So I recently recieved an e-mail from nyren about the idea of a larp weekend along the lines of Festival of the Larps at WPI this coming November. I for one would be really happy to have another larping event to attend, particularly one that's a lot sooner than Festival and Intercon. It sounds as if this one would be a lot smaller scale-- after all, it can take a few years to really build attendance to a larp weekend, as we learned with Festival --so any games there would be more of the focal point of the event than at larger ones. I've already bid Oz, as a fifteen-player game that's only run twice before I figure that's a good choice. I am debating whether or not to bid Alice as well; I know there are people, at WPI and elsewhere, who still want to play it, but it's a twenty-seven-player game and what with four previous runs I'm not sure a smaller weekend is going to be able to fill it. I'll ask around and see what people think; I'd be more than happy to bring it if people believe there will be enough interest.
The really interesting proposition, however, is if we should bring Paranoia. As Nyren pointed out, at WPI Paranoia games go over really well, so perhaps this would be a golden opportunity to rerun Research and Dismemberment for a really enthusiastic audience. I will have to talk to my co-GMs. The game went pretty well the first time but it needs a significant amount of editing, so we'd have to commit to undertaking that before we could bid it. I would be up for it, any of you guys who are reading this-- let me know your feelings as well. But the weekend would be November 13th-15th, so we'd have to decide fast and get to work.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Catching up...
Gah, busy weekend. Jared and I tried to go to a Red Sox game Friday night with Steph and Walter, but it was unfortunately rained out. I actually did enjoy the trip and the company, so it wasn't a total loss, but I am kind of disappointed about the fifty bucks I spent on the ticket.
Saturday was helping laurion move furniture to his new place. I really enjoyed this day, as it was spent doing helpful productive things that were incidentally also good exercise with lots of people I wanted to hang out with. I also spoke to Nat about the game he is working on with Susan and Vito, and agreed to be part of the writing team. I'm incredibly flattered to be asked; I think this could be a really great learning experience to try working in a group of people who have lots experience working this way and generated a lot of good games with it. We are working on scheduling a meeting. I must get myself up to speed on all the materials now.
Sunday was spent about half moping and feeling yucky and half solidifying the session of Burn Notice I would be running that evening. I actually really love the plot for this "episode" that we're going through now. My GMing style is to do as much prep work ahead of time as possible, so I'm not scrambling to come up with things, and I am always able to keep the story moving. I know as a player I strongly dislike when the action drags and the players just sort of don't do anything because there's nowhere to go. So I always try to keep things as fleshed out as possible beforehand, so the players always have something to move toward. I think it's worked pretty well so far.
Also, the working scripts my brother got me from the Burn Notice set arrived in the mail. One of them was to the third season premiere, which was pretty damn cool. The second one, however, is from an episode that HASN'T EVEN AIRED YET. How awesome is that? Thanks to Casey doing me a favor, I got a sneak preview of a brand-new Burn Notice! It's a pretty good one, too. I'm having him over for dinner tomorrow, and now I am especially happy to feed him in thanks.
Saturday was helping laurion move furniture to his new place. I really enjoyed this day, as it was spent doing helpful productive things that were incidentally also good exercise with lots of people I wanted to hang out with. I also spoke to Nat about the game he is working on with Susan and Vito, and agreed to be part of the writing team. I'm incredibly flattered to be asked; I think this could be a really great learning experience to try working in a group of people who have lots experience working this way and generated a lot of good games with it. We are working on scheduling a meeting. I must get myself up to speed on all the materials now.
Sunday was spent about half moping and feeling yucky and half solidifying the session of Burn Notice I would be running that evening. I actually really love the plot for this "episode" that we're going through now. My GMing style is to do as much prep work ahead of time as possible, so I'm not scrambling to come up with things, and I am always able to keep the story moving. I know as a player I strongly dislike when the action drags and the players just sort of don't do anything because there's nowhere to go. So I always try to keep things as fleshed out as possible beforehand, so the players always have something to move toward. I think it's worked pretty well so far.
Also, the working scripts my brother got me from the Burn Notice set arrived in the mail. One of them was to the third season premiere, which was pretty damn cool. The second one, however, is from an episode that HASN'T EVEN AIRED YET. How awesome is that? Thanks to Casey doing me a favor, I got a sneak preview of a brand-new Burn Notice! It's a pretty good one, too. I'm having him over for dinner tomorrow, and now I am especially happy to feed him in thanks.
Friday, September 11, 2009
My quest at work today
At work today I was asked to locate some random textbook. I was given almost no information on this book other than the series it belonged to and told to check a particular place in another building. After making the roundabout and labyrinthine trek, I found myself in a small library whose classification system seemed determined by the drunken hurling of darts at various places on the shelves. But a nice lady who smelled like cocoa butter overheard me muttering frustratedly to myself, and rather than deciding I was a crazy person instead offered to help me. She directed me to another lady who had just washed her hair, so she smelled like gardenias. There turned out to be about a million different varieties of the kind of text I was sent after and I had no idea which was the right one. So we didn't find the stupid thing, but I like it when people who smell nice are nice to me.
So I made the perilous return journey back to my little office and Googled what very little data I possessed on my quarry. The publishing company's website presented their information on their product in such a way as likened to a crime scene where one can piece together the whole story if one happens to possess the deductive abilities of Sherlock Holmes. Still, my meager talents managed to glean to a reasonable degree of surety the correct edition of the textbook I sought. So back through the tunnels and back in the library. But try as I might, I could not locate this volume among the literary miasma on those shelves. Then it suddenly occurred to me-- practically everyone here has a little shelf in their office packed with textbooks. Perhaps it had wandered away from its brothers and into a less... haphazard locale.
You see, the educational non-profit for which I am currently working, has a corporate culture such that nobody ever closes the doors to their offices. Even when they leave for the day, nothing ever gets closed up. Normally this drives me batty, as not only do I very much prefer people not being able to look in on me every time they pass by, but the orientation of my desk means I have to sit with my back to the open door. Today, however, this worked to my advantage. There is almost nobody actually in the office today-- apparently most of them work Fridays from home --and hall after hall of open offices. So I prowled around, ninja-like, and dug through everyone's bookshelf, until, at length and at last, I found the volume I had spent the last several hours searching for.
Giggling to myself in triumph, I was so pleased with my cunning and my disregard for the personal space of others I hardly thought of the byzantine journey to return to my office. I copied the relevant pages-- the knowledge of which, honestly, was my only real clue as to which book was proper --and scurried back to the breached perimeter to replace the text before anyone ever noticed it was gone. I triumphantly sent the fruits of my labors to the boss that requested it, and have now rewarded myself by taking the time to relate this all to you.
So I made the perilous return journey back to my little office and Googled what very little data I possessed on my quarry. The publishing company's website presented their information on their product in such a way as likened to a crime scene where one can piece together the whole story if one happens to possess the deductive abilities of Sherlock Holmes. Still, my meager talents managed to glean to a reasonable degree of surety the correct edition of the textbook I sought. So back through the tunnels and back in the library. But try as I might, I could not locate this volume among the literary miasma on those shelves. Then it suddenly occurred to me-- practically everyone here has a little shelf in their office packed with textbooks. Perhaps it had wandered away from its brothers and into a less... haphazard locale.
You see, the educational non-profit for which I am currently working, has a corporate culture such that nobody ever closes the doors to their offices. Even when they leave for the day, nothing ever gets closed up. Normally this drives me batty, as not only do I very much prefer people not being able to look in on me every time they pass by, but the orientation of my desk means I have to sit with my back to the open door. Today, however, this worked to my advantage. There is almost nobody actually in the office today-- apparently most of them work Fridays from home --and hall after hall of open offices. So I prowled around, ninja-like, and dug through everyone's bookshelf, until, at length and at last, I found the volume I had spent the last several hours searching for.
Giggling to myself in triumph, I was so pleased with my cunning and my disregard for the personal space of others I hardly thought of the byzantine journey to return to my office. I copied the relevant pages-- the knowledge of which, honestly, was my only real clue as to which book was proper --and scurried back to the breached perimeter to replace the text before anyone ever noticed it was gone. I triumphantly sent the fruits of my labors to the boss that requested it, and have now rewarded myself by taking the time to relate this all to you.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Less emo post
Mmkay, after that long emo post, I'll try and focus on more positive things.
I got a part in Romeo and Juliet! I am playing Paris, county and cousin to the Prince of Verona, with whom I am well pleased because I get a fight scene as well as whenever I'm not around all the other characters praise me effusively. I can get behind that. :-) The show is going up during Parents' Weekend this year, which means a short rehearsal period, but also that we get a built-in audience with all those families around that need something to do.
Also, my brother just got around to telling me about the nice thing he did for me. He was in LA all this past summer being a PA on television productions, and a friend of his, his roommate, did the same thing in Florida. His friend worked on Burn Notice, and Casey got him to bring me back a copy of a director's script and one of the actors' scripts, he couldn't remember which one. Isn't that cool? Casey can be really cool when he wants to be. Speaking of Burn Notice, I'm hoping the get my tabletop game running again this coming Sunday. I have a really cool session in mind, so I'm pretty excited.
Tried a new pumpkin pie recipe this past weekend. Made in conjunction with my famous apple and berry pie recipes, it was more complicated than my typical one, involving pre-baking cooking and freshly ground spices that gave it quite a kick. I really liked it, though, it's very flavorful, if perhaps a bit strong. I had so much of the supplies left over that I made four little mini-pies as well in my darling red ramekins. Figuring out baking time was a bit of a challenge-- they're four-inch vessels but they're much deeper than the typical pie pan --so I basically just threw them in and checked them every five minutes until they were done. I think it took about a half an hour in total. Still, they came out tasty, and I had the pleasure of looking at lovely little mini-pies. I do so love tiny food.
Yes, I am not doing fantastically lately. But I'm trying to get past it.
I got a part in Romeo and Juliet! I am playing Paris, county and cousin to the Prince of Verona, with whom I am well pleased because I get a fight scene as well as whenever I'm not around all the other characters praise me effusively. I can get behind that. :-) The show is going up during Parents' Weekend this year, which means a short rehearsal period, but also that we get a built-in audience with all those families around that need something to do.
Also, my brother just got around to telling me about the nice thing he did for me. He was in LA all this past summer being a PA on television productions, and a friend of his, his roommate, did the same thing in Florida. His friend worked on Burn Notice, and Casey got him to bring me back a copy of a director's script and one of the actors' scripts, he couldn't remember which one. Isn't that cool? Casey can be really cool when he wants to be. Speaking of Burn Notice, I'm hoping the get my tabletop game running again this coming Sunday. I have a really cool session in mind, so I'm pretty excited.
Tried a new pumpkin pie recipe this past weekend. Made in conjunction with my famous apple and berry pie recipes, it was more complicated than my typical one, involving pre-baking cooking and freshly ground spices that gave it quite a kick. I really liked it, though, it's very flavorful, if perhaps a bit strong. I had so much of the supplies left over that I made four little mini-pies as well in my darling red ramekins. Figuring out baking time was a bit of a challenge-- they're four-inch vessels but they're much deeper than the typical pie pan --so I basically just threw them in and checked them every five minutes until they were done. I think it took about a half an hour in total. Still, they came out tasty, and I had the pleasure of looking at lovely little mini-pies. I do so love tiny food.
Yes, I am not doing fantastically lately. But I'm trying to get past it.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Vague status report
This entry is likely to be a little rambling, vague, and unfocused, so please pardon. What I'm trying to accomplish is a bit difficult given the limits I'm putting on myself, but I am doing my best to get my point across in a way that makes me feel comfortable.
A lot of people put up status reports on the states of their lives and how they're doing and feeling at a given time so that their friends understand what's up with them, particularly if their current state affects their behavior or mood. I like this idea, but I do not so much like letting people in on private matters that may be the reason for my status. So I am endeavoring to express where I am in such a way as still allows me the privacy I need.
I am not at my best lately. I would guess this has been clear to some and not so clear to others. I'm trying to deal with some difficult things lately, and they are a not-insignificant source of stress. My schedule has also been very tightly packed with committments and responsibilities, and I find myself a bit overwhelmed by my lack of free time. Finallyy, I feel like the level of prying that has been done into my affairs has placed an additional burden on me that makes everything even more difficult for me to bear, and has done a great deal to chip away at my wellbeing.
As I've said before, I'm not the kind of person who likes airing laundry in public. I know that for many people talking is the way to feel better and deal with problems, but this not only does not often help me, it very frequently makes things worse. I get embarrassed, even ashamed of myself, when people are aware of the negative stuff I have to deal with. It makes me feel bad about myself. Also, it has been my experience that when I confide in people, they inevitably form an opinion about the matter. I don't want people forming opinions about my life; I don't feel it's their place to pass judgment. If I have ever confided in you any of my real troubles, the more you develop an opinion on any of it, the less I am inclined to confide anything of substance in you further. Some of you I know have already experienced this. I apologize if this hurts your feelings, but I'm not going to continue doing something designed to make me feel better when it's just making me feel worse.
Through no actions of my own, I have been put in a position a lot lately of people learning things about my life that I don't feel are their business, and been subject to their feelings on the matter. On one hand, I respect that other people don't necessarily deal with things the same way I do, and need to talk stuff out with others. On the other hand, I kind of resent that people are let into my business without my consent, and as such I am forced against my will to deal with their opinions.
The judgment has felt heavier than usual lately. It's starting to get to me, leading to me feeling drained, oversensitive, and less able to bear the people I feel are digging into places they don't belong. Because of this, I've been more withdrawn and less up for things lately, particularly things involving large crowds consisting of people I don't want to deal with. I've had less patience for just about everything, for which if you've been on the recieving end recently I apologize.
I think this will pass soon, provided I get enough time away from the presses of other people's unwanted involvement. But for the meantime I am not quite myself. Please forgive me. But frankly, people... lay off. Please don't dig where it clearly distresses me for you to do so. Respect my privacy, give me the benefit of the doubt that I am handling things as best as I am able. It is not your place to render judgment.
I'm not sure if this makes any sense. But for now, that's where I am, and that is what I need.
A lot of people put up status reports on the states of their lives and how they're doing and feeling at a given time so that their friends understand what's up with them, particularly if their current state affects their behavior or mood. I like this idea, but I do not so much like letting people in on private matters that may be the reason for my status. So I am endeavoring to express where I am in such a way as still allows me the privacy I need.
I am not at my best lately. I would guess this has been clear to some and not so clear to others. I'm trying to deal with some difficult things lately, and they are a not-insignificant source of stress. My schedule has also been very tightly packed with committments and responsibilities, and I find myself a bit overwhelmed by my lack of free time. Finallyy, I feel like the level of prying that has been done into my affairs has placed an additional burden on me that makes everything even more difficult for me to bear, and has done a great deal to chip away at my wellbeing.
As I've said before, I'm not the kind of person who likes airing laundry in public. I know that for many people talking is the way to feel better and deal with problems, but this not only does not often help me, it very frequently makes things worse. I get embarrassed, even ashamed of myself, when people are aware of the negative stuff I have to deal with. It makes me feel bad about myself. Also, it has been my experience that when I confide in people, they inevitably form an opinion about the matter. I don't want people forming opinions about my life; I don't feel it's their place to pass judgment. If I have ever confided in you any of my real troubles, the more you develop an opinion on any of it, the less I am inclined to confide anything of substance in you further. Some of you I know have already experienced this. I apologize if this hurts your feelings, but I'm not going to continue doing something designed to make me feel better when it's just making me feel worse.
Through no actions of my own, I have been put in a position a lot lately of people learning things about my life that I don't feel are their business, and been subject to their feelings on the matter. On one hand, I respect that other people don't necessarily deal with things the same way I do, and need to talk stuff out with others. On the other hand, I kind of resent that people are let into my business without my consent, and as such I am forced against my will to deal with their opinions.
The judgment has felt heavier than usual lately. It's starting to get to me, leading to me feeling drained, oversensitive, and less able to bear the people I feel are digging into places they don't belong. Because of this, I've been more withdrawn and less up for things lately, particularly things involving large crowds consisting of people I don't want to deal with. I've had less patience for just about everything, for which if you've been on the recieving end recently I apologize.
I think this will pass soon, provided I get enough time away from the presses of other people's unwanted involvement. But for the meantime I am not quite myself. Please forgive me. But frankly, people... lay off. Please don't dig where it clearly distresses me for you to do so. Respect my privacy, give me the benefit of the doubt that I am handling things as best as I am able. It is not your place to render judgment.
I'm not sure if this makes any sense. But for now, that's where I am, and that is what I need.
Friday, September 4, 2009
No credit
I am tired of people having no faith in me. I am tired of people assuming the worst of me.
Am I so base? Do I command so little respect? Is the expectation of me so low?
For Christ's sake, give me some credit.
Am I so base? Do I command so little respect? Is the expectation of me so low?
For Christ's sake, give me some credit.
"Remind me-- which one of Kyle's eyes is really looking at me?" "The brown one."
One thing that always strikes me when I encounter it is the issue of families that don't express emotion well. This is a reccurring issue on Frasier. My family was never, ever like that, so it's always a bit of a stretch of the imagination to understand where that's coming from. For my family, saying nice things has always been the single most frequent and most important demonstration of our love for each other. We say "I love you" constantly, and I've come to regard it as just kind of the way people who care about each other behave. I know a lot of people have an association of men with the inability to express emotion, but that's not how I grew up. My father, who is a man's man by any definition, has always been as demonstrative with love and encouragment as could be. In fact, I think one of the reasons why I want and need to have people give me compliments and say nice things to me so badly is because I've been brought up in such a way that one indicates one's love and respect by saying it.
That sort of thing is immeasurably more valuable to me than just about anything else in my interactions with people. Take, for example, the fact that I don't really dig the whole traditional celebration of birthdays. This is mostly because I dislike the custom of gift-giving associated with it. Besides the fact that I dislike monetary expediture equaling affection, the older I get, the more I come to dislike "stuff"-- physical things are increasingly becoming no more to me than useless clutter. So I don't want to have people feeling like they're obligated to buy me stuff. I would much rather a little note telling me something real and meaningful about something you like about me. To me, that's the most precious thing in the world.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Only beautiful
The belief that a beautiful girl can only be beautiful, and nothing else. That it would be too unfair if she were also smart or talented or kind. The gift God already gave her is far too much. Beauty is seen as so rare and valuable that even if it doesn't trump everything else, it takes a lot of everything else to make up for the lack of it. That girl mustn't be anything of real substance. She's got too much to herself already.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A Midsummer Night and the Living is Easy
At long last I'm going to get to play in the Iron GM-winning game written by bronzite, londo, elenuial, and Eager Mike, (am I forgetting anyone? nyren?) A Midsummer Night and the Living is Easy. I've wanted to play in this game ever since the contest when they wrote it; I love the premise, and I have since heard so many good reviews from players that I am crazy excited. It's going to be running late on Friday night of WPI's Gaming Weekend, and thus far lightgamer has agreed to make a trip of it with me. I'm trying to get jh1230 to come as well, and Ryan or linearequation if they can make it, and make a little Brandeis contingent of it. I don't love the timeslot of 11PM to 1AM, especially since it's a forty-five minute drive to get there, but with a group I won't mind. I've been running so much lately it feels like I haven't played in a larp in forever, so that'll be a nice change of pace.
I am excited to see what Midsummer elements have gotten into the game. As you know I just played Puck, so I have an affinity for that character, but they'd probably cast a guy as Puck anyway if he's in there. I don't know if they're casting at the door or what, but if that's the case, given the film-noir aesthetic I know what I'm going to wear-- black cocktail dress that I wore as Wendy Noyes in the MCR2K, elbow-length black gloves (wanted opera-length, couldn't find them), black stockings with garters, and if I can get a hold of a cigarette holder, so much the better. Hmm. I feel like I need a diaphanous wrap or something, preferably in white for accent but black would work too. Wonder if I could find one on short notice.
I am excited to see what Midsummer elements have gotten into the game. As you know I just played Puck, so I have an affinity for that character, but they'd probably cast a guy as Puck anyway if he's in there. I don't know if they're casting at the door or what, but if that's the case, given the film-noir aesthetic I know what I'm going to wear-- black cocktail dress that I wore as Wendy Noyes in the MCR2K, elbow-length black gloves (wanted opera-length, couldn't find them), black stockings with garters, and if I can get a hold of a cigarette holder, so much the better. Hmm. I feel like I need a diaphanous wrap or something, preferably in white for accent but black would work too. Wonder if I could find one on short notice.
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