First post

This is the first blog post linked to my new look website. 

Bit of a 1am, can't sleep, brain dump incoming. So, apologies in advance!

I first built a website for myself while I was at university. At the time, there was no Facebook, no LinkedIn, no Twitter and we went to Yahoo and Ask Jeeves for searching. OK, now I feel old. However, at that time, a personal website was the way to connect with web. 

I'm not sure they are strictly needed any more. I can't recall the last time I went to someone's personal homepage. I've checked blogs and linked with people. However, nowadays if you google someone (a verb that didn't exist when I took my first faltering steps online) you don't find their homepage. 

I like having a homepage. It's mine to style as I like and it's nice to have a permanent "home" of my own. I just don't change the decor all that often!

Until this update, my 'site sported a forum dedicated to the (now classic and back on the iPad) Baldur's Gate series of games, some embarrassing photos of a younger me and an About Me bit. 

I am still not quite sure what to do with my new site. I've links to my LinkedIn profile, twitter account and email and the About me section is a bit more updated. No photo section. 

I think it'll have a maths section - probably mainly links but also I'd like to update my dissertation and set it up as a PDF. 

Whatever else it has, it will remain my home on the Internet. www.paul-meredith.co.uk 

:)

Hobby time...

I'm a keen collector and painter of fantasy wargames miniatures - you can find me on forums under the username Finraer. 

It's a fun hobby - I used to play when younger but with the demands of work and family, I don't have the time. However, painting is a nice relaxation activity and having an army list to paint to is good motivation. 

My current project is pictured below. 

It's a bit of an odd hobby, though. A little high on the geek-scale and not one you'd necessarily share with all your friends and colleagues. Clearly an obvious choice for a blog post then. 

For the uninitiated:

The miniatures are 28mm scale and, in this case from a company called Games Workshop. They cost about £1-£2 each on average and I would say that each of the more generic troop models has taken me a couple of hours to paint and base. Character models cost more to buy, have a lot more detail and I spend loner painting them (perhaps 10-20 hours per model). 

The collection pictured above is the product of about a year and a half of on and off hobby time. The plan is to double it in size. 

For those who know what on earth I am talking about:

This is an undead army - mainly skeletons. I don't like the aesthetic of the current GW ghoul or zombie miniatures. There's currently a vampire caster, which BSB, a banshee and a wight. I've also painted up a necrosphinx since taking the photo.  

Painting is table-top standard (I hope) with a base coat, shade and highlights to all and sand and flocked basing. 

I'll try and put up a more detailed post with close-ups in the next month or so. 

Although, with changes to the game itself coming soon - hobby wobbles may well hit! :)

My current projects are:

A 28mm fantasy egyptian army

The undead army above

An Orc army (using models from Mantic, another games company)

A chaos army (or two!)

Plus a few others that are in the "collection stage". 

Anyway - blog update complete. New content for my site. Yay. :)