and showing exactly why us chicks in chainmail like to join the guys in the game. She's a woman who quite unashamedly is a girly-girl, proud of it, and yet still has great fun being a 'part-time sorceress'. A bit of an American tilt to the language and examples, which is occasionally a little annoying to my Kiwi tastes, but it's enthusiastic and interesting.

Julian Stockwin - Seaflower
An excellent continuation of the Kydd series, this chronicles the ascent of a young apprentice taken by the Press Gang from a simple sailor up into the officer ranks. Full of detail about seagoing life and well-written in terms of character development, Stockwin brings Nelson's Navy to life. Unlike some authors in the genre, Stockwin tends to focus strongly on life on the sea, not just the climactic battles. Seaflower is even better than the first two in the series (Kydd and Artemis), improving on the good points and cutting down the (very few) bad points. Good, solid reading for those who enjoy the genre, and a good read for those who only dip into it occasionally. Kydd is the first in the series.

So that's what's been on my reading-pile lately. None of the classics, but a lot of enjoyable reading. :)

Another thing I've been doing a lot of reading of lately is webcomics. It takes up very little time between calls, and thus is ideal work-reading. :) A few I enjoy laugh at read are:
Penny Arcade: Okay, so everyone knows PA. :)
Questionable Content: the art improves (lots), the storyline's interesting, and the jokes, well, I like 'em a lot.
Oh My Gods!: Good fun for the pagans out there, and generally amusing for those who know about that kinda stuff.
Weregeek: The descent of a young man into the world of geekdom. Huge amounts of fun.
Looking For Group: Based in D&D/WoW, this is a good story and excellent art. You will either love or hate Richard.
Dresden Codak: Weird, wild, wonderful, and occasionally just plain wacky, this is your dose of oddness for the day.
Little Gamers: Fresh from Sweden, with profanity, gaming, ninjas, and the PokingStick (tm). Random laughs.
Bunny: The Book Of Random: Weird and amusing and occasionally a trifle obscure. Take in small doses.
Fallen: Not precisely a webcomic, more a manga, but well worth a look. Well-crafted and interesting.
XKCD: A study in stickfigures. Surprising, weird, interesting, occasionally very touching.

Hm, so that's the update. Anything else I can't think of right now. :)