Ok.... picture post!
Jan. 5th, 2010 | 10:47 pm
posted by: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
otkschoolgirl
So after months of talking finally went and shot with Perry Gallagher. I was actually nervous. I was like okay I feel weird being naked in total daylight and thinking he can see any flaw. haha I may not act like it but I don't completely love my body. So Perry and I shoot for awhile then he calls up Michael Helms so he shot me a bit too. So here are some pics in case you don't do flickr and stuff
He says there are more to come. Can't wait. So I got more under the cut because you may not like boobs and stuff. :)
( click here for the naughty )
Hopefully I'll have more pics to post or look at soon. I love them.
He says there are more to come. Can't wait. So I got more under the cut because you may not like boobs and stuff. :)
( click here for the naughty )
Hopefully I'll have more pics to post or look at soon. I love them.
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Putting the RPG Back in Game Night
Jan. 5th, 2010 | 07:10 pm
music: Descendents "I Like Food"
posted by: freeport_pirate
We've had a weekly game night going at our place for a decade now. It started when Nik and I were living in an apartment in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle and has been at our house since we moved here in 2000. The three Ronins (Nicole, Evan, and I) have been constants and many other friends have cycled in and out. Those who leave inevitably do so because they move away for a new job. We have ex-members now living as far away as Shanghai.
When we started, it was specifically for RPG campaigns and that remained the case for a good 8 years. Keeping momentum going on a particular campaign got harder, as several members do a lot of business travel. Then Bruce Harlick moved back to California, earning the sobriquet "Bruce the Traitor." Jess and Tim followed him about a year later. Since then it's been the three Ronins plus Ray Winninger.
The four of us attempted to keep a campaign going but with me working two jobs and Ray flying all over the place for Microsoft, it just didn't work. For almost two years now we've been playing board games instead. And some nights we don't even do that. Nicole cooks and we drink and bitch about the world. I had a playtest game of Dragon Age going on the side, but that ended when I left Flying Lab.
This is why I find myself hankering to be part of a regular RPG campaign once again. I would like to play but the reality is that I'll need to GM if it's going to happen, so I've been pondering options. I need something I'm interested in and I can sell the group on. I've commented to Nicole several times that the Fables comic by Bill Willingham would make a great backdrop for a campaign. Last week when I mentioned again how I thought Fables was awesome, Nicole said, "You should run a Fables campaign on game night."
The question, of course, is what game would be suitable for Fables? I asked this of my Facebook friends yesterday and got a variety of responses. I didn't quantify what I was looking for, so let me do that now. Basically, I am looking for a more story oriented game. I'm not interested in anything rules heavy or featuring tactical combat. It should be able to handle a wide variety of character types easily, as Fables throws a very wide net. Creating NPCs should not be a bear.
Here's what's been suggested, as well as various games I've pulled from my collection for consideration.
Castle Falkenstein: I always admired this game but sadly never got to play it. The engine is looks workable but I think if I was going to run CF, I'd like to do it full on with the setting intact.
GURPS, Hero, M&M: These sorts of point based systems are great for many types of campaign, but not this one.
New World of Darkness: The core book doesn't feature vampires, werewolves, etc, but is more of a generic supernatural game. I have no play experience at all with NWoD, so it'd be interesting from that angle but it didn't seem well suited to making fairytale characters come to life.
Over the Edge: I played this a lot in college and it could work. Possible but I'd rather try something newer.
Prince Valiant: This game was really ahead of its time and there's a lot to admire about its design and approach. I'd need to mod it heavily for it to work for Fables though, as it really is designed for a medieval setting.
Savage Worlds: This is a game I want to try sometime anyway and I could probably make it do what I want, but the feel of the rules is not quite right. I'll save it for Solomon Kane.
Seven Leagues, Primetime Adventures, and HeroQuest: Interesting suggestions but I have none of these. If not for the final entry, I might have sought out one or more of them.
Spirit of the Century: I played in a SotC campaign for about a year and it was fun. It is more crunchy than you'd think though and that's not really what I'm looking for. I also found that in a longer campaign the whole aspect thing went from fun to humdrum, so I'd use SotC for one shots or short arcs but not a full on campaign.
True20, Faery's Tale, M&M again: I am always amused when people suggest games to me that Green Ronin publishes. I appreciate the sentiment, but game night is my time to be a hobbyist, so I try to play other people's games.
The Zorcerer of Zo: I had this on the shelf but it took Sophie's suggestion to remind me. After a re-read, I'd say this is the clear front runner. Character creation feels right for Fables and the rules seem substantial enough to be interesting but easy enough that I won't have to sink a lot of time into prep work. I also have Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies, another PDQ game which I could pull extra material from if needed.
If I can sell the group on the idea, the next step would be picking a time frame to set it. I think I might want to stay away from the modern day so the PCs can shine without being overshadowed by the plots of the comic. The early 60s might be a fun period to roll with. Rat Pack fables and Cold War spy stuff could be an interesting mix. We'll see how it goes.
When we started, it was specifically for RPG campaigns and that remained the case for a good 8 years. Keeping momentum going on a particular campaign got harder, as several members do a lot of business travel. Then Bruce Harlick moved back to California, earning the sobriquet "Bruce the Traitor." Jess and Tim followed him about a year later. Since then it's been the three Ronins plus Ray Winninger.
The four of us attempted to keep a campaign going but with me working two jobs and Ray flying all over the place for Microsoft, it just didn't work. For almost two years now we've been playing board games instead. And some nights we don't even do that. Nicole cooks and we drink and bitch about the world. I had a playtest game of Dragon Age going on the side, but that ended when I left Flying Lab.
This is why I find myself hankering to be part of a regular RPG campaign once again. I would like to play but the reality is that I'll need to GM if it's going to happen, so I've been pondering options. I need something I'm interested in and I can sell the group on. I've commented to Nicole several times that the Fables comic by Bill Willingham would make a great backdrop for a campaign. Last week when I mentioned again how I thought Fables was awesome, Nicole said, "You should run a Fables campaign on game night."
The question, of course, is what game would be suitable for Fables? I asked this of my Facebook friends yesterday and got a variety of responses. I didn't quantify what I was looking for, so let me do that now. Basically, I am looking for a more story oriented game. I'm not interested in anything rules heavy or featuring tactical combat. It should be able to handle a wide variety of character types easily, as Fables throws a very wide net. Creating NPCs should not be a bear.
Here's what's been suggested, as well as various games I've pulled from my collection for consideration.
Castle Falkenstein: I always admired this game but sadly never got to play it. The engine is looks workable but I think if I was going to run CF, I'd like to do it full on with the setting intact.
GURPS, Hero, M&M: These sorts of point based systems are great for many types of campaign, but not this one.
New World of Darkness: The core book doesn't feature vampires, werewolves, etc, but is more of a generic supernatural game. I have no play experience at all with NWoD, so it'd be interesting from that angle but it didn't seem well suited to making fairytale characters come to life.
Over the Edge: I played this a lot in college and it could work. Possible but I'd rather try something newer.
Prince Valiant: This game was really ahead of its time and there's a lot to admire about its design and approach. I'd need to mod it heavily for it to work for Fables though, as it really is designed for a medieval setting.
Savage Worlds: This is a game I want to try sometime anyway and I could probably make it do what I want, but the feel of the rules is not quite right. I'll save it for Solomon Kane.
Seven Leagues, Primetime Adventures, and HeroQuest: Interesting suggestions but I have none of these. If not for the final entry, I might have sought out one or more of them.
Spirit of the Century: I played in a SotC campaign for about a year and it was fun. It is more crunchy than you'd think though and that's not really what I'm looking for. I also found that in a longer campaign the whole aspect thing went from fun to humdrum, so I'd use SotC for one shots or short arcs but not a full on campaign.
True20, Faery's Tale, M&M again: I am always amused when people suggest games to me that Green Ronin publishes. I appreciate the sentiment, but game night is my time to be a hobbyist, so I try to play other people's games.
The Zorcerer of Zo: I had this on the shelf but it took Sophie's suggestion to remind me. After a re-read, I'd say this is the clear front runner. Character creation feels right for Fables and the rules seem substantial enough to be interesting but easy enough that I won't have to sink a lot of time into prep work. I also have Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies, another PDQ game which I could pull extra material from if needed.
If I can sell the group on the idea, the next step would be picking a time frame to set it. I think I might want to stay away from the modern day so the PCs can shine without being overshadowed by the plots of the comic. The early 60s might be a fun period to roll with. Rat Pack fables and Cold War spy stuff could be an interesting mix. We'll see how it goes.
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Excalibur Keeps It in the Family
Jan. 4th, 2010 | 10:23 pm
music: Misfits "Children in Heat"
posted by: freeport_pirate
Excalibur was the first R rated movie I saw in the theater. I guess I was 11 at the time. I think my father took pity on my brother and I because there were so few decent fantasy movies movies in that era. Sure, Hawk the Slayer was fun, but I wouldn't call it good. Anyway, I went on to see Excalibur dozens and dozens of times. When I was in college, we often would run movies in the background as we played Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Excalibur was a favorite.
One day I actually paid attention during the credits and noticed that the actress who played Igraine was named Katrine Boorman. As John Boorman directed the movie we thought it was probably his wife or daughter. She was young enough that daughter seemed the most likely and indeed that was the case.
As you may recall the siring of Arthur is graphically depicted in Excalibur, with Uther tearing off Igraine's dress and then mounting her while still wearing his armor (now that is a horny knight). So in that long ago college dorm, I joked to my friends about what that casting conversation must have been like for the Boormans. "Honey, would you like to have your tit sucked?"
So the other night I watched Excalibur for the first time in at least a decade. I had picked up the DVD cheap at some point but never watched it. When it was over, I noticed there was a commentary track by John Boorman, so I turned that on. I was curious what he would say during the infamous Uther/Igraine tryst.
I'm paraphrasing but his is more or less what he said. "People often ask me if it was difficult filming my daughter getting raped. First of all, Igraine doesn't think she's being raped because Merlin put a glamour on Uther. In any case, my daughter and I discussed it beforehand, we were both fine with it, so we did it and it was not a big deal. The bigger problem for Katrine was being so close to the fire in the background." He then spends the rest of the scene talking about the great job the set designer did on Tintagel castle!
I guess that means both Boormans are either incredibly professional or incredibly fucked up.
One day I actually paid attention during the credits and noticed that the actress who played Igraine was named Katrine Boorman. As John Boorman directed the movie we thought it was probably his wife or daughter. She was young enough that daughter seemed the most likely and indeed that was the case.
As you may recall the siring of Arthur is graphically depicted in Excalibur, with Uther tearing off Igraine's dress and then mounting her while still wearing his armor (now that is a horny knight). So in that long ago college dorm, I joked to my friends about what that casting conversation must have been like for the Boormans. "Honey, would you like to have your tit sucked?"
So the other night I watched Excalibur for the first time in at least a decade. I had picked up the DVD cheap at some point but never watched it. When it was over, I noticed there was a commentary track by John Boorman, so I turned that on. I was curious what he would say during the infamous Uther/Igraine tryst.
I'm paraphrasing but his is more or less what he said. "People often ask me if it was difficult filming my daughter getting raped. First of all, Igraine doesn't think she's being raped because Merlin put a glamour on Uther. In any case, my daughter and I discussed it beforehand, we were both fine with it, so we did it and it was not a big deal. The bigger problem for Katrine was being so close to the fire in the background." He then spends the rest of the scene talking about the great job the set designer did on Tintagel castle!
I guess that means both Boormans are either incredibly professional or incredibly fucked up.
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Hugo nomination season, GoodReads Q&A, Pat Rothfuss's Worldbuilders charity drive, Updates
Jan. 4th, 2010 | 05:07 pm
posted by: mistborn
This year's World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) will be held in Melbourne, Australia from September 2nd through September 6th. Unfortunately, I won't be in attendance since I'll be going to Dragon*Con in Atlanta that same weekend. However, every year the members of Worldcon vote on and present the Hugo Awards, and I have three books that came out in 2009 that are eligible to be nominated in the Best Novel category: WARBREAKER (which you can download for free here—feel free to pass the link on to any Worldcon members you know!), ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE KNIGHTS OF CRYSTALLIA, and THE GATHERING STORM. My editors Moshe Feder and Harriet McDougal are eligible for nomination in the Best Editor, Long Form category, and artists Dan Dos Santos (for the WARBREAKER cover—which a fairly random blogger has just named the best cover for a 2009 SF book by an LDS writer) and Darrell K. Sweet (for the THE GATHERING STORM cover) are eligible in the Best Professional Artist category. (Technically I believe my MISTBORN 2 annotations are also eligible for a nomination in the Best Related Work category, since I finished with them back in April, but I haven't even considered that those might be worthy of recognition.) Any member of this year's or last year's Worldcon may nominate until March 13th, after which only members of the 2010 Worldcon will be able to vote on the final ballot.
Robert Jordan never won a Hugo Award. Not one of his books even garnered enough nominations to earn a spot on a final ballot. On one hand I think it's a shame that someone who was such a monolith in the field and who did so much for the mainstream success of fantasy publishing should never have been so recognized (as I said back in 2006 when I advocated his nomination for the World Fantasy Life Achievement award). On the other hand, his absence from the lists may simply illustrate that his fan base doesn't overlap much with the voting base for the awards. If few of Robert Jordan's fans attend Worldcon, it can hardly be a surprise that he was never nominated for a Hugo. Still, I think nominating one of Robert Jordan's final three books would be something Worldcon members could feel proud to do, though I don't know that this year will be the best opportunity for that. We'll have to see what happens.
If THE GATHERING STORM did get nominated, I'm torn about how that would make me feel. We don't often realize how much we miss something—or someone—until they're gone. So, in that regard, I think a nomination might be very respectful. However, to have a Wheel of Time book finally get nominated only after Robert Jordan has passed away would also feel somewhat odd, as I do feel this book would have been better if he'd been around to complete it. Still, the reader response to the book has been excellent. I guess I'll just leave it in your court, readers. If you decide to nominate the book, I suspect Robert Jordan would be honored. But I'm not going to push or lobby for nominations. (That's frowned upon anyway.)
This week's episode of Writing Excuses . . . wait, now that I think about it, Writing Excuses should also be eligible for a Best Related Work Hugo nomination. Huh . . . that would be an even more unlikely coup than our Parsec Award win last year. Well anyway, this week's podcast episode discusses collaboration.
In the most recent MISTBORN 3 annotations, I talk about Lord Fedre and some spoilers as well as Vin's attempt to defeat the sedative.
This month I'll be answering questions over at GoodReads' fantasy book club, following up on their discussion of WARBREAKER. Have something you've been dying to ask me, particularly about WARBREAKER? Head on over there.
Rob Bedford sent me a note to let me know he'd named WARBREAKER a standout book in SFFWorld's fantasy review of 2009. Over on his own blog he also named me his MVP Author of 2009. Thanks, Rob! Unfortunately, this does not come with a trophy.
Finally, a note about THE NAME OF THE WIND author Patrick Rothfuss's Worldbuilders charity drive that's ending on January 15th. Last year he raised $114,000 for Heifer International, and this year he's matching donations at 50%. So far people have donated $87,000, making the total more than $130,000. As a carrot for donating, Pat is collecing a large number of prizes that will be given out in a lottery—each $10 donated gets you one ticket for the drawing. Over a thousand books have been donated so far to give out as prizes. I helped contribute one of the biggest items: a copy of THE GATHERING STORM that is signed not only by myself and Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan's wife and editor, but by many people who helped make the book as great as it was: Tom Doherty, Tor founder and publisher; Robert Jordan's assistants Maria Simons and Alan Romanczuk; Moshe Feder, my editor at Tor for my own books; my agent, Joshua Bilmes; Paul Stevens, my in-house editor at Tor; Dana Giusio, a VP at Macmillan, Tor's parent company; Phyllis Azar, head of marketing at Tor-Forge; Irene Gallo, Tor's fantastic art director; and last but not at all least, Dot Lin, the Tor publicist extraordinaire who lined up so many great signings in my recent tour. Anyone who donates at least $10 will have a chance to win this book (or a huge number of other great items, like some kind of book by Neil Gaiman that Pat is packaging with a rock), and the more you donate the better chance you'll have of winning. I think Heifer International is a worthy cause, so why not lend a hand before the January 15th deadline?
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Japanese Spies and Spy Masters
Jan. 4th, 2010 | 09:26 am
posted by: wickedthought
I'm looking for two words to replace "spy" and "spy master" for Blood and Honor. So, what exactly would a daimyo call his spy master and his minions.
(I'm tempted to use shinobi, but that's incorrect. And please don't tell me "ninja." I'll have to kill you.)
(Also, I'm considering onmitsu -- just to let you know.)
(I'm tempted to use shinobi, but that's incorrect. And please don't tell me "ninja." I'll have to kill you.)
(Also, I'm considering onmitsu -- just to let you know.)
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Fox News Tells Tiger Woods: "Ditch Buddha, Get Christ."
Jan. 3rd, 2010 | 12:25 pm
posted by: wickedthought
"The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith," Hume said. "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."
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CD Lyrics Game!
Jan. 3rd, 2010 | 10:46 am
posted by: anaka
Okay, so as before, I've got a mix CD I'm sending to innocent_man . I'm going to put snippets of lyrics down below, and you guys get to guess. That said, there's one track that is a) in a foreign language and b) to which I can't make out any specific words or find lyrics and c) nobody will have heard of anyway, so that one I'm skipping. Oh, and no Googling, if you please. Reply with your guesses and I'll confirm as we go! :)
1) It hurts so bad when you finally know just how low, low, low, low, low she'll go...
2) You must be a muneca if you're still standing still
3) You'd be angry too if you could never go home
4) Cause I'm lovin' every idiosyncracy
5) I want your money, not your life
6) How much love would make you whole?
7) I can see you staring there from across the block
8) --Skipped Song--
9) We have promises that we can't break
10) It keeps coming up anyhow
11) I like gypsy moths and radio talk
12) I was made to taste your kiss
13) I don't see why he moves me
14) Haven't I been true to you?
15) Covered me with kisses and lies
16) I went away just a couple of days, but now I'm back
17) I don't know what you do, but you do it well
18) I come from wealth and beauty, untouched by work and duty
innocent_man . I'm going to put snippets of lyrics down below, and you guys get to guess. That said, there's one track that is a) in a foreign language and b) to which I can't make out any specific words or find lyrics and c) nobody will have heard of anyway, so that one I'm skipping. Oh, and no Googling, if you please. Reply with your guesses and I'll confirm as we go! :)1) It hurts so bad when you finally know just how low, low, low, low, low she'll go...
2) You must be a muneca if you're still standing still
3) You'd be angry too if you could never go home
5) I want your money, not your life
6) How much love would make you whole?
7) I can see you staring there from across the block
8) --Skipped Song--
9) We have promises that we can't break
10) It keeps coming up anyhow
11) I like gypsy moths and radio talk
12) I was made to taste your kiss
14) Haven't I been true to you?
16) I went away just a couple of days, but now I'm back
17) I don't know what you do, but you do it well
18) I come from wealth and beauty, untouched by work and duty
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Visitor Q loves the catnip
Jan. 2nd, 2010 | 08:47 pm
posted by: otkschoolgirl
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I Keep Forgetting to Be Evil
Jan. 2nd, 2010 | 02:41 pm
posted by: knighterrantjr
I'm on my second play through of Dragon Age, and I intentionally am keeping Morrigan and Sten with me more, and boosting Morrigan so she can heal and I don't have to worry about Wynn. I'm awaiting Zevran so I can swap out Lelianna in the rogue spot. My character is shooting for a "Lawful evil" Dwarf noble concept.
But I keep forgetting to look for the most logical yet cold hearted options, which is what I was shooting for.
Ah well. I need to put a post it note up on my monitor that says, "remember to be evil."
But I keep forgetting to look for the most logical yet cold hearted options, which is what I was shooting for.
Ah well. I need to put a post it note up on my monitor that says, "remember to be evil."
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Comic Book Geekdom Sidetrip 2010 #1, The Return of (Insert Marvel/DC Icon Here)
Jan. 2nd, 2010 | 02:30 am
posted by: knighterrantjr
I don't know why, but whenever I encounter things that I'm pretty sure are inaccurate, I get bugged by them, even if the topic at hand still infuriates me.
This brings me to my current point.
Upon reading some of the fan sites about the Return of Bruce Wayne storyline that DC has coming up, I also immediately read people jumping on DC for "ripping off" Marvel due to the similarities between the Return of Bruce Wayne's storyline, and the Captain America: Rebirth storyline.
The problem with this logic is that at the point in time that we, the public, saw Batman "die" at Darkseid's Omega Sanction, we almost immediately saw that his spirit was flung across time and space and was living in a cave way back in Prehistoric Gotham or some such. Not only did we see that immediately, but the reason that Grant Morrison used the Omega Sanction is that the established effect of the Omega Sanction was to destroy the being affected in the current time while splintering them across time and space.
Now, if you jump over to Marvel, the last time we saw Steve Rogers, he had been shot. With bullets. With no comments about Omega Sanctions or time travel or alternate realities. We just saw a body that got shot with a bunch o' bullets.
After the end of Final Crisis, then the details of Captain America: Reborn start coming out.
Now, unlike a lot of the naysayers regarding the Return of Bruce Wayne, I'm not saying that Marvel copied DC by figuring out what was pretty clearly telegraphed by Final Crisis (and in fact, I think even spelled out in form, if not given a specific timline, by Grant Morrison). Who knows how they came to this idea, and given that obviously scripts have to be in the hopper for a while before they can be turned into comics on the newstand, well . . . its hard to say what came first, the Chicken or the Cosmic Egg.
I just hate the immediate tribalism that this sort of things causes. To the outside world, comic book geeks are one tribe, so there isn't much of a point taking shots at other geeks for not choosing "your side." Hell, I've always been more of a DC geek, but honestly, who didn't cross borders and have some titles from the "other side" that you didn't want to miss either.
This brings me to my current point.
Upon reading some of the fan sites about the Return of Bruce Wayne storyline that DC has coming up, I also immediately read people jumping on DC for "ripping off" Marvel due to the similarities between the Return of Bruce Wayne's storyline, and the Captain America: Rebirth storyline.
The problem with this logic is that at the point in time that we, the public, saw Batman "die" at Darkseid's Omega Sanction, we almost immediately saw that his spirit was flung across time and space and was living in a cave way back in Prehistoric Gotham or some such. Not only did we see that immediately, but the reason that Grant Morrison used the Omega Sanction is that the established effect of the Omega Sanction was to destroy the being affected in the current time while splintering them across time and space.
Now, if you jump over to Marvel, the last time we saw Steve Rogers, he had been shot. With bullets. With no comments about Omega Sanctions or time travel or alternate realities. We just saw a body that got shot with a bunch o' bullets.
After the end of Final Crisis, then the details of Captain America: Reborn start coming out.
Now, unlike a lot of the naysayers regarding the Return of Bruce Wayne, I'm not saying that Marvel copied DC by figuring out what was pretty clearly telegraphed by Final Crisis (and in fact, I think even spelled out in form, if not given a specific timline, by Grant Morrison). Who knows how they came to this idea, and given that obviously scripts have to be in the hopper for a while before they can be turned into comics on the newstand, well . . . its hard to say what came first, the Chicken or the Cosmic Egg.
I just hate the immediate tribalism that this sort of things causes. To the outside world, comic book geeks are one tribe, so there isn't much of a point taking shots at other geeks for not choosing "your side." Hell, I've always been more of a DC geek, but honestly, who didn't cross borders and have some titles from the "other side" that you didn't want to miss either.
At the height of my geekdom, I was a huge Justice League, Superman, Batman, Legion, Flash, Green Lantern, X-Men, Spider-man, and Avengers fan.
Now, for the real irony of all of this?
I think both storylines are a massive waste of time, and the culmination of other storylines that have been massive wastes of time, and at best they will allow us to get back to a couple of good characters that should have never been taken out of the fight in the first place. I loved Morrison's run on Justice League years ago, so I've been consistently amazed at how much I've hated his run on Batman and what he did to X-Men.
I've heard nothing but good things about Brubaker's Captain America, but I can't help but wonder if the better parts of his storyline couldn't have been told without the insane logic flaws of Civil War and the subsequent death of Captain America which turned into magic time travel bullets.
I have no idea how comic book sales are doing in today's economy. I now when Civil War came out, comics were in a resurgence, but I grew so disillusioned between the endless crossovers of DC and the insane twisted logic of Civil War that I left everything behind for a while. I'd love it if both companies looked at what constitutes the best loved eras of their respective lines and tried to actually rebuild from a solid foundation instead of trying to grab headlines with controversies and assigning authors obsessed with leaving their "definitive" marks on a character.
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My New EN World Column is Online!
Jan. 1st, 2010 | 05:10 pm
location: The Homestead
music: Rose Bowl Game in Other Room
posted by: lemuriapress
Happy New Year, everyone!
I just posted what should probably be last month's column to my EN World blog, entitled "Whitley "Whitt" Whittaker and Erik's Glass Jaw". It's about our ongoing office Call of Cthulhu campaign and my first real brush with PC death.
It turns out I can dish it out a lot better than I can take it.
But I'm learning my lessons and plotting my sweet, sweet revenge.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
.
I just posted what should probably be last month's column to my EN World blog, entitled "Whitley "Whitt" Whittaker and Erik's Glass Jaw". It's about our ongoing office Call of Cthulhu campaign and my first real brush with PC death.
It turns out I can dish it out a lot better than I can take it.
But I'm learning my lessons and plotting my sweet, sweet revenge.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
.
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Grad school apps
Jan. 1st, 2010 | 12:54 pm
posted by: anaka
So today I've spent most of the morning getting transcripts ordered and letters of recommendation sent and just generally trying to get all the stuff that has to be mailed from elsewhere sent off so that it'll all get where it's going in time. This is, probably not surprisingly, way more stressful than it sounds.
It's not just the form-filling-out and the fees and whatnot, it's also that this is a huge (HUGE) change in my life that I'm looking at. I've got to jump off a proverbial really big-ass cliff, not knowing if or when I'll land, and that is terrifying. I literally don't know where I'll be nine months from now. I have suspicions, but it's only that. I don't even know if this is something I can do successfully. What I do know is that if I don't get all my paperwork done and sent off by halfway through next week, then I've screwed up badly. And while I believe I can get that done -- there's some tweaking to do, but nothing terribly untoward -- it is hardly what I'd consider a low-stress situation.
I want this all to work so badly. I want to not be screwing up my life by deciding to push forward with this. I want to not fail. I don't have any guarantee of any of that, though... not an easy thing to admit to, much less deal with. This is potentially such a huge change, and I know so little about how it'll all work on the other end of it. I'm flying blind, basically... and I hate that.
This afternoon I'm going to see Sherlock Holmes, because lord knows I could use the break. After I get back I'm going to bake bread and make salmon for dinner, because I have to know how this recipe I'm trying is going to turn out. I'm also going to fill out applications for the next two schools and get that done. Then I'll see what's left to do for each, what needs to be mailed from here, and I'll make a list and put my packets together. There are other things, more pressing short-term things, that I have to deal with next week. I can't do anything about them right now, though, and likely not until next week anyway, if then, so I'm just going to put those out of my mind for the moment.
If anyone wants to offer a bit of reassurance, I'd really really appreciate it right now. I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time and get through (as a friend so wisely counseled me) but a few supportive notes would also go a long way. Every little bit helps, you know? Thanks, guys.
It's not just the form-filling-out and the fees and whatnot, it's also that this is a huge (HUGE) change in my life that I'm looking at. I've got to jump off a proverbial really big-ass cliff, not knowing if or when I'll land, and that is terrifying. I literally don't know where I'll be nine months from now. I have suspicions, but it's only that. I don't even know if this is something I can do successfully. What I do know is that if I don't get all my paperwork done and sent off by halfway through next week, then I've screwed up badly. And while I believe I can get that done -- there's some tweaking to do, but nothing terribly untoward -- it is hardly what I'd consider a low-stress situation.
I want this all to work so badly. I want to not be screwing up my life by deciding to push forward with this. I want to not fail. I don't have any guarantee of any of that, though... not an easy thing to admit to, much less deal with. This is potentially such a huge change, and I know so little about how it'll all work on the other end of it. I'm flying blind, basically... and I hate that.
This afternoon I'm going to see Sherlock Holmes, because lord knows I could use the break. After I get back I'm going to bake bread and make salmon for dinner, because I have to know how this recipe I'm trying is going to turn out. I'm also going to fill out applications for the next two schools and get that done. Then I'll see what's left to do for each, what needs to be mailed from here, and I'll make a list and put my packets together. There are other things, more pressing short-term things, that I have to deal with next week. I can't do anything about them right now, though, and likely not until next week anyway, if then, so I'm just going to put those out of my mind for the moment.
If anyone wants to offer a bit of reassurance, I'd really really appreciate it right now. I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time and get through (as a friend so wisely counseled me) but a few supportive notes would also go a long way. Every little bit helps, you know? Thanks, guys.
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Happy New Year All!
Dec. 31st, 2009 | 11:52 pm
posted by: knighterrantjr
Happy new year . . . I'll be having one again now that we managed to get the heater working in the house just before the bottom dropped out of the temperature for the night!
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Happy New Year!
Dec. 31st, 2009 | 06:34 pm
posted by: montecook
Happy New Year!
Have a great 2010! I know I'm hoping to!
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2009 Retrospective.
Dec. 31st, 2009 | 01:26 pm
posted by: anaka
I'm sitting here right now, drinking some lime flavored sparkling water with which I took my medication, looking around my cluttered-with-travel-and-luggage living room, and trying to figure out what to say. I found one of my photo albums with pictures from... gosh. '93? '94? Me and all my online friends who came to my house for a New Years Eve party from across the US and beyond, which we dubbed Elycon. It was really the first time most of us had met in person, except for a few small regional groups who knew each other already and decided to road trip together. Crazy, but good times. :)
This year has been... well, unusual. I said somewhere back toward the beginning of the year that this seemed to be my "Romantic Comedy" year -- you know, where the divorcee has everything in her life blow up, so she does completely impractical things and moves somewhere new and meets a man and basically turns her life upside down? Yes, that. I really need to learn to restrain my occasional urge for prediction when it comes to my life, let me tell you -- well, or not, because as low as some of the lows have been, I really wouldn't take this year back for anything.
I've been unemployed for something like seven months of it, which is the longest I've ever been unemployed since I started work in the first place. I started my senior year and became an honors student at UW, which has both elevated my chances of getting into school even as it largely screwed my chances of employment. I took up with this guy who became a boyfriend, and it really changed my life in so many positive ways. I'm applying to grad school and planning to try for my English PhD, which would let me be a professor. My oldest entered middle school, my youngest is a fifth grader. My dad had a bleed in his brain and had to go to a VA care center, but he's doing really well. My ex has a new baby. I made a lot of new friends. I got better acquainted with some others. I got back in touch with still others with whom I hadn't spoken with in ages. I got to do voice work, which was awesome, and I started singing lessons. I had a number of really significant realizations that have shaped my decision making as I move forward, and started me heading in directions I'd never considered, all of which is good.
All of this would have been greatly improved by, you know, income, but we take what we can get. It's still been a pretty damn good year, if entirely too stressful. If I can managed to keep the good and improve on it while reducing the stressful, at least in the latter half of the year, I'll be well and truly pleased.
This year has been... well, unusual. I said somewhere back toward the beginning of the year that this seemed to be my "Romantic Comedy" year -- you know, where the divorcee has everything in her life blow up, so she does completely impractical things and moves somewhere new and meets a man and basically turns her life upside down? Yes, that. I really need to learn to restrain my occasional urge for prediction when it comes to my life, let me tell you -- well, or not, because as low as some of the lows have been, I really wouldn't take this year back for anything.
I've been unemployed for something like seven months of it, which is the longest I've ever been unemployed since I started work in the first place. I started my senior year and became an honors student at UW, which has both elevated my chances of getting into school even as it largely screwed my chances of employment. I took up with this guy who became a boyfriend, and it really changed my life in so many positive ways. I'm applying to grad school and planning to try for my English PhD, which would let me be a professor. My oldest entered middle school, my youngest is a fifth grader. My dad had a bleed in his brain and had to go to a VA care center, but he's doing really well. My ex has a new baby. I made a lot of new friends. I got better acquainted with some others. I got back in touch with still others with whom I hadn't spoken with in ages. I got to do voice work, which was awesome, and I started singing lessons. I had a number of really significant realizations that have shaped my decision making as I move forward, and started me heading in directions I'd never considered, all of which is good.
All of this would have been greatly improved by, you know, income, but we take what we can get. It's still been a pretty damn good year, if entirely too stressful. If I can managed to keep the good and improve on it while reducing the stressful, at least in the latter half of the year, I'll be well and truly pleased.
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2009.
Dec. 31st, 2009 | 12:02 pm
posted by: anaka
1st lines from the months. It's kinda funny, in that apparently the first lines of my posts almost never actually reveal what the post is about. How very odd. :)
January: It's snowing again. In that sort of "holy cow is it coming down" sort of way.
February: Today we've been doing a bit of cleaning. I should be working on taxes, but at least I'm getting something done, right? The boys are working on their room bit by bit, and I'm working on mine.
March: 1) Spend today working on freelance work and job hunt.
April: 1) Got a random compliment on my appearance yesterday on the way to class. Given that I had no makeup on, my hair back in a ponytail, and was totally thinking about something else at the time... that was pretty cool.
May: So in conversation, it came up for the first time what David and Shawn are naming their baby.
June: So the final project in my short story class was the story "Brokeback Mountain."
July: So. Went out to Ohio this week.
August: Today I went hiking with my kids for the first time.
September: Had to take off early from work to go deal with a problem I'd realized last night, in which my oldest son is supposed to have a bus to and from school, but because of a number of issues, he wasn't assigned a transportation IEP in the system.
October: So on the way home, my son tells me about how he got chased today at school.
November: So I've been planning for a while to get a tattoo -- got the sketch worked out and everything with Nigel Sade, who has done a fabulous job in working with me on the art.
December: I am supposed to be reading a novel and writing things right now, but the novel is too damn depressing and I can't get the writing done I need to get done and read it, so I'm taking a small brain break.
January: It's snowing again. In that sort of "holy cow is it coming down" sort of way.
February: Today we've been doing a bit of cleaning. I should be working on taxes, but at least I'm getting something done, right? The boys are working on their room bit by bit, and I'm working on mine.
March: 1) Spend today working on freelance work and job hunt.
April: 1) Got a random compliment on my appearance yesterday on the way to class. Given that I had no makeup on, my hair back in a ponytail, and was totally thinking about something else at the time... that was pretty cool.
May: So in conversation, it came up for the first time what David and Shawn are naming their baby.
June: So the final project in my short story class was the story "Brokeback Mountain."
July: So. Went out to Ohio this week.
August: Today I went hiking with my kids for the first time.
September: Had to take off early from work to go deal with a problem I'd realized last night, in which my oldest son is supposed to have a bus to and from school, but because of a number of issues, he wasn't assigned a transportation IEP in the system.
October: So on the way home, my son tells me about how he got chased today at school.
November: So I've been planning for a while to get a tattoo -- got the sketch worked out and everything with Nigel Sade, who has done a fabulous job in working with me on the art.
December: I am supposed to be reading a novel and writing things right now, but the novel is too damn depressing and I can't get the writing done I need to get done and read it, so I'm taking a small brain break.
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Stuff I brought back
Dec. 30th, 2009 | 08:02 pm
posted by: anaka
So in addition to my new purse and new coat and new... I dunno, wrap thingy, and all the stuff my boys got for Christmas, I managed to stuff a few things I'd left at Mom's into my suitcase here and there. Among them:
1) The Big White Book for Nobilis, 2nd ed. Also, the Game of Powers book. It is possibly the least useful book I could have grabbed, but I wanted to have them both here. So be it.
2) My copy of the Gother Than Thou card game. My friend Steen did the image work and posed for some of the pics. I haven't actually played it yet, but I will.
3) Five packages of pictures from my time in Chicago, when my kids were both toddlers. Absolutely adorable -- not that they aren't now, but it's not the same.
4) Two small photo albums with family pictures, including kid pics of me and my brother. It includes about my favorite picture of myself as a little girl, too. Also... I look a lot like my grandmother. I had never realized how much. I don't know what to make of that, but I think it's a good thing.
5) My Stage Costume book. Of all the books I have, this is one of the few I had actively wished I had here over the years. It's exceptionally useful, and taught me a lot about tailoring. Excellent book if you're into that sort of thing.
I'm getting it back, one piece at a time.
1) The Big White Book for Nobilis, 2nd ed. Also, the Game of Powers book. It is possibly the least useful book I could have grabbed, but I wanted to have them both here. So be it.
2) My copy of the Gother Than Thou card game. My friend Steen did the image work and posed for some of the pics. I haven't actually played it yet, but I will.
3) Five packages of pictures from my time in Chicago, when my kids were both toddlers. Absolutely adorable -- not that they aren't now, but it's not the same.
4) Two small photo albums with family pictures, including kid pics of me and my brother. It includes about my favorite picture of myself as a little girl, too. Also... I look a lot like my grandmother. I had never realized how much. I don't know what to make of that, but I think it's a good thing.
5) My Stage Costume book. Of all the books I have, this is one of the few I had actively wished I had here over the years. It's exceptionally useful, and taught me a lot about tailoring. Excellent book if you're into that sort of thing.
I'm getting it back, one piece at a time.
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Political Musings on Torture
Dec. 30th, 2009 | 04:02 pm
posted by: owen_stephens
A thought on torture. I know some conservatives are afraid that if we outlaw some very harsh interrogation techniques, someday I may die because an interrogator KNEW there was a critical, time-sensitive, life-saving information that torture was the only way to get in time to save me. So, let me say:
1. I'd rather die. I have few ways of giving my life for the good of my country, but this is one of them. I am willing to put my life on the line by saying we shouldn't legalize things that are even on the cusp of being torture, just so an interrogator can prevent me form being blown up.
2. I can see the rare, rare situation where torture might actually save lives, nothing else is going to, -and- the interrogators know it. All those things need to be true for there to be any justification for torture. It's going to be extremely rare, if it ever happens. And you know what? It should still be illegal. And if, should that moment comes when torture and only torture can save millions from a nuke, I bet the interrogator will use torture. Even if it's illegal. And because an interrogator CAN make that choice, I think it HAS to be illegal. The weight of law and consequence must sit on the torture free side of the scales. And if someone thinks it's worth breaking the law because it will prevent a nuclear bomb from going off at a convention of pregnant women, the legal process should bring him to a jury of his peers and have him answer for it.
3. We are all taught from an early age, two wrongs don't make a right. Why does this get lost in major ethical debates?
1. I'd rather die. I have few ways of giving my life for the good of my country, but this is one of them. I am willing to put my life on the line by saying we shouldn't legalize things that are even on the cusp of being torture, just so an interrogator can prevent me form being blown up.
2. I can see the rare, rare situation where torture might actually save lives, nothing else is going to, -and- the interrogators know it. All those things need to be true for there to be any justification for torture. It's going to be extremely rare, if it ever happens. And you know what? It should still be illegal. And if, should that moment comes when torture and only torture can save millions from a nuke, I bet the interrogator will use torture. Even if it's illegal. And because an interrogator CAN make that choice, I think it HAS to be illegal. The weight of law and consequence must sit on the torture free side of the scales. And if someone thinks it's worth breaking the law because it will prevent a nuclear bomb from going off at a convention of pregnant women, the legal process should bring him to a jury of his peers and have him answer for it.
3. We are all taught from an early age, two wrongs don't make a right. Why does this get lost in major ethical debates?
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Evil is and Evil Does
Dec. 29th, 2009 | 09:39 pm
posted by: knighterrantjr
I'm a jerk when it comes to evil characters. I don't let people play them in my campaigns. I actually feel bad about it, because I think it could actually lead to some interesting characters and campaigns, but at the same time, I worry about the can of worms, and the set of controls I would reflexively throw into the campaign.
First off, one of my problems is that, while I would kind of like to allow evil characters, I don't really have much desire to run an evil campaign. What I would love is to see a group with good, evil, and neutral characters in the group, tied together so they have a reason to work together and motivation to be in the campaign, and watch the friction as it all plays out. But if I open up evil characters, what if everyone wants to play an evil character? Do I then limit how many evil characters? What if this means that someone gets themselves psyched up to play an evil character, but others hit the quota first? How does this affect people that start out good or neutral and then fall to evil?
As it stands, most of the time, even if everyone is neutral in the party, there is usually enough motivation to still proceed with the campaign, but an all evil party would involved a bit more planning for me, the GM. So the first hurdle seems to be how to allow a few evil characters without opening the door wide to an all evil campaign. Also, I've run an evil/neutral campaign before, and often times, even the neutral characters take a much darker cast if you only have neutral and evil characters.
Its not that I don't trust my players. I've got some great guys in my game. But to use an analogy, even with these great guys in the group, I don't say, for example, that you can play any race in any 3.5 book, or that you can use any third party publisher's books that you want to making your character, because no matter how good the guys in my campaign are, I'm sure the above would lead to some kind of unforeseen issues that can be avoided with a little bit of prudence in what goes into the campaign.
So what would be the upside if I could pull this off someday? Like it or hate it, the Heroes of the Lance from Dragonlance are probably the best realization of the mixed alignment party. Everyone works together, because there is a higher purpose. Some people hate one another, and it leads to some great roleplaying. And you get the wonderful end of the campaign moment where your evil party member says, "one last time, we work together, but next time we meet, I'll have to kill you if you get in my way."
There is, of course, the other option to this, which is that you have a character that starts out as evil, but motivated to help the party, and over time they become a hero and are redeemed. Most of the time, when people want to play an evil character, they don't look at this option, but it gives you so much roleplaying material, and the hardest part is probably establishing your evil without making yourself so vile that your redemption is hard to swallow.
I'll still mull over this for a while, but I'm still a bit too much of a hesitant GM to try and pull this off, if only because I never want to get a party all geared up for a campaign and yet know that something I allowed was the timebomb that blew the campaign wide open and killed it before its time.
First off, one of my problems is that, while I would kind of like to allow evil characters, I don't really have much desire to run an evil campaign. What I would love is to see a group with good, evil, and neutral characters in the group, tied together so they have a reason to work together and motivation to be in the campaign, and watch the friction as it all plays out. But if I open up evil characters, what if everyone wants to play an evil character? Do I then limit how many evil characters? What if this means that someone gets themselves psyched up to play an evil character, but others hit the quota first? How does this affect people that start out good or neutral and then fall to evil?
As it stands, most of the time, even if everyone is neutral in the party, there is usually enough motivation to still proceed with the campaign, but an all evil party would involved a bit more planning for me, the GM. So the first hurdle seems to be how to allow a few evil characters without opening the door wide to an all evil campaign. Also, I've run an evil/neutral campaign before, and often times, even the neutral characters take a much darker cast if you only have neutral and evil characters.
Its not that I don't trust my players. I've got some great guys in my game. But to use an analogy, even with these great guys in the group, I don't say, for example, that you can play any race in any 3.5 book, or that you can use any third party publisher's books that you want to making your character, because no matter how good the guys in my campaign are, I'm sure the above would lead to some kind of unforeseen issues that can be avoided with a little bit of prudence in what goes into the campaign.
So what would be the upside if I could pull this off someday? Like it or hate it, the Heroes of the Lance from Dragonlance are probably the best realization of the mixed alignment party. Everyone works together, because there is a higher purpose. Some people hate one another, and it leads to some great roleplaying. And you get the wonderful end of the campaign moment where your evil party member says, "one last time, we work together, but next time we meet, I'll have to kill you if you get in my way."
There is, of course, the other option to this, which is that you have a character that starts out as evil, but motivated to help the party, and over time they become a hero and are redeemed. Most of the time, when people want to play an evil character, they don't look at this option, but it gives you so much roleplaying material, and the hardest part is probably establishing your evil without making yourself so vile that your redemption is hard to swallow.
I'll still mull over this for a while, but I'm still a bit too much of a hesitant GM to try and pull this off, if only because I never want to get a party all geared up for a campaign and yet know that something I allowed was the timebomb that blew the campaign wide open and killed it before its time.
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He does not drink!
Dec. 29th, 2009 | 10:24 am
posted by: wickedthought
A photo taken when Jessie, Chris and I were last together.
Now, it's not true. These days, I do have an occasional drink. On my birthday, on Paddy's Day. But that night, I was not drinking. And so, Chris and Jessie started the battle cry...
He is Wick! He does not drink! So we drink for him!
Ah, what a weekend.