Jared is back home in Chicago now. I drove him to the airport yesterday morning, then spent most of the rest of the day not doing much beyond a few random chores and hanging around feeling slightly mopey. I know we've spent three previous summers separated before, and I do honestly believe the downtime will be good for him, but it's always tough to spend the time apart. Ah, well, it'll be okay.
We now officially have blendedchaitea* as a roommate. She moved in successfully on Sunday and I believe is settling in well. The house went on a massive Target run after she arrived and we replaced a lot of necessary items in the communal spaces. Then we had a nice big dinner together, planned by Jared and I and prepared by everyone working together. I feel more comfortable and optimistic about my living situation than I have in a long time. I like and feel like I will get along with all the people I'm living with and will be living with, which may take a great deal of stress out of my daily life. Certainly could use that.
Today I begin my exercise plan. All this week Jared and I made an effort to walk places rather than drive, which was giving us around two miles a day. Not a bad start, but I'm going to need something more intense if I want to get in shape and get rid of this little gut I'm getting. So in addition to making an effort to walk more, I want to add a daily routine that goes at least a half an hour a day. Let's see if I can muster the discipline.
Showing posts with label chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicago. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Summa cum laude
As of this weekend, Jared Hite now has a bachelors of arts in philosophy with a minor in legal studies from Brandeis University, graduating summa cum laude with high honors from his thesis. I'm so proud of him.
I spent most of the weekend helping him move out of his dorm. His parents came into town to see him graduate, and Friday and Saturday were spent clearing out his surprisingly large amount of stuff for the contents of one dorm room. Some of it was packed to go back to Chicago, some of it was sent to his local storage locker. It was a lot of work for a hot day, but things went smoothly enough. The next day was commencement, and a considerably less enjoyable experience. I strongly dislike graduation ceremonies for a number of reasons, so other than getting to hear Jared's fantastic status announced to everyone, the whole business was very unpleasant for me. But we went out to a fantastic dinner in the evening, so the ended well despite it all.
Jared will be staying with me for one more week. Then he is going back to Chicago for the summer, with the intent of spending it job and apartment-hunting and then coming back to Boston in September. I think this is the best thing for him, he needs time to de-stress and have few responsibilities for a while, but I will certainly miss him. There's even a part of me that is afraid he won't be able to come back. But we'll just have to be hopeful and dilligent and pray for the best. I'll be a little down about it, but I'm going to do what I can to just hope things turn out.
I spent most of the weekend helping him move out of his dorm. His parents came into town to see him graduate, and Friday and Saturday were spent clearing out his surprisingly large amount of stuff for the contents of one dorm room. Some of it was packed to go back to Chicago, some of it was sent to his local storage locker. It was a lot of work for a hot day, but things went smoothly enough. The next day was commencement, and a considerably less enjoyable experience. I strongly dislike graduation ceremonies for a number of reasons, so other than getting to hear Jared's fantastic status announced to everyone, the whole business was very unpleasant for me. But we went out to a fantastic dinner in the evening, so the ended well despite it all.
Jared will be staying with me for one more week. Then he is going back to Chicago for the summer, with the intent of spending it job and apartment-hunting and then coming back to Boston in September. I think this is the best thing for him, he needs time to de-stress and have few responsibilities for a while, but I will certainly miss him. There's even a part of me that is afraid he won't be able to come back. But we'll just have to be hopeful and dilligent and pray for the best. I'll be a little down about it, but I'm going to do what I can to just hope things turn out.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Midwest success
Well, I am back from Chicago, and I am well pleased. I am delighted to report that the fourth run of Alice went beautifully, and we met some great people who were both nice and interesting as well as fantastic roleplayers. The summary is that the game was well-recieved, well-played, and I feel very good about it.
The gaming culture out there in the Chicago area is a little different, I've discovered. For example, they believe that the less you need to involve the GM in the running of the game, the better. Fortunately Alice is meant to basically run itself, but Jared and I spent even less time than usual running around to answer player needs. It was slightly disconcerting, but it did allow Jared to play his NPC with less interruption, and me more time to watch all the lovely goings-on. :-) Also, they have a sensibility of it being slightly bad form to check one's character sheet during the game. They like to make miniature cheat sheets that they can tuck into their pockets, or inside a book or a hat, so that they break the immersion as little as possible. It's interesting to learn these things.
As for what happened, these are clearly some smart and talented people. I love when they surprise me, whether it's coming up with new interpretation of their characters, or trying unexpected ways of accomplishing their goals. This was also the first time I cast a Charlie I didn't already know. But this guy, Rex Balboa, really understood the character and did a fantastic job. JR Cillian Green, the guy who played the Dodo, was fantastic as well, translating the character's bitterness into a fantastic sarcasm and ironic cynicism. He also gets bonus points for his describing Wonderland as "a Mobius strip of stupid" and calling another character "pants-on-head retarded." For a Yahtzee-ism, he had to get a hug. Anandi Gandolfi as the Queen of Hearts was great, nailing the character with just the right intensity-- and she not only actually made sex happen in the game, she had a threesome and an orgy! I salute you, my lady. Kelly O'Donoghue played the Mock Turtle in a completely unexpected way, trying to protect herself by making herself useful to everyone with power she could find. That is a fun lady right there, full of personality and incredibly interesting to talk to. I'd love to have her in a game again. Hell, pretty much everyone I'd love to have in a game again. And hey, the Lion survived! He's never done that before. :-) The Jabberwock still, however, has yet to get out of a run alive.
I confess, I had moments where I was watching an interaction while giggling in the corner, to the point where I had to tell the amused players, "Ignore the giggling GM! She and her giggling aren't here!"
Doug and Gail, the couple who facilitated everything, were fantastic hosts. Doug also told me about a theory of casting I'd never heard before that actually seems really useful to the process. I thought he was referring to the Gamer-Narrativist-Simulationist theory, but this is something even more basic that is helpful for figuring out how to cast the people you've got signed up. He said people fall somewhere within the boundaries of the Roleplayer-Actor-Problem Solver triangle. He used a murder mystery context as the example. The Roleplayer as the murderer isn't going to want to get caught, because of course the character wouldn't. The Actor as the murderer wants to get caught, so he can play out that confrontation as a dramatic scene. The Problem Solver would rather be the detective all together so he can work out the mystery. Most players are some combination of all three with leanings toward one side or another. I would say I'm mostly an Actor, but there's definately indications of Roleplayer and Problem Solver in me. I may use this in the future when the casting gets tough, as so often lately it does.
So, all in all, a most excellent experience. And one I'm very proud to say I have had.
The gaming culture out there in the Chicago area is a little different, I've discovered. For example, they believe that the less you need to involve the GM in the running of the game, the better. Fortunately Alice is meant to basically run itself, but Jared and I spent even less time than usual running around to answer player needs. It was slightly disconcerting, but it did allow Jared to play his NPC with less interruption, and me more time to watch all the lovely goings-on. :-) Also, they have a sensibility of it being slightly bad form to check one's character sheet during the game. They like to make miniature cheat sheets that they can tuck into their pockets, or inside a book or a hat, so that they break the immersion as little as possible. It's interesting to learn these things.
As for what happened, these are clearly some smart and talented people. I love when they surprise me, whether it's coming up with new interpretation of their characters, or trying unexpected ways of accomplishing their goals. This was also the first time I cast a Charlie I didn't already know. But this guy, Rex Balboa, really understood the character and did a fantastic job. JR Cillian Green, the guy who played the Dodo, was fantastic as well, translating the character's bitterness into a fantastic sarcasm and ironic cynicism. He also gets bonus points for his describing Wonderland as "a Mobius strip of stupid" and calling another character "pants-on-head retarded." For a Yahtzee-ism, he had to get a hug. Anandi Gandolfi as the Queen of Hearts was great, nailing the character with just the right intensity-- and she not only actually made sex happen in the game, she had a threesome and an orgy! I salute you, my lady. Kelly O'Donoghue played the Mock Turtle in a completely unexpected way, trying to protect herself by making herself useful to everyone with power she could find. That is a fun lady right there, full of personality and incredibly interesting to talk to. I'd love to have her in a game again. Hell, pretty much everyone I'd love to have in a game again. And hey, the Lion survived! He's never done that before. :-) The Jabberwock still, however, has yet to get out of a run alive.
I confess, I had moments where I was watching an interaction while giggling in the corner, to the point where I had to tell the amused players, "Ignore the giggling GM! She and her giggling aren't here!"
Doug and Gail, the couple who facilitated everything, were fantastic hosts. Doug also told me about a theory of casting I'd never heard before that actually seems really useful to the process. I thought he was referring to the Gamer-Narrativist-Simulationist theory, but this is something even more basic that is helpful for figuring out how to cast the people you've got signed up. He said people fall somewhere within the boundaries of the Roleplayer-Actor-Problem Solver triangle. He used a murder mystery context as the example. The Roleplayer as the murderer isn't going to want to get caught, because of course the character wouldn't. The Actor as the murderer wants to get caught, so he can play out that confrontation as a dramatic scene. The Problem Solver would rather be the detective all together so he can work out the mystery. Most players are some combination of all three with leanings toward one side or another. I would say I'm mostly an Actor, but there's definately indications of Roleplayer and Problem Solver in me. I may use this in the future when the casting gets tough, as so often lately it does.
So, all in all, a most excellent experience. And one I'm very proud to say I have had.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Alice, about to go Midwest
I have inadvertently started Facebook-stalking Banquo. At least, his photo albums. The guy is ridulously attractive.
Speaking of attractive people, this coming weekend I go to Chicago to be with Jared and to run Alice for the local larping community. Let me tell you, preparing for that has been a learning experience-- specifically a lesson in humility and persistence.
As arrogant as it sounds, I am accustomed to my games filling up immediately, enthusiastically, with a waitlist well over capacity. For the first three runs, people fought to get into Alice, and any dropped place was instantly taken over by someone delighted to have it. Hell, I think at one point the Festival run of Oz had enough people waitlisted for an entire second game. I don't know if it's because I have plenty of kind and willing friends, or if my name is enough at this point to convince people that they're going to have a good time. This, by contrast, was a lot less easy. This will be the first run of Alice to run under maximum. Two characters had to be cut, while two more will be NPCed. Only recently did we even hit minimum. I can tell you, that was certainly a depressing feeling. I felt like I'd failed, like my game wasn't so welcome and well-recieved after all, like I wasn't ready to step out onto a larger stage than just my local community, and I was worried that I'd have to cancel it and lose the whole experience entirely. Fortunately we've got enough to run, and I have figured out the way to make it work with fewer than twenty-seven characters. It was tough, and it doesn't feel as good as I want it to, but I fixed it.
As bad as I felt, this is a good experience for me. Now I know that I have to work harder in a place where I don't have credit already built up. I have to step it up if I'm going to be a presence in bigger ponds than the one I come from. Also, this will teach me to be flexible, to find ways to make games work and work well in less than ideal situations. I have adjusted Alice to function under the current set of circumstances, and I think it's going to come out just fine. My records don't like gaps the player shortage puts in them, but that I'll just have to get over. In the end, I will be a better GM for it.
And who knows? If this goes well, perhaps I'll be invited back, whether to run Alice again or to bring other games. And maybe then the people who liked this first one will tell everyone that the experience is good, and so more people will be more enthusiastic about playing in my games. And then I won't have to run under maximum anymore.
So this is a positive experience. I should be making the most of it, even if it's not exactly what I wanted.
Speaking of attractive people, this coming weekend I go to Chicago to be with Jared and to run Alice for the local larping community. Let me tell you, preparing for that has been a learning experience-- specifically a lesson in humility and persistence.
As arrogant as it sounds, I am accustomed to my games filling up immediately, enthusiastically, with a waitlist well over capacity. For the first three runs, people fought to get into Alice, and any dropped place was instantly taken over by someone delighted to have it. Hell, I think at one point the Festival run of Oz had enough people waitlisted for an entire second game. I don't know if it's because I have plenty of kind and willing friends, or if my name is enough at this point to convince people that they're going to have a good time. This, by contrast, was a lot less easy. This will be the first run of Alice to run under maximum. Two characters had to be cut, while two more will be NPCed. Only recently did we even hit minimum. I can tell you, that was certainly a depressing feeling. I felt like I'd failed, like my game wasn't so welcome and well-recieved after all, like I wasn't ready to step out onto a larger stage than just my local community, and I was worried that I'd have to cancel it and lose the whole experience entirely. Fortunately we've got enough to run, and I have figured out the way to make it work with fewer than twenty-seven characters. It was tough, and it doesn't feel as good as I want it to, but I fixed it.
As bad as I felt, this is a good experience for me. Now I know that I have to work harder in a place where I don't have credit already built up. I have to step it up if I'm going to be a presence in bigger ponds than the one I come from. Also, this will teach me to be flexible, to find ways to make games work and work well in less than ideal situations. I have adjusted Alice to function under the current set of circumstances, and I think it's going to come out just fine. My records don't like gaps the player shortage puts in them, but that I'll just have to get over. In the end, I will be a better GM for it.
And who knows? If this goes well, perhaps I'll be invited back, whether to run Alice again or to bring other games. And maybe then the people who liked this first one will tell everyone that the experience is good, and so more people will be more enthusiastic about playing in my games. And then I won't have to run under maximum anymore.
So this is a positive experience. I should be making the most of it, even if it's not exactly what I wanted.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Alice goes Midwest?
So I finally screwed up the courage to call the lady in Chicago who is evidently the person to talk to about running larps for that local gaming community. She heard from David Cave and Marc Blumberg, two great players from the second run of Alice at Intercon H, that it's a pretty half-decent game, and there might be a way for Jared and I to bring it out there to run. I'm expecting a call from her later this evening, and I'll hear about scheduling possibilities. I plan on just gathering data for now and then reporting it back to Jared.
It's really flattering to know that people enjoyed my game enough to want me to COME SOMEWHERE specifically to run it.
It's really flattering to know that people enjoyed my game enough to want me to COME SOMEWHERE specifically to run it.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Home at Elsinore again
I am now back at Elsinore, and it's nice to be home. I unpacked my things, threw in a load of laundry, and cleaned the house. It really needed it, and I feel a lot more comfortable with everything neat and clean. Now the whole house smells like lilac; it's very pleasant and relaxing. Also, I finally got my au gratin pan in the mail! When my parents bought me all that All-Clad, they got a certificate you could mail in and get a free au gratin pan, and now it finally arrived! It's very nice, and I look forward to using it. My domesticity instincts are quite well satisfied.
In a couple of hours I will be going to pick up Jared and Elana at the airport. They're both from the Chicago area-- Jared from the city proper and Elana from Skokie --and they happened to book the same flight back, so I will be grabbing them both together and bringing them here. I'm looking forward to seeing my boy and my friend. I ordered Jared's favorite pizza from Upper Crust for him to have to break the Pesach fast; I think he'll enjoy that. Later tongiht I will be going back out to the airport to bring Bernie back; I'm not thrilled to be going out into the city so late and for the second time in a day, but I'll be glad to have him back as well.
So, overall, it's good to be back.
In a couple of hours I will be going to pick up Jared and Elana at the airport. They're both from the Chicago area-- Jared from the city proper and Elana from Skokie --and they happened to book the same flight back, so I will be grabbing them both together and bringing them here. I'm looking forward to seeing my boy and my friend. I ordered Jared's favorite pizza from Upper Crust for him to have to break the Pesach fast; I think he'll enjoy that. Later tongiht I will be going back out to the airport to bring Bernie back; I'm not thrilled to be going out into the city so late and for the second time in a day, but I'll be glad to have him back as well.
So, overall, it's good to be back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
