Hey Furries of the World,

Golly gosh life has been on turbo hasn’t it? The past six months have been pretty significant to me, and it feels like it’s flown by. Some of you may have thought I’d dropped off the face of the earth, so I feel it’s worth saying what’s been happening.

Firstly, the job! Having graduated last summer, I’ve since transitioned into adult life by starting my first proper graduate job! Unfortunately it does mean I’ve lost a fair bit of my free time (Boo!). So what am I doing? Well I’m a software engineer for a life sciences company doing some awesome work in portable molecular diagnostics. I describe it to people as “We’re making the tricorder from Star Trek,” which sounds ridiculous but it’s pretty much true. A lot of technical know-how, quite a bit of biology, but I’m getting good experience while positively contributing to genuinely life-saving research.

Unfortunately part of what has kept me away has been anxiety. I’ve been a part of the fandom for about a decade now, but it has been a bit tainted for me. I had a bad breakup last year and it has taken a bit of a toll on me. It has been a challenge to move beyond that. I’m grateful to my friends and family who have been pillars in my life when I’ve needed them. I won’t forget the help you’ve given me, nor take for granted your support. Thank you all, sincerely.

Life is certainly going forward! At time of writing, I’ve just returned from an awesome trip to the Isle of Skye. I climbed Blà Bheinn, a mountain 928 meters high. My legs ache something rotten but it was a terrific achievement and honestly quite a scary climb. Also I managed to fit in some cycling, which it turns out isn’t advised the day after climbing up a mountain. Oh, and not only did I have the Scottish delicacy of Haggis, I also had Haggis Pizza. Haggis—on pizza! What an amazing trip, the Scottish highlands are utterly beautiful.

The week before that I’d also been on an excursion; that time to Trondheim, Norway. Trondheim is an interesting city with a good bit of Authentic Norwegian History, and I used the opportunity to go and walk over some Authentic Norwegian Hills! I’m very grateful to my Authentic Norwegian Friends Dragone and Logan for hosting me for the week, who’ve shown me some really good Authentic Norwegian Fun and Authentic Norwegian Hospitality. Thank you for that!

The future is bright, I’m happy that I have my first ever con to look forward to. I’ll be attending Eurofurence in August, I don’t know exactly what to expect but I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun! I’m going with my pals The Session Squad (Preach and fuckin’ believe!) so I know it’ll be a proper crackin’ convention. I hope to see many of you there!

Smile!
Doveux