Have been very much enjoying having Frances around this week. I had a dinner for her on Friday night, which though it had some logistical issues turned out to be lovely. I served chicken in a pureed sauce of carrot, onion, cider, and heavy cream, and after dinner the conversation lasted well into the night. I do not often spend a lot of time in the company of other girls, and how much I enjoyed it this time makes me think that it is something I could stand to do more often. Also in Frances's honor I attended the Hold Thy Peace open mic night they had on Saturday. It was fun just doing some Shakespeare riffs with my fellow friends and actors-- I got to read Petrucchio to Steph's Katherine, for example, a role I've always thought would be fun. It's made me really happy to have had this time to spend with her. And hey, anything that makes me less of a hermit and keeps me from falling asleep at ten is okay in my book.
In other social news, Jared is coming in again this weekend! He had a couple of interviews arise, so on the plane he will hop. Sadly he will miss Frances by one day. :-( He plans on being at BSCF and hopes to see people, so I encourage you to come to gaming this week to hang out with us. I will have to plan other interesting things for us to do while he's here, but that's a good start.
Showing posts with label bscf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bscf. Show all posts
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Jane at Elsinore, and on entertaining
Jared gets in today! I'm so excited. I will be picking him up from the airport around five-thirty, and then we will go out for a dinner at a nice Italian place in the (surprisingly close nearby) North End, followed by coming to BSCF. We should probably be there around eight o'clock and staying for the rest of the evening, for those of you who would like to see the boy while he's in town.
In housemate news, we now have a Jane at Elsinore! She got in around the middle of the day yesterday, and with her arrival, the place is now complete. I hope she is settling in comfortably, and enjoys living there with us. I'm glad to have her, and I'm also glad that things will finally be able to settle. It's looking like Elsinore's going to be a pretty fun place to be now.
Which brings me to the thought of how, especially lately, Elsinore has been a favorite hangout spot. This pleases me, because I love entertaining. One of the best things, in my opinion, about living at Elsinore is that there is the kitchen and living room space necessary to have people over to do things like hang out, have gaming gatherings, and my very favorite form of socialization, the dinner party.
Cooking has become a major hobby of mine as well as something I've gotten kind of good at, so it gives me a lot of job to be able to share it with the special people in my life. I very much have internalized the notion that food is love. By going to the time and effort to cook something delicious to serve to people I care about, I am showing the love I have for my guests and my desire to make them happy. I also love food as a social lubricant. Some of the best and most comfortable conversations I've had with large groups of people have happened over a dinner table sharing a tasty meal. It's so easy to connect with each other that way-- I suspect that it is because of this that so much of human ritual, ceremony, and celebration incorporates people eating together as a major aspect.
It also enormously helps my development as a cook. As much as I enjoy cooking for its own sake, like pretty much everyone I find it much more worthwhile to cook for a large group. It feels like a greater return on the effort. And I like the challenges it offers me as a menu planner. What meal can I design that will appeal to everyone's tastes, and satisfy the requirements of the vegetarians, the carnivores, the kosher people, all on the same plate? I like serving lots of different things to my guests, so it keeps me looking for new dishes to try in order to keep the menu interesting. And then I get external feedback. Are things cooked to your liking? Do the flavors of a given dish go well together? Do you find the various dishes I picked for the meal to be complementary? What did I do well, and what should I change for next time? I want to improve as a cook, so I am really interested in varied sources of feedback, and I certainly love talking about cookery and food, so the discussion is interesting as well as useful to me. And of course there's the validation factor-- I love getting compliments on what I serve! So basically having people over is a perfect combination of my favorite things, good food, good friends, and compliments. No wonder I love throwing parties!
In housemate news, we now have a Jane at Elsinore! She got in around the middle of the day yesterday, and with her arrival, the place is now complete. I hope she is settling in comfortably, and enjoys living there with us. I'm glad to have her, and I'm also glad that things will finally be able to settle. It's looking like Elsinore's going to be a pretty fun place to be now.
Which brings me to the thought of how, especially lately, Elsinore has been a favorite hangout spot. This pleases me, because I love entertaining. One of the best things, in my opinion, about living at Elsinore is that there is the kitchen and living room space necessary to have people over to do things like hang out, have gaming gatherings, and my very favorite form of socialization, the dinner party.
Cooking has become a major hobby of mine as well as something I've gotten kind of good at, so it gives me a lot of job to be able to share it with the special people in my life. I very much have internalized the notion that food is love. By going to the time and effort to cook something delicious to serve to people I care about, I am showing the love I have for my guests and my desire to make them happy. I also love food as a social lubricant. Some of the best and most comfortable conversations I've had with large groups of people have happened over a dinner table sharing a tasty meal. It's so easy to connect with each other that way-- I suspect that it is because of this that so much of human ritual, ceremony, and celebration incorporates people eating together as a major aspect.
It also enormously helps my development as a cook. As much as I enjoy cooking for its own sake, like pretty much everyone I find it much more worthwhile to cook for a large group. It feels like a greater return on the effort. And I like the challenges it offers me as a menu planner. What meal can I design that will appeal to everyone's tastes, and satisfy the requirements of the vegetarians, the carnivores, the kosher people, all on the same plate? I like serving lots of different things to my guests, so it keeps me looking for new dishes to try in order to keep the menu interesting. And then I get external feedback. Are things cooked to your liking? Do the flavors of a given dish go well together? Do you find the various dishes I picked for the meal to be complementary? What did I do well, and what should I change for next time? I want to improve as a cook, so I am really interested in varied sources of feedback, and I certainly love talking about cookery and food, so the discussion is interesting as well as useful to me. And of course there's the validation factor-- I love getting compliments on what I serve! So basically having people over is a perfect combination of my favorite things, good food, good friends, and compliments. No wonder I love throwing parties!
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Great Move-en-ing, and Jared visit!
Several things to report on, but most importantly, Jared is going to be in town! He is coming to visit from Thursday to Monday, and I'm hoping people will be around so that he can see them at some point during that time. Plans are not totally settled yet, but after I pick him up from the airport on Thursday we will be grabbing dinner in Boston downtown, and then heading to BSCF where I'm hoping for a lovely evening of gaming with friends. Yay! So excited.
The Great Move-en-ing has commence, though less smoothly than I would have liked. Our landlord said we were going to have a cleaning person come in yesterday to do the place from top to bottom (for which a substantial chunk was taken out of our security deposits, grumble grumble) but then the person never showed up. I am incredibly irritated, as we all went out of our way to get the house straightened up for it, and because blendedchaitea* was out of town when it was supposed to happen, I even packed up her stuff for her so it would be cleared away in time. I was happy to help out, but I felt awkward just going through her things, and was really nervous that I would be inconveniencing her because she wouldn't know where I put everything. I called the landlord yesterday to ask what was up but didn't get a hold of him. Sigh. I'll have to try again today, as I was really hoping this would be done before aurora_knight* and nennivian* got here.
Yesterday I also went over to grad to help Plesser and Marissa move in. I finally got to see what the newly remodeled inside of grad looks like. It's actually quite nice, with all the walls and ceilings redone, and all new fixtures and appliances in the kitchen and bathroom. Grad is actually a decent place to live now, but of course, only now that Jared's moved out and I no longer spend half of my nights there. :-P There wasn't actually a ton of work to be done-- there were so many of us that the actual moving of stuff took like two trips --but I'm glad I made the effort. Plesser was in a rather nasty car accident lately, and though he's mostly all right, thank God, he still has blood in his eyes that make him look rather demonic, and isn't supposed to exert himself for the time being. He and Marissa have a two-person grad with a common room, which is quite nice, except that the common-room furniture that Brandeis had hitherto provided was not present. Since they moved in early, it may be that the school just won't deliver it until the last moment, but there is a possibility that they just don't provide it anymore. Which is pretty silly, in my opinion-- why wouldn't they just keep offering the stuff they've been offering in previous years? Oh, Brandeis, what a pain you can be, but I hope Jonathan and Marissa are comfortable there.
So I am preparing myself to make plans with Jared, and help Charlotte and Jane move in on Tuesday. And, if all goes according to plan, I will be seeing katiescarlett29* tonight! I have missed her so, and she's finally back in town. So I am certainly set for occupation and social interaction this week, not least of all with Jared!
The Great Move-en-ing has commence, though less smoothly than I would have liked. Our landlord said we were going to have a cleaning person come in yesterday to do the place from top to bottom (for which a substantial chunk was taken out of our security deposits, grumble grumble) but then the person never showed up. I am incredibly irritated, as we all went out of our way to get the house straightened up for it, and because blendedchaitea* was out of town when it was supposed to happen, I even packed up her stuff for her so it would be cleared away in time. I was happy to help out, but I felt awkward just going through her things, and was really nervous that I would be inconveniencing her because she wouldn't know where I put everything. I called the landlord yesterday to ask what was up but didn't get a hold of him. Sigh. I'll have to try again today, as I was really hoping this would be done before aurora_knight* and nennivian* got here.
Yesterday I also went over to grad to help Plesser and Marissa move in. I finally got to see what the newly remodeled inside of grad looks like. It's actually quite nice, with all the walls and ceilings redone, and all new fixtures and appliances in the kitchen and bathroom. Grad is actually a decent place to live now, but of course, only now that Jared's moved out and I no longer spend half of my nights there. :-P There wasn't actually a ton of work to be done-- there were so many of us that the actual moving of stuff took like two trips --but I'm glad I made the effort. Plesser was in a rather nasty car accident lately, and though he's mostly all right, thank God, he still has blood in his eyes that make him look rather demonic, and isn't supposed to exert himself for the time being. He and Marissa have a two-person grad with a common room, which is quite nice, except that the common-room furniture that Brandeis had hitherto provided was not present. Since they moved in early, it may be that the school just won't deliver it until the last moment, but there is a possibility that they just don't provide it anymore. Which is pretty silly, in my opinion-- why wouldn't they just keep offering the stuff they've been offering in previous years? Oh, Brandeis, what a pain you can be, but I hope Jonathan and Marissa are comfortable there.
So I am preparing myself to make plans with Jared, and help Charlotte and Jane move in on Tuesday. And, if all goes according to plan, I will be seeing katiescarlett29* tonight! I have missed her so, and she's finally back in town. So I am certainly set for occupation and social interaction this week, not least of all with Jared!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Jared visit!
In an amazing stroke of good fortune, Jared will be visiting this coming week! He has not one but two interviews for jobs that interest him, so he'll be coming up Monday and staying until Friday. :-) I'm so excited; I really hope these work out for him, because if they do, it means he will be back in town! You have no idea how eagerly I await that. This was a very spur of the moment trip, so I don't have a lot of time to plan fun things to do. At the very least, I hope you'll all come to BSCF this week because he'd love to see and spend time with everyone.
Just two more days until he comes!
Just two more days until he comes!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Feeling behind
Feeling very behind on things right now. I have a lot of deadlines in the near future, the two currently most pressing being the off-book deadline for Love's Labor's Lost and being ready with a new storyline for this Saturday's session of Burn Notice. There was a question of whether that would be happening because Bernie didn't know if he'd have to go out of town or not, but he's decided on staying so barring anything unexpected we're on. I've finally finished what dangling threads still remained, so now I have to generate an entirely new caper. That's going to be a lot of work, but if I use the next few days effectively, I'll bet I can come up with something satisfying. I also have to cram a lot of line-learning into that time. I'll just have to work hard to maintain focus.
As a side note, I was briefly mentioned in the Brandeis University LouieNew: "Brandeis alumni direct, produce, star in "Love's Labour's Lost" - The Gazebo Players presents "Love's Labour's Lost," directed by Shelby Bleiweis '04, produced by Amy Klesert '09 and featuring Phoebe Roberts '09 and Debbi Finkelstein '04. Performances will be at the Gazebo in Medfield, Mass., July 24, 25, 31 and Aug 1 at 5:00 p.m. and Aug 1, 7, and 8 at Walpole's Footlighter's Theater at 5:00 p.m. All performances are free."
Those, incidentally, are all the necessary details should you like to attend my play.
As a side note, I was briefly mentioned in the Brandeis University LouieNew: "Brandeis alumni direct, produce, star in "Love's Labour's Lost" - The Gazebo Players presents "Love's Labour's Lost," directed by Shelby Bleiweis '04, produced by Amy Klesert '09 and featuring Phoebe Roberts '09 and Debbi Finkelstein '04. Performances will be at the Gazebo in Medfield, Mass., July 24, 25, 31 and Aug 1 at 5:00 p.m. and Aug 1, 7, and 8 at Walpole's Footlighter's Theater at 5:00 p.m. All performances are free."
Those, incidentally, are all the necessary details should you like to attend my play.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Comparative gaming styles
There will be BSCF at my house tonight. That is cool, although I'm not sure I'm feeling up to that much social interaction. Depending on my ability to pretend to be a human being tonight, I may have to go hide in my room. If I can manage to behave like a real person, however, perhaps I shall try to get a game of Small World going.
I heard that at WPI, when Small World is played it is considered standard practice to make diplomatic agreements with other players. At Brandeis, we tend to be geared much more toward pure strategy when we play. If the right move is not immediately obvious, everyone around the table with discuss what the most advantageous move given the situation is, regardless of what other player it may hurt, and countless times I have heard someone advise their opponent to attack they themselves because it is objectively the best move.
I find this hilarious given WPI versus Brandeis larping style. At Brandeis we are the diplomats, the ones who sit around in a circle holding hands trying to find some way to work things out, while I have found WPI larpers to be more ruthless, oriented more towards the win-condition than finding some compromise. The reversal of that situation I find very funny.
I heard that at WPI, when Small World is played it is considered standard practice to make diplomatic agreements with other players. At Brandeis, we tend to be geared much more toward pure strategy when we play. If the right move is not immediately obvious, everyone around the table with discuss what the most advantageous move given the situation is, regardless of what other player it may hurt, and countless times I have heard someone advise their opponent to attack they themselves because it is objectively the best move.
I find this hilarious given WPI versus Brandeis larping style. At Brandeis we are the diplomats, the ones who sit around in a circle holding hands trying to find some way to work things out, while I have found WPI larpers to be more ruthless, oriented more towards the win-condition than finding some compromise. The reversal of that situation I find very funny.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tonight is for work
Finally Kindness's long-awaited post-bac show has come to fruition. We did our performance in front of his magnificent and meticulously-constructed environment involving suspended tree branches, flowers, nails, hooks, domestic items, and various accoutrements reflecting the life of a little girl. i think he was pleased with it; I had fun doing it, and it was certainly a unique experience for me as an actor and an interesting addition to my creative resume. I've done art before, but I've never been art before. :-) His installation will be in the Dreitzer Gallery in Spingold for the rest of the week if you missed last night. I, sadly, being living art, will not be.
*Yawn* I've gone to bed at a ridiculously early hour (10PM on Monday, 10PM on Tuesday, 9PM yesterday) every night so far this week, and yet I don't feel recharged or well enough rested for having slept so long. I don't feel sick, but I wonder if something's up. I'm hoping the excitement of Festival this weekend will cancel out my early-evening heaviness so I'm not a drag the next couple of nights.
I'd like to go to BSCF tonight and hang with people, but I have to prioritize my chores in preparation for the weekend. I have most of the sheets printed, but none of the cards, and nothing's packed yet. I may even have to buy a few new sets of supplies, like folders and playing cards. I need to put clean sheets on the guest bed for Seamus Reynolds who will be crashing at Elsinore for the weekend. And I have to finish reading the materials for LXHS. I'll only go to BSCF if I've accomplished enough of all of that by the time seven rolls around, but I doubt I will be able to afford it.
I could try to get a bit of work done on my next character sheet assignment for Labor Wars, as we have a meeting next Tuesday. But I won't be working on Monday next due to the need to work a monstrously long day on the following Thursday, so I should at least have all of that day to finish up the sheet. It'll be nice to have a day to recover after what promises to be a packed and possibly sleep-deprived three days.
*Yawn* I've gone to bed at a ridiculously early hour (10PM on Monday, 10PM on Tuesday, 9PM yesterday) every night so far this week, and yet I don't feel recharged or well enough rested for having slept so long. I don't feel sick, but I wonder if something's up. I'm hoping the excitement of Festival this weekend will cancel out my early-evening heaviness so I'm not a drag the next couple of nights.
I'd like to go to BSCF tonight and hang with people, but I have to prioritize my chores in preparation for the weekend. I have most of the sheets printed, but none of the cards, and nothing's packed yet. I may even have to buy a few new sets of supplies, like folders and playing cards. I need to put clean sheets on the guest bed for Seamus Reynolds who will be crashing at Elsinore for the weekend. And I have to finish reading the materials for LXHS. I'll only go to BSCF if I've accomplished enough of all of that by the time seven rolls around, but I doubt I will be able to afford it.
I could try to get a bit of work done on my next character sheet assignment for Labor Wars, as we have a meeting next Tuesday. But I won't be working on Monday next due to the need to work a monstrously long day on the following Thursday, so I should at least have all of that day to finish up the sheet. It'll be nice to have a day to recover after what promises to be a packed and possibly sleep-deprived three days.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Can the rough days stop now?
Jesus, did yesterday turn out to be lousier than I would have guessed. Bad day at work, all my chores turning out to be six thousand times tougher than I thought they'd be, and spending money on a lunch that it turns out I couldn't eat because I didn't realize it wasn't kosher. Bah.
But fortunately, the trouble was worked through. I finally got Frances's dress in order, and it looks very nice. The diorama is just a few touches away from being done. I also hit the thrift store and with literally with the loose change in my desk bought a fairly nice black blazer to wear for Shadow Over Babylon. That character really demands the wearing of a plain, official-looking suit, and I just didn't have what I needed for it. So I bit the bullet and bought something. It's a nice enough blazer that I can probably wear it in real-life dressy situations, and helps me at least simulate the plain black suit that Allie of Wardrobe Oxygen advises most women to keep in their closets. Heh, though I must say this game is the first time I regretted not having one. ;-)
The game of Small World played at BSCF later that evening also helped chill me out. It was nice to see so many nice friends, (and nudge them about attending the play, heehee) and I really must thank laurion* for introducing me to that most excellent game, and being willing to bring it and play week after week. ;-) I am not a hardcore board gamer by any stretch, so just how much I'm into Small World is a testament to how really great a game that is. I'm slowly getting better and better at it, I've had several games in a row now where I've averaged around ten points a turn, which is pretty good for a five-player game, but still somebody always does just a little bit better than me and I've never been able to win yet.
So yeah, yesterday really kind of sucked, but I got through it, accomplished what I needed to accomplish, and ended the day nicely and with friends. I guess things could have gone worse.
But fortunately, the trouble was worked through. I finally got Frances's dress in order, and it looks very nice. The diorama is just a few touches away from being done. I also hit the thrift store and with literally with the loose change in my desk bought a fairly nice black blazer to wear for Shadow Over Babylon. That character really demands the wearing of a plain, official-looking suit, and I just didn't have what I needed for it. So I bit the bullet and bought something. It's a nice enough blazer that I can probably wear it in real-life dressy situations, and helps me at least simulate the plain black suit that Allie of Wardrobe Oxygen advises most women to keep in their closets. Heh, though I must say this game is the first time I regretted not having one. ;-)
The game of Small World played at BSCF later that evening also helped chill me out. It was nice to see so many nice friends, (and nudge them about attending the play, heehee) and I really must thank laurion* for introducing me to that most excellent game, and being willing to bring it and play week after week. ;-) I am not a hardcore board gamer by any stretch, so just how much I'm into Small World is a testament to how really great a game that is. I'm slowly getting better and better at it, I've had several games in a row now where I've averaged around ten points a turn, which is pretty good for a five-player game, but still somebody always does just a little bit better than me and I've never been able to win yet.
So yeah, yesterday really kind of sucked, but I got through it, accomplished what I needed to accomplish, and ended the day nicely and with friends. I guess things could have gone worse.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Graces were graceful
Grace rehearsal went very well last night. I was pleased that once I even mentioned that they would need to carry themselves a particular way, they all started doing it on their own, and I didn't have much work to get them to where they needed to be. The synchronicity was a bit tougher, but they got the idea and we'll have several dress rehearsals to practice. Well done, lovely Steph, Caitlin, and Liz.
We also fitted the chitons last night. I was a lot happier with the results than I feared I'd be; they will most likely not look totally absurd. :-) The fabric did have the unfortunate tendency to obscure their shapes, which is not the most flattering of looks, but with some strategically-tied cords and draped colorful shawls, I feel they will appear with at least some measure of the necessary elegance. That means, except for some shoes that still need to be found-- ah, appropriate shoes, the tough little side note that plagues theater and larp costumes alike --To Think of Nothing is totally costumed.
Tonight I can relax a little. I am very much looking forward to going to BSCF tonight and playing Small World with captainecchi*. I love that game, and it'll be lovely to spend some time with her. I am also planning on baking these yummy-looking red velvet moon pie thingies for Jared. They're kind of a Valentine's Day treat, but since he'll be off on a ski vacating on Valentine's Day, I'm making them early. I hope he likes them; God knows I'm optimistic about anything with red velvet in it.
We also fitted the chitons last night. I was a lot happier with the results than I feared I'd be; they will most likely not look totally absurd. :-) The fabric did have the unfortunate tendency to obscure their shapes, which is not the most flattering of looks, but with some strategically-tied cords and draped colorful shawls, I feel they will appear with at least some measure of the necessary elegance. That means, except for some shoes that still need to be found-- ah, appropriate shoes, the tough little side note that plagues theater and larp costumes alike --To Think of Nothing is totally costumed.
Tonight I can relax a little. I am very much looking forward to going to BSCF tonight and playing Small World with captainecchi*. I love that game, and it'll be lovely to spend some time with her. I am also planning on baking these yummy-looking red velvet moon pie thingies for Jared. They're kind of a Valentine's Day treat, but since he'll be off on a ski vacating on Valentine's Day, I'm making them early. I hope he likes them; God knows I'm optimistic about anything with red velvet in it.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Bookshelf trek
Eventful evening yesterday. A lovely group of BSCFers gathers at my house, while I spent the early part of the evening attending a read through of To Think of Nothing on Skype. Arranged by Charlotte, who is playing Selene, it was really good to get to hear another run through of the lines. I'm really grateful to Charlotte for organizing it, and I'd love to do it again if they have time before they get back from break. After that I went back out into the living room and spent some time with the guests before zonking out on the couch, as is typically for me for late gatherings. Sadly I missed an opportunity to play Small World, introduced to me by laurion* and my current favorite boardgame, but there will always be other chances. I'm planning on having another BSCF at my place next Thursday evening as well, so maybe then.
Today after work I am going into Boston to buy a bookshelf I found listed on Craigslist. It's a cheap, junky thing from Ikea, in most cases not something I'd consider worth it, but Bernie and I were talking about having a tall bookshelf in the background as part of the To Think of Nothing set, and this one is only five dollars. Maybe if I can make it look less cheap and tacky somehow (stain? I don't know what the thing's made of) I can get some use out of it myself. Not sure where I'll put it; I already have a shorter, wider bookshelf in my room that is actually getting a bit overcrowded, so I guess I could sub it in, but then I'd have to find a place for the old one.
Today after work I am going into Boston to buy a bookshelf I found listed on Craigslist. It's a cheap, junky thing from Ikea, in most cases not something I'd consider worth it, but Bernie and I were talking about having a tall bookshelf in the background as part of the To Think of Nothing set, and this one is only five dollars. Maybe if I can make it look less cheap and tacky somehow (stain? I don't know what the thing's made of) I can get some use out of it myself. Not sure where I'll put it; I already have a shorter, wider bookshelf in my room that is actually getting a bit overcrowded, so I guess I could sub it in, but then I'd have to find a place for the old one.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Elsinore to myself, woohoo!
Feeling good this morning with a very positive outlook on the near future. I slept well, I did an acceptable amount of work yesterday, and I have plans for happy and interesting things to over the next several days. So there are a number of factors contributing to my good mood, but I'm fairly certain the major one is that for the next several days I shall have Elsinore to myself. Ryan and Miriam have gone home for winter break, and Dave and David are leaving for a trip to Scotland today, so I get to experience my dearest dream of living alone, if only for a short while. I plan to clean the hell out of the place after work and enjoy having things just the way I like them.
I'm trying to have an unofficial BSCF at the house tonight. You're welcome to come by for gaming or just hanging out tonight at 7PM if you'd like, though an RSVP would be appreciated so I know what kind of crowd to expect. I'd certainly enjoy the company, so you all are welcome.
As a side note, it appears LiveJournal now has statistics on traffic and such. Great, as if I don't spend enough time constantly checking and rechecking for new things on my journal. I'm also experimenting with cross-posting my entries to Facebook. I like the idea of more people reading, but I'm not sure if throwing a spotlight what I write to everybody who sees my profile will attract only just people I want to be reading. That might end up biting me in the ass. I could just start friend-locking things, but there are people who don't have LJs that I like getting to read what I write. Ah, well. We'll try it for a while and see what comes of it. So far, the most annoying thing about it has been that it gets rids of all my carriage returns when I post.
I'm trying to have an unofficial BSCF at the house tonight. You're welcome to come by for gaming or just hanging out tonight at 7PM if you'd like, though an RSVP would be appreciated so I know what kind of crowd to expect. I'd certainly enjoy the company, so you all are welcome.
As a side note, it appears LiveJournal now has statistics on traffic and such. Great, as if I don't spend enough time constantly checking and rechecking for new things on my journal. I'm also experimenting with cross-posting my entries to Facebook. I like the idea of more people reading, but I'm not sure if throwing a spotlight what I write to everybody who sees my profile will attract only just people I want to be reading. That might end up biting me in the ass. I could just start friend-locking things, but there are people who don't have LJs that I like getting to read what I write. Ah, well. We'll try it for a while and see what comes of it. So far, the most annoying thing about it has been that it gets rids of all my carriage returns when I post.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Chill tomorrow
I need a shower. I feel, as my Masks character was aligned, thoroughly vile. It would definately help me relax.
Tomorrow will be a respite from the crazy, thank God. I am going to work out in the morning, then meet my mother, who is in town, to go into Boston. I would like to go to BSCF, but I will likely be having dinner with the parents. I'm very happy to have one day with no schedule to adhere to, before three days of driving to Duxbury for the show. It will be nice to see my mom and dad, it's been a while, but part of me just wants to spend tomorrow laying around in my underwear watching TV.
Tomorrow will be a respite from the crazy, thank God. I am going to work out in the morning, then meet my mother, who is in town, to go into Boston. I would like to go to BSCF, but I will likely be having dinner with the parents. I'm very happy to have one day with no schedule to adhere to, before three days of driving to Duxbury for the show. It will be nice to see my mom and dad, it's been a while, but part of me just wants to spend tomorrow laying around in my underwear watching TV.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Really good BSCF
I really had a good time at last night's BSCF. It was really interesting to have that interviewer there; I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to her. But I got a serious case of the warm fuzzies when I happened to be walking by Matt's interview and the interviewer asked him about his favorite combat system in a larp, and he mentioned the one in Alice! Thank you, Matt, you're very kind, and it means a lot to hear you say that. Though, for the record, it was technically Jared who designed it. I told him I wanted a system that combined random and deterministic elements, so that the stronger character would usually win but the weaker one still had a chance, that somehow involved playing cards. He took those requirements and made the incredibly easy, effective system that I plan on using for all my games. :-D We're such a good team.
Then Sheena ran Unconventional Odyssey for a really fun group. I confess, I was not totally sure I'd enjoy it because I'd heard reports that it was really random and zany-- I thought it was just going to be a lot of random weird things thrown together. That can be fun, but it's not always to my taste, so I just had to trust Sheena that this game would work for me. Sure enough, I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the crazy elements were actually quite well thought out, and planned in such a way that the craziness steadily climbed rather than just be all over the place. The Vampire parody aspect of it was spot-on, so nicely done that I was a little disappointed that the game wasn't all that conducive to actually playing your character's Vampire character. It was have been interesting to see how the parody actually played. I was in the cast role of Jessie, who I joked to Sheena was a mean casting because it made fun of me. In reality she actually is just incredibly fragile and particular to the point of being too prissy to live. I think I may have interpreted that a little too far into bitchiness territory, which may not have been exactly the right note, but it more or less worked and I had a fun time doing it. I got punched out byrigel so I must have been doing something right!
The horde for this game did a fantastic job too. It had a significant number of newer larpers in it who weren't really familiar with the experience of horde, but they all just jumped in and came up with some really great performances. Also, bleemoo was hilarious as the phone player, and I was cracking up over the various phone calls he came up with. I kept wanting to call him with stuff, but the horde kept us so busy there was just no time. Jared ended up as horde as well. In the past he's always expressed a slight trepidation with horde, as he was never sure he'd be good enough at creating multiple characterizations to really enjoy the experience. That is the challenge of the horde from the actor's perspective, and I myself often force myself to ask for horde just to give myself some practice at being very different people. It's quite hard, really. But Jared didn't have to worry; I was really impressed by how varied and strong all his various roles ended up being! It makes me kind of sad I've never seen him in a significantly different double casting on stage; I know he can absolutely embody two separate people at once. I asked him not to try to make Claudius and the Ghost all that different in Hamlet, in the service of making a point, but now that I know how well he can do it, I want to put it to good theatrical use!
Afterward, there were lots of good conversations. I always like talking about larping in a theoretical sense with laurion. He has some really interesting insight, and I remember him giving me a couple of the most helpful pieces of advice when I was writing Alice-- most of all, he clued me into the all-important idea that if you want something to happen in a larp, you need to make the characters want it to happen.
There was a bit of negative business happening as well that I got tangled up in, but I like to think I helped a little bit of resolution happen, so it ended more of less okay. I hate it when two people who I both really care about are just so different that they piss each other off without meaning to by not understanding how the other interprets things. This is complicated when one of the parties is not inclined to acknowledge that they've done anything wrong. For those of you who witnessed this behavior, I will say in that person's defense that they are not trying to be pushy and dickish, they're just not very good at picking up on the fact that people are made uncomfortable by that sort of behavior, and don't understand why people are suddenly angry at them, and so gets angry at that. I think it's okay now, and I hope everyone can forgive and let it go, but that was the one dark spot of the evening. Still, overall, I had a fantastic time with my fantastic hobby with my fantastic friends.
Then Sheena ran Unconventional Odyssey for a really fun group. I confess, I was not totally sure I'd enjoy it because I'd heard reports that it was really random and zany-- I thought it was just going to be a lot of random weird things thrown together. That can be fun, but it's not always to my taste, so I just had to trust Sheena that this game would work for me. Sure enough, I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the crazy elements were actually quite well thought out, and planned in such a way that the craziness steadily climbed rather than just be all over the place. The Vampire parody aspect of it was spot-on, so nicely done that I was a little disappointed that the game wasn't all that conducive to actually playing your character's Vampire character. It was have been interesting to see how the parody actually played. I was in the cast role of Jessie, who I joked to Sheena was a mean casting because it made fun of me. In reality she actually is just incredibly fragile and particular to the point of being too prissy to live. I think I may have interpreted that a little too far into bitchiness territory, which may not have been exactly the right note, but it more or less worked and I had a fun time doing it. I got punched out byrigel so I must have been doing something right!
The horde for this game did a fantastic job too. It had a significant number of newer larpers in it who weren't really familiar with the experience of horde, but they all just jumped in and came up with some really great performances. Also, bleemoo was hilarious as the phone player, and I was cracking up over the various phone calls he came up with. I kept wanting to call him with stuff, but the horde kept us so busy there was just no time. Jared ended up as horde as well. In the past he's always expressed a slight trepidation with horde, as he was never sure he'd be good enough at creating multiple characterizations to really enjoy the experience. That is the challenge of the horde from the actor's perspective, and I myself often force myself to ask for horde just to give myself some practice at being very different people. It's quite hard, really. But Jared didn't have to worry; I was really impressed by how varied and strong all his various roles ended up being! It makes me kind of sad I've never seen him in a significantly different double casting on stage; I know he can absolutely embody two separate people at once. I asked him not to try to make Claudius and the Ghost all that different in Hamlet, in the service of making a point, but now that I know how well he can do it, I want to put it to good theatrical use!
Afterward, there were lots of good conversations. I always like talking about larping in a theoretical sense with laurion. He has some really interesting insight, and I remember him giving me a couple of the most helpful pieces of advice when I was writing Alice-- most of all, he clued me into the all-important idea that if you want something to happen in a larp, you need to make the characters want it to happen.
There was a bit of negative business happening as well that I got tangled up in, but I like to think I helped a little bit of resolution happen, so it ended more of less okay. I hate it when two people who I both really care about are just so different that they piss each other off without meaning to by not understanding how the other interprets things. This is complicated when one of the parties is not inclined to acknowledge that they've done anything wrong. For those of you who witnessed this behavior, I will say in that person's defense that they are not trying to be pushy and dickish, they're just not very good at picking up on the fact that people are made uncomfortable by that sort of behavior, and don't understand why people are suddenly angry at them, and so gets angry at that. I think it's okay now, and I hope everyone can forgive and let it go, but that was the one dark spot of the evening. Still, overall, I had a fantastic time with my fantastic hobby with my fantastic friends.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
GM Space playtest!
Last night I determined my head just isn't safe around witticaster. ;-) She knows why!
Tonight is the official playtest of GM Space, the humorous two-hour horde larp written by Jared and Sharone. I'm very excited for it. I will be playing Lily, one of the cast characters and the lone female GM running the in-game game, Miskatonic Graduation Party. It'll be at BSCF tonight, going simultaneously with the regularly scheduled gaming. Wish them luck, it's their first game!
Also, this week I had the audition and callback for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Jared did as well. Tonight all the theater groups will get together and fight over actors, and then we will get our roles. I'm very interested to see how this casting turns out, but that won't be done until late at night.
Tonight is the official playtest of GM Space, the humorous two-hour horde larp written by Jared and Sharone. I'm very excited for it. I will be playing Lily, one of the cast characters and the lone female GM running the in-game game, Miskatonic Graduation Party. It'll be at BSCF tonight, going simultaneously with the regularly scheduled gaming. Wish them luck, it's their first game!
Also, this week I had the audition and callback for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Jared did as well. Tonight all the theater groups will get together and fight over actors, and then we will get our roles. I'm very interested to see how this casting turns out, but that won't be done until late at night.
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