Goodness me, wonderful weekend! Jared and I have been making the most of his visit, running around seeing friends and doing things. Saturday was mostly spent trying to hang out with people. We had a great lunch with a bunch of our undergrad friends in Usdan during the day, and a dinner with a different group at night. God, I wanted to invite everyone I knew to this dinner so they could hang with Jared, but sadly it's tough to host more than ten at a time at Elsinore. This is a primary reason I am endeavoring to have a rotating guest list. But being limited to ten was a real shame, especially because of how fantastic the dinner was.
Last week sometime, you see, I was struck with an idea of culinary genius. I would make a meal consisting entirely of different toppings for crostini. I would toast a big old basket of bread, and make three different kinds of spread to eat on top of it in whatever combination the guests pleased. I roasted eggplants for eggplant caviar with carmelized onion and toasted walnuts, I chopped up tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese for a caprese, and sauteed mushrooms, leeks, and shallots in marsala wine for duxelles. I was particularly proud of the last one, because I changed the recipe I was using to include the marsala reduction, which I think improved it vastly, as well as pureeing it at the end. It's only recently that I've felt confident enough in my culinary knowledge to alter recipes, so I'm really pleased. Also, I tried a slightly experimental service option. I gathered up my rather large collection of ramekins (recently joined in the cabinet by a couple brought my Charlotte) and divided the various toppings between them, and had them placed one each of them at various intervals across the table. This made it so all the guests had easy access to a small amount of each spread, and everyone had knives and spoons with which to spread the deliciousness. The lovely guests brought amazing spreads as well-- garden-fresh-tomato puttanesca and roasted garlic and white bean from captainecchi* and electric_d_monk*, hummus from morethings5*, tapenade from in_water_writ*, and sweet potato-carrot from lightgamer*, all unique, all delicious. I am going to give this experimental dinner style a big thumbs up, and I will certainly be doing it again soon.
Sunday Jared and I went with April to acousticshadow2*'s new larp, Nepenthe a Surcease of Sorrow. It ran at WPI, and EB lent me a wedding dress for my costume. I painted my face with white greasepaint and wandered around with the air of a broken little girl whose sanity has gone just a little over the edge. The larp reminded me in many ways of Alice, a gothic game with strong literary roots-- as a big Poe fan, I was pleased by many of the references --but a lot of the darkness in it was kind of over-the-top, which gave the game much more of a "pulp" and "melodrama" feel as opposed to that of "tragedy." Given the connection with Poe, tonally that is fitting. We all had fun, and I encouraged EB to bid it for Festival this year.
Jared will be leaving this afternoon, leaving Boston and leaving me bereft. I am always so sorry to see the end of his visits, but as always I must just look forward to the next one. It's been wonderful having him here again, so I will try to let that carry my spirits.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Jane at Elsinore, and on entertaining
Jared gets in today! I'm so excited. I will be picking him up from the airport around five-thirty, and then we will go out for a dinner at a nice Italian place in the (surprisingly close nearby) North End, followed by coming to BSCF. We should probably be there around eight o'clock and staying for the rest of the evening, for those of you who would like to see the boy while he's in town.
In housemate news, we now have a Jane at Elsinore! She got in around the middle of the day yesterday, and with her arrival, the place is now complete. I hope she is settling in comfortably, and enjoys living there with us. I'm glad to have her, and I'm also glad that things will finally be able to settle. It's looking like Elsinore's going to be a pretty fun place to be now.
Which brings me to the thought of how, especially lately, Elsinore has been a favorite hangout spot. This pleases me, because I love entertaining. One of the best things, in my opinion, about living at Elsinore is that there is the kitchen and living room space necessary to have people over to do things like hang out, have gaming gatherings, and my very favorite form of socialization, the dinner party.
Cooking has become a major hobby of mine as well as something I've gotten kind of good at, so it gives me a lot of job to be able to share it with the special people in my life. I very much have internalized the notion that food is love. By going to the time and effort to cook something delicious to serve to people I care about, I am showing the love I have for my guests and my desire to make them happy. I also love food as a social lubricant. Some of the best and most comfortable conversations I've had with large groups of people have happened over a dinner table sharing a tasty meal. It's so easy to connect with each other that way-- I suspect that it is because of this that so much of human ritual, ceremony, and celebration incorporates people eating together as a major aspect.
It also enormously helps my development as a cook. As much as I enjoy cooking for its own sake, like pretty much everyone I find it much more worthwhile to cook for a large group. It feels like a greater return on the effort. And I like the challenges it offers me as a menu planner. What meal can I design that will appeal to everyone's tastes, and satisfy the requirements of the vegetarians, the carnivores, the kosher people, all on the same plate? I like serving lots of different things to my guests, so it keeps me looking for new dishes to try in order to keep the menu interesting. And then I get external feedback. Are things cooked to your liking? Do the flavors of a given dish go well together? Do you find the various dishes I picked for the meal to be complementary? What did I do well, and what should I change for next time? I want to improve as a cook, so I am really interested in varied sources of feedback, and I certainly love talking about cookery and food, so the discussion is interesting as well as useful to me. And of course there's the validation factor-- I love getting compliments on what I serve! So basically having people over is a perfect combination of my favorite things, good food, good friends, and compliments. No wonder I love throwing parties!
In housemate news, we now have a Jane at Elsinore! She got in around the middle of the day yesterday, and with her arrival, the place is now complete. I hope she is settling in comfortably, and enjoys living there with us. I'm glad to have her, and I'm also glad that things will finally be able to settle. It's looking like Elsinore's going to be a pretty fun place to be now.
Which brings me to the thought of how, especially lately, Elsinore has been a favorite hangout spot. This pleases me, because I love entertaining. One of the best things, in my opinion, about living at Elsinore is that there is the kitchen and living room space necessary to have people over to do things like hang out, have gaming gatherings, and my very favorite form of socialization, the dinner party.
Cooking has become a major hobby of mine as well as something I've gotten kind of good at, so it gives me a lot of job to be able to share it with the special people in my life. I very much have internalized the notion that food is love. By going to the time and effort to cook something delicious to serve to people I care about, I am showing the love I have for my guests and my desire to make them happy. I also love food as a social lubricant. Some of the best and most comfortable conversations I've had with large groups of people have happened over a dinner table sharing a tasty meal. It's so easy to connect with each other that way-- I suspect that it is because of this that so much of human ritual, ceremony, and celebration incorporates people eating together as a major aspect.
It also enormously helps my development as a cook. As much as I enjoy cooking for its own sake, like pretty much everyone I find it much more worthwhile to cook for a large group. It feels like a greater return on the effort. And I like the challenges it offers me as a menu planner. What meal can I design that will appeal to everyone's tastes, and satisfy the requirements of the vegetarians, the carnivores, the kosher people, all on the same plate? I like serving lots of different things to my guests, so it keeps me looking for new dishes to try in order to keep the menu interesting. And then I get external feedback. Are things cooked to your liking? Do the flavors of a given dish go well together? Do you find the various dishes I picked for the meal to be complementary? What did I do well, and what should I change for next time? I want to improve as a cook, so I am really interested in varied sources of feedback, and I certainly love talking about cookery and food, so the discussion is interesting as well as useful to me. And of course there's the validation factor-- I love getting compliments on what I serve! So basically having people over is a perfect combination of my favorite things, good food, good friends, and compliments. No wonder I love throwing parties!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Charlotte, arrived!
Elsinore is now in possession of a Charlotte! She arrived in the afternoon yesterday, and despite the rain we managed to get her things into the house safely. Spending time with her as she got her things in order was very nice; I am feeling really good about having her as a roommate. Jane, as it turns out, will not be getting in until midday today, and with any luck I will be home from work in time to help her out as well.
It turned out to be a good day for socialization, something I have not had overmuch of in the last several weeks. After all of Charlotte's things were brought into the rooms in which they will be stored, I spent a lovely evening hanging out with at various points Charlotte, Steph, Caitlin, Emily, Plesser, and Plesser's younger brother Ben (newly arrived as a student at Brandeis) as Charlotte arranged her bedroom. The Plessers arrived after I offered to feed them when they went to a dining hall and found it closed. I made them open-faced burger sandwiches, due to my abundance of the mail-order burgers sent to me by my dad, but at the time having only one bun. While having to pull a dinner out of thin air on a moment's notice is not a challenge I'd like to face every day, I am flattered that they thought of me as somebody who could be relied upon when they needed to be taken care of. It was a lovely evening of chill, low-key socializing, which I enjoyed very much. Goodness me, how I missed these people.
As a side note, I'm very tired of the rain. It has been raining for days. I dislike such weather; it makes me inclined to hole up in a warm dry place such as my bedroom and not emerge until the deluge has passed. The one advantage is that today was the first day I got to wear my smashing new leather trenchcoat that I got off of eBay. Between the coat, my knee-high boots, my shoulder bag, and my belt, I am simply armored in leather today, and I like it! Makes me feel dangerous.
It turned out to be a good day for socialization, something I have not had overmuch of in the last several weeks. After all of Charlotte's things were brought into the rooms in which they will be stored, I spent a lovely evening hanging out with at various points Charlotte, Steph, Caitlin, Emily, Plesser, and Plesser's younger brother Ben (newly arrived as a student at Brandeis) as Charlotte arranged her bedroom. The Plessers arrived after I offered to feed them when they went to a dining hall and found it closed. I made them open-faced burger sandwiches, due to my abundance of the mail-order burgers sent to me by my dad, but at the time having only one bun. While having to pull a dinner out of thin air on a moment's notice is not a challenge I'd like to face every day, I am flattered that they thought of me as somebody who could be relied upon when they needed to be taken care of. It was a lovely evening of chill, low-key socializing, which I enjoyed very much. Goodness me, how I missed these people.
As a side note, I'm very tired of the rain. It has been raining for days. I dislike such weather; it makes me inclined to hole up in a warm dry place such as my bedroom and not emerge until the deluge has passed. The one advantage is that today was the first day I got to wear my smashing new leather trenchcoat that I got off of eBay. Between the coat, my knee-high boots, my shoulder bag, and my belt, I am simply armored in leather today, and I like it! Makes me feel dangerous.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Feminism PSA
Just a little heads up to everyone that might be wondering, sparked in part by a recent experience of blendedchaitea*.
You may be, at some point in your life, placed in a position where you are forced to ask yourself if you really are doing feminism right. To this I say, simply ask yourself-- do you believe in the inherent value equality of men and women?
Yes? Then you're not a bad feminist.
Insofar as "good" and "bad" even enter into it, I feel like if you do the things that feminists do, then you're doing it "right."
What do feminists do? They believe in the inherent value equality of men and women. Therefore, things that enter into the definition of "good feminist": believing, supporting, agreeing with, et cetera, the concept of the inherent value equality of men and women.
Things that do not enter into the definition of "good feminist": your gender, your sexual orientation, your religion, your nationality, your economic status, your ethnic background, your education, what you do for a living, your aesthetic preferences, your political views, the jokes you laugh at, your diet, what you do for fun, how much sex you have, the media you consume, and a whole host of other things.
"Good feminists" don't need degrees in gender studies. They don't need to have read Stein or Faludi or Dworkin or anyone else. You don't need to stage protests, write letters, go to rallies. You don't have to hate men, be attracted to girls, shave your head, or stop shaving your legs. You don't need to apply the goddamn Bechdel Test before you see a movie or watch a TV show. You don't need to view every single social injustice, perpretrated against women or otherwise, as a personal assault, and if you do, you don't need to hate anyone else who doesn't.
Until and unless one of those things necessarily makes you cease to believe in the inherent value equality of men and women, none of those things are any indication of whether or not you are a bad feminist.
Until and unless you stop believing this, nobody in the world gets to tell you "FEMINISM: UR DOIN IT RONG."
You may be, at some point in your life, placed in a position where you are forced to ask yourself if you really are doing feminism right. To this I say, simply ask yourself-- do you believe in the inherent value equality of men and women?
Yes? Then you're not a bad feminist.
Insofar as "good" and "bad" even enter into it, I feel like if you do the things that feminists do, then you're doing it "right."
What do feminists do? They believe in the inherent value equality of men and women. Therefore, things that enter into the definition of "good feminist": believing, supporting, agreeing with, et cetera, the concept of the inherent value equality of men and women.
Things that do not enter into the definition of "good feminist": your gender, your sexual orientation, your religion, your nationality, your economic status, your ethnic background, your education, what you do for a living, your aesthetic preferences, your political views, the jokes you laugh at, your diet, what you do for fun, how much sex you have, the media you consume, and a whole host of other things.
"Good feminists" don't need degrees in gender studies. They don't need to have read Stein or Faludi or Dworkin or anyone else. You don't need to stage protests, write letters, go to rallies. You don't have to hate men, be attracted to girls, shave your head, or stop shaving your legs. You don't need to apply the goddamn Bechdel Test before you see a movie or watch a TV show. You don't need to view every single social injustice, perpretrated against women or otherwise, as a personal assault, and if you do, you don't need to hate anyone else who doesn't.
Until and unless one of those things necessarily makes you cease to believe in the inherent value equality of men and women, none of those things are any indication of whether or not you are a bad feminist.
Until and unless you stop believing this, nobody in the world gets to tell you "FEMINISM: UR DOIN IT RONG."
The Great Move-en-ing, and Jared visit!
Several things to report on, but most importantly, Jared is going to be in town! He is coming to visit from Thursday to Monday, and I'm hoping people will be around so that he can see them at some point during that time. Plans are not totally settled yet, but after I pick him up from the airport on Thursday we will be grabbing dinner in Boston downtown, and then heading to BSCF where I'm hoping for a lovely evening of gaming with friends. Yay! So excited.
The Great Move-en-ing has commence, though less smoothly than I would have liked. Our landlord said we were going to have a cleaning person come in yesterday to do the place from top to bottom (for which a substantial chunk was taken out of our security deposits, grumble grumble) but then the person never showed up. I am incredibly irritated, as we all went out of our way to get the house straightened up for it, and because blendedchaitea* was out of town when it was supposed to happen, I even packed up her stuff for her so it would be cleared away in time. I was happy to help out, but I felt awkward just going through her things, and was really nervous that I would be inconveniencing her because she wouldn't know where I put everything. I called the landlord yesterday to ask what was up but didn't get a hold of him. Sigh. I'll have to try again today, as I was really hoping this would be done before aurora_knight* and nennivian* got here.
Yesterday I also went over to grad to help Plesser and Marissa move in. I finally got to see what the newly remodeled inside of grad looks like. It's actually quite nice, with all the walls and ceilings redone, and all new fixtures and appliances in the kitchen and bathroom. Grad is actually a decent place to live now, but of course, only now that Jared's moved out and I no longer spend half of my nights there. :-P There wasn't actually a ton of work to be done-- there were so many of us that the actual moving of stuff took like two trips --but I'm glad I made the effort. Plesser was in a rather nasty car accident lately, and though he's mostly all right, thank God, he still has blood in his eyes that make him look rather demonic, and isn't supposed to exert himself for the time being. He and Marissa have a two-person grad with a common room, which is quite nice, except that the common-room furniture that Brandeis had hitherto provided was not present. Since they moved in early, it may be that the school just won't deliver it until the last moment, but there is a possibility that they just don't provide it anymore. Which is pretty silly, in my opinion-- why wouldn't they just keep offering the stuff they've been offering in previous years? Oh, Brandeis, what a pain you can be, but I hope Jonathan and Marissa are comfortable there.
So I am preparing myself to make plans with Jared, and help Charlotte and Jane move in on Tuesday. And, if all goes according to plan, I will be seeing katiescarlett29* tonight! I have missed her so, and she's finally back in town. So I am certainly set for occupation and social interaction this week, not least of all with Jared!
The Great Move-en-ing has commence, though less smoothly than I would have liked. Our landlord said we were going to have a cleaning person come in yesterday to do the place from top to bottom (for which a substantial chunk was taken out of our security deposits, grumble grumble) but then the person never showed up. I am incredibly irritated, as we all went out of our way to get the house straightened up for it, and because blendedchaitea* was out of town when it was supposed to happen, I even packed up her stuff for her so it would be cleared away in time. I was happy to help out, but I felt awkward just going through her things, and was really nervous that I would be inconveniencing her because she wouldn't know where I put everything. I called the landlord yesterday to ask what was up but didn't get a hold of him. Sigh. I'll have to try again today, as I was really hoping this would be done before aurora_knight* and nennivian* got here.
Yesterday I also went over to grad to help Plesser and Marissa move in. I finally got to see what the newly remodeled inside of grad looks like. It's actually quite nice, with all the walls and ceilings redone, and all new fixtures and appliances in the kitchen and bathroom. Grad is actually a decent place to live now, but of course, only now that Jared's moved out and I no longer spend half of my nights there. :-P There wasn't actually a ton of work to be done-- there were so many of us that the actual moving of stuff took like two trips --but I'm glad I made the effort. Plesser was in a rather nasty car accident lately, and though he's mostly all right, thank God, he still has blood in his eyes that make him look rather demonic, and isn't supposed to exert himself for the time being. He and Marissa have a two-person grad with a common room, which is quite nice, except that the common-room furniture that Brandeis had hitherto provided was not present. Since they moved in early, it may be that the school just won't deliver it until the last moment, but there is a possibility that they just don't provide it anymore. Which is pretty silly, in my opinion-- why wouldn't they just keep offering the stuff they've been offering in previous years? Oh, Brandeis, what a pain you can be, but I hope Jonathan and Marissa are comfortable there.
So I am preparing myself to make plans with Jared, and help Charlotte and Jane move in on Tuesday. And, if all goes according to plan, I will be seeing katiescarlett29* tonight! I have missed her so, and she's finally back in town. So I am certainly set for occupation and social interaction this week, not least of all with Jared!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Casey's 21st birthday
Happy birthday to my dear baby brother Casey, who today is a nice and legal twenty-one. Try not to drink yourself blind, brother dear.
I always liked this picture.
I always liked this picture.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen
Borrowed "Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen," from a coworker and am thus far finding it an engaging and informative read. I always have liked his philosophy of optimizing for quality and multi-utility so that you focus on buying as few items as possible to get the only pieces that do the best and most varied jobs. I very much approve of his ban on unitaskers. I've been curious about this book because if I have one criticism with the way gear is presented on the show is with the assumption that you want your kitchen prepared for every possible cooking eventuality and plan to stock accordingly. But of course the home cook is obviously not going to be making everything, at least not on a regular basis, due to individual tastes. I certainly don't fault the show for this-- they can't possibly know what every viewer is interested in and there's no other way to present such a wide variety of dishes, techniques, and ingredients --but I was curious how the book would approach that problem. Say, for example, I am much more of a cook than a baker-- what pieces of bakeware are useful for me? Or maybe, I don't plan on making a certain kind of dish enough to warrant certain special pieces, is there something less optimal but more versatile that I can sub in instead?
I am pleased to find that the book does attempt to reconcile optimization with necessity. He will say what the best of everything is, but he also acknowledged when you only need an item for very specific things, or what the absolute kitchen necessities are if you only plan on acquiring a few things. He also details all the important features of your various tools, such as the qualities of various materials. His chapter on pots and pans is awesome, and the one about knives is particularly excellent. He also recommends tracking how frequently you use each of the tools you already have and how well they work, in order to determine what is important to you, what is useless to you, and what is insufficient for its task. This lets you figure out what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to replace. I would love to run such a trial myself. All in all, the book is a more detailed, more intensive version of the sort of information they present on the TV show, but, as I hoped, with more of a mind to how you figure out what you really need in your own personal kitchen.
I am pleased to find that the book does attempt to reconcile optimization with necessity. He will say what the best of everything is, but he also acknowledged when you only need an item for very specific things, or what the absolute kitchen necessities are if you only plan on acquiring a few things. He also details all the important features of your various tools, such as the qualities of various materials. His chapter on pots and pans is awesome, and the one about knives is particularly excellent. He also recommends tracking how frequently you use each of the tools you already have and how well they work, in order to determine what is important to you, what is useless to you, and what is insufficient for its task. This lets you figure out what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to replace. I would love to run such a trial myself. All in all, the book is a more detailed, more intensive version of the sort of information they present on the TV show, but, as I hoped, with more of a mind to how you figure out what you really need in your own personal kitchen.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
New weird sleep pattern
My sleeping patterns just won't seem to settle into what I want for my twenty-something working life. I am no longer obnoxiously sleeping from sundown to sunup the way I was for a while there, thankfully, but now my sleep patterns have discovered a new weirdness. I am very prone to midday naps from which I wake with something that feels like a dehydration headache, and I consistently hit a hard energy crash around nine or ten at night that threatens to drag me off to sleep. I really, really don't want to fall back into that absurdly early sleep schedule. The weird thing is, if I push through this crash I usually shake off the extreme sleepiness by eleven or midnight, and can stay up comfortably until about one or so, but it's very tough to not let myself just pass out when that heaviness hits. I really dislike being so controlled by my sleep schedule, especially since most days I tend to get a decent seven hours a night. It's so frustrating because I've always been such a healthy person with comfortably regular habits until the last year or so.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
My resolutions
For the record, the list of things I have resolved myself to in the hopes of self-betterment:
- work out six days a week
- treat my face with cleanser and moisturizer every night
- take proper care of my skin
- stay hydrated
- use only reuseable shopping bags
- buy less meat
- maintain more than my self-mandated minimum in my savings account at all times
- stop biting my nails
- never wear schlubby clothes
- do not waste money on low-quality purchases
- reduce waste output
- plan meals and grocery trips in advance
- drive less and walk more
- consume minimal junk food
I will check my progress on this in a little while.
- work out six days a week
- treat my face with cleanser and moisturizer every night
- take proper care of my skin
- stay hydrated
- use only reuseable shopping bags
- buy less meat
- maintain more than my self-mandated minimum in my savings account at all times
- stop biting my nails
- never wear schlubby clothes
- do not waste money on low-quality purchases
- reduce waste output
- plan meals and grocery trips in advance
- drive less and walk more
- consume minimal junk food
I will check my progress on this in a little while.
Friends moving in, friends moving out
Another thing I did this past weekend was help blendedchaitea* dye her hair. She had this charming-looking bowl of mushy greeny-brown paste that apparently is how one prepares henna for use in dying, and after plonking her in the bathtub we proceeded to work this mess into all of her very long hair. Then, once she was thoroughly be-mudded, I am not joking when I say that we wrapped her head in plastic wrap before we swaddled it in a towel. I had no idea that was what dyeing with henna entailed. It was a messy process, and she had to be awkwardly bent over the entire time. But she amused me to no end by saying, "See, I knew you were the right person to ask about this, because you understand that beauty is pain!" That I do, my dear, that I do. :-) Her hair is now a lovely auburn, with some lighter redder streaks toward the front. I think it suits her.
Move in day at Brandeis is fast approaching a week from today, so soon Rachel will be leaving Elsinore to move into her new dorm, and nennivian* and aurora_knight* will be taking up residence with us. I am sorry to see Rachel go, as the current arrangement of people has been more pleasant for me that it's been in a long time, but I am confident that Charlotte and Jane will make things just as nice. It is odd for me to be so optimistic about a roommate situation, but I am actually looking forward to having them. :-) How's that for growth and progress, eh? I am planning on making myself as available as possible to help Rachel pack and move out and Charlotte and Jane move in, in hopes of making things a little smoother. Hopefully the leaving and entering will be staggered enough that people aren't running into each other.
Move in day at Brandeis is fast approaching a week from today, so soon Rachel will be leaving Elsinore to move into her new dorm, and nennivian* and aurora_knight* will be taking up residence with us. I am sorry to see Rachel go, as the current arrangement of people has been more pleasant for me that it's been in a long time, but I am confident that Charlotte and Jane will make things just as nice. It is odd for me to be so optimistic about a roommate situation, but I am actually looking forward to having them. :-) How's that for growth and progress, eh? I am planning on making myself as available as possible to help Rachel pack and move out and Charlotte and Jane move in, in hopes of making things a little smoother. Hopefully the leaving and entering will be staggered enough that people aren't running into each other.
Monday, August 16, 2010
MR. AND MRS. GIANT TURKEY
Had a productive weekend, I am pleased to say. This past weekend was the first I've had in a month that wasn't totally committed, so I used the much-needed free time to do whatever I needed or wanted to. Spent a lovely Saturday getting my hair cut and hanging out with friends playing games at the house. Sunday was devoted to chores. The house has been in need of a good cleaning for a while now, and I took care of some things that probably don't get done regularly enough, like polishing the wood and scrubbing the grout in the shower. I am proud of my hard work. This evening I finally got around to parking the mini-fridge in my bedroom out on the back porch to let it defrost. The tiny little freezer compartment has over time become consumed with frost, which is now encroaching on the rest of the space, so it's high time that got taken care of.
Also washed my hair for the first time after the new cut. As I predicted, negotiating where to part it such that my new sideswept bangs lay properly is proving tougher than I would have liked. The place I customarily parted it doesn't quite distribute them the way the stylist had them. It doesn't look bad that way, but I liked the new way too, and I want to figure out how to execute that look on my own if I so choose. I'll have to mess with it some more.
On a final note, on my way home from the gym today I came across two of the biggest turkeys I have ever seen walking around as I went down South Street. I noticed them because a fellow runner had stopped to take pictures of them, so I whipped out my phone and happily snapped a few shots of my own.
Meet MR. AND MRS. GIANT TURKEY.
PLEASED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE.
Though there are quite a few of this sort of bird hereabouts, and I always greet such a sight with a delighted cry of "TUR-keys!" these two were particularly remarkable because they are so big and so flashy-looking that I'd swear they weren't the regular old wild birds you usually see around here. They look to me like they were domestic turkeys escaped from somebody's farm. If so, I wonder how they got there, and what's going to become of them. Quite a surprising sight, and one that made me very happy to come upon.
Also washed my hair for the first time after the new cut. As I predicted, negotiating where to part it such that my new sideswept bangs lay properly is proving tougher than I would have liked. The place I customarily parted it doesn't quite distribute them the way the stylist had them. It doesn't look bad that way, but I liked the new way too, and I want to figure out how to execute that look on my own if I so choose. I'll have to mess with it some more.
On a final note, on my way home from the gym today I came across two of the biggest turkeys I have ever seen walking around as I went down South Street. I noticed them because a fellow runner had stopped to take pictures of them, so I whipped out my phone and happily snapped a few shots of my own.
Meet MR. AND MRS. GIANT TURKEY.
PLEASED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE.
Though there are quite a few of this sort of bird hereabouts, and I always greet such a sight with a delighted cry of "TUR-keys!" these two were particularly remarkable because they are so big and so flashy-looking that I'd swear they weren't the regular old wild birds you usually see around here. They look to me like they were domestic turkeys escaped from somebody's farm. If so, I wonder how they got there, and what's going to become of them. Quite a surprising sight, and one that made me very happy to come upon.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Weird dream of home
I have been having a recurring dream lately-- remarkable if only because I very, very rarely remember my dreams --about going home to my parents' house. Though I don't realize it, In the dream the house is more like an elegantly-decorated home-themed Mario level than a real house. It's hard to describe, but it's is enormous, with all the structures massively oversized and soaring into the sky, with weird fancy automated functions involving lights and conveniences and things like that. And all the trappings are very elegant, even opulent. Usually in the dream the only thing that registers on me is how nice it is-- in real life, my parents' house is remarkably nice and tastefully appointed. I think I'm going up the enormous, skyscraper stairs trying to find my dad. But this most recent time it was different. The house was the same as in previous iterations, but my brother was there as well. And with him came the awareness was this was not the house the way we'd grown up with it-- it was different and strange, as if they'd changed it, in a remodel or upgrade or something. And Casey was saying to me, "I don't like it here anymore. The changes are all wrong. I don't want to come back here anymore." And then suddenly the house was scary and uncomfortable. I was no longer able to climb the massive moving stairs to get to the highest level in the sky, and suddenly I was afraid of falling. All the automated pieces were dangerous and over-the-top. The hosue didn't seem nice anymore, but too big, overdone, uncomfortable, inaccessable, even likely to hurt me. And I became very acutely aware of the fact, which I guess was consistent from both dreams, that I was unable to find my dad.
My nap today was the first time I'd ever had that version of this dream. I'm not really a believer that dreams have a lot of meaning beyond being random things that happen to be in your brain expressing themselves in weird ways. But I am curious about what brought about the shift in tone of a dream I've already had one rather innocuous way several times.
My nap today was the first time I'd ever had that version of this dream. I'm not really a believer that dreams have a lot of meaning beyond being random things that happen to be in your brain expressing themselves in weird ways. But I am curious about what brought about the shift in tone of a dream I've already had one rather innocuous way several times.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
New haircut-- actually different this time!
Finally got my hair cut today, after needing one for quite some time. My last one was right before the To Think of Nothing readthrough, all the way back in January. Way too long. So I went today, and while I was waiting, I decided to try something I've been considering for a long time but have been too timid to ask for. It's not a big alteration, but I'm vain enough that even a small unflattering detail would be distressing to me. But while I was requesting a retouching of my layers, I actually got up the courage to ask to have little sideswept bangs cut that would stay out of a ponytail and give a little framing and definition to my face when I have my hair up.
I think I am pleased with the results. Pardon the badly-lit phone-shot photograph taken in a restaurant bathroom.
See, not that different from my normal cut this way. I like that. But when I put my hair up...
See the bangs now? I like the added interest and definition. And now the pointy miniscule quality of my little pinhead is deemphasized! Yay!
It may end up driving me crazy to always have that on my face, and I'm also a little worried that my hair will not naturally want to part in a place that suits the bangs, but I think I like things. And I'm proud of myself for gathering up the courage to try something a little different. Baby steps, right?
I think I am pleased with the results. Pardon the badly-lit phone-shot photograph taken in a restaurant bathroom.
See, not that different from my normal cut this way. I like that. But when I put my hair up...
See the bangs now? I like the added interest and definition. And now the pointy miniscule quality of my little pinhead is deemphasized! Yay!
It may end up driving me crazy to always have that on my face, and I'm also a little worried that my hair will not naturally want to part in a place that suits the bangs, but I think I like things. And I'm proud of myself for gathering up the courage to try something a little different. Baby steps, right?
Friday, August 13, 2010
Addressing issues of ethnic makeup in The Stand
So I am working on my newest larp project, The Stand, and I am actually making a lot of progress. Trying to ride this wave of creativity while I can as far as I can. The Stand is a western, a cowboy game set very far north in California in the year 1848. One thing that came up for me recently in the writing process for this game is whether I have a realistic ethnic makeup among the characters in the cast. The group that it occurs to me that I am missing from my PC list is Chinese-American.
I'm kind of troubled by this. The immigrant Chinese made a huge contribution to early Californian history, and it's especially problematic to me because the non-white presence in the typical settings for cowboy stories is all too often ignored. Hell, at the time of my game, California had only just been annexed by the United States from Mexico. There were more than just white settlers out in cowboy land. And The Stand does have characters who are not only white but also Latino and American Indian, other peoples who did live in this part of northern Califonria in 1848.
But though I am interested in having that part of the history represented, I'm having a hard time finding a place for a Chinese presence. And I really hate forced political correctness. The ethnic characters I have already in the game I included because their inclusion felt natural to me. It makes sense to have, in a mid-nineteenth-century northern California frontier town, mostly white people with a smattering of those of Mexican or Native American extraction as well. I also have one black person because it makes a certain plotline possible. I'm just not really coming up with anything for this theoretical Chinese character to do. And I'm having a hard time envisioning any of the character I currently have as being Chinese instead.
And my game takes place right before the San Francisco gold rush. The railroad is still just an idea in the heads of some forward-thinking American businessmen and politicians. That means two big economic oppoturnities, gold mining and track laying, that drew the Chinese in large numbers to Califnoria have not really come into existence yet, especially not as far to the north of the territory as my setting is. It isn't really all unikely that at this time and place, there just wouldn't happen to be any Chinese immigrants.
So I am making the conscience decision now to not include a Chinese-American character in The Stand. I can't seem to find a place for one, I can't currently come up with a plotline for one, and I believe to say that there could reasonably not have been any present is not historically unjustifiable. I will not include a character that is not playable and well-rounded just for the sake of being politically correct. At the same time, I record this decision-making process here because I regret that I can't do something to portray a part of history that is so frequently omitted from storytelling. I do not do this out of ignorance, or of a desire to whitewash, but because I will not present compromised gameplay and story elements just to be racially diverse.
I'm kind of troubled by this. The immigrant Chinese made a huge contribution to early Californian history, and it's especially problematic to me because the non-white presence in the typical settings for cowboy stories is all too often ignored. Hell, at the time of my game, California had only just been annexed by the United States from Mexico. There were more than just white settlers out in cowboy land. And The Stand does have characters who are not only white but also Latino and American Indian, other peoples who did live in this part of northern Califonria in 1848.
But though I am interested in having that part of the history represented, I'm having a hard time finding a place for a Chinese presence. And I really hate forced political correctness. The ethnic characters I have already in the game I included because their inclusion felt natural to me. It makes sense to have, in a mid-nineteenth-century northern California frontier town, mostly white people with a smattering of those of Mexican or Native American extraction as well. I also have one black person because it makes a certain plotline possible. I'm just not really coming up with anything for this theoretical Chinese character to do. And I'm having a hard time envisioning any of the character I currently have as being Chinese instead.
And my game takes place right before the San Francisco gold rush. The railroad is still just an idea in the heads of some forward-thinking American businessmen and politicians. That means two big economic oppoturnities, gold mining and track laying, that drew the Chinese in large numbers to Califnoria have not really come into existence yet, especially not as far to the north of the territory as my setting is. It isn't really all unikely that at this time and place, there just wouldn't happen to be any Chinese immigrants.
So I am making the conscience decision now to not include a Chinese-American character in The Stand. I can't seem to find a place for one, I can't currently come up with a plotline for one, and I believe to say that there could reasonably not have been any present is not historically unjustifiable. I will not include a character that is not playable and well-rounded just for the sake of being politically correct. At the same time, I record this decision-making process here because I regret that I can't do something to portray a part of history that is so frequently omitted from storytelling. I do not do this out of ignorance, or of a desire to whitewash, but because I will not present compromised gameplay and story elements just to be racially diverse.
Steampunk night at T.T. the Bears?
Reposting from the interconlarp community:
...
KLOCKWERQ, a Steampunk Soiree, is this Sunday night (Aug 15, 8:30pm) at T.T. the Bears, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge MA.
KLOCKWERQ is a steam-powered, gear-driven, dance party and social event for the aetheric aristocracy. It's also the ONLY event of its kind in Massachusetts, and we'd love the support of the Steampunk community to get it off the ground. KLOCKWERQ has dancing, merchants, and more.
It's an 18+ event and admission is $10. We hope to see you there!
If you're on Facebook, please visit KLOCKWERQ EVENTS for more information!
...
Anyone interested in doing this? I'm not a hundred percent sure I am, I have been feeling kind of down recently and not all that up to going out, but I might be persuaded to do this if others were as well. I'm not even sure if I have anything appropriate to wear, but I'm curious to see what this event will be like, and I certainly like to support fun things like Steampunk events. Thoughts, anyone?
...
KLOCKWERQ, a Steampunk Soiree, is this Sunday night (Aug 15, 8:30pm) at T.T. the Bears, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge MA.
KLOCKWERQ is a steam-powered, gear-driven, dance party and social event for the aetheric aristocracy. It's also the ONLY event of its kind in Massachusetts, and we'd love the support of the Steampunk community to get it off the ground. KLOCKWERQ has dancing, merchants, and more.
It's an 18+ event and admission is $10. We hope to see you there!
If you're on Facebook, please visit KLOCKWERQ EVENTS for more information!
...
Anyone interested in doing this? I'm not a hundred percent sure I am, I have been feeling kind of down recently and not all that up to going out, but I might be persuaded to do this if others were as well. I'm not even sure if I have anything appropriate to wear, but I'm curious to see what this event will be like, and I certainly like to support fun things like Steampunk events. Thoughts, anyone?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
I hate imitation bags
I was wandering around a shopping center today while waiting for my car to get finished with its service appointment, and I came across a store selling a ton of bags imitating couture lines. The tacky prints obviously meant to look like the signature patterns of high-end retailers like Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi. I really dislike low-end bags that imitate the look of haute couture designs. Now it's not that I think ridiculously expensive obviously branded status bags are so superior to any other nice bag. Those are all about the statement that the label makes you cooler, or announces to the world how rich, powerful, and chic you are. Bullshit. Style comes from looks, know-how, and quality, not two enormous interlocking C's over quilted leather on display for everyone to notice. Give me a handsome, well-made genuine leather bag over an ostentatious sack in a gaudy signature print any day-- I despise the Coach carpet bag, or the hideous LV patterm, and the knockoffs thereof look even worse. Cheap imitations are trying to give the illusion of the status conferred, not trying to be quality and stylish accessories in their own right. There are perfectly gorgeous, tasteful, well-made, stylish, high-end bags out there that do not make you pay out the nose because of their obvious label. Now if somebody gave me a simple, elegant leather Prada handbag I would certainly not turn it down, but just because there's a trendy label doesn't make it a chic piece, and I certainly don't believe I need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to find it. Truly stylish people only need flattering, well-chosen clothes and accessories, not labels, to make them appear to their best advantage. Don't buy an imitation just because you think it will make you cool. Buy a quality bag that you like and compliments your style, and you will look so much more chic than with your not-quite-Fendi or Cha-not. :-P
Gothic larp needs two more male players!
On Sunday, August 29th, acousticshadow2* is running her newly written gothic larp, Nepenthe a Surcease of Sorrow, and still needs two more male players. It looks to be a very dark, twisted game with some very mature themes-- I know that the character I got in it is easily the most intense I've ever had. Jared and I will both be in it, so you'd have the chance to play with us. :-) The game will be happening in Worcester, so if you're coming from my area, we still have one or two seats left in our car and I'd be happy to give you a ride. Contact Emillybeth if you're interested, or drop me a line and I will put you in touch with her. Hope you can come out to play in this first run of a new gothic game!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Musing on learning about money
I have an unusual relationship with money, I think. My solid budgeting skills are at odds with my inclination to use money as a way to make things go more smoothly and with less trouble for myself. Over the last year I have had to confront this part of myself when suddenly I was forced to worry about something I'd never had to before.
I grew up in a house that was always financially comfortable. When I was a kid, my parents let me spend money pretty much however I wanted because I was not inclined to spend all that much of it anyway. I didn't buy stuff often at all, I didn't do anything all that expensive, so if I wanted to go out to dinner or a movie with friends or pick up a DVD I wanted, they were okay with giving me the cash. (They were a lot stricter with Casey, for whom the stuff burned a hole in his pocket.) When I was in high school, they only wanted me to focus on my schoolwork during the months in session, and though every summer I was required to have a job, it was more so that I had the experience of responsibility than because they wanted me to have my own money. So I do have a lot of the not-exactly-spoiled quality of a kid for whom money isn't something they throw around, but never has been anything to worry about.
Neither of my parents grew up with any money, so they have very strongly defined value-of-a-dollar notions. They were proud to pay my brother's and my college tuitions completely out of pocket as their gift to us, but they despise waste. They are also to varying degrees, my father much more so, stuff-averse-- a dislike of junk and and clutter that they passed on to me prevents any number of unnecessary small purchases. Related to this, however, is that fact that they tend to have high-quality tastes, which their comfortable financial situation makes viable. They are not buyers of things with any frequency, but when they do, those things will be quality, and with a price to match. So I grew up with the notion that money is not to be wasted, and yet certain things warranted real expenditure because the acquiring of junk was abhorrent. Maybe that doesn't sound like such a strange view to take, but let me tell you, it works a lot better when you're not on a tight budget.
I'm still learning as I go about balancing my very real need to economize with the reality of getting what you pay for. When you have a hard limit on the financial resources available to you, the need to not waste it is paramount. Especially when you are confronted with the realization that you have expensive tastes and never really had to think about it. Do you buy cheap because it saves money now, or do you spend more than is easily handled because it will last longer and work better, especially if I despise junk? What is the ultimate better value? How do I know that I'm using the money wisely?
I'm working on identifying ways I handle my finances that are beneficial, and where my problem areas are. Fortunately at the moment I don't have a lot of money pits in my life that put unnecessary drains on my budget. I dislike stuff in general, so it's rare that I desire to buy more physical items. I do not do "retail therapy," or the buying of stuff to make oneself feel better in a bad time. (Actually I tend to hate material things all the more when I'm down because I resent them more than usual for their hollowness.) Other than Coke, my one nutritional weakness, I don't buy snacks or treats. And I am very good at budgeting, thankfully. The one kind of math I've always had a knack for is accounting, so it is natural for me to lay out exact numbers of how much must be saved, how much must be earmarked for obligations, and how much remains to cover everything else. And of course, to prevent myself from exceeding the limits of those numbers. It always surprises me how many people I have for whom this is a lot tougher to get a handle on. If you keep an eye on how much you have, and decide how much of that is reasonable to spend in a given time period or for a given category of expense, is it really that hard to lose your place? I recently became the person who handles the bills at my house, and I was surprised to find how easy it was for me to pick it. The concept of bills has an intimidating-grownup-responsibility quality in my mind, so I guess I was expecting them to be a lot harder to get a handle on.
Of course, I've got some pretty deep-set notions that are not conducive to tight budgets. If I'm going to buy something, I want it to be a nice something, something I will like having around. Sometimes my budget just can't handle a single expensive purchase all at once. The stuff that appeals to me, unfortunately, tends to be expensive. Another thing that I suspect comes from my privileged-daddy's-girl upbringing is that my time has always been more valuable to me than my money, for well or for ill, so very often my first instinct when confronted with certain kinds of problems is to throw cash at them. Another thing that life on a budget is not suited for. And of course, the department in which I am absolutely the least economical is food. Good food is such a huge part of my life that the notion of it not being totally completely worth it whatever it costs is a very tough one for me to internalize. I eat a lot of meat, and it's hard to keep myself away from the delicious pricier cuts. I mostly stick to chicken, but I love and want all varieties of meat, and the also-economical pork is all too often not an option given who eats with me. I have managed to swear off veal and crab, but I admit to similar transgressions with tuna and steak. I do almost nothing that is canned or prepackaged. I always have this unfortunate habit picked up from my mom of not ever planning out a grocery trip for the week but instead shopping for dinner groceries the day I'm going to be cooking. It's fine for her, who doesn't need to budget ahead of time, but it's very inefficient for me.
I am going to work on this stuff. The fact that I have to make a budget, and allocate chunks of it, helps a lot, and keeps me mindful of where the dollars go. Awareness is a big part of the battle. And at least I'm cooking for myself at home rather than going out all the time. The better a cook I become, the less interested I am in low-end restaurants because I find my food so much more satisfying. If cooking at home is tastier to me, more fun for me, and on top of it all more economically, money blown at lousy restaurants is significantly reduced. I think the next challenge I need to give myself is to see if I can plan like a week's worth of meals at once. So I figure if I keep paying attention and keep making an effort, I'll learn how to get a handle on this very grownup thing. And you all know how daunted I am by grownup things. ;-)
I grew up in a house that was always financially comfortable. When I was a kid, my parents let me spend money pretty much however I wanted because I was not inclined to spend all that much of it anyway. I didn't buy stuff often at all, I didn't do anything all that expensive, so if I wanted to go out to dinner or a movie with friends or pick up a DVD I wanted, they were okay with giving me the cash. (They were a lot stricter with Casey, for whom the stuff burned a hole in his pocket.) When I was in high school, they only wanted me to focus on my schoolwork during the months in session, and though every summer I was required to have a job, it was more so that I had the experience of responsibility than because they wanted me to have my own money. So I do have a lot of the not-exactly-spoiled quality of a kid for whom money isn't something they throw around, but never has been anything to worry about.
Neither of my parents grew up with any money, so they have very strongly defined value-of-a-dollar notions. They were proud to pay my brother's and my college tuitions completely out of pocket as their gift to us, but they despise waste. They are also to varying degrees, my father much more so, stuff-averse-- a dislike of junk and and clutter that they passed on to me prevents any number of unnecessary small purchases. Related to this, however, is that fact that they tend to have high-quality tastes, which their comfortable financial situation makes viable. They are not buyers of things with any frequency, but when they do, those things will be quality, and with a price to match. So I grew up with the notion that money is not to be wasted, and yet certain things warranted real expenditure because the acquiring of junk was abhorrent. Maybe that doesn't sound like such a strange view to take, but let me tell you, it works a lot better when you're not on a tight budget.
I'm still learning as I go about balancing my very real need to economize with the reality of getting what you pay for. When you have a hard limit on the financial resources available to you, the need to not waste it is paramount. Especially when you are confronted with the realization that you have expensive tastes and never really had to think about it. Do you buy cheap because it saves money now, or do you spend more than is easily handled because it will last longer and work better, especially if I despise junk? What is the ultimate better value? How do I know that I'm using the money wisely?
I'm working on identifying ways I handle my finances that are beneficial, and where my problem areas are. Fortunately at the moment I don't have a lot of money pits in my life that put unnecessary drains on my budget. I dislike stuff in general, so it's rare that I desire to buy more physical items. I do not do "retail therapy," or the buying of stuff to make oneself feel better in a bad time. (Actually I tend to hate material things all the more when I'm down because I resent them more than usual for their hollowness.) Other than Coke, my one nutritional weakness, I don't buy snacks or treats. And I am very good at budgeting, thankfully. The one kind of math I've always had a knack for is accounting, so it is natural for me to lay out exact numbers of how much must be saved, how much must be earmarked for obligations, and how much remains to cover everything else. And of course, to prevent myself from exceeding the limits of those numbers. It always surprises me how many people I have for whom this is a lot tougher to get a handle on. If you keep an eye on how much you have, and decide how much of that is reasonable to spend in a given time period or for a given category of expense, is it really that hard to lose your place? I recently became the person who handles the bills at my house, and I was surprised to find how easy it was for me to pick it. The concept of bills has an intimidating-grownup-responsibility quality in my mind, so I guess I was expecting them to be a lot harder to get a handle on.
Of course, I've got some pretty deep-set notions that are not conducive to tight budgets. If I'm going to buy something, I want it to be a nice something, something I will like having around. Sometimes my budget just can't handle a single expensive purchase all at once. The stuff that appeals to me, unfortunately, tends to be expensive. Another thing that I suspect comes from my privileged-daddy's-girl upbringing is that my time has always been more valuable to me than my money, for well or for ill, so very often my first instinct when confronted with certain kinds of problems is to throw cash at them. Another thing that life on a budget is not suited for. And of course, the department in which I am absolutely the least economical is food. Good food is such a huge part of my life that the notion of it not being totally completely worth it whatever it costs is a very tough one for me to internalize. I eat a lot of meat, and it's hard to keep myself away from the delicious pricier cuts. I mostly stick to chicken, but I love and want all varieties of meat, and the also-economical pork is all too often not an option given who eats with me. I have managed to swear off veal and crab, but I admit to similar transgressions with tuna and steak. I do almost nothing that is canned or prepackaged. I always have this unfortunate habit picked up from my mom of not ever planning out a grocery trip for the week but instead shopping for dinner groceries the day I'm going to be cooking. It's fine for her, who doesn't need to budget ahead of time, but it's very inefficient for me.
I am going to work on this stuff. The fact that I have to make a budget, and allocate chunks of it, helps a lot, and keeps me mindful of where the dollars go. Awareness is a big part of the battle. And at least I'm cooking for myself at home rather than going out all the time. The better a cook I become, the less interested I am in low-end restaurants because I find my food so much more satisfying. If cooking at home is tastier to me, more fun for me, and on top of it all more economically, money blown at lousy restaurants is significantly reduced. I think the next challenge I need to give myself is to see if I can plan like a week's worth of meals at once. So I figure if I keep paying attention and keep making an effort, I'll learn how to get a handle on this very grownup thing. And you all know how daunted I am by grownup things. ;-)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Intercon lineup impressions
Since mllelaurel* and offside7* did this, I am inspired to write out my own first impressions of the games on the current Intercon lineup.
The Ducetown Diner - Doesn't jump out at me. MacDougal games tend to be hit or miss for me.
10 Bad Larps: C-Section - The 10 Bad series is hilarious, but I tend to prefer reading them or watching them to playing them. Also not too into playing on Sunday morning.
A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising - I love the book series, but it's so complicated I am nervous about how it would translate to a larp. Might fall short of high expectations for me. Still, a possibility.
Aces Over Arkham - I'm leery of a sequel when I haven't played the originals. But the concept sounds pretty cool.
Archangels - I have learned that I tend not to enjoy excessively "freeform" games.
Battle For Control of the Soul of the GOP: The Next Generation - Ehhh. Not so much for political or political satire games.
Better off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom - I have never signed up for one of Haz's games before because they always seemed too gimmicky for my tastes, and usually the gimmick doesn't appeal to me. That said, people have seemed to enjoy them, and the gimmick of this game is more interesting to me than previous ones. So it's a possibility.
Clerical Error - Doesn't jump out at me.
Divus Ex: In Nomine Mexico - The one Divus Ex game I played in was one of the most boring larp experiences I've had. This probably isn't the same author, but I'm too wary of the name by now.
Dustpan - Doesn't jump out at me.
Galaxy Comics Presents: Identity Crisis - Superhero games can be fun, but I find the description confusing. I'm not getting a good picture of what playing this game would be like.
GhostFu: The Jade Emperor's Celestial Tournament - Amusing concept, but seems a bit too silly for me.
Grimm Tales: The Immortal Jade Court - Doesn't jump out at me.
HOBOTOWN - I've been hearing a lot about this game and I'm intrigued. A possibility.
Interesting Times - I have no interest in playing a musical game. The whole concept is unappealing to me. I didn't play in 'Tis No Deceit for the same reason. I'm sure people will enjoy it as much as TND, but it's not for me.
Kind Friends Together - I've heard it's a good game, but again, it's not for me.
Magic Eyes - Doesn't jump out at me.
Michael Clambino's Bowling Night - Heh. I like mobsters, and this might be some silly fun.
Resonance - This game looks awesome,and I am intrigued to see how they make the concept work. High on the list.
Sands of Al-Ashtara - I have some reservations, but the premise sounds good, and I enjoyed Redemption: High Noon at the Devil's Luck. But since it will probably run at Brandeis later, I'm thinking I will wait until then.
Snaf University - Have been waiting years to play this game. Heard it's fun, and it's such a Brandeis classic that I really want to get it under my belt already. Seems odd to use an Intercon slot for a Brandeis game, but it's run so much I might not get another shot.
Speed Dating - No. Not my cup of tea.
Stars Over Atlantis - Sounds like an interesting game, but I'm not sure it's my style. I really respect the writers, though.
The Clockwork Cafe - A steampunk game written by Brits? Yes, please!
The Devil's Karma - Heh. Sounds fun, but might be too intense for me.
The Election - Again, not so much into the political satire.
The Perry Stringer Show - Not to my taste.
The Stand - I might have to have a little something to do with that.
The Yellow Fleet - Again, not so much with the politics.
Three Nations - See above, several times.
Victoria Junction - Interesting premise, and I think I see some Brits involved, but I'm not sure the format of the game speaks to me.
So right now, I think I am most interested in, at least tentatively, A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising, Better Off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom, Hobotown, Michael Clambino's Bowling Night, Resonance, Sands of Al-Ashtara, Snaf University, and The Clockwork Cafe. And some people might be expecting me to care a little bit about The Stand, I don't know. ;-) We'll see what the schedule lineup looks like to make some decisions.
The Ducetown Diner - Doesn't jump out at me. MacDougal games tend to be hit or miss for me.
10 Bad Larps: C-Section - The 10 Bad series is hilarious, but I tend to prefer reading them or watching them to playing them. Also not too into playing on Sunday morning.
A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising - I love the book series, but it's so complicated I am nervous about how it would translate to a larp. Might fall short of high expectations for me. Still, a possibility.
Aces Over Arkham - I'm leery of a sequel when I haven't played the originals. But the concept sounds pretty cool.
Archangels - I have learned that I tend not to enjoy excessively "freeform" games.
Battle For Control of the Soul of the GOP: The Next Generation - Ehhh. Not so much for political or political satire games.
Better off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom - I have never signed up for one of Haz's games before because they always seemed too gimmicky for my tastes, and usually the gimmick doesn't appeal to me. That said, people have seemed to enjoy them, and the gimmick of this game is more interesting to me than previous ones. So it's a possibility.
Clerical Error - Doesn't jump out at me.
Divus Ex: In Nomine Mexico - The one Divus Ex game I played in was one of the most boring larp experiences I've had. This probably isn't the same author, but I'm too wary of the name by now.
Dustpan - Doesn't jump out at me.
Galaxy Comics Presents: Identity Crisis - Superhero games can be fun, but I find the description confusing. I'm not getting a good picture of what playing this game would be like.
GhostFu: The Jade Emperor's Celestial Tournament - Amusing concept, but seems a bit too silly for me.
Grimm Tales: The Immortal Jade Court - Doesn't jump out at me.
HOBOTOWN - I've been hearing a lot about this game and I'm intrigued. A possibility.
Interesting Times - I have no interest in playing a musical game. The whole concept is unappealing to me. I didn't play in 'Tis No Deceit for the same reason. I'm sure people will enjoy it as much as TND, but it's not for me.
Kind Friends Together - I've heard it's a good game, but again, it's not for me.
Magic Eyes - Doesn't jump out at me.
Michael Clambino's Bowling Night - Heh. I like mobsters, and this might be some silly fun.
Resonance - This game looks awesome,and I am intrigued to see how they make the concept work. High on the list.
Sands of Al-Ashtara - I have some reservations, but the premise sounds good, and I enjoyed Redemption: High Noon at the Devil's Luck. But since it will probably run at Brandeis later, I'm thinking I will wait until then.
Snaf University - Have been waiting years to play this game. Heard it's fun, and it's such a Brandeis classic that I really want to get it under my belt already. Seems odd to use an Intercon slot for a Brandeis game, but it's run so much I might not get another shot.
Speed Dating - No. Not my cup of tea.
Stars Over Atlantis - Sounds like an interesting game, but I'm not sure it's my style. I really respect the writers, though.
The Clockwork Cafe - A steampunk game written by Brits? Yes, please!
The Devil's Karma - Heh. Sounds fun, but might be too intense for me.
The Election - Again, not so much into the political satire.
The Perry Stringer Show - Not to my taste.
The Stand - I might have to have a little something to do with that.
The Yellow Fleet - Again, not so much with the politics.
Three Nations - See above, several times.
Victoria Junction - Interesting premise, and I think I see some Brits involved, but I'm not sure the format of the game speaks to me.
So right now, I think I am most interested in, at least tentatively, A Game of Thrones: Blackfire Rising, Better Off Dead - The Necropolis Senior Prom, Hobotown, Michael Clambino's Bowling Night, Resonance, Sands of Al-Ashtara, Snaf University, and The Clockwork Cafe. And some people might be expecting me to care a little bit about The Stand, I don't know. ;-) We'll see what the schedule lineup looks like to make some decisions.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Artists record, sometimes compulsively
Artists by their nature tend to, if not document life, at least incorporate elements of it in their work. This frequently leads them almost compulsively to establish some kind of metacommentary on whatever it is they do or happens to them so they can use it somehow in their work later. I read once that when Steven Speilberg's wife told him she was leaving, immediately after ran into the bathroom with his video camera so he could record the sadness in his face. While I'm not quite on that (in my opinion) bizarrely detached level, I often have similar instincts. In me this expresses in a tendency to mentally construct a summary or narrative concerning whatever it is I'm doing as I'm doing it. I sort of compose in my head what I'm going to write or say about the experience later as it's happening to me. On one hand I like this, as it helps me formulate interesting, experienced-based material to draw upon should I need it, even if it's only in the service of an interesting LiveJournal entry. Many of my entries are mostly written while their subject still went on. On the other hand, I dislike how often this tendency takes me out of the moment and keeps me from fully taking things in because I am distracted by the effort to record. I wish I could balance the two better, both crystallize material for the creation of my art but not be so focused on the meta that I lose something of the real experience itself.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
No more driving
And all too soon, Jared is gone again. I am a bit low due to it, but trying to focus on what a lovely week we had together. And saying my prayers that soon enough he will be back for good. At the moment, I'm eating kiwis, a fruit I've never tasted before meeting him, in the way he taught me how to eat them.
This weekend has the last two performances of Love's Labor's Lost. We're in a tiny theater in Walpole call Footlighters instead of the gazebo in Medfield. It's a neat little space, but I do not relish the drive to get there. I have been driving constantly this week, and I am very tired of it. I even scraped the side of a pole in a parking garage, leaving streaks across Constantine's driver's side. :-P There goes another chunk out of the ol' savings account. Therefore I am not feeling very friendly towards cars at the moment. I think all next week, while I do want to do social things with the friends I feel like I haven't seen in forever, but I desire to do it without driving. With bribes of food, fun, and my own charming company, I will make the people come to me.
This weekend has the last two performances of Love's Labor's Lost. We're in a tiny theater in Walpole call Footlighters instead of the gazebo in Medfield. It's a neat little space, but I do not relish the drive to get there. I have been driving constantly this week, and I am very tired of it. I even scraped the side of a pole in a parking garage, leaving streaks across Constantine's driver's side. :-P There goes another chunk out of the ol' savings account. Therefore I am not feeling very friendly towards cars at the moment. I think all next week, while I do want to do social things with the friends I feel like I haven't seen in forever, but I desire to do it without driving. With bribes of food, fun, and my own charming company, I will make the people come to me.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Stuff to work on
Since I'm feeling pretty good right now, I am settling my brain onto the various things I feel like I should work on in the near future.
I think it's time to get serious about looking for a different job. The one I've got now is perfectly pleasant and all, and they've been very nice to me here, but it's not really what I want to be doing and while the pay isn't bad, they don't give me as many hours as would take some of the pressure off the old budget. So I think it's time to try and find something more to my interest that pays a little better. I know it's a tough market out there, but I have recently just reached one full solid year of real work experience, and I know that it's usually easier to find a job once you have one and prove you could hold it down. So I'm a little hopeful. Ideally I'd like something in writing, editing, or publishing, so that's where I'm concentrating my search. I am not relishing the whole searching and applying process, but I've gotten a few applications out there and I am resolved to buckle down on this.
I really need to get writing again. It's been a while since I really did serious writing-- there was The Labor Wars, but that is finished now and I should keep myself busy. I certainly need to get cracking on my Intercon K bid, The Stand. I've actually made some progress on it recently that I'm very pleased with, but I don't want to lose momentum. Also, I should really work on some non-gaming stuff, something that I could actually maybe possibly someday take to a publisher and take a shot at the the hopeless pipe dream I'd really like to go after, being a professional writer. I have a lot of stuff started that has languished due to being busy with life, school, work, gaming, and stress, and a lot of it really wasn't half-bad. I am resolved to work on The Stand as well as a piece of literature that maybe I could someday get published.
Also, I want to continue the progress I've made on actually taking care of my health. I am not working out every day like I wanted to, but I am working out more frequently now than I was before. I have not been perfect about my skin care routine, but my acne is greatly reduced and my face looks clearer than it has in ages. I've also been drinking a lot more water. Since Jared's parents gave me this really nice metal water bottle, I've been carrying it around and actually drinking from it. The only downside is my body is still accustomed to being chronically on the edge of dehydration that it doesn't know what to do with all the extra water, and so I'm sent running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. My eating habits are mostly okay, though this past week or so they were all thrown to hell. I'll have to get back on track with that. I've also decided that I'm going to have at least one day a week where I don't eat or buy any meat. This is more for environmental and pocketbook reasons than health, but I think it's a good small change to make.
The last thing is, I've been something of a recluse lately. My being extremely busy (between work, chores, and rehearsal, my life was gone) and feeling a bit low has kept me from doing much of anything with friends. I mean to rectify this. In the weeks to come, I want to have social events and do fun things with friends again. I know I certainly didn't have nearly as many dinner parties as I meant to this summer. Please don't think I have forgotten you all, it's just my way to withdraw when the stress mounts. But if I'm managing it better and working on improving the situations that cause it in other parts of my life, I should be able to get back to my old self again.
With all the stress I've felt lately, I think having some positive efforts to focus on will help me keep steady and eventually improve. The change will do me good.
I think it's time to get serious about looking for a different job. The one I've got now is perfectly pleasant and all, and they've been very nice to me here, but it's not really what I want to be doing and while the pay isn't bad, they don't give me as many hours as would take some of the pressure off the old budget. So I think it's time to try and find something more to my interest that pays a little better. I know it's a tough market out there, but I have recently just reached one full solid year of real work experience, and I know that it's usually easier to find a job once you have one and prove you could hold it down. So I'm a little hopeful. Ideally I'd like something in writing, editing, or publishing, so that's where I'm concentrating my search. I am not relishing the whole searching and applying process, but I've gotten a few applications out there and I am resolved to buckle down on this.
I really need to get writing again. It's been a while since I really did serious writing-- there was The Labor Wars, but that is finished now and I should keep myself busy. I certainly need to get cracking on my Intercon K bid, The Stand. I've actually made some progress on it recently that I'm very pleased with, but I don't want to lose momentum. Also, I should really work on some non-gaming stuff, something that I could actually maybe possibly someday take to a publisher and take a shot at the the hopeless pipe dream I'd really like to go after, being a professional writer. I have a lot of stuff started that has languished due to being busy with life, school, work, gaming, and stress, and a lot of it really wasn't half-bad. I am resolved to work on The Stand as well as a piece of literature that maybe I could someday get published.
Also, I want to continue the progress I've made on actually taking care of my health. I am not working out every day like I wanted to, but I am working out more frequently now than I was before. I have not been perfect about my skin care routine, but my acne is greatly reduced and my face looks clearer than it has in ages. I've also been drinking a lot more water. Since Jared's parents gave me this really nice metal water bottle, I've been carrying it around and actually drinking from it. The only downside is my body is still accustomed to being chronically on the edge of dehydration that it doesn't know what to do with all the extra water, and so I'm sent running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. My eating habits are mostly okay, though this past week or so they were all thrown to hell. I'll have to get back on track with that. I've also decided that I'm going to have at least one day a week where I don't eat or buy any meat. This is more for environmental and pocketbook reasons than health, but I think it's a good small change to make.
The last thing is, I've been something of a recluse lately. My being extremely busy (between work, chores, and rehearsal, my life was gone) and feeling a bit low has kept me from doing much of anything with friends. I mean to rectify this. In the weeks to come, I want to have social events and do fun things with friends again. I know I certainly didn't have nearly as many dinner parties as I meant to this summer. Please don't think I have forgotten you all, it's just my way to withdraw when the stress mounts. But if I'm managing it better and working on improving the situations that cause it in other parts of my life, I should be able to get back to my old self again.
With all the stress I've felt lately, I think having some positive efforts to focus on will help me keep steady and eventually improve. The change will do me good.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Things I have done to pass the time until Jared gets here
Stained my new coffee table. Using some of the wood stain generously given to me by morethings5*, I picked the darkest color and went over the whole thing twice. It is imperfect, you can still tell the difference between the marked and unmarked parts of the surface, but it looks a hundred percent better and is now closer in color to the end tables. I am quite pleased with it.
Reading Stonesoup, an awesome, beautifully photographed blog on keeping a minimalist kitchen recommended to me by captainecchi*. My anti-stuff nature and desire to eat deliciously but healthfully is appealed to by the notion of keeping a small number of essential kitchen tools to prepare things with just a handful of tasty ingredients. She recently released a free e-cookbook that looks lovely, and I have especially enjoyed her interesting, thoughful entries on topics like how to season your cooking and the best things to have in minimalist kitchen.
Worked on my new cowboy-themed larp bid for Intercon, The Stand. I am currently working on fleshing out a backstory that will provide a mystery to solve and will hopefully be a plot that affects a large percentage of if not the entire game. One notion that occupies me strongly as a larp writer is that in-game mysteries must be solvable-- there must be evidence of some sort that is possible for players to put together to figure things out. The trick is making is that evidence neither too obvious nor too obscure, a surprisingly difficult thing.
I've also been doing a lot of staring at the clock, but that's less interesting than the other things. Just five and a half more hours to go.
Reading Stonesoup, an awesome, beautifully photographed blog on keeping a minimalist kitchen recommended to me by captainecchi*. My anti-stuff nature and desire to eat deliciously but healthfully is appealed to by the notion of keeping a small number of essential kitchen tools to prepare things with just a handful of tasty ingredients. She recently released a free e-cookbook that looks lovely, and I have especially enjoyed her interesting, thoughful entries on topics like how to season your cooking and the best things to have in minimalist kitchen.
Worked on my new cowboy-themed larp bid for Intercon, The Stand. I am currently working on fleshing out a backstory that will provide a mystery to solve and will hopefully be a plot that affects a large percentage of if not the entire game. One notion that occupies me strongly as a larp writer is that in-game mysteries must be solvable-- there must be evidence of some sort that is possible for players to put together to figure things out. The trick is making is that evidence neither too obvious nor too obscure, a surprisingly difficult thing.
I've also been doing a lot of staring at the clock, but that's less interesting than the other things. Just five and a half more hours to go.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Being reactive onstage
It occurs to me as I go through Love's Labor's Lost that the most difficult draining thing for me to do is spend a long time onstage doing nothing but focusing and reacting. Having actions and interactions and speaking lines is a lot less mentally demanding for me than staying in the moment reactively. It is especially tough for me to do so in this show, where my character is a bit thin and no personality for him suggests itself to me naturally. I know having to do a lot of that tends to be disliked more the greater the experience of the actor-- I can't remember who said it, but I remember readibg some older theater actor like Richard Burton or somebody said that the ideal role was one with the highest ratio of being the center of attention to time spent onstage. I think I'm starting to agree with that.
I think I must resolve in my future theatrical writing to make characters have to spend as little time as possible onstage when theyre not doing anything. Just to show mercy on them. To Think of Nothing kind of violates this, I guess, but I think all eight characters stay involved enough all the time that the times when they are observing or reacting isn't too onerous. Or at least their characterizations are well enough defined to better inform how they should be behaving at thosr times. Actors in TToN, care to weigh in on your experience with this? Was it tough or easy to be reactive in that show?
I think I must resolve in my future theatrical writing to make characters have to spend as little time as possible onstage when theyre not doing anything. Just to show mercy on them. To Think of Nothing kind of violates this, I guess, but I think all eight characters stay involved enough all the time that the times when they are observing or reacting isn't too onerous. Or at least their characterizations are well enough defined to better inform how they should be behaving at thosr times. Actors in TToN, care to weigh in on your experience with this? Was it tough or easy to be reactive in that show?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
