This past summer, I started riding again after a hiatus of about 10 years. That happened in a very round-about way, through Craig's List. I'd gone over to the farm to deliver the item I'd sold, we got to talking, and ended up agreeing that I'd come work on the farm in return for riding.

At first, I was shocked to find I was entirely out of practice. When I rode as a teenager, it was nothing for me to get onto a 17 hand thoroughbred. Now, after 10 years, getting on a 13.2 hand Welsh pony was ... uh ... yeah ... It was just a matter of practice, though.

I found that there are surprisingly many muscles you don't use when you're not riding, and that they all hurt (a lot) when you get back into it. Especially after this past Sunday. Audacity and I spent about an hour trotting and cantering at various speeds, working on transitions from trot to canter and back, and stuff like that. Most people find that boring, but I kinda like it.

Since it's spring, it's time for my annual spring cleaning, and I've decided to clean out some of my manga. I know some of you guys read manga, so I figured I would offer them up here to see if anyone would like them. I have the following:

• Kaori Yuki's "Godchild", volumes 1 through 4


• Satomi Ikezawa's "Guru Guru Pon-Chan", complete (9 volumes)

Both of those sets are in very good condition. They've obviously been read, but they don't have dog-eared corners or any kind of damage. They're pretty nice looking, almost as good as new. I just never really got into Godchild - I don't like the artwork that much - and I'm just over Pon-chan.

I'm asking $20 for the Godchild series and $45 for all of the Pon-chan books together. $5 for shipping will get them to your doorstep anywhere in the US - for outside the US, please drop me a note so I can get an accurate shipping quote. I take PayPal and any major credit card (via PayPal, but you don't have to have an account). Please note me!

The following links are completely random links from my great big file of links. I am going to add new random links with each blog entry, and maybe you guys will find some of them interesting or useful. There's no rhyme or reason to them, so just check them out and expect the unexpected.

• Kurrent & Sutterlin Script


• Gutterfighting


• Motifake


• Primitive Earth Beads


• Wolfpack Gear