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12 Days of Being Happy - Day Five
Dec. 18th, 2008 09:37 pmDay Five - Gaming
One of the things that my wonderful husband taught me is how to run a game. I had some very good examples and when I first had a story that I thought would be cool, I went for it. In retrospect, I shouldn't have tried to use the mishmash of systems that I did, but it all worked out okay. Though, now I can't hear the phrase "Find the halflings!" without descending into a gigglefit.
It's fun, it's creative, it can be utterly bizarre, and it's one of my more favorite hobbies. It's playing "pretend", but we all (mostly) agree on the rules of the universe and have a path for conflict resolution. It is....
Great shit. I just had THE most fantastic notion.
That's it. I have my plot for my post-holiday, sugar-fueled, crack game of awesome. There will be fresh cinnamon rolls, probably chili, and henchmen.
Yes. The henchmen will rise. January 1st. Mark your calendars, for the world as we know it will be forever changed. Mwahahahahaha!!
----
So, yes, gaming makes me happy. Even if I don't run half the crazy, harebrained, and angstly plotbunnies that my brain sometimes throws at me, it still makes me really happy to mull over them. So if I sometimes look a little far away in a meeting, my brain might in fact be several light years away.
- Tom Smith, Rich Fantasy Lives
One of the things that my wonderful husband taught me is how to run a game. I had some very good examples and when I first had a story that I thought would be cool, I went for it. In retrospect, I shouldn't have tried to use the mishmash of systems that I did, but it all worked out okay. Though, now I can't hear the phrase "Find the halflings!" without descending into a gigglefit.
It's fun, it's creative, it can be utterly bizarre, and it's one of my more favorite hobbies. It's playing "pretend", but we all (mostly) agree on the rules of the universe and have a path for conflict resolution. It is....
Great shit. I just had THE most fantastic notion.
That's it. I have my plot for my post-holiday, sugar-fueled, crack game of awesome. There will be fresh cinnamon rolls, probably chili, and henchmen.
Yes. The henchmen will rise. January 1st. Mark your calendars, for the world as we know it will be forever changed. Mwahahahahaha!!
----
So, yes, gaming makes me happy. Even if I don't run half the crazy, harebrained, and angstly plotbunnies that my brain sometimes throws at me, it still makes me really happy to mull over them. So if I sometimes look a little far away in a meeting, my brain might in fact be several light years away.
We're piling up fears, but we're out of frontiers.
Some need to escape, but there's nowhere.
Can't go to the Moon, at least any time soon,
But an inner-space trip costs you no fare.
So don't be unkind to a wandering mind,
Just say it again if we missed it.
Some whispering poem was calling us home
To a place we know never existed.
- Tom Smith, Rich Fantasy Lives
nicked from takhisis
Jun. 30th, 2008 10:08 am
This looks to be made of awesome with a side of kickass hilarity. The trailer sent me into a gigglefit at work.
I aten't dead.
No, really, I'm not. I've done a pretty good impression of it lately, what with the Zombie Effect of Too Much Work and the resultant lack of People Points.* I had Thursday/Friday of last week off and that helped somewhat. I got a lot done, bought myself the next Malazan Tale of the Fallen, got a honey latte for lunch, bought a large box of Gail's chocolates all for me**, bought tickets for the UW Bellydance Spring Show***, and danced my lovely legs into the ground.
I may have overdone the dancing a little, as the ride down to my parents' house Saturday was not so comfortable. We got to hang out for a while, Mom did our taxes (yay refund!), and we went to Mass. After church, we went out to this little dive bar in a town that's not even on the map#, but has the absolute best fried chicken on the planet. I mean, the chicken I fry is better than okay, Grandma's is a huge motivating factor, but this chicken is worth cramming sore legs into a tiny car and bouncing over badly paved roads for twenty minutes each way. It was crowded, the service was slow, and they serve everything in either plastic or styrofoam, but it was delicious, the beer was cold, and I really love my family. They rock!
Staff Meeting today at the Evil Empire was made slightly better by my smuggled-in DS and a new copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village.## I think I'm in love with this game. I've only had to go to an online help twice and once of those was because I had the right answer but the damn AI didn't recognize it (matchstick moving puzzle of doom). I like the plot, the variety of puzzles, and the game play. I totally recommend it if you like things like:
(Side note: In case you're wondering, my attention span isn't as good as it could be tonight. In fact, it's pretty abysmal. This is why there are footnotes. I don't feel so bad about all the tangents if I gather them into footnotes.)
I still feel like a lot of the interesting parts of me have evaporated. I'm doing what I can to condense them, but it's not really working yet. I have a sneaking suspicion that my job is stealing bits of my soul and replacing them with distilled bitterness and apathy.*# I'm not pleased by this, but progress is being made on reclaiming my sewing room, projects are moving forward again, and I have both plot surprises and a dinner surprise for game tomorrow night.
There are also two bags of the World's Best Potato Chips sitting on top of my fridge. If anyone feels like coming over and working on Scion characters this week (but not tomorrow night), I'm sure we could break one open. There might even be french onion dip. Maybe.
---------
* - I'm an introvert. It costs me People Points to be around other people. Some people cost more Points than others (Mom, for example, is very expensive) and Downwood is by far the cheapest. But it still costs me something to be around even him for long periods and so we have our Monday night tradition where he goes out and games and I get the house to myself to dance, sing, craft, or just stare at the wall. And he knows better than to surprise me by coming home early.
** - Mwahahahahaha!
*** - The headliner/expert giving the workshop just canceled. I think it was either injury or sickness, but the thing's more than a month away, so it's probably serious. I haven't sent in my registration for the workshop yet, but I probably will as soon as they announce that they have someone to teach the darn thing.
# - Mount Hamill, Iowa. Not on the map. For real.
## - This is a game that was made specifically for me. It's one more piece of evidence that I secretly rule the world. Yus.
*# - In addition, the couple of weeks I spent traveling knocked me back to the mental state I was in the first winter I lived in Madison. Not quite "hospital time" bad but "oh crap...all those times when I've worried I was relapsing? yeah...not a candle to this" bad. The one good thing is that I now have a much better Relapse Baseline. Everything else about it - what it did to me, what it did to Downwood, what it did to us, what it did to my retail therapy bill - was bad. Really bad. I haven't felt that weak of a grip on reality in a very long time. But it's kind of nice to know that I do know how bad it can get inside my head and I know how to take care of myself when it happens. I just don't like the reminder that there's something functionally wrong with my brain that I can't perfectly control. Not cool.
No, really, I'm not. I've done a pretty good impression of it lately, what with the Zombie Effect of Too Much Work and the resultant lack of People Points.* I had Thursday/Friday of last week off and that helped somewhat. I got a lot done, bought myself the next Malazan Tale of the Fallen, got a honey latte for lunch, bought a large box of Gail's chocolates all for me**, bought tickets for the UW Bellydance Spring Show***, and danced my lovely legs into the ground.
I may have overdone the dancing a little, as the ride down to my parents' house Saturday was not so comfortable. We got to hang out for a while, Mom did our taxes (yay refund!), and we went to Mass. After church, we went out to this little dive bar in a town that's not even on the map#, but has the absolute best fried chicken on the planet. I mean, the chicken I fry is better than okay, Grandma's is a huge motivating factor, but this chicken is worth cramming sore legs into a tiny car and bouncing over badly paved roads for twenty minutes each way. It was crowded, the service was slow, and they serve everything in either plastic or styrofoam, but it was delicious, the beer was cold, and I really love my family. They rock!
Staff Meeting today at the Evil Empire was made slightly better by my smuggled-in DS and a new copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village.## I think I'm in love with this game. I've only had to go to an online help twice and once of those was because I had the right answer but the damn AI didn't recognize it (matchstick moving puzzle of doom). I like the plot, the variety of puzzles, and the game play. I totally recommend it if you like things like:
You need to get the three wolves and the three chickens across the river. The raft only holds two animals at a time and must carry at least one animal to move. If there are ever more wolves than chickens on a side, the wolves will eat the chickens. How many moves does it take to get all the animals across?
(Side note: In case you're wondering, my attention span isn't as good as it could be tonight. In fact, it's pretty abysmal. This is why there are footnotes. I don't feel so bad about all the tangents if I gather them into footnotes.)
I still feel like a lot of the interesting parts of me have evaporated. I'm doing what I can to condense them, but it's not really working yet. I have a sneaking suspicion that my job is stealing bits of my soul and replacing them with distilled bitterness and apathy.*# I'm not pleased by this, but progress is being made on reclaiming my sewing room, projects are moving forward again, and I have both plot surprises and a dinner surprise for game tomorrow night.
There are also two bags of the World's Best Potato Chips sitting on top of my fridge. If anyone feels like coming over and working on Scion characters this week (but not tomorrow night), I'm sure we could break one open. There might even be french onion dip. Maybe.
---------
* - I'm an introvert. It costs me People Points to be around other people. Some people cost more Points than others (Mom, for example, is very expensive) and Downwood is by far the cheapest. But it still costs me something to be around even him for long periods and so we have our Monday night tradition where he goes out and games and I get the house to myself to dance, sing, craft, or just stare at the wall. And he knows better than to surprise me by coming home early.
** - Mwahahahahaha!
*** - The headliner/expert giving the workshop just canceled. I think it was either injury or sickness, but the thing's more than a month away, so it's probably serious. I haven't sent in my registration for the workshop yet, but I probably will as soon as they announce that they have someone to teach the darn thing.
# - Mount Hamill, Iowa. Not on the map. For real.
## - This is a game that was made specifically for me. It's one more piece of evidence that I secretly rule the world. Yus.
*# - In addition, the couple of weeks I spent traveling knocked me back to the mental state I was in the first winter I lived in Madison. Not quite "hospital time" bad but "oh crap...all those times when I've worried I was relapsing? yeah...not a candle to this" bad. The one good thing is that I now have a much better Relapse Baseline. Everything else about it - what it did to me, what it did to Downwood, what it did to us, what it did to my retail therapy bill - was bad. Really bad. I haven't felt that weak of a grip on reality in a very long time. But it's kind of nice to know that I do know how bad it can get inside my head and I know how to take care of myself when it happens. I just don't like the reminder that there's something functionally wrong with my brain that I can't perfectly control. Not cool.
*flails excitedly*
May. 17th, 2006 01:51 pmEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
I just got an IM and phone call from Downwood. When he was at home for lunch, he noticed that I got something in the mail. I asked what it was. He said, "Given the fact that it's flat. says 'do not bend' on it, and is from the UW registrar's office, I'm suspecting it's your diploma."
My. Diploma. OMG!!! FINALLY!!!!
I am now OFFICIALLY all graduated and FOREVER DONE WITH THE JERK WHO ONCE CALLED HIMSELF MY "ADVISER"!!!!
*more flailing*
*looks forward to celebratory margaritas in the near future*
*squees and flails some more*
I just got an IM and phone call from Downwood. When he was at home for lunch, he noticed that I got something in the mail. I asked what it was. He said, "Given the fact that it's flat. says 'do not bend' on it, and is from the UW registrar's office, I'm suspecting it's your diploma."
My. Diploma. OMG!!! FINALLY!!!!
I am now OFFICIALLY all graduated and FOREVER DONE WITH THE JERK WHO ONCE CALLED HIMSELF MY "ADVISER"!!!!
*more flailing*
*looks forward to celebratory margaritas in the near future*
*squees and flails some more*
it's the little things
Mar. 29th, 2006 08:53 pm*cue triumphant theme music*
Today I can call myself a Data Ninja. Tomorrow shall surely bring forth trials and tribulations aplenty, but for tonight I shall rest comfortably upon the laurels of today...after covering it with something less poky and likely to leave leaves in uncomfortable places.
I was given several tasks to accomplish, most involving the extraction of data from the system. It was quiet. The room was dark. A single spotlight glared upon the server. Yes, violence was threatened and some motherboards were demolished as an object lesson. But I got what I wanted from it. And as I strode out of the interrogation chamber, heels clicking on the stone floor, I took my sunglasses out of my suit pocket and said, "I trust we won't have to be quite so...awkward next time. After all, we're acquainted now."
Yes, it happened exactly like that.
Tomorrow, if things go well and the universe once again bends to my whim, I may get a chance to be a Code Pirate and head off into the system to pillage and loot my little black heart out. But today? Today I am a Data Ninja. *insert evil laugh here*
*reprise theme* *fade to black*
Today I can call myself a Data Ninja. Tomorrow shall surely bring forth trials and tribulations aplenty, but for tonight I shall rest comfortably upon the laurels of today...after covering it with something less poky and likely to leave leaves in uncomfortable places.
I was given several tasks to accomplish, most involving the extraction of data from the system. It was quiet. The room was dark. A single spotlight glared upon the server. Yes, violence was threatened and some motherboards were demolished as an object lesson. But I got what I wanted from it. And as I strode out of the interrogation chamber, heels clicking on the stone floor, I took my sunglasses out of my suit pocket and said, "I trust we won't have to be quite so...awkward next time. After all, we're acquainted now."
Yes, it happened exactly like that.
Tomorrow, if things go well and the universe once again bends to my whim, I may get a chance to be a Code Pirate and head off into the system to pillage and loot my little black heart out. But today? Today I am a Data Ninja. *insert evil laugh here*
*reprise theme* *fade to black*
I don't get it
Mar. 27th, 2006 10:28 pmI have come to the frightening conclusion that the pharmacists at my "new" drugstore are sampling the wares. Since I transferred my prescriptions to this branch, I've been finding that I have an extra dose of the mirtazapine every month.
Every. Single. Month.
At first Downwood claimed that it was because they'd accidentally given me 31 instead of 30 (what the Rx is written for) once and I kept putting that pill in the new bottle. I thought he maybe had a point, as I wasn't sure if I'd thrown away the extra dose or kept it. So last month I left the extra dose in its original bottle.
Last night, there were two doses of mirtazapine left and one of nortriptyline. "Hm," I thought, "isn't this the same as last month?" Sure enough, the remaining dose from February's fill was still sitting pristinely in its bottle. "Aha!" I exclaimed, "I have caught you red-gloved! I see your plot! You're trying to make me think I've forgotten doses so that I slowly overdose! Admit it!!!!"
Downwood was wonderful and called my refills in over his lunch break (I forgot until I was driving past them on my way to class in the frozen tundra). I just now counted the pills in each bottle. Nortriptyline: 30 doses. Mirtazapine: 31 doses!!!
I feel vindicated.
It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
In other news, I really, REALLY want this book. That is all.
Every. Single. Month.
At first Downwood claimed that it was because they'd accidentally given me 31 instead of 30 (what the Rx is written for) once and I kept putting that pill in the new bottle. I thought he maybe had a point, as I wasn't sure if I'd thrown away the extra dose or kept it. So last month I left the extra dose in its original bottle.
Last night, there were two doses of mirtazapine left and one of nortriptyline. "Hm," I thought, "isn't this the same as last month?" Sure enough, the remaining dose from February's fill was still sitting pristinely in its bottle. "Aha!" I exclaimed, "I have caught you red-gloved! I see your plot! You're trying to make me think I've forgotten doses so that I slowly overdose! Admit it!!!!"
Downwood was wonderful and called my refills in over his lunch break (I forgot until I was driving past them on my way to class in the frozen tundra). I just now counted the pills in each bottle. Nortriptyline: 30 doses. Mirtazapine: 31 doses!!!
I feel vindicated.
It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
In other news, I really, REALLY want this book. That is all.
