Bumps in the Monday road

The bike gods demand - DEMAND - I spend more money on my bike. Specifically to sate its hunger for inner tubes.

At least it waited until I was 2/3rds of the way home before delivering unto me yet another flat tire.

*(&($*#%ing bike...

End of an Era

In February of 2001, four friends and I started recording a home-grown role-playing campaign we'd created from scratch using the rules from Steve Jackson Games' GURPS.

Before the year ended, our numbers were around seven or eight players (it varied as schedules allowed).

For the next thirteen years, we'd game at least once a month (with the occasional skipped month due to schedule problems). Some of our number would marry. Some of our number would jaunt off across the globe, only to return later. Some of our number would leave, answering the call of real life. Some of our number would be asked to leave, as personalities conflicted.

Last night was the conclusion of thirteen years and five months of fairly-frequent gaming in the classic fantasy vein: lowly would-be heroes rise up to save the world, etc.

Sure, it was loaded with tropes. So. Many. Tropes. It wasn't particularly original, though I found our spin on things to be pretty clever (in all humility).

However one looks at it, it was thirteen years of sitting around a table with good friends, some dice, some paper (and later, laptops, 'cause... 21st Century and all that). It was thirteen years of pizza, Chinese food, sushi, beer, candy, pretzels, chips, and FSM-knows-what-else. Later it was home-cooked meals, sometimes by one of our number, sometimes by an incredibly-understanding spouse of one of our number.

That was a damn good thirteen years.

We're not done as a group. We've got other campaigns - most of which are set in the same made-up world - but the campaign that served as the foundation to all of it is now over.

It's a bittersweet feeling for me. Both a relief and something I'll miss terribly. Now I need to figure out how I'll redirect my OCD elsewhere.

Heh.

To those I game (or gamed) with, if you're reading this, thank you for your time, your patience, your participation, and your special brand of crazy. I expect to be rolling the dice at the retirement home with you lads.

Some cool things

• How to approach every day like an explorer
• Spy stuff
• Tool pen!!!
• Want to buy a tank?
• Friday.

Sensei Who

(via Nerdist.

This needs to be an incarnation of the Doctor for real.

and things

In an effort to combat my lazy, gluttonous nature, I'm embarking on an ambitious plan of exercising a lot and cutting back on the bad stuff.

I'm not cutting out sweets and booze, just cutting back. I know I don't have the willpower to cut it out entirely.

This week I've made some traction on that plan. Bike riding some days, running on others (actually running at points, not sort-of-trotting). I've been good and had no more than one alcoholic beverage, often forgoing that if I have dessert or sugary snacks at any point.

Now that I've had a few days to contemplate this, I gotta say this sucks. Still, sacrifices must be made.

Also (slowly) teaching myself JavaScript. I used to have a basic working knowledge of PERL, so certain underlying concepts are pretty easy to pick up but the book I'm using has very strict formatting requirements in its online tests, so I'm finding myself occasionally cursing.

Still, it's a good brain exercise. Managed to slam out a few chapters/tests yesterday after running and all that.

---

Finished "Rogues", the compilation of stories edited by George R.R. Martin (and someone else whose name escapes me at the moment). Has a lot of really good short stories in it, including a great Scott Lynch story, an utterly brilliant Neil Gaiman story (about the Marquis de Carabas, no less), and a truly awesome Patrick Rothfuss story. By comparison, Martin's offering is kind of weak tea, actually. A bit disappointing, but whatever works.

---

Day two of my makeshift bicycle repairs. I've found my inner-tube issues manifest after about a week of bike use, so I've a ways to go before I'm even somewhat-confident I fixed the problem.

---

This weekend starts the end of a role-playing campaign I've been running/co-running for over fifteen years. It's been keeping me up at nights trying to figure out how to finish this off properly. It's exhausting to run and part of me wants to finish it as soon as possible, while part of me wants to slow down and do it right. The years have taken their toll on players and what was once a group of eight is now down to four, so the pressure is kind of on.

I'm thinking of trying my hand at converting the campaign into actual stories (maybe novels?) at some point. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

---

Because of this:



I can no longer hear the Game of Thrones theme without hearing Peter Dinklage's name on the edge of my hearing.

This is not really a bad thing.

Review: "Tower Lord" by Anthony Ryan

The sequel to "Blood Song", "Tower Lord" continues the adventures of Vaelin Al Sorna, the swordsman who has the magical gift called the Blood Song.

The story starts off shortly after the events in the first book. Well, the latest events in the book. "Blood Song" had a tendency to jump about in time, making the narrative less-than-linear.

"Tower Lord" doesn't generally have that problem.

It's a bit hard to review this book without spoiling it, and I'm loathe to do so, but it's a solid sequel. It's a vicious story, making "Blood Song" seem like a fluffy romp through daffodils and rainbows in parts.

Unlike "Blood Song" that really only had two point-of-view protagonists (Vaelin and Verniers), "Tower Lord" splits off into what is really five distinct POV characters: Vaelin, Verniers (poor schmuck), Princess Lyrna, Frentis, and a new character.

The story is deeply fucked-up but interesting and engaging. Anthony Ryan is brilliant in his tales of victory snatched from the ashes and victories turning into ash. His villains are explored in greater detail with newer, more despicable, ones added for good measure.

Ryan's heroes are horribly-scarred people, both internally and externally, but likeable for all their flaws.

"Tower Lord" ends on some interesting notes, leaving me wondering where the next book is going. I can't wait to read it.

stuff-n-things

I'm having one of those weeks in which everything I touch seems to want to turn into a hydra of complicated mess or just turn into crap.

I still don't know why my main DVD player died. Power supply? And the second one is... fussy.

On the plus side, I got my copy of Tower Lord by Anthony Ryan yesterday. So... goooood.....

And now that it's the Third of July:



Compelling argument.