Assorted stuff today:
1. Tonight I see my Goddessdaughter, read her books and have dinner there.
2. WoW: Last night one of Gwenny's toons got one of the major meta-achievements: The Burning Crusade. This comes from raising all dungeon factions in Outland (site of the Burning Crusade expansion set from early 2007) to the maximum. It is a long hard road to get there, quite an accomplishment.
I like running with Gwenny.
Found an interesting forum post this morning. GREAT advice on how to pick talents, enchant, gem, gear and play a Enhancement shaman raider in WoW.
3. SGLs good, got enough sleep last night.
Showing posts with label good eatin'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good eatin'. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Daily Bloggery 2009-03-24: Them Ch-ch-changes
Time till meeting Gwenny: 4 days, 9 hrs (as of this writing, approx).
Health: Morning SGL reading was 109. Green zone = happy RichO because I am doing things right. My weight down 30 lbs since April. I will be see an eye doc for a diabetic retinal exam and new glasses soon. I'm taking my multivitamins and eating my veggies, too.
Yesterday I got a haircut and beard trim. I sent Gwenny the before and after photos from the iSight camera on my MacBook. I look pretty damned good when I keep the hair and beard trimmed. I also bought an overnight bag and travel sundries at Target while texting with Gwenny until the battery in my phone died.
This fairly short jaunt to the store, barber and doctor yesterday brought out two of the shortcomings of the RAZR: one, talk time of 3-4 hrs is shorter than I'd like. Texting is talking, as far as phone power consumption is concerned, you see. Two: I would really like a QWERTY keyboard for textual communication.
On the horizon: Tonight Marty hits Level 75; he ended last night less than 2k xp from leveling. Gaining that 2k XP and followup stuff like training in new spells would have cost me another hour of sleep. Gwenny has promised me a BOYD run through the Violet Hold dungeon tonight. Tomorrow the QoL (Quality of Life) team at the office is serving us breakfast, courtesy of Chik-filk-a.
Finally: The WoW servers go down today for maintenance and, it is hoped by many, patching to game version 3.1. This version introduces a new raid instance for progression junkies, quick-change dual-specs for a one time 1k gold payment to a trainer and more.
----------------
Now playing: Tempest - Hal-An-Tow
via FoxyTunes
Health: Morning SGL reading was 109. Green zone = happy RichO because I am doing things right. My weight down 30 lbs since April. I will be see an eye doc for a diabetic retinal exam and new glasses soon. I'm taking my multivitamins and eating my veggies, too.
Yesterday I got a haircut and beard trim. I sent Gwenny the before and after photos from the iSight camera on my MacBook. I look pretty damned good when I keep the hair and beard trimmed. I also bought an overnight bag and travel sundries at Target while texting with Gwenny until the battery in my phone died.
This fairly short jaunt to the store, barber and doctor yesterday brought out two of the shortcomings of the RAZR: one, talk time of 3-4 hrs is shorter than I'd like. Texting is talking, as far as phone power consumption is concerned, you see. Two: I would really like a QWERTY keyboard for textual communication.
On the horizon: Tonight Marty hits Level 75; he ended last night less than 2k xp from leveling. Gaining that 2k XP and followup stuff like training in new spells would have cost me another hour of sleep. Gwenny has promised me a BOYD run through the Violet Hold dungeon tonight. Tomorrow the QoL (Quality of Life) team at the office is serving us breakfast, courtesy of Chik-filk-a.
Finally: The WoW servers go down today for maintenance and, it is hoped by many, patching to game version 3.1. This version introduces a new raid instance for progression junkies, quick-change dual-specs for a one time 1k gold payment to a trainer and more.
----------------
Now playing: Tempest - Hal-An-Tow
via FoxyTunes
Friday, November 28, 2008
How I Spent My Holiday...
I stayed home, ate turkey, mustard and Swiss sandwiches on low-carb bread and leveled my Shammy to 72 and my DK to 65. I also performed the annual ritual Blessings Audit (y'know, "count your blessings and thank the gods you aren't in India right now getting hosed by terrorists"). I'm doing what I want to do, and if this seems "outside the norm" to folks 'cause it isn't something out of a Norm Rockwell painting, it's not my problem. It's that of the beholder. Kind of like beauty.
Working now, dressing (human leg wound kind, as opposed to the carb-laden kind served with the ritual holiday feast) change later, then THREE DAY WEEKEND, baby!
Methinks I'll go see the new movie Australia. Us 'Murican folks often forget that Pearl Harbor is not the only place that Imperial Japanese Navy bombed back in '41. Gurencia -- the Picasso painting -- can represent far too many places: Dresden, Coventry, Nanking, Hanoi, London, Berlin, Tokyo . . . .
----------------
Now playing: U2 - Cold Turkey
via FoxyTunes
Working now, dressing (human leg wound kind, as opposed to the carb-laden kind served with the ritual holiday feast) change later, then THREE DAY WEEKEND, baby!
Methinks I'll go see the new movie Australia. Us 'Murican folks often forget that Pearl Harbor is not the only place that Imperial Japanese Navy bombed back in '41. Gurencia -- the Picasso painting -- can represent far too many places: Dresden, Coventry, Nanking, Hanoi, London, Berlin, Tokyo . . . .
----------------
Now playing: U2 - Cold Turkey
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Berzerkeley was fun...
I went to visit my daughter and son in law in Berkeley today. Had a blast despite a sore throat that almost kept me home.
Highlights included a fine lunch at a very nice Chinese place (huzzah for Moo Shoo beef), a visit to Sam's school (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary), some geeking about on Sam's PC, MacBook and network and good coffee as Sophia showed me how to home roast with an air popper. I even saw a home movie showing Sam giving his first sermon. W00t! Then there was that tactical nuclear oatmeal cookie Sophia made . . .
They got a new car, a Volvo, to replace Soph's Kia. The Kia was named "Inga" and she wanted a name for the new car. Given that Volvo is Swedish, I suggested a male name: Gustav Aldolph. Yes, I was thinking of everyone's favorite 17th-century Swedish King, that most Lutheran champion, general, the Lion of the North. I also suggested his formidable daughter Christina as well.
I counted Presidential campaign signs and stickers while in Berkeley, starting with an Obama postcard Sophia had. The final count was 10 for BO, 3 for HRC, and ZERO for ANY Republican.
I'm starting my Earth Day / Beltane iTunes playlist; the song in the FoxyTunes sig is headlining that playlist. Not only is the song a good green / eco tune, it's easy on the ears as I grind in WoW.
----------------
Listening to: R.E.M. - Cuyahoga (Live)
via FoxyTunes
Highlights included a fine lunch at a very nice Chinese place (huzzah for Moo Shoo beef), a visit to Sam's school (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary), some geeking about on Sam's PC, MacBook and network and good coffee as Sophia showed me how to home roast with an air popper. I even saw a home movie showing Sam giving his first sermon. W00t! Then there was that tactical nuclear oatmeal cookie Sophia made . . .
They got a new car, a Volvo, to replace Soph's Kia. The Kia was named "Inga" and she wanted a name for the new car. Given that Volvo is Swedish, I suggested a male name: Gustav Aldolph. Yes, I was thinking of everyone's favorite 17th-century Swedish King, that most Lutheran champion, general, the Lion of the North. I also suggested his formidable daughter Christina as well.
I counted Presidential campaign signs and stickers while in Berkeley, starting with an Obama postcard Sophia had. The final count was 10 for BO, 3 for HRC, and ZERO for ANY Republican.
I'm starting my Earth Day / Beltane iTunes playlist; the song in the FoxyTunes sig is headlining that playlist. Not only is the song a good green / eco tune, it's easy on the ears as I grind in WoW.
----------------
Listening to: R.E.M. - Cuyahoga (Live)
via FoxyTunes
Monday, February 18, 2008
DunDraCon 32 Report
DDC Con Report
For the first time in three years, I've made it to a game con . . . and I feel fine.
That has not always been the case with respect to gaming the last year. I was very very close to writing a repeat of last year's April Fools post – and that post not being a joke. I've been feeling burned out on all fronts of the hobby, missing the fire and passion I used to put into my games. My game world was in a virtual stasis, I had all but ceased writing anything for it and I kept asking myself “Why bother with working on a game anymore – or even playing?”
This weekend reconnected me with why I game. I originally decided to attend DunDraCon 32 as a kind of last huzzah, a farewell of sorts. I'd run a game as I always do, and I'd play as many as I could. If the old magic wasn't back by the end of the weekend, then I'd leave the hobby for good.
I got to the con on Saturday morning just minutes before the start of my con-sponsored game. I had put that game together in what had become my usual style the last year or so; with a bit of background info and an outline as to possible events. When I came up with the game-world event that would frame this adventure a few months earlier – having the party put an end to the misconduct of a mercenary company – I did not have a clue as to how this would happen. I floundered for weeks looking for an important game world consequence of failure . . . .
Sometimes I feel as though I am channeling the game world, not writing or running it. Stuff flits into my conscious mind, my “this is cool!” alarm triggers, and an idea hits the pixels. Three separate bolts of deep channeling hit me a week before the DunDraCon that got me the skeleton of a plot and some approaches the party may take in completing the adventure. On Saturday I had more pages of players notes than I did DM notes. This was a bit of a worry because the DM I was two or three years ago was hyper-prepared. I'm a good improviser, but was I good enough?
Apparently I was.
I got what had to be the best group of players I've had outside of my home groups: no power-gamers, no stat-monkey munchkins, no spotlight hogs. Players who actually took the time to read the background I'd created and integrated it into their roleplaying. While not up to the deep-character / deep verse style of the Kitsune Chronicles players (the best damn roleplayers I know, period!), I was floored by the quality of player I'd gotten, and I was as underprepared as ever.
My players made all the difference. They managed to scheme, sneak, dissemble and when needed fight their way to victorious success in the scenario. As in years past, I created a convention adventure where party failure at this convention game would drive major plot threads, or in this case, literally enact a cosmic change in the game world.
Their play took my breath away. I found myself challenged to keep up with them, even when I was the DM, the supposedly all powerful demigod in charge. I still don't know quite how it hppened, but I walked out of the game a new DM.
My D&D game was only the setup for what was to come next. The next day I finally got to play a game I bought some time ago as a convention break-game – SJ Games' Munchkin. Reading a review on a website saying “Munchkin is cool!” or hearing a friend tell you “Munchkin is cool!” pales next to the moment when you get to play and finally get to say to one and all “Munchkin is cool!”
Munchkin is a card game of old-school dungeon-crawling: kick open the door, kill the monsters, steal their stuff, stab your buddy in the back and steal his stuff too. Be the first to get to level 10 and you win.
I got the box out and one player (me) became three (me, Iz and another) became five. It's a game that's pretty easy to learn, hard to master. You must be ruthless in ensuring that your buddies get the backstabbery they soooo richly deserve. While I did not win, I came very close and managed to pull off some pretty ruthless moves. At times I think they need to call this game “You Bastard!” because that's what you'll say when someone ices your perfect plan to kill the last monster you need to win. A willingness to engage in High Treachery is needed to win. If you aren't looking for a way to fsck your buddy, you aren't playing to win.
In meta terms, DDC seemed a much smaller con than it was back in 2002-3. The dealer room was tiny, the con less spread out. I suspect this is due to macroeconomic issues and worries.
The facilities in San Ramon were awesome as usual, the hotel staff was friendly if a bit bemused by the eclectic crowd that is Gamer Nation. The on-site food options were not insanely overpriced. I would have given a random testicle for decent bandwidth, though.
Finally, early Monday morning I was interviewed for a podcast: “Heroes of Science Fiction and Fantasy.” In it I discuss my adventure “The Agony of Kessel” and my favorite sf and fantasy media.
For the first time in three years, I've made it to a game con . . . and I feel fine.
That has not always been the case with respect to gaming the last year. I was very very close to writing a repeat of last year's April Fools post – and that post not being a joke. I've been feeling burned out on all fronts of the hobby, missing the fire and passion I used to put into my games. My game world was in a virtual stasis, I had all but ceased writing anything for it and I kept asking myself “Why bother with working on a game anymore – or even playing?”
This weekend reconnected me with why I game. I originally decided to attend DunDraCon 32 as a kind of last huzzah, a farewell of sorts. I'd run a game as I always do, and I'd play as many as I could. If the old magic wasn't back by the end of the weekend, then I'd leave the hobby for good.
I got to the con on Saturday morning just minutes before the start of my con-sponsored game. I had put that game together in what had become my usual style the last year or so; with a bit of background info and an outline as to possible events. When I came up with the game-world event that would frame this adventure a few months earlier – having the party put an end to the misconduct of a mercenary company – I did not have a clue as to how this would happen. I floundered for weeks looking for an important game world consequence of failure . . . .
Sometimes I feel as though I am channeling the game world, not writing or running it. Stuff flits into my conscious mind, my “this is cool!” alarm triggers, and an idea hits the pixels. Three separate bolts of deep channeling hit me a week before the DunDraCon that got me the skeleton of a plot and some approaches the party may take in completing the adventure. On Saturday I had more pages of players notes than I did DM notes. This was a bit of a worry because the DM I was two or three years ago was hyper-prepared. I'm a good improviser, but was I good enough?
Apparently I was.
I got what had to be the best group of players I've had outside of my home groups: no power-gamers, no stat-monkey munchkins, no spotlight hogs. Players who actually took the time to read the background I'd created and integrated it into their roleplaying. While not up to the deep-character / deep verse style of the Kitsune Chronicles players (the best damn roleplayers I know, period!), I was floored by the quality of player I'd gotten, and I was as underprepared as ever.
My players made all the difference. They managed to scheme, sneak, dissemble and when needed fight their way to victorious success in the scenario. As in years past, I created a convention adventure where party failure at this convention game would drive major plot threads, or in this case, literally enact a cosmic change in the game world.
Their play took my breath away. I found myself challenged to keep up with them, even when I was the DM, the supposedly all powerful demigod in charge. I still don't know quite how it hppened, but I walked out of the game a new DM.
My D&D game was only the setup for what was to come next. The next day I finally got to play a game I bought some time ago as a convention break-game – SJ Games' Munchkin. Reading a review on a website saying “Munchkin is cool!” or hearing a friend tell you “Munchkin is cool!” pales next to the moment when you get to play and finally get to say to one and all “Munchkin is cool!”
Munchkin is a card game of old-school dungeon-crawling: kick open the door, kill the monsters, steal their stuff, stab your buddy in the back and steal his stuff too. Be the first to get to level 10 and you win.
I got the box out and one player (me) became three (me, Iz and another) became five. It's a game that's pretty easy to learn, hard to master. You must be ruthless in ensuring that your buddies get the backstabbery they soooo richly deserve. While I did not win, I came very close and managed to pull off some pretty ruthless moves. At times I think they need to call this game “You Bastard!” because that's what you'll say when someone ices your perfect plan to kill the last monster you need to win. A willingness to engage in High Treachery is needed to win. If you aren't looking for a way to fsck your buddy, you aren't playing to win.
In meta terms, DDC seemed a much smaller con than it was back in 2002-3. The dealer room was tiny, the con less spread out. I suspect this is due to macroeconomic issues and worries.
The facilities in San Ramon were awesome as usual, the hotel staff was friendly if a bit bemused by the eclectic crowd that is Gamer Nation. The on-site food options were not insanely overpriced. I would have given a random testicle for decent bandwidth, though.
Finally, early Monday morning I was interviewed for a podcast: “Heroes of Science Fiction and Fantasy.” In it I discuss my adventure “The Agony of Kessel” and my favorite sf and fantasy media.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Wurst is Yet To Come . . .
NSFW. Brain bleach recommended. You have been warned.
----------------
Listening to: Emerald Rose - Merry May Folk
via FoxyTunes
----------------
Listening to: Emerald Rose - Merry May Folk
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Why I love Sundays and other stuffs . . . .
1: Coffee at PCJ, a good Internet connection and some time to play WoW, and blog.
2: M's Mantra: "Serenity NOW...please? I'll make dinner." Hot Indian cuisine, double-plus-über good. Does my palette good to crawl out of its comfort zone. She needs it, especially this week. Candles are at the ready . . .
3: Earworm de Jour: Fire in the Hole, The Elders.
2: M's Mantra: "Serenity NOW...please? I'll make dinner." Hot Indian cuisine, double-plus-über good. Does my palette good to crawl out of its comfort zone. She needs it, especially this week. Candles are at the ready . . .
3: Earworm de Jour: Fire in the Hole, The Elders.
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