Digital Tragedy

My computer done broke.  While installing a memory upgrade, the thing stopped responding, so I took it apart some more and put it back together.  After using Misty’s computer to Google, I deduced the problem was either the motherboard or the power supply.  From that point, I let Best Buy’s Geek Squad take over.  They confirmed it was the power supply.  I’ve since bought a new one, and I’ll install it tonight.  

Since losing my computer, I’ve been catching up on Playstation games.  I think I’m pretty close to the end of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.  I’m at a particularly aggravating part, and that makes it hard to gather up the gumption to dive back in.  I need to finish it, though, (along with a few other games) if I want to justify to Misty getting more games later.

I got an email from my uncle that says he wants me to visit him and the family this Christmas.  It’s an 8-hour drive, but he’s offered room and board, so I don’t think I can refuse.  Misty, on the other hand, wants to fly to Wisconsin to visit her mother for Christmas.  My first task upon resurrecting my computer is to review and solidify our finances, so I’ll have to see if we can afford that flight.

Oh, and did I mention we were moving to a new, big apartment?

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
-- John Howard Payne

Not So Home for the Holidays

A few people have been asking about our winter holiday plans, so I'll lay it out here. It's very unlikely we'll be visiting anybody this year. For one thing, we have to move to a new apartment in the middle of December, and that's going to take mad coin. For another, I'm extremely busy at work these days, so I can't really take the amount of time off that would make driving around the Gulf Coast worthwhile.

I have managed to get the last week of the year off, so we might make a post-Christmas tour. If that is to be the case, I'll let everybody know for sure.

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.
-- Charles Kuralt

"I am Galstaff, Sorceror of Light!"

Sunday’s Dungeons and Dragons game went pretty well.  Relatively few dice were rolled, but a significant number of roles were played.  Most importantly, I learned some things about myself and the PCs, which I’m going to have to take into account in future sessions.

First of all, our sessions are likely to be riddled with chaos.  There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.  It’s just the play style I’m going to have to adjust for.  With as many smartasses as there are in the room, every second comment or situation is bound to be joked about to some degree.  We are all there to have fun, and being silly is what we usually do to have fun.  That’s not to say that serious role-playing can’t be had.  It just means that I’ll have to be flexible in my presentation, patient in my pacing, and lenient about players speaking out of character.

Personally, I need to be more prepared, in general.  My weak point, as I see it, is my presentation of NPCs and their reactions to the party.  In this session, I forced myself to improvise and read from the source too much.  I need to know who the party is going to meet, how they will react, and what course the encounter is likely to take.  I need to take more notes about each PC and make a point to highlight or memorize important details about the adventure.

Most importantly, though, everybody had fun.  Everybody settled into their character’s roles pretty well, and I’m looking forward to giving each of them the opportunity to really shine.

I attack the darkness!
-- The Dead Alewives

Virtual Jam

I’m nearing the end of my illness.  I’m at about 80% effectivess now.  That’s not enough to keep me from working, but enough to make me feel icky while I do it.

In another spectactular bout of spontanaeity, I rushed out and bought Guitar Hero when I found out via Penny Arcade that it was available.  I’ve been a fan of both Harmonix and Red Octane for some time now, and the two of them coming together like this is bound to produce ripe musical fruits.  And it does.  It really should not be possible to feel cool while playing on a toy plastic guitar, following instructions from a video game.  But it is.  The licensed tracks include some of the classic guitar-laden rock songs from the past – I recognize more than I don’t.  The feeling of really particpating in the music is unprecedented.  I highly recommend giving it a try. I’ll be bringing mine to The D-Pad this Tuesday, to show off and let real guitar players give it a whirl.

Incidentally, while we were picking up Guitar Hero, Misty happened across Firefly on DVD, which we’ve been looking for since seeing Serenity.  She literally snatched it up, and no cajoling from me would free it from her grasp.  So, it is now ours.  She watched the first episode before bed, so she’s ahead of me now.  Looks like I have another full weekend ahead of me.

When griping grief the heart doth wound,
and doleful dumps the mind opresses,
then music, with her silver sound,
with speedy help doth lend redress.
-- William Shakespeare

Blargh

My body is ravaged with plague.  This vile infestation has made its insidious way through several of the places I frequent.  Finally, with a fury that will not be forestalled, it has lain me low.

Drama aside, I’m sick.  I stayed home from work yesterday, hoping that a full day of sleep might help, but I’m still sick today.  For some reason – probably my accursed optimism – I’m at work today, doing my best to trudge through the tasks laid before me.  Hopefully, nobody will spring some brand new, must-complete-now surprise on me today.  Sweet merciful gods, let there be peace.

Just before my lucidity gave way to illness, I installed City of Villains.  Please note that I did not say I played City of Villains.  Installing the software became as onerous and time-consuming a task as any I’ve been presented in attempting to play a game.  Indeed, I think that the game’s installation may have been a clever extension of the theme of the game itself.  Perhaps the designers so wanted to convey the villainy that their product represents that they decided to instill evil into the very installation process.  Or, perhaps the designers are of a much more righteous bent and decided that the player needed to be punished beforehand for the evil thaty they would inevitably perform in the game.  Whatever the reason, the end result was that it took several hours to install the game.  Afterwards, there was very little opportunity to play before going to bed.

In the midst of my sickness, I decided to try to entertain myself into health.  So, I logged into City of Villains and created a being known as Radioite.  As is often the case these days, Radioite derives his powers from the miracles of radioactivity.  Using armor inspired by insects – which seem able to withstand remarkable levels of radioactivity – Radioite purposefully exposed himself to the forces which he now controls, bringing himself great destructive power and resiliency.

Just after his creation, I once again submitted to the will of the plague and returned to bed.

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.
-- Hippocrates