Still Life With Geek

It may sound like an infectious disease, and it is.  K and I are planning to go on a nice long walk for actual exercise[tm], eat some dinner, then play some Sacred 2 co-op... I taking the role of whorepewpew, and she taking the role magicalcheerleader.  Should be fun all around.  /pewpewpew

IN OTHER NEWS... two days before Strategicon strikes in Los Angeles.  Big four day gaming con.  And i'm gonna try to go for at least two days... unless the ratio of fat, smelly/sweaty 40k warhammer players to less rupugnant gamers is greater than 20:1.  In which case, I'm not sure we'll be able to get in the doors... *cough*

My buddy Estaban is running some new World of Darkness RPG called Geist on saturday, so I'm definitely gonna shoot for doing that.  Possibly I'll torture myself with another day of intense geekage on Sunday or Monday.  Most likely, I'll get tired of it after saturday, and take my laptop over to some coffeehouse and work on my RPG campaign setting... STAY ON TARGET.

Good times this weekend.  Got some special K and me time in (woot!).  Got some gaming in.  Got some videogaming in.

K+J Time.  Friday we saw Wolverine.  It was mediocre, but the laughs kept us going.  Lots of cliche scenes and emo cries to the sky.  Blech.  We had dinner at Tender Greens in Downtown Culver City prior to the show, which was decent.  Downtown Culver City is a wierd mix of ritz and trash... There's some fun stuff, but most of the time, I feel like I don't earn enough to walk around down there.  However, K and I got to hold hands and walk around.  See the little bit of shops there were.  There's a massage place that looked promising ($45 for 1 hour).

Gaming.  Thursday was boardgaming night.  Played a slightly boring horse racing game.  Moved onto a VERY dicey "Air Baron", which seemed to punish players with its obscenely luck-oriented pitfalls, and little in the way of planning you could do to avoid them.  One player nearly one the game in a single turn with his insane luck streak of Wage Wars rolls.  That's a bit too much for my tastes.  Moved on to Glory to Rome, and then finished out the night playing Liar's Dice until 4 AM.

On Saturday I played another session of D&D 4e at the local game shop.  Got to stab things.  Tossed a few shuriken.  Nearly killed another PC when, in character, he offered my life up for vote.  That shut the group up right quick.  We nearly bushwhacked an archmage, and then nearly got eaten by a giant Otyugh that had been polluting the wash that ran through town.  Oh, and my pc got paid 75gp to attempt to open a warded door, which nearly killed him.  Good times.

Videogaming.  I snagged a copy of Sacred 2 for Xbox 360.  Now before y'all start hatin', you should know there hasn't been a decent hack n' slash style game for the consoles since Champions of Norrath 2 on PS2.  However, the game is actually pretty fun, and K actually enjoyed playing it co-op with me for a couple hours here and there.  Its good to get a game we can play together, and that is actually fun.  The game itself is just a diablo clone sans good storyline.  To me, it fills a gap that has been missing in my videogaming, but it is by no means an amazing game.  But it IS fun, and that is all that matters.

So yesterday was spent at home bombarded by an allergy attack.  While my allergies are a helluva lot better than 3-4 years ago (I credit that to a much better diet and healthier living in general) they do creep up on me and smack me down.  Luckily its only for a day usually.  After acupuncture and herbs, I'm feeling almost like my old self again.  *sniff*  almost.  My awesome partner gave me the goods, and now, only a few sniffles, no sore throat or head ache.  Yay for chinese medicine!

Just in time too, because tonight, I am attending a boardgame night over in Culver City (a mile away from home).  Looking forward to the weekend too.  Every day is pretty much planned around fun.  Tomorrow is date night in Redondo Beach.  Saturday is we're going on a double date to see X-Men Origins: WolverineStar Trek, eat Umami Burger, and play some games back home.  Sunday is mother's day and dinner with parents.  Just need to maintain the clean living and I'll be home free.

FRIDAY.  Hella fun.  Ended up playing Descent on Friday night, rather than ending my ongoing swars campaign.  My friends narrowly won.  Spent time over at Hot Java in Long Beach, worked on some mapping.  All in all a good day.

SATURDAY.  Headed over to Aero Games and Hobbies in Santa Monica for the next session of D&D4e run by the store owner/operator.  Finally found my groove with my rogue character, and a new love for shuriken, which I tossed into gobbo and ghoul faces with impunity.  Damn near swayed the party into abandoning their service to the local lord in favor of supporting a new power.  Hopefully in a few weeks, I can call some of the other players friend.  Some good dudes playing... not just high-functioning personality-disordered geeks... but pretty normalized folks.

SUNDAY.  Didn't do fuck all on sunday.  Little bit of gears of war 2.  Little bit of me and K time.  Little bit of grocery shopping.  Very chill.

THIS WEEK.  Planning on finishing up the above-ground portion of a city map for my upcoming true20 fantasy game.  Have to play test the rules a bit more, and do up some more elaborate NPC designs.  Might actually have to run through the list of powers and feats and see if there's any I want to exclude.  Also looking forward to seeing Wolverine on a double date with K and a buddy of mine and his galpal.  Oh, and board game night with a new group of folks over in Culver City.  Lots of fun things on the menu!

No, seriously... I've been poking around, turning over barrels, knocking on walls at buildings, trying to find the secret entrance to the wide world of boardgame players in Los Angeles for the past year.

So, last night, while being rejected twice by coffeeshops, K and I found ourselves at The Spot cafe.  By this time I have the red rage because I'm so fucking hungry I was contemplating the fender of the car we parked behind.  However, The Spot had sandwiches, so heavy metals poisoning was skirted.

We arrived at The Spot (open until 10pm), and the place is pretty full, but someone gets up towards the back at a long table... just big enough for me and K... fortune!  I order a sandwich, and sit down with our beverages.  Behind us is a fellow who's got a boardgame spread out.  Being curious, and now less ravenously hungry, I inquire as to what it is.  We speak for a bit, and he explains he's working on a new board game, and is playtesting it.

Awesome.  So I, having a mission to complete (or more to the point, session notes for friday's star wars game), sit down, plug in beethoven and get to work.  After an hour and half, I've plotted out the course of the party's downfall (or success... yes... success), and start packing it up.  Still curious about the game designer behind us, and now having less pressing concerns on my mind, I engage him in conversation again.  We talk about games we like and he mentions that he and his group of boardgamers are looking for more [potential cult members] to join them [for ritual sacrifice to the board game gods].  

Few minutes later, we've exchanged emails, and there it goes!

Looking forward to gaming it up next Thursday.

New post time... its been less than a year since my last... mebbe its time for another.

Life.  Good times.  Been pondering the next phase my life should take.  I have to agree with my lovely partner... I don't think I want a muggle schedule.  Possibly if I had a muggle schedule, and it was something I was passionate about doing I'd think differently.  I dunno.  So, college is on the horizon for me.

K and I have been going round a bit about moving to the bay area.  I think that's been put off for a bit longer now.  Part of the drive to get out of Dodge was the uncomfortableness of the old apartment we had... the constant pre 7 AM construction next door, the noise... the traffic.  The move across town a couple miles has REALLY changed my outlook on LA.  I feel like the City is accessible in a way that it wasn't from our last point of origin.  Truthfully, I think staying for a while longer is good for both of us.  K has a network of potential accupuncture clients to access towards paying off her school loans, and I'd like to pay down all my debts with my current job, and establish a good credit score before moving to something else.  Its good to get the ducks in a row, even if a few of them like to wander from time to time.

Work.  Its been good.  Air quality and noise impact reports.  Construction... operation... cumulative... yay.  I am glad that I do air quality/noise studies though.  This job is the never-ending term paper, to be sure... but at least with air and noise, that paper more often than not changes in content drastically from project to project.  Keeps it interesting.  And having to use spreadsheets to crunch numbers warms a special place in my OCD heart.  Yay for OCD.

Aside from the typical stuff, been dealing with some inappropriateness from a certain party at work.  Having to butt heads over lawsuit worthy bullshit is never fun, especially when the party doing the bullshit is sorta your boss and has the authority to fire you.  And also they never learn that what they are doing is inappropriate behavior for a boss.  /sigh.  I much prefer it when this party shows me disingenuous niceties over overtly inappropriate, insecurity-fueled craziness.  But I fight the battles I can win, and only those battles.  Just wish I didn't have to establish myself as not able to be bullied.

Gaming.  Been hitting Fallout 3 hard (and on hard).  Something about post-apocalyptia really brings out the evil bastard in me.  Seems like every character I create ends up going bad apple at some point.  I think it has something to do with how helpless some of these folks in the game are... you figure... 200 years after the big OMFG NUCLEAR WAR that some of these folks would get a bit more hardened and hearty.  But no... just a bunch of meat screaming for you to save them.  In a fantasy setting, that type of behavior seems fitting for the citizenry, but in this setting... its just annoying.  You begin to understand why there are raider enclaves dotting the wasteland... easy pickings.

Also, been getting ready to finish up my nearly 2 year going star wars campaign.  I have to put a doosey of an ending on it (its all in the braincase... just need to get it out on the page).  After this game, gonna switch over to the True20 system.  VERY excited for two reasons.  First, my lovely partner is going to be play in the campaign (finally found a setting she would role and roll in).  Second, its a fantasy setting, and I haven't played one in a long time.  Got a wiki setup for it, and still working out the preliminaries now.  Probably by september I'll be ready to play.

Finally, I just started up playing in a campaign at my local game store.  Meeting some good people (even some my age).  Need to branch out a bit, and connect with other area geeks.

Reading.  Nearly done with the Chronicles of Amber (corwin cycle).  Gonna move on to the The Complete Chronicles of Conan (robert e howard).  VERY much looking forward to it... but perhaps its too many Chronicles?  i dunno.  After that, I have a backlog of Zelazny books to flip through - bunch of quick reads... then on to the Octavia Butler.  Should be good fuel for the brain.

Its been stressful lately.  Suffice it to say, when the major stressors kick in, I don't have time for certain things, one being blogging.

With money and relationship bumps and jostles, things are starting to get back on track.

To be completely honest, I've been working on the "me" project lately, getting behind the scenes to review some of the recent events that have shaped my emotional experience for the past several months.  I'll just lay them out, then do a reverse chrono discussion.

First, my friend John and discovering that he cyber-stalked women via World of Warcraft.  Second, realizing I had a problem with curbing my spending tendencies (and with recent insight, that my father has the same problem.  Go fig.).  Third, the stresses of married life, combined with my not feeling all that great about my spending habits, and k's several months of intense study time.

Starting with married life, I've been feeling a bit adrift.  Its not terribly intense or overly important, but when your partner has an immense obstacle to overcome, you realize how much energy in reserve you have.  I think I've done well, but its been difficult, and rough emotionally to be in that place of "disconnect" for an extended period.  Luckily, that period is over for now, as K has taken her state board.  Add on top of that disconnect, my feelings of failure over not keeping track of my spending, and some backlash which that incurred, and I have been less than chipper the last few months.  Gaming and caffeine have kept me sane and occupied.  Thankfully, with the state board obstacle out of the way, and my money woes nearly defeated, I can get back to a better balance of chemical reactions in my brainpan, and back into being very happy with my partner.

The first, my friend John's cyber-stalking activities, being one that I am having trouble letting go of.  When I first discovered his issues, I pitched an insane fit.  It was not the best use of my energy, but I was furious.  Suddenly, several personal experiences with a past girlfriend, where her ex-boyfriend was stalking her came tumbling back into my emotional palette.  Even a few situations where I physically had to interfere on my little sister's behalf with some verbally abusive fucks at high school came to mind.  That was all there, causing me rage.  In fact, it is still causing me rage.

The main problem I am facing now is that two of my friends are continuing to hang with John.  Which leaves me feeling doubly betrayed.  Of course, neither of these friends understands the experiences I have had dealing with stalkers before.  In my convoluted mind, I see them colluding with John, and somehow agreeing with his behavior, which in part is true.  There's always reasons why people choose to socialize with emotionally-fractured individuals.

To be forthright, I am hoping that by casting this out into the ether of internet, I can find some closure.  I still feel John has yet to be punished for his actions, as I have had the opportunity to exact punishment in the past, whether through verbal coercion or physical intimidation.  I know I could break him physically, and that I am quite capable of doing it emotionally, but it would be like punishing a dog 10 hours after it had knocked over the trashcan to get at the scraps of steak inside.  He hasn't any concept that this type of behavior is inappropriate, and still contends that a great "injustice" was done upon him when I exposed his actions to our small circle of friends. 

I don't think justice exists in this world.  Justice is entirely too subjective to be universal.  Vengeance is a real quantity though, and as much as I want to travel down that path, its only more pain and regret for me, while the point of it would be entirely lost upon the perp.  Truthfully, the woman whom John was stalking most recently was dumb as a bag of bricks, and basically asked if he would be super creepy to her.  Doesn't make his actions appropriate, but it certainly explains why he feels justified.  Is that really a cause to rail against?  Nope.

There's always reasons why people choose to socialize with emotionally-fractured individuals.  I know my reason was that he was weak, and it made me feel strong.  He was the perpetual victim of life, of luck, of whatever was going wrong for him.  And I was a counter point, self-juxtaposed to appear grand when contrasted with the self-imposed misery that is John's life.  There's no strength in that.  Its a lie, and I am glad that I don't have to be apart of it any more.

I jumped along with so many other sheep as GTA IV was released last week.  Been having a blast playing it.  The controls are a bit tighter, the gun fighting and melee is WAY better, and the driving is more fun because it is more realistic (especially if you can manage to pull a few J-turns and side swipe police cars for an effective getaway).

What is really getting me about this title is my actual care for the main character.  He's a troubled soul, there's no doubt, but there's a lot of good in him too.  He's not a power hungry burgeoning crime lord.  He's ex-military, with a dark past, and trouble follows him around like seagulls follow trash barges.  Through all of that, he desires to protect his cousin, and his friends, even if it is through violence.  Hell, you're only capping gang bangers and mafia mooks (and cops, etc.).  Its a dark tale, to be sure, but a very intense one, now that the story is really opening up. 

Rockstar has managed to infuse the game with even more social and political satire than the previous games, taking jabs mostly at neo-con ideals (one of the cartoons is Republican Space Rangers, and their directive is to fly across the universe, meet strange aliens, and kill them).  As always, the radio stations add an incredible sense of depth and atmosphere to the game.  They have a left-wing and a right-wing talk radio station, a wide variety of musical genres (including music from the 'old world' for Niko and Roman).  So far, the Jazz station has been the most fun to run from the cops to, or chase down gang members and drug-dealers to the blare of saxophones and drum kits. 

The humor is surprisingly sophisticated, and it is no wonder that some of the ultra-fanboys are in an uproar over how "crappy" the game is.  One thing is for sure, if all you wanted was to fuck hookers then run them over, or cause massive mayhem, this game is probably not for you.  You'd be better off playing Vice City or GTA 3.  Although I purchased the game on the strength of the multi-player reviews, the story is so provocative and engrossing, I've not had any interest in hitting up multiplayer yet.

The game took a bit to grow on me, but now that it has, I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of game play, from buying new clothes, to hanging out with Niko's friends, to running drugs and guns, to pulling some fancy driving moves to escape the police... it was VERY worth my 60+ dollars.

SATURDAY.Another weekend of gaming!  My star wars group has been pushing on solving some mysteries and taking out the bastards that are getting in their way.  This session was full of intense combat and intrigue and some discoveries.  Lots of near-fatal moments, and a couple of amazing critical failures.  There's gonna be some interesting interplay between the crew's de facto leader, and at least two other members next time we play.  Should be fun in that wincing in pain sorta way.

SUNDAY.
Been hanging with d-man and shooting the shit.  We heading out around 1030ish to seek a gaming store for him to buy some dice.  I managed to convince him he needed dice of his own rather than rolling my cast offs during our sessions.  We tried a store in the mall, but it had crappy quality dice.  And we can't have zee crappy quality!  NO NO NO!

Next we tried his neighborhood game store, and it had the right stuff.  D-man managed to find the most OCD of the dice they had available... a pack of "dwarven metal - brass finish" dice, each with its own individual ziplock bag, and a nice pleather bag to put all the individually-bagged dice into.  I admit, they are nice... a bit smaller than the standard size, but about 4x the weight (see below).



Of course, upon returning to his abode, we immediately had to test the dice.  Summoning the mighty power of the gaming gods, we imbued his new dice with the properties necessary to establish a lengthy career of role-playing, smiting, improved skill checks, and other such necessary goodnesses (see below).



After we ran a few combat trials to affirm the divine nature of the dice (need there be proof!!?), he gleefully placed each into their miniature ziplock baggies, and returned them to their holy sepulcher of divine goodness (aka, the pleather pouch).

All is well with the world.

Weekend review and Monday report:

Friday and Saturday I spent the time chilling.  Did a few errands with K on Saturday, but mostly been playing Shivering Isles for Oblivion (which fucking rocks).  Finally broke down and got light armor for my magic user, and now have become the Duke of Dementia.  Woot.

Saturday night had D-man and Silentboba over for some Warhammer RPG.  T'was fun, though we started bit late so there wasn't any smushing and smarshing.  Tried to take Silent over to my local gaming store, but it closed a few minutes before we arrived.  It was a nice drive around Santa Monica though.  Stopped and got home fries to have with our burgers.  D-man arrived, then we cooked, ate, and started to game around 8:30.  Only 4.5 hours late!  haha... well, it was okay.  Stunted sessions always feel half done.

Sunday, I headed to the Port of LA/Long Beach to do my Air Monitoring duties.  It was chilly, but a nice day outside.  Got home and chilled.  Money talk/update with K, and then more shivering isles.  Had dinner, and got a nice backrub and some one-on-one time with K.  Stayed up playing oblivion until 12:30 or so.  Not too bad.

Monday is looking to get busy here fairly quickly.  Looking forward to chilling at home, though I have to do laundry at some point this week, AND looking forward to hanging with D-man and Wozy on Thursday night for some gaming and drinking and whatnotz.

To Do List:

1.  Figure out monthly budget
2.  Work on Star Wars campaign for next session
3.  Wrap Sister's b-day present
4.  Pay rent and bills
5.  Clean off laptop and prepare to have it repaired.
6.  Cook more lunches for Wednesday and Thursday