The Problem with Packing

It's almost worse to pack when you have the benefit of a car. There's no real upper limit, and it's hard to tell when you've finished.

When traveling by train or plane, I pack light. Very light. I expect to wear some things more than once; I keep the footwear to a minimum (usually I bring whatever I plan to wear, plus one additional pair of something). You get the idea.

This time around, I have plenty of clothes, games and books. I hope I have the all the fundamentals. Again, the fact that we'll be near 'civilization' almost makes it worse. It's all the harder to focus on necessities.

Blah blah. It isn't all that fun, either.

Big Fucking Rat

I just saw a big fucking rat outside the window.

I went out with my entrenching tool (basically a little shovel), but it had hidden, I think behind one of my wife's planter boxes.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to use firearms within city limits. I could shoot the hell outta that little bastard. There would be massive disapproval. My wife would probably disapprove, the neighbors probably... then there's always the police. I will restrain myself.

Greycat came out with me, but seemed unaware of the larger project. He's still out there sniffing around. Maybe he'll get lucky and the rat will be stupid. He brought a dead rat home once, back when he was still living on the porch. Today would be a good day for an encore. That first rat only covered about a tenth of the medical bills we've invested into him. If he catches this one, we'll call it even.

I'm not holding my breath. Most likely we'll contact the rest of the association and call in a professional.

Light Lord's Background

Here are the Nick's answers for Light Lord. I've [censored] bits that his character may prefer not to discuss with the others.

**********

Light Lord's Info:

> 1. What are your character’s thoughts on politics? Socialist / Liberal / Moderate / Conservative / Libertarian etc…
>
> Believer in getting rid of the oppressiveness - throw off the chains of the lower class and let all enjoy the fruits of our labor. Will take arms as necessary.
>
> 2. What hobbies did he or she enjoy before the robots came? What does he or she still enjoy?
>
>Camping, hunting. Would make makeshift snares and traps, work on "aim" of energy powers by shooting targets in woods.
>
> 3. What does he miss most from ‘before?’
>
> Interacting with "non-freaks," especially the girls.
>
> 4. What is the worst crime(s) imaginable to your character?
>
> Torture would be acceptable, so long as it's helping a mission. Would prefer not to kill, but will if it means survival for me or my friends.
>
> 5. What historic figures does she most admire? Despise?
>
>Became a big fan of Lincoln when the oppression came. Not a Communist exactly, but sometimes it makes sense. Really despise those who enacted the robot control. Also anyone who enslaved the little guy.
>
> 6. Does your character read much? What does she read most?
>
> Enjoy historical biographies, military history. Use that for strategic planning. Like pictures of the "before times."
>
> 7. What is your character’s biggest secret?
>
>[censored]
>
> 8. What was your character’s childhood like?
>
>I used to bully Shadow Master as a child since I was bigger and stronger. We remain close, but when he got his powers, I tended to work on my powers alone.
>
> 9. What is your character’s drink(s)?
>
> I like gatorade-type beverages, particularly high in electrolytes. [other comments censored]
>
> 10. When and how did your character’s powers reveal themselves?
>
[censored, just in case this is the sort of thing the character may prefer not to discuss]

Marvel Prep

It's less than a week before the vacation starts!

I have to get serious about my Marvel game prep.

First, I've decided not to use the karma gambling storytelling mechanic. I do want players to have some narration, and I will use karma rewards for that. However, since I'm trying to add incentive for them, it doesn't make sense to make them gamble for the 'privilege.'

I've averaged the starting karma for all the players, cut it in half, then added karma rewards for the last battle (for Type: X) and artistic contribution. Lightlord (Nick's character) gets 15 more than the others, because he was the first to submit answers to the questions I sent around a few months ago. Others will still get 10 karma for turning in their homework.

Marathon?

We've caught some good weather this weekend, and I had a delightful 'long run' of nine miles. My pace was 8 minute 40 sec/mile which is most reasonable for that distance. I usually hover around eight minute miles, and I should go a little slower on those long runs.

Since March, I've been working my way through a training schedule. It increases my weekly mileage gradually, and builds in lighter weeks. Overall, I've responded really well to this sort of regimented schedule. In the past, I haven't had much of plan, aside from increasing my distance and time gradually (or not, depending on my mood).

I pulled up the next phase of the training schedule, the one that takes me from 'long runs' of 10 miles up to a full marathon, and compared it to a calendar. It synchs up nicely with the Seattle marathon in November. I'm afraid to commit to anything, I'm afraid to actually say, "I'm training for a marathon." Instead, I'm going to keep plugging away at my schedule, and see where I am at the end of the summer.

I'm basing my training on the information at marathontraining.com

Dr. Drew Pinsky

I like Dr. Drew. I completely believe that he wants to help people, and that he has authentically dedicated his life to that end. I also respect his competence: he really does help people, and I completely trust what he says when talking about addiction. When I think of a Paladin in the Dungeons and Dragons sense, Dr. Drew fits that bill.

He is full of shit sometimes: he definitely has a bias toward normality and conventionality. The thing about those Lawful Good Paladin types is they see the world in black and white. Sometimes that's appropriate. Sometimes it misses the mark and blinds them to the nuances that make people fun. For example, I wouldn't go to him for sex advice. I don't think he gets kink, exploration of sexual identity, non-monogamy, or any of that dirty stuff that Dan Savage is so good at.

Mage Game... RIP?

The gaming group is still in pretty good shape, though we don't play as often as we'd like, and we could probably use another member. However, we're rebooting our system again and starting new characters.

The last time we did this, we stayed in the World of Darkness setting, playing as magi, but hacked the rules notably.

I was growing tired of urban fantasy, and had lost my love for my transvestite Ayn Randian artist character. Other members of the group also have some itch for variety.

My new character concept is of a semi-retired businessman, probably not human, who has piles of money, contacts and charm. He just bought (or had constructed) his dream spaceship. While he knows how to operate everything on the ship on the level of an accomplished amateur, he's no professional captain, navigator, pilot, engineer, etc...

I'm playing with the idea of giving him low level telepathy and/or some racial semi-monstrous body transformation abilities.

This concept is influenced by the Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, that red squid guy form Futurama, and the Jurassic Park owner, John Hammond.

I need to figure out his race, so it can be worked into the game setting.

Below I'll paste in some of our other discussions:

***********

If what makes the modern earth setting world 'special' is simply a widget that protects it from invasion, I'm cool with that. In that sense, every world probably has something 'special' about them. For example, perhaps there is a ley line conjunction on Earth, which allows some limited magic use. From there, a cabal of mages might cast some spells of protection to keep the baddies away. Perhaps the science fiction world has vast dilithium deposits which powers their ships and allows advanced weaponry and shielding. Another has a large werewolf population, and everyone who lands there gets converted or eaten.

My thought too is that the modern Earth would be similar to WOD, but the vampires and werewolves would probably originate elsewhere.

I'd like to keep the 'awakened' vs 'sleeper' concept non-central to the overall universe. While it may be important in some realities, for others, it's a very slim line between civilian and hero. It makes sense for Force users, Mages and Superheroes, but for lower powered characters I don't see the advantage.

Maybe we should also start a discussion on power levels for our PC's. I think there's room for a broad range (ROTJ Luke Skywalker and C-3P0 in the same group, Thor and Captain America working together) within reason.

-Chad

Things I know I think and things I want to remember.

----- Original Message ----
From: jumpup7jam
To: emeraldeye@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 5:40:27 AM
Subject: [emeraldeye] Re: SETTING: Meta-setting discussion

Oooh, Craig, I like it! That is, save for a couple of points. I
think it ought to be unspecified as to whether or not the number of
realities are infinite. Perhaps there is a finite number of known or
easily reached realities, thus making them effectively finite, but I
don't think there's any reason for that door to remain permanently
closed. Plus, it's more fun not knowing. That way there can be
philosophers.
Personally, I'd rather "our" reality weren't special. In so much
fiction and thought, there's a sort of blown-up (in terms of scale)
self-importance. Humans are so great. Earth is a wondrous place.
America. Yah-da-da. Don't get me wrong, I do like earth and humans
and The United States of America, but in a setting with lots of other
worlds, I don't see why they need to be special, unless it's to
prevent us from taking our flight of fancy so far as to lead us to
disparage our own lives. We witness fantastic realms and events and
find our own lives wanting if we don't include the caveat that our
place is special, even though we don't have super powers.
I'm babbling.
Anyway, I love the rest of it. Are you thinking of a way to systemize
the mixing of realities, or are the characters so unaffected that such
a thing would be superfluous?
All have great days!

--- In emeraldeye@yahoogro ups.com, "james craig" wrote:
>
> Let's start off the setting discussion by talking about the multi-genre
> setting as a whole. As we get into specific realities we might
spawn more
> threads. Here's what I'm thinking about the multi-verse (much
borrowed from
> Torg, Mage, Rifts and other places):
>
>
> - There are multiple realities (but not infinite) that are
effectively
> different dimensions/universe s, in that getting from one world to
another is
> more than just traveling distance (but it may be part of the
journey). Each
> reality has it's own theme/genre and own laws of physics. For
example, in
> Etherspace people can breath in space (either it is filled with
air or each
> person's personal gravitational field keeps a personal atmosphere
around
> them), in Fairy-tale land magic can alter reality if done within
the proper
> ritual/spell format, in space wars universe the theory of
relativity doesn't
> apply, so ships can rocket through interstellar space at absurd
speeds
> (giving Einstein the finger).
> - I like Torg's idea that each reality has some sort of overlord
(but not
> necessarily evil or good), and this being's will/belief is what
sets the
> genre of that reality. This is in turn supplemented by the
collective
> belief of the inhabitants. The realm's overlord may need their
belief to
> empower him/her/it.
> - Everyone from each reality keeps some of it with them if they
go to a
> different reality (like a personal aura). The more powerful the
character,
> the bigger/stronger the aura. Over time it would degrade.
Awakened beings
> (like the PCs) have enough energy in their auras to do cool crazy
stuff
> (like magic in a non-magic world, epic action stunts, super
powers, etc.).
> - Our earth/WoD is of some special significance, probably because
of an
> abundance of metaphysical energy, like Possibility energy from Torg,
> Quintessence, Ether, Chi, Mana; either way the fundamental energy of
> reality/life. This same abundance of energy makes it a great
target as well
> as prevents the bad guys from invading en masse.
>
> more later

Ride the Bus

There's a great article in the 6/10/08 Seattle Post Intelligencer which both describes how more folks are riding the bus now that gas prices have floated into the $4.25 / gallon range, and gives tips on how to ride the bus for newbies.

I've mentioned before that I am a big believer in buses. More should be done to provide transit (or at least high occupancy) only lanes, and more should be invested to keep our buses running frequently and on time. Buses don't require expensive tracks and can be easily flexed as demands change, unlike light rail.

Bus fares only cover a minority of the costs for bus related mass transit, so as ridership increases, outside funding will also need to increase. Those buses are getting full, and that's great, but before long, we'll need bigger buses and more frequent service to balance the increase in ridership. That will cost tax dollars, in addition to the additional fare revenue.

Also check out one of my favorite blogs for all things bus-a-licious in and around Seattle: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buschick/

Don't Settle

Eagle Rare continues as the bourbon of the moment. That's the last of the birthday bottle though, so back to Elijah Craig until the next special occasion.

My lovely wife got tickets to Anthony Bourdain for us, and we just got home. He's a great speaker, and the one thing I carried from him is to continue guarding against mediocrity. I've never been much of a foodie, and I'm still not. I have many steps to go before I even really understand what he's talking about. However, I do understand lazy food, and I understand tasty food. There's always the 'I know what I like' criteria, which is completely valid. At least, it's valid if one is paying attention and has given some thought to what one likes.

Then, my friend David pointed me toward this YouTube mash-up of William Shatner's version of Common People laid over some Star Trek Animated Series clips. The shit is brilliant in several ways.

I know I've settled for lazy comic books, lazy television, lazy movies, lazy internet sites and lazy web surfing. In this context, I'm using the word lazy in the worst sort of way: there are plenty of cases when lazy is a wonderful, brilliant thing. Lazy can be perfect. However, when it comes to entertainment and many other things, it's actually a little horrifying.

I may start eating some kinds of fish again. I recently read an article about how some fish are not endangered, not underpopulated and not filled with toxins. They're really quite healthy apparently. I know that sardines were an example. That contrasts with tuna and salmon which are fish populations that are having problems. More research is required.

I've been a vegetarian... hmm, I think for over ten years. It's appropriate to revisit my dietary choices in this regard.

Obama

Back in February, during the Washington State Caucus, I was undecided. That's over now. Well, yes, I know that's easy to say now that Hillary's out, but something else has changed.

Barack Obama has genuinely won me over. Right now, I see him as a focused Bill Clinton combined with those men who symbolized hope during the 1960's, but were martyred before their time.

No he's not a super-hero, he isn't a prophet, he isn't our savior. I think he is the man to lead America to a better day.

The Unrepentant Asshole in Me

Today while running, I spit on two cars that were blocking the sidewalk. Well, the second one was only blocking 3/4th's of the sidewalk. I debated that one for a moment, but I had a mouth full of saliva when I reached it and let her rip.

Also, I flipped off a guy in his truck when he didn't stop for me, as I was standing in a crosswalk. He was driving too fast. He flipped me off in return: I was generally satisfied with the exchange. I'm glad he didn't stop and try to kick my ass, 'cause he probably could have: I was tired.

In further news of my descent into barbarism, I've come to prefer to blow my nose out-of-doors, or in a sink at home, to using a tissue.

Which reminds me, the Claritin has quit working. I've become a human snot machine, and need to blow my nose a lot these days. Maybe the Zantac will help. That pill bottle advises one to avoid alcohol while taking the pills. I'm not sure it's worth it. I also can't help but wonder if it's the 'destroy your liver' kind of avoid alcohol, or the 'you may feel double drunk' version.