Reposting from the interconlarp community:
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KLOCKWERQ, a Steampunk Soiree, is this Sunday night (Aug 15, 8:30pm) at T.T. the Bears, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge MA.
KLOCKWERQ is a steam-powered, gear-driven, dance party and social event for the aetheric aristocracy. It's also the ONLY event of its kind in Massachusetts, and we'd love the support of the Steampunk community to get it off the ground. KLOCKWERQ has dancing, merchants, and more.
It's an 18+ event and admission is $10. We hope to see you there!
If you're on Facebook, please visit KLOCKWERQ EVENTS for more information!
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Anyone interested in doing this? I'm not a hundred percent sure I am, I have been feeling kind of down recently and not all that up to going out, but I might be persuaded to do this if others were as well. I'm not even sure if I have anything appropriate to wear, but I'm curious to see what this event will be like, and I certainly like to support fun things like Steampunk events. Thoughts, anyone?
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
I hate imitation bags
I was wandering around a shopping center today while waiting for my car to get finished with its service appointment, and I came across a store selling a ton of bags imitating couture lines. The tacky prints obviously meant to look like the signature patterns of high-end retailers like Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi. I really dislike low-end bags that imitate the look of haute couture designs. Now it's not that I think ridiculously expensive obviously branded status bags are so superior to any other nice bag. Those are all about the statement that the label makes you cooler, or announces to the world how rich, powerful, and chic you are. Bullshit. Style comes from looks, know-how, and quality, not two enormous interlocking C's over quilted leather on display for everyone to notice. Give me a handsome, well-made genuine leather bag over an ostentatious sack in a gaudy signature print any day-- I despise the Coach carpet bag, or the hideous LV patterm, and the knockoffs thereof look even worse. Cheap imitations are trying to give the illusion of the status conferred, not trying to be quality and stylish accessories in their own right. There are perfectly gorgeous, tasteful, well-made, stylish, high-end bags out there that do not make you pay out the nose because of their obvious label. Now if somebody gave me a simple, elegant leather Prada handbag I would certainly not turn it down, but just because there's a trendy label doesn't make it a chic piece, and I certainly don't believe I need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to find it. Truly stylish people only need flattering, well-chosen clothes and accessories, not labels, to make them appear to their best advantage. Don't buy an imitation just because you think it will make you cool. Buy a quality bag that you like and compliments your style, and you will look so much more chic than with your not-quite-Fendi or Cha-not. :-P
Gothic larp needs two more male players!
On Sunday, August 29th, acousticshadow2* is running her newly written gothic larp, Nepenthe a Surcease of Sorrow, and still needs two more male players. It looks to be a very dark, twisted game with some very mature themes-- I know that the character I got in it is easily the most intense I've ever had. Jared and I will both be in it, so you'd have the chance to play with us. :-) The game will be happening in Worcester, so if you're coming from my area, we still have one or two seats left in our car and I'd be happy to give you a ride. Contact Emillybeth if you're interested, or drop me a line and I will put you in touch with her. Hope you can come out to play in this first run of a new gothic game!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Musing on learning about money
I have an unusual relationship with money, I think. My solid budgeting skills are at odds with my inclination to use money as a way to make things go more smoothly and with less trouble for myself. Over the last year I have had to confront this part of myself when suddenly I was forced to worry about something I'd never had to before.
I grew up in a house that was always financially comfortable. When I was a kid, my parents let me spend money pretty much however I wanted because I was not inclined to spend all that much of it anyway. I didn't buy stuff often at all, I didn't do anything all that expensive, so if I wanted to go out to dinner or a movie with friends or pick up a DVD I wanted, they were okay with giving me the cash. (They were a lot stricter with Casey, for whom the stuff burned a hole in his pocket.) When I was in high school, they only wanted me to focus on my schoolwork during the months in session, and though every summer I was required to have a job, it was more so that I had the experience of responsibility than because they wanted me to have my own money. So I do have a lot of the not-exactly-spoiled quality of a kid for whom money isn't something they throw around, but never has been anything to worry about.
Neither of my parents grew up with any money, so they have very strongly defined value-of-a-dollar notions. They were proud to pay my brother's and my college tuitions completely out of pocket as their gift to us, but they despise waste. They are also to varying degrees, my father much more so, stuff-averse-- a dislike of junk and and clutter that they passed on to me prevents any number of unnecessary small purchases. Related to this, however, is that fact that they tend to have high-quality tastes, which their comfortable financial situation makes viable. They are not buyers of things with any frequency, but when they do, those things will be quality, and with a price to match. So I grew up with the notion that money is not to be wasted, and yet certain things warranted real expenditure because the acquiring of junk was abhorrent. Maybe that doesn't sound like such a strange view to take, but let me tell you, it works a lot better when you're not on a tight budget.
I'm still learning as I go about balancing my very real need to economize with the reality of getting what you pay for. When you have a hard limit on the financial resources available to you, the need to not waste it is paramount. Especially when you are confronted with the realization that you have expensive tastes and never really had to think about it. Do you buy cheap because it saves money now, or do you spend more than is easily handled because it will last longer and work better, especially if I despise junk? What is the ultimate better value? How do I know that I'm using the money wisely?
I'm working on identifying ways I handle my finances that are beneficial, and where my problem areas are. Fortunately at the moment I don't have a lot of money pits in my life that put unnecessary drains on my budget. I dislike stuff in general, so it's rare that I desire to buy more physical items. I do not do "retail therapy," or the buying of stuff to make oneself feel better in a bad time. (Actually I tend to hate material things all the more when I'm down because I resent them more than usual for their hollowness.) Other than Coke, my one nutritional weakness, I don't buy snacks or treats. And I am very good at budgeting, thankfully. The one kind of math I've always had a knack for is accounting, so it is natural for me to lay out exact numbers of how much must be saved, how much must be earmarked for obligations, and how much remains to cover everything else. And of course, to prevent myself from exceeding the limits of those numbers. It always surprises me how many people I have for whom this is a lot tougher to get a handle on. If you keep an eye on how much you have, and decide how much of that is reasonable to spend in a given time period or for a given category of expense, is it really that hard to lose your place? I recently became the person who handles the bills at my house, and I was surprised to find how easy it was for me to pick it. The concept of bills has an intimidating-grownup-responsibility quality in my mind, so I guess I was expecting them to be a lot harder to get a handle on.
Of course, I've got some pretty deep-set notions that are not conducive to tight budgets. If I'm going to buy something, I want it to be a nice something, something I will like having around. Sometimes my budget just can't handle a single expensive purchase all at once. The stuff that appeals to me, unfortunately, tends to be expensive. Another thing that I suspect comes from my privileged-daddy's-girl upbringing is that my time has always been more valuable to me than my money, for well or for ill, so very often my first instinct when confronted with certain kinds of problems is to throw cash at them. Another thing that life on a budget is not suited for. And of course, the department in which I am absolutely the least economical is food. Good food is such a huge part of my life that the notion of it not being totally completely worth it whatever it costs is a very tough one for me to internalize. I eat a lot of meat, and it's hard to keep myself away from the delicious pricier cuts. I mostly stick to chicken, but I love and want all varieties of meat, and the also-economical pork is all too often not an option given who eats with me. I have managed to swear off veal and crab, but I admit to similar transgressions with tuna and steak. I do almost nothing that is canned or prepackaged. I always have this unfortunate habit picked up from my mom of not ever planning out a grocery trip for the week but instead shopping for dinner groceries the day I'm going to be cooking. It's fine for her, who doesn't need to budget ahead of time, but it's very inefficient for me.
I am going to work on this stuff. The fact that I have to make a budget, and allocate chunks of it, helps a lot, and keeps me mindful of where the dollars go. Awareness is a big part of the battle. And at least I'm cooking for myself at home rather than going out all the time. The better a cook I become, the less interested I am in low-end restaurants because I find my food so much more satisfying. If cooking at home is tastier to me, more fun for me, and on top of it all more economically, money blown at lousy restaurants is significantly reduced. I think the next challenge I need to give myself is to see if I can plan like a week's worth of meals at once. So I figure if I keep paying attention and keep making an effort, I'll learn how to get a handle on this very grownup thing. And you all know how daunted I am by grownup things. ;-)
I grew up in a house that was always financially comfortable. When I was a kid, my parents let me spend money pretty much however I wanted because I was not inclined to spend all that much of it anyway. I didn't buy stuff often at all, I didn't do anything all that expensive, so if I wanted to go out to dinner or a movie with friends or pick up a DVD I wanted, they were okay with giving me the cash. (They were a lot stricter with Casey, for whom the stuff burned a hole in his pocket.) When I was in high school, they only wanted me to focus on my schoolwork during the months in session, and though every summer I was required to have a job, it was more so that I had the experience of responsibility than because they wanted me to have my own money. So I do have a lot of the not-exactly-spoiled quality of a kid for whom money isn't something they throw around, but never has been anything to worry about.
Neither of my parents grew up with any money, so they have very strongly defined value-of-a-dollar notions. They were proud to pay my brother's and my college tuitions completely out of pocket as their gift to us, but they despise waste. They are also to varying degrees, my father much more so, stuff-averse-- a dislike of junk and and clutter that they passed on to me prevents any number of unnecessary small purchases. Related to this, however, is that fact that they tend to have high-quality tastes, which their comfortable financial situation makes viable. They are not buyers of things with any frequency, but when they do, those things will be quality, and with a price to match. So I grew up with the notion that money is not to be wasted, and yet certain things warranted real expenditure because the acquiring of junk was abhorrent. Maybe that doesn't sound like such a strange view to take, but let me tell you, it works a lot better when you're not on a tight budget.
I'm still learning as I go about balancing my very real need to economize with the reality of getting what you pay for. When you have a hard limit on the financial resources available to you, the need to not waste it is paramount. Especially when you are confronted with the realization that you have expensive tastes and never really had to think about it. Do you buy cheap because it saves money now, or do you spend more than is easily handled because it will last longer and work better, especially if I despise junk? What is the ultimate better value? How do I know that I'm using the money wisely?
I'm working on identifying ways I handle my finances that are beneficial, and where my problem areas are. Fortunately at the moment I don't have a lot of money pits in my life that put unnecessary drains on my budget. I dislike stuff in general, so it's rare that I desire to buy more physical items. I do not do "retail therapy," or the buying of stuff to make oneself feel better in a bad time. (Actually I tend to hate material things all the more when I'm down because I resent them more than usual for their hollowness.) Other than Coke, my one nutritional weakness, I don't buy snacks or treats. And I am very good at budgeting, thankfully. The one kind of math I've always had a knack for is accounting, so it is natural for me to lay out exact numbers of how much must be saved, how much must be earmarked for obligations, and how much remains to cover everything else. And of course, to prevent myself from exceeding the limits of those numbers. It always surprises me how many people I have for whom this is a lot tougher to get a handle on. If you keep an eye on how much you have, and decide how much of that is reasonable to spend in a given time period or for a given category of expense, is it really that hard to lose your place? I recently became the person who handles the bills at my house, and I was surprised to find how easy it was for me to pick it. The concept of bills has an intimidating-grownup-responsibility quality in my mind, so I guess I was expecting them to be a lot harder to get a handle on.
Of course, I've got some pretty deep-set notions that are not conducive to tight budgets. If I'm going to buy something, I want it to be a nice something, something I will like having around. Sometimes my budget just can't handle a single expensive purchase all at once. The stuff that appeals to me, unfortunately, tends to be expensive. Another thing that I suspect comes from my privileged-daddy's-girl upbringing is that my time has always been more valuable to me than my money, for well or for ill, so very often my first instinct when confronted with certain kinds of problems is to throw cash at them. Another thing that life on a budget is not suited for. And of course, the department in which I am absolutely the least economical is food. Good food is such a huge part of my life that the notion of it not being totally completely worth it whatever it costs is a very tough one for me to internalize. I eat a lot of meat, and it's hard to keep myself away from the delicious pricier cuts. I mostly stick to chicken, but I love and want all varieties of meat, and the also-economical pork is all too often not an option given who eats with me. I have managed to swear off veal and crab, but I admit to similar transgressions with tuna and steak. I do almost nothing that is canned or prepackaged. I always have this unfortunate habit picked up from my mom of not ever planning out a grocery trip for the week but instead shopping for dinner groceries the day I'm going to be cooking. It's fine for her, who doesn't need to budget ahead of time, but it's very inefficient for me.
I am going to work on this stuff. The fact that I have to make a budget, and allocate chunks of it, helps a lot, and keeps me mindful of where the dollars go. Awareness is a big part of the battle. And at least I'm cooking for myself at home rather than going out all the time. The better a cook I become, the less interested I am in low-end restaurants because I find my food so much more satisfying. If cooking at home is tastier to me, more fun for me, and on top of it all more economically, money blown at lousy restaurants is significantly reduced. I think the next challenge I need to give myself is to see if I can plan like a week's worth of meals at once. So I figure if I keep paying attention and keep making an effort, I'll learn how to get a handle on this very grownup thing. And you all know how daunted I am by grownup things. ;-)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Intercon lineup impressions
Since mllelaurel* and offside7* did this, I am inspired to write out my own first impressions of the games on the current Intercon lineup.
The Ducetown Diner - Doesn't jump out at me. MacDougal games tend to be hit or miss for me.
10 Bad Larps: C-Section - The 10 Bad series is hilarious, but I tend to prefer reading them or watching them to playing them. Also not too into playing on Sunday morning.
A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising - I love the book series, but it's so complicated I am nervous about how it would translate to a larp. Might fall short of high expectations for me. Still, a possibility.
Aces Over Arkham - I'm leery of a sequel when I haven't played the originals. But the concept sounds pretty cool.
Archangels - I have learned that I tend not to enjoy excessively "freeform" games.
Battle For Control of the Soul of the GOP: The Next Generation - Ehhh. Not so much for political or political satire games.
Better off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom - I have never signed up for one of Haz's games before because they always seemed too gimmicky for my tastes, and usually the gimmick doesn't appeal to me. That said, people have seemed to enjoy them, and the gimmick of this game is more interesting to me than previous ones. So it's a possibility.
Clerical Error - Doesn't jump out at me.
Divus Ex: In Nomine Mexico - The one Divus Ex game I played in was one of the most boring larp experiences I've had. This probably isn't the same author, but I'm too wary of the name by now.
Dustpan - Doesn't jump out at me.
Galaxy Comics Presents: Identity Crisis - Superhero games can be fun, but I find the description confusing. I'm not getting a good picture of what playing this game would be like.
GhostFu: The Jade Emperor's Celestial Tournament - Amusing concept, but seems a bit too silly for me.
Grimm Tales: The Immortal Jade Court - Doesn't jump out at me.
HOBOTOWN - I've been hearing a lot about this game and I'm intrigued. A possibility.
Interesting Times - I have no interest in playing a musical game. The whole concept is unappealing to me. I didn't play in 'Tis No Deceit for the same reason. I'm sure people will enjoy it as much as TND, but it's not for me.
Kind Friends Together - I've heard it's a good game, but again, it's not for me.
Magic Eyes - Doesn't jump out at me.
Michael Clambino's Bowling Night - Heh. I like mobsters, and this might be some silly fun.
Resonance - This game looks awesome,and I am intrigued to see how they make the concept work. High on the list.
Sands of Al-Ashtara - I have some reservations, but the premise sounds good, and I enjoyed Redemption: High Noon at the Devil's Luck. But since it will probably run at Brandeis later, I'm thinking I will wait until then.
Snaf University - Have been waiting years to play this game. Heard it's fun, and it's such a Brandeis classic that I really want to get it under my belt already. Seems odd to use an Intercon slot for a Brandeis game, but it's run so much I might not get another shot.
Speed Dating - No. Not my cup of tea.
Stars Over Atlantis - Sounds like an interesting game, but I'm not sure it's my style. I really respect the writers, though.
The Clockwork Cafe - A steampunk game written by Brits? Yes, please!
The Devil's Karma - Heh. Sounds fun, but might be too intense for me.
The Election - Again, not so much into the political satire.
The Perry Stringer Show - Not to my taste.
The Stand - I might have to have a little something to do with that.
The Yellow Fleet - Again, not so much with the politics.
Three Nations - See above, several times.
Victoria Junction - Interesting premise, and I think I see some Brits involved, but I'm not sure the format of the game speaks to me.
So right now, I think I am most interested in, at least tentatively, A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising, Better Off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom, Hobotown, Michael Clambino's Bowling Night, Resonance, Sands of Al-Ashtara, Snaf University, and The Clockwork Cafe. And some people might be expecting me to care a little bit about The Stand, I don't know. ;-) We'll see what the schedule lineup looks like to make some decisions.
The Ducetown Diner - Doesn't jump out at me. MacDougal games tend to be hit or miss for me.
10 Bad Larps: C-Section - The 10 Bad series is hilarious, but I tend to prefer reading them or watching them to playing them. Also not too into playing on Sunday morning.
A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising - I love the book series, but it's so complicated I am nervous about how it would translate to a larp. Might fall short of high expectations for me. Still, a possibility.
Aces Over Arkham - I'm leery of a sequel when I haven't played the originals. But the concept sounds pretty cool.
Archangels - I have learned that I tend not to enjoy excessively "freeform" games.
Battle For Control of the Soul of the GOP: The Next Generation - Ehhh. Not so much for political or political satire games.
Better off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom - I have never signed up for one of Haz's games before because they always seemed too gimmicky for my tastes, and usually the gimmick doesn't appeal to me. That said, people have seemed to enjoy them, and the gimmick of this game is more interesting to me than previous ones. So it's a possibility.
Clerical Error - Doesn't jump out at me.
Divus Ex: In Nomine Mexico - The one Divus Ex game I played in was one of the most boring larp experiences I've had. This probably isn't the same author, but I'm too wary of the name by now.
Dustpan - Doesn't jump out at me.
Galaxy Comics Presents: Identity Crisis - Superhero games can be fun, but I find the description confusing. I'm not getting a good picture of what playing this game would be like.
GhostFu: The Jade Emperor's Celestial Tournament - Amusing concept, but seems a bit too silly for me.
Grimm Tales: The Immortal Jade Court - Doesn't jump out at me.
HOBOTOWN - I've been hearing a lot about this game and I'm intrigued. A possibility.
Interesting Times - I have no interest in playing a musical game. The whole concept is unappealing to me. I didn't play in 'Tis No Deceit for the same reason. I'm sure people will enjoy it as much as TND, but it's not for me.
Kind Friends Together - I've heard it's a good game, but again, it's not for me.
Magic Eyes - Doesn't jump out at me.
Michael Clambino's Bowling Night - Heh. I like mobsters, and this might be some silly fun.
Resonance - This game looks awesome,and I am intrigued to see how they make the concept work. High on the list.
Sands of Al-Ashtara - I have some reservations, but the premise sounds good, and I enjoyed Redemption: High Noon at the Devil's Luck. But since it will probably run at Brandeis later, I'm thinking I will wait until then.
Snaf University - Have been waiting years to play this game. Heard it's fun, and it's such a Brandeis classic that I really want to get it under my belt already. Seems odd to use an Intercon slot for a Brandeis game, but it's run so much I might not get another shot.
Speed Dating - No. Not my cup of tea.
Stars Over Atlantis - Sounds like an interesting game, but I'm not sure it's my style. I really respect the writers, though.
The Clockwork Cafe - A steampunk game written by Brits? Yes, please!
The Devil's Karma - Heh. Sounds fun, but might be too intense for me.
The Election - Again, not so much into the political satire.
The Perry Stringer Show - Not to my taste.
The Stand - I might have to have a little something to do with that.
The Yellow Fleet - Again, not so much with the politics.
Three Nations - See above, several times.
Victoria Junction - Interesting premise, and I think I see some Brits involved, but I'm not sure the format of the game speaks to me.
So right now, I think I am most interested in, at least tentatively, A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising, Better Off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom, Hobotown, Michael Clambino's Bowling Night, Resonance, Sands of Al-Ashtara, Snaf University, and The Clockwork Cafe. And some people might be expecting me to care a little bit about The Stand, I don't know. ;-) We'll see what the schedule lineup looks like to make some decisions.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Artists record, sometimes compulsively
Artists by their nature tend to, if not document life, at least incorporate elements of it in their work. This frequently leads them almost compulsively to establish some kind of metacommentary on whatever it is they do or happens to them so they can use it somehow in their work later. I read once that when Steven Speilberg's wife told him she was leaving, immediately after ran into the bathroom with his video camera so he could record the sadness in his face. While I'm not quite on that (in my opinion) bizarrely detached level, I often have similar instincts. In me this expresses in a tendency to mentally construct a summary or narrative concerning whatever it is I'm doing as I'm doing it. I sort of compose in my head what I'm going to write or say about the experience later as it's happening to me. On one hand I like this, as it helps me formulate interesting, experienced-based material to draw upon should I need it, even if it's only in the service of an interesting LiveJournal entry. Many of my entries are mostly written while their subject still went on. On the other hand, I dislike how often this tendency takes me out of the moment and keeps me from fully taking things in because I am distracted by the effort to record. I wish I could balance the two better, both crystallize material for the creation of my art but not be so focused on the meta that I lose something of the real experience itself.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
No more driving
And all too soon, Jared is gone again. I am a bit low due to it, but trying to focus on what a lovely week we had together. And saying my prayers that soon enough he will be back for good. At the moment, I'm eating kiwis, a fruit I've never tasted before meeting him, in the way he taught me how to eat them.
This weekend has the last two performances of Love's Labor's Lost. We're in a tiny theater in Walpole call Footlighters instead of the gazebo in Medfield. It's a neat little space, but I do not relish the drive to get there. I have been driving constantly this week, and I am very tired of it. I even scraped the side of a pole in a parking garage, leaving streaks across Constantine's driver's side. :-P There goes another chunk out of the ol' savings account. Therefore I am not feeling very friendly towards cars at the moment. I think all next week, while I do want to do social things with the friends I feel like I haven't seen in forever, but I desire to do it without driving. With bribes of food, fun, and my own charming company, I will make the people come to me.
This weekend has the last two performances of Love's Labor's Lost. We're in a tiny theater in Walpole call Footlighters instead of the gazebo in Medfield. It's a neat little space, but I do not relish the drive to get there. I have been driving constantly this week, and I am very tired of it. I even scraped the side of a pole in a parking garage, leaving streaks across Constantine's driver's side. :-P There goes another chunk out of the ol' savings account. Therefore I am not feeling very friendly towards cars at the moment. I think all next week, while I do want to do social things with the friends I feel like I haven't seen in forever, but I desire to do it without driving. With bribes of food, fun, and my own charming company, I will make the people come to me.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Stuff to work on
Since I'm feeling pretty good right now, I am settling my brain onto the various things I feel like I should work on in the near future.
I think it's time to get serious about looking for a different job. The one I've got now is perfectly pleasant and all, and they've been very nice to me here, but it's not really what I want to be doing and while the pay isn't bad, they don't give me as many hours as would take some of the pressure off the old budget. So I think it's time to try and find something more to my interest that pays a little better. I know it's a tough market out there, but I have recently just reached one full solid year of real work experience, and I know that it's usually easier to find a job once you have one and prove you could hold it down. So I'm a little hopeful. Ideally I'd like something in writing, editing, or publishing, so that's where I'm concentrating my search. I am not relishing the whole searching and applying process, but I've gotten a few applications out there and I am resolved to buckle down on this.
I really need to get writing again. It's been a while since I really did serious writing-- there was The Labor Wars, but that is finished now and I should keep myself busy. I certainly need to get cracking on my Intercon K bid, The Stand. I've actually made some progress on it recently that I'm very pleased with, but I don't want to lose momentum. Also, I should really work on some non-gaming stuff, something that I could actually maybe possibly someday take to a publisher and take a shot at the the hopeless pipe dream I'd really like to go after, being a professional writer. I have a lot of stuff started that has languished due to being busy with life, school, work, gaming, and stress, and a lot of it really wasn't half-bad. I am resolved to work on The Stand as well as a piece of literature that maybe I could someday get published.
Also, I want to continue the progress I've made on actually taking care of my health. I am not working out every day like I wanted to, but I am working out more frequently now than I was before. I have not been perfect about my skin care routine, but my acne is greatly reduced and my face looks clearer than it has in ages. I've also been drinking a lot more water. Since Jared's parents gave me this really nice metal water bottle, I've been carrying it around and actually drinking from it. The only downside is my body is still accustomed to being chronically on the edge of dehydration that it doesn't know what to do with all the extra water, and so I'm sent running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. My eating habits are mostly okay, though this past week or so they were all thrown to hell. I'll have to get back on track with that. I've also decided that I'm going to have at least one day a week where I don't eat or buy any meat. This is more for environmental and pocketbook reasons than health, but I think it's a good small change to make.
The last thing is, I've been something of a recluse lately. My being extremely busy (between work, chores, and rehearsal, my life was gone) and feeling a bit low has kept me from doing much of anything with friends. I mean to rectify this. In the weeks to come, I want to have social events and do fun things with friends again. I know I certainly didn't have nearly as many dinner parties as I meant to this summer. Please don't think I have forgotten you all, it's just my way to withdraw when the stress mounts. But if I'm managing it better and working on improving the situations that cause it in other parts of my life, I should be able to get back to my old self again.
With all the stress I've felt lately, I think having some positive efforts to focus on will help me keep steady and eventually improve. The change will do me good.
I think it's time to get serious about looking for a different job. The one I've got now is perfectly pleasant and all, and they've been very nice to me here, but it's not really what I want to be doing and while the pay isn't bad, they don't give me as many hours as would take some of the pressure off the old budget. So I think it's time to try and find something more to my interest that pays a little better. I know it's a tough market out there, but I have recently just reached one full solid year of real work experience, and I know that it's usually easier to find a job once you have one and prove you could hold it down. So I'm a little hopeful. Ideally I'd like something in writing, editing, or publishing, so that's where I'm concentrating my search. I am not relishing the whole searching and applying process, but I've gotten a few applications out there and I am resolved to buckle down on this.
I really need to get writing again. It's been a while since I really did serious writing-- there was The Labor Wars, but that is finished now and I should keep myself busy. I certainly need to get cracking on my Intercon K bid, The Stand. I've actually made some progress on it recently that I'm very pleased with, but I don't want to lose momentum. Also, I should really work on some non-gaming stuff, something that I could actually maybe possibly someday take to a publisher and take a shot at the the hopeless pipe dream I'd really like to go after, being a professional writer. I have a lot of stuff started that has languished due to being busy with life, school, work, gaming, and stress, and a lot of it really wasn't half-bad. I am resolved to work on The Stand as well as a piece of literature that maybe I could someday get published.
Also, I want to continue the progress I've made on actually taking care of my health. I am not working out every day like I wanted to, but I am working out more frequently now than I was before. I have not been perfect about my skin care routine, but my acne is greatly reduced and my face looks clearer than it has in ages. I've also been drinking a lot more water. Since Jared's parents gave me this really nice metal water bottle, I've been carrying it around and actually drinking from it. The only downside is my body is still accustomed to being chronically on the edge of dehydration that it doesn't know what to do with all the extra water, and so I'm sent running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. My eating habits are mostly okay, though this past week or so they were all thrown to hell. I'll have to get back on track with that. I've also decided that I'm going to have at least one day a week where I don't eat or buy any meat. This is more for environmental and pocketbook reasons than health, but I think it's a good small change to make.
The last thing is, I've been something of a recluse lately. My being extremely busy (between work, chores, and rehearsal, my life was gone) and feeling a bit low has kept me from doing much of anything with friends. I mean to rectify this. In the weeks to come, I want to have social events and do fun things with friends again. I know I certainly didn't have nearly as many dinner parties as I meant to this summer. Please don't think I have forgotten you all, it's just my way to withdraw when the stress mounts. But if I'm managing it better and working on improving the situations that cause it in other parts of my life, I should be able to get back to my old self again.
With all the stress I've felt lately, I think having some positive efforts to focus on will help me keep steady and eventually improve. The change will do me good.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Things I have done to pass the time until Jared gets here
Stained my new coffee table. Using some of the wood stain generously given to me by morethings5*, I picked the darkest color and went over the whole thing twice. It is imperfect, you can still tell the difference between the marked and unmarked parts of the surface, but it looks a hundred percent better and is now closer in color to the end tables. I am quite pleased with it.
Reading Stonesoup, an awesome, beautifully photographed blog on keeping a minimalist kitchen recommended to me by captainecchi*. My anti-stuff nature and desire to eat deliciously but healthfully is appealed to by the notion of keeping a small number of essential kitchen tools to prepare things with just a handful of tasty ingredients. She recently released a free e-cookbook that looks lovely, and I have especially enjoyed her interesting, thoughful entries on topics like how to season your cooking and the best things to have in minimalist kitchen.
Worked on my new cowboy-themed larp bid for Intercon, The Stand. I am currently working on fleshing out a backstory that will provide a mystery to solve and will hopefully be a plot that affects a large percentage of if not the entire game. One notion that occupies me strongly as a larp writer is that in-game mysteries must be solvable-- there must be evidence of some sort that is possible for players to put together to figure things out. The trick is making is that evidence neither too obvious nor too obscure, a surprisingly difficult thing.
I've also been doing a lot of staring at the clock, but that's less interesting than the other things. Just five and a half more hours to go.
Reading Stonesoup, an awesome, beautifully photographed blog on keeping a minimalist kitchen recommended to me by captainecchi*. My anti-stuff nature and desire to eat deliciously but healthfully is appealed to by the notion of keeping a small number of essential kitchen tools to prepare things with just a handful of tasty ingredients. She recently released a free e-cookbook that looks lovely, and I have especially enjoyed her interesting, thoughful entries on topics like how to season your cooking and the best things to have in minimalist kitchen.
Worked on my new cowboy-themed larp bid for Intercon, The Stand. I am currently working on fleshing out a backstory that will provide a mystery to solve and will hopefully be a plot that affects a large percentage of if not the entire game. One notion that occupies me strongly as a larp writer is that in-game mysteries must be solvable-- there must be evidence of some sort that is possible for players to put together to figure things out. The trick is making is that evidence neither too obvious nor too obscure, a surprisingly difficult thing.
I've also been doing a lot of staring at the clock, but that's less interesting than the other things. Just five and a half more hours to go.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Being reactive onstage
It occurs to me as I go through Love's Labor's Lost that the most difficult draining thing for me to do is spend a long time onstage doing nothing but focusing and reacting. Having actions and interactions and speaking lines is a lot less mentally demanding for me than staying in the moment reactively. It is especially tough for me to do so in this show, where my character is a bit thin and no personality for him suggests itself to me naturally. I know having to do a lot of that tends to be disliked more the greater the experience of the actor-- I can't remember who said it, but I remember readibg some older theater actor like Richard Burton or somebody said that the ideal role was one with the highest ratio of being the center of attention to time spent onstage. I think I'm starting to agree with that.
I think I must resolve in my future theatrical writing to make characters have to spend as little time as possible onstage when theyre not doing anything. Just to show mercy on them. To Think of Nothing kind of violates this, I guess, but I think all eight characters stay involved enough all the time that the times when they are observing or reacting isn't too onerous. Or at least their characterizations are well enough defined to better inform how they should be behaving at thosr times. Actors in TToN, care to weigh in on your experience with this? Was it tough or easy to be reactive in that show?
I think I must resolve in my future theatrical writing to make characters have to spend as little time as possible onstage when theyre not doing anything. Just to show mercy on them. To Think of Nothing kind of violates this, I guess, but I think all eight characters stay involved enough all the time that the times when they are observing or reacting isn't too onerous. Or at least their characterizations are well enough defined to better inform how they should be behaving at thosr times. Actors in TToN, care to weigh in on your experience with this? Was it tough or easy to be reactive in that show?
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